Scooterlay is audience-supported. When you buy through links on this site, we may earn an affiliate commission that we use for site maintenance. Learn more

Blogs

Boardslide vs Lipslide: From Sketchy to Clean!

Boardslide vs Lipslide
Written by Kevin Gerard

Lipslide and boardslide are two famous tricks that’re similar in style and appearance. When you perform both of these tricks, you will wind up on a similar stance.

What sets the two apart is what part of the board is used. Boardslide uses the nose while lipslide uses the tail.

What is a Boardslide?

A skateboarding trick that involves sliding along the ledge or rails while using your board’s core. Like the lipslide trick, this trick goes along any feature but uses the front truck only.

As a prerequisite to this trick, you must know how to perform an ollie. After mastering an ollie, you can then practice this trick.

The completion is easier, especially if you are jumping on a ledge or rail.

Boardslide Types

1. Frontside Boardslide

This is a common boardslide trick. You use the core of the board to slide backward and ride along the feature while carrying out a forward face.

The front side is harder than the back side because you need to pull your hips into the slide and not the whole body. This can make balancing difficult.

2. Backside Boardslide

Backside Boardslide

When you slide with your board on the middle of a ledge or rail behind you, it is called a Backside Boardslide.

An early understanding of this trick is essential. The BS Boardslide does, however, give you plenty of opportunities. This trick is as good down a handrail as down a ledge.

What is a Lipslide?

What is a lipslide

You have to spend a lot of money on this skateboard trick. Why? This trick relies on the board’s core to move constantly up and down, putting it in a risky position for constant damage. With just one wrong move execution on the ramp, it can literally snap your board.

Either the rails or ledges can be used to do this. The disadvantage of this is that you are more likely to break it if you are just getting started with rails. For the ledge, you’re going to need a slippery surface and waxed wheels in order to avoid a sticky situation.

Lipslide types

1. Frontside lipslide

A frontside lipslide is when a skater starts by moving his hips in a forward direction and then makes an exaggerated turn to go backward. This technique requires quick movement, agility, and balance.

If you start to fall backward during the move, you are going to land on your rear end on the ice. The frontside lipslide is one of many tricks skaters can do during their performance that help them score goals or gain an edge over their opponents.

2. Backside lipslide

Backside lipslide is a move in the freestyle sport of skateboarding where, with the skateboarder’s back facing upwind, the boarder or skater performs a frontside lipslide. A backslide is a sliding motion that’s often combined with a push from the front. A backside lipslide is a slide on the side of your board when you ride flat out on your board. It’s usually at high speed and most often done on hills or mountains.

Which one is best for whom (beginner, intermediate, or advanced)?

The boardslide is fairly easy to learn for beginners. A top tip is to apply wax to the ledges and rails to help you slide easier when learning.

The lipslide is more for those who have been skating for a while. It is more complex because of the rotation you need to do over the obstacle at the start, then into the trick then again to dismount.

How to Do Frontside Lipslide

Step 1

You need to be riding up a ledge but be facing forward to the feature you are aiming for.

How to do frontside lipslide

Step 2

Perform a quick snap and allow the rear truck to come forward to your feature at a 90° angle.

How to do frontside lipslide

Step 3

Slide your way to the middle of the board

How to do frontside lipslide 3

Step 4

Exit in another 90° turn which gets you back in the initial spot.

How to do frontside lipslide

How to Do Backside Lipslide

Step 1

First ride up back over to the feature you are going for then make a quick snap

How to do backside lipslide

Step 2

Bring the nose and wheels of the board on the ledge or rail at a 90° over

How to do backside lipslide

Step 3

Go for a slide and exit with the 90° angle so your board returns to the starting stance

How to do backside lipslide

How to Do Frontside Boardslide

Step 1

Ride in a parallel position will make this trick easier

How to do frontside boardslide

Step 2

Carry out an ollie by jumping on the rail using your feet, then bring the truck into the front

How to do frontside boardslide

Step 3

Maintain the balance while carrying out the trick

How to do frontside boardslide

Step 4

Finish by doing a 90° turn, so you end up back at the initial stance.

How to do frontside boardslide

How to Do Backside Boardslide

Step 1

Ride in a parallel position but on the backside of the board.

How to do backside boardslide

Step 2

Your foot at the back needs to be along the tail of the skateboard, with the other foot near the nose part right near the bolts.

How to do backside boardslide

Step 3

Make a snap and do a 90° angle, then turn to the backside

How to do backside boardslide 3

Step 4

Exit with a 90° back to return

How to do backside boardslide

Tips to avoid injuries when you boardslide or lipslide

  • Make sure to bend your knees when coming off ledges or rails
  • The average bend for skateboarding is safe at a 45° angle
  • Always wear protective equipment such as helmets and kneepads
  • Practice on smaller equipment before tackling the big areas

FAQs:

1. When was Lipslide created?

Ans. Alan Gelfand worked on the lipslide with his friends during the summer of 1977, when he was 14 years old. Then, however, something extraordinary happened; he got all the four wheels off the ledge. Alan’s friends nicknamed it the ollie pop.

2. How many skate tricks are there?

Ans: Skateboard tricks are endless. There is really no one out there that actually knows the true number. People do tricks up in their backyard, and professionals do to so there is no way to tell the actual amount.

About the author

Kevin Gerard

I started off my career as a mechanical engineer at a scooter manufacturing company back in 2012. I’ve been into kick scooters and swimming since the early years of my life. Over time, I quit the latter for the love of the former and soon started to be recognized as a kick scooter expert!

I wanted to take scooter designing professionally but my family forced me to study engineering. Luckily, I decided to study mechanical engineering! That made way for me to work in the field of kick scooter designing as a core researcher and developer.

I am one of the founding members of Scooterlay and I contribute to the website as the head of the research team. I am currently working on my first book on the basics of kick scooter riding. This is a guide for beginner riders that will soon be published by Warner House Press, Arizona.

Leave a Comment