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Skateboard glossary
A
ABEC
Annular Bearing Engineers' Committee. This number defines the accuracy of bearings. Notice that the ABEC number does not say anything about the quality of the bearings! This means that ABEC 7 bearings could be worse then ABEC 3 bearings.
Air
Used to describe the height of a jump made by a skateboarder.
B
Backside
When approaching a grindrail with your back facing it, a skateboarder is doing the grind backside. When doing a 180 while seeing all the way behind him, a skateboarder is doing the 180 backside.
Bearing
The metal cilinders in your wheels. They make your wheels turn smooth. There are two bearings in each wheels, one on the inside and one on the outside. A lot of people think that the quality is indicated in ABEC, but the ABEC value is just a standard classification. ABEC-3 bearings can be better than ABEC-5 ones.
Bolts
The screws to attach the trucks to the deck.
Bushings
The rubber parts in your trucks. Soft bushings can absorb more impact, hard bushings give more pop.
C
Concave
As you know, a deck isn't flat. It has a nose, a tail, but also some elevation on the sides of the deck. This elevation is called concave.
Coping
Metal pipe attached to the top of a quarterpipe or halfpipe. Skaters can grind on that rail or do lip tricks on it.
Cushion
Rubber part of skateboard trucks, absorb the impact and make it possible to steer.
D
Deck
The main part of a skateboard, made of wood. A good deck contains a nose, a tail and concave on the sides. The lenght is indicated in inches, for example 7.5".
Downhill
Skateboarding down a hill at high speed.
F
Fakie
Riding backwards.
Flip
A trick in which a skateboarder jumps up with the board while flipping the board in the air.
Freestyle
A skateboard style in which the skateboarder has the freedom to invent tricks himself and make up combo's.
Frontside
When approaching a grindrail facing it, a skateboarder is doing the grind frontside. When doing a 180 while seeing all the way in front of him, a skateboarder is doing the 180 frontside.
Fullpipe
Big pipe-shaped skateboard ramp, made out of wood or cement.
Funbox
An artificial street skateboard platform with banked sides and a ledge or handrail to grind on.
G
Goofy
Skateboarding with your right foot forward and your left foot on the tail of your board.
Grab
Skateboard trick in which a skateboarder grabs his board with one or both hands.
Grind
A trick in which a skateboarder jumps up with the board onto a rail. While grinding, the trucks of the skateboard slide over the grindrail.
Grindrail
A metal rail put at a certain height, used to do grind or slide tricks on.
Grip tape
The rough part on top of your deck that gives you grip on your board.
H
Halfpipe
Half of a fullpipe, but with a flat piece at the bottom. Used in vert skateboard competitions. At both top sides of the ramp, a metal pipe or coping is attached.
Handrail
A steep grindrail next to a set of stairs.
Helmet
Safety equipment used to protect your head when skateboarding.
Hip
Two ramps put next to eachother at a certain angle.
K
Kicker
A wooden plate with one side higher than the other. By riding over a kicker at high speed, skaters gain height for their tricks.
Kickturn
Turning 180 degrees in a ramp while pushing down the tail of your board.
Kingpin
The bolt that holds a skateboard truck together.
Kink
A change of angle in a grindrail.
L
Lip
Balancing on the top edge of a ramp in a certain position.
M
Manual
Riding on a skateboard while balancing on only one or two wheels.
N
Nollie
While doing any skateboard trick, instead of popping the tail of the board, pop the nose.
Nose
The smallest of the two elevations of your skateboard deck. Used to pop the board up in nollie position.
P
Pad
Safety equipment used to protect your knees or elbows.
Pop
Snapping on the tail of your skateboard to make it jump up.
Q
Quarterpipe
Quarter of a fullpipe, used in street skateboarding. A metal piece is put at the bottom to make it smoother. At the top of a quarterpipe, a metal pipe or coping is attached.
R
Ramp
Construction made out of wood or cement, made to skate on.
Regular
Skateboarding with your left foot forward and your right foot on the tail of your board.
Revert
Doing a 180 powerslide right after finishing a trick.
Riser pads
These plastic or rubber pads protect your deck from the impact on your trucks when you land a trick. They also make the ride smoother. Some trucks have built-in riser pads.
S
Shoe goo
Rubber adhesive made to repair holes in shoes.
Skate tool
A skate tool is a combined tool to twist all the screws on your board.
Skatepark
A place filled with ramps, rails and curbs, made for people to skate in.
Slalom
Skateboarding through a serie of cones at high speed.
Slappy
A ride-on grind on a low object, without an ollie.
Slide
A trick in which a skateboarder jumps up with the board onto a rail. While grinding, the board of the skateboard slides over the grindrail.
Snakerun
Downhill path with banked sides.
Spine
A spine can be made by putting two ramps next to eachother with facing back sides.
Street
Skateboard style in which skateboarders do tricks on street objects, such as curbs, kickers and grindrails.
Switch
Skateboarding with your feet the other way you would normally skate. What normally would be your front foot is now on the tail and your usual back foot is now your front foot.
T
Tail
The biggest of the two elevations of your skateboard deck. Used to pop the board up.
Tail skid plate
A plate you attach to your tail. This plate can protect the tail of your deck, but some plates also have a material that causes the plate to make sparks when you drag it over the floor.
Truck
The metal part that attaches your deck with your your wheels, through the bearings. Try to buy trucks with the same width as your deck. Hard trucks weigh more, but last longer.
V
Vert
Skateboard style in which skateboarders do tricks in a big halfpipe.
W
Wallride
Skateboarding on a vertical wall.
Wax
Used to make objects slippery, so they are easy to grind or slide on.
Wheel
The rubber round parts that allow you to move with your skateboard. Hard wheels provide less grip. The width is indicated in milimeter, for example 52mm. Inside the wheel, there are 2 bearings.
Wristguard
Safety equipment used to protect your wrists when skateboarding.

Name: John Rodney Mullen
Gender: Male
Hometown: Redondo Beach, CA or Hermosa Beach, CA
Date of Birth: August 17th, 1966 in Gainesville, FL
Family: married to Traci Mullen
Occupation: Engineer / Skate Brand Owner / Skateboarder
Started Skating: 1974
Started Competing: 1977
Turned Pro: 1980
Favored Discipline: Street
#1 Sponsors: Almost, Enjoi, Darkstar, Tensor, Speed Demons, Matix, Globe
Stance: Regular
Nicknames: Mutt, King
Career Highlights
1977 - Mullen won the first freestyle contest he entered
1980 - joined the Powell-Peralta Bones Brigade
1984, 85, 87, 88 - featured in The Bones Brigade Videos 1-4
1988 - appeared in feature film, Gleaming the Cube
1992 - began World Industries with Steve Rocco
1990+ - featured in videos by Plan B, A-Team, Globe and Almost
2002 - won Transworld Readers' Choice Award for Skater of the Year
2002 - created Almost skateboard company
2003 - wrote "The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself"

Rodney Mullen is widely considered the most influential skateboarder in the history of the skateboarding. The majority of ollie and flip tricks he invented throughout the 1980's, including the flatground ollie, the Kickflip, the Heelflip, and the 360 flip are regularly done in modern vertical and street skateboarding.

Despite Alan Gelfand's justifiable fame for inventing the ollie air (Gelfand's maneuver being primarily a vert or pool oriented trick) Mullen is responsible for the invention and development of the street ollie. The ability to pop the board off of the ground and land back on the board while moving has quite likely been the most significant development in modern skateboarding. This invention alone would rank Mullen the most important skateboarder of all time.

Mullen started skateboarding at age 10, when his father (who had opposed his son's wishes to practice the sport) finally agreed to give Rodney a skateboard on condition that he always wore pads, and with the understanding that if he were to ever get hurt, he would have to quit. On January 1, 1977 he bought his first skateboard. His first sponsor was Bill Murray at Inland Surf Shop where Rodney used to skate in their carpark. He rode a Walker Skateboard in his first contest at Kona in Jacksonville in 1977, placing third in Boys Freestyle. The 10-year old attracted the attention of skateboard manufacturer Bruce Walker and immediately became sponsored by Walker Skateboards. For the next 3 years, Rodney took first place in every contest he entered. He went on to win nearly 30 contests, mostly in Florida, and culminated with a win at the Oceanside Nationals in California. His coaching influence came mainly from Bruce Walker and Barry Zaritsky. In 1980 at 13 he turned professional by winning first place at the Oasis Pro in San Diego, and began skateboarding for the legendary Powell Peralta Bones Brigade team. Stacy Peralta became Rodney's new coach and sponsor. 10 years and 34 freestyle competitions later Rodney was only beaten once by Per Welinder, and in this competition he still got second. This is considered to be the best record in skateboard history.

In 1988, Mullen appeared in the feature film Gleaming the Cube, alongside fellow Bones Brigade team members and movie star Christian Slater. Mullen's other videos include The Bones Brigade Video Show (1984), Bones Brigade Video II: Future-Primitive (1985), Bones Brigade Video III: The Search for Animal Chin (1986), and Bones Brigade Video IV: Public Domain (1988), World Industries: Rubbish Heap (1989), Plan B: Questionable (1992), Plan B: Virtual Reality (1993), Plan B: Second Hand Smoke (1995), the Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song series, Globe Opinion, and most recently Almost: Round Three. He also appeared as a guest on the tv show That's Incredible! (Nov. 1988).

Tricks Invented

* 50-50 Saran Wrap
* 50-50 Sidewinders
* 360 Flip
* 360 pressure Flip
* 540 double kickflip
* 540 Shove-it
* Airwalks
* Backside 180 Flip
* Casper 360 Flip
* Casper Slides
* Caballerial impossible
* Double heelflips
* Flatground Ollie
* Frontside Heelflip Shove-its
* Godzilla Rail Flip
* Gazelles
* Heelflip
* Helipops (360 Nollie)
* Half-cab kickflip underflip
* Helipop Heelflips
* Half Flip Darkslide
* Handstand flips
* Kickflip Underflip
* Kickflip
* No Handed 50-50 Kickflip
* Ollie Impossible
* Ollie Nosebones
* Ollie Fingerflip
* One footed Ollie
* Rusty slides
* Sidewinders
* Switchstance 360 Flips