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The skate wiki.
Guides for skating, the culture around it and how Skate Labs works. Written by skaters, for skaters.
Skateboarding
Getting started, gear, tricks and filming.
Choosing your first skateboardDeck width, wheels, trucks and grip, in plain words, so your first board fits how and where you want to skate.
Learning your next trickMore than 500 tricks, each with the steps and lessons from skaters who teach on camera. Start where you are.
Filming a clip that countsFive things that make your attempt easy to judge, whether you film yourself or a friend holds the phone.Tricks
Step by step, from the ollie to grinds and slides.
How to ollieThe ollie is the base of almost every street trick. Foot placement, the pop, the slide, leveling out and landing, with a practice plan and the fixes for the usual problems.How to pop shove-itThe pop shove-it spins the board 180 under you without flipping it. Foot placement, the scoop, catching it, frontside vs backside, and the fixes that help most.How to kickflipThe kickflip flips the board under you. Foot placement, the pop, the flick off the heel-side corner, catching it with your back foot first, and fixes for the usual problems.How to heelflipThe heelflip flips the board with your heel, the opposite way from a kickflip. Foot placement, the kick off the toe-side corner, catching it, and fixes for the usual problems.Frontside and backside 180sTurning 180 with your board. The difference between frontside and backside, how to wind up and turn, landing fakie, and a step-by-step plan for each.How to nollieA nollie is an ollie popped off the nose. Foot placement, the pop and slide, why it feels backwards at first, and a practice plan that gets it feeling normal.Fakie and switch, explainedFakie is rolling backwards in your normal stance; switch is riding with your opposite stance. How to tell them apart, how to learn each, and how they work in a game of SKATE.How to manualA manual is balancing on two wheels while rolling. Foot placement, finding the balance point, holding it, nose manuals, and a practice plan to make them longer.How to 50-50 grindGrinding on both trucks along a ledge or rail. How to choose a spot, approach, lock in, keep your balance, pop out, and the fixes for the usual problems.How to boardslideSliding the middle of the board along a rail or ledge. Frontside vs backside, the approach, turning onto it, staying over the bar, getting off clean, and where to learn it.How to drop inDropping in is how you get into a ramp or bowl from the top. Setup on the coping, committing your weight forward, rolling away, and how to build up from small ramps.Pumping and carving in transitionHow to keep speed in a bowl or mini ramp without pushing. Pumping, carving, timing your body to the curve, and a practice plan to get going.How to rock to fakieRock to fakie is a basic transition trick: rock the board over the coping and come back in fakie. The approach, the rock, lifting back in, and fixes for hang-ups.How to axle stallAn axle stall puts both trucks on the coping. The approach, turning onto the coping, holding the stall, coming back in, and fixes for the usual problems.
Gear
Setting up a board and keeping it rolling.
Choosing a setupDeck width, trucks, wheels, bearings and grip for street, park and transition skating, with a worked setup and the mistakes people make buying their first board.Board maintenance: bearings, grip and wheelsHow to clean bearings, fix grip, choose and rotate wheels, check hardware and bushings, and keep your setup rolling longer.Warm-ups and falling safelyHow to warm up before a session, how to fall in ways that hurt less, what pads do, and when to call it a day.
Spots
Finding places to skate, and how to treat them.
The spots map: finding parks, water and Wi-FiHow the SPOTS tab in Global SKATE works: around 30,000 skateparks, layers for water fountains, free Wi-Fi and skate shops, adding spots, and reporting ones that shouldn't be public.Finding good spotsHow to find street spots worth skating: what to look for, where to look, when to go, how to keep a spot from getting busted, and how the spots map helps.Skatepark etiquetteHow to share a park: take turns, watch lines, don't snake, clear landings, look out for little kids, and how to fit in when you're new.
Game of SKATE
The rules, calling tricks and filming your official take.
What is Skate Labs?Play SKATE with any friend, anywhere. Film a trick, send it, and they answer on their own time. How the free Global SKATE app works, and how to join the testers.How to play SKATE with a friend anywhere (Global SKATE 101)The oldest game in skateboarding, played by video: set a trick, film one official take, send it, and your friend answers on their own time. Here's how a Global SKATE game works.Filming your official take (and why there are no retakes)How the Global SKATE camera works: two minutes to set up, a ten-second countdown, one take up to 25 seconds, and what happens if your upload drops.Game of SKATE rules, explainedHow a game of SKATE works: setting, matching, letters, the common house rules, and how Global SKATE plays it by video, with a full game walked through.Calling tricks in a game of SKATEHow to pick tricks to set in a game of SKATE: play your strengths, mix stances, read your opponent, and when to switch it up, with a worked game plan.Filming a clip with your phoneSimple tips for filming skate clips on a phone: angle, distance, framing, light and holding steady, plus how filming your own take for Global SKATE works.
Culture
The words, the history and the people of skateboarding.
Pixel art
The square-by-square art in skate games and graphics.
Skate Labs
How the app works: Game of SKATE, spots, the ARK and what is planned.
Solana
Wallets, tokens and staying safe, in plain words. Never needed to play.
Do you need a crypto wallet to use Skate Labs? (Solana wallets 101)No, you don't need a wallet to play Global SKATE. Here's what a Solana wallet actually is, how the optional Skate Labs Dash wallet works, and what fees on Solana look like.Wallet safety basics for skatersThe wallet safety rules that actually matter: never share your recovery phrase, support never DMs first, check official links, and how to spot fake token and mint offers.What is Solana? A skater's 2-minute versionSolana in plain words: a public blockchain where wallets sign with keypairs and every transaction pays a small fee in SOL. And why you don't need any of it to play.Reading a Solana address and using an explorerWhat a Solana address is, what you're looking at when you open one in Solana Explorer from the Dash, and why showing your address is fine but sharing keys never is.What's a blockchain? Explained like a spot logA blockchain is a shared record that nobody can quietly edit. Explained with a skatepark logbook, plus blocks, copies, wallets and what it means for Skate Labs.What is crypto? A skater's quick takeCoins, tokens and NFTs in plain words, explained with things you'd find in a skate shop, plus wallets, prices and the scams to watch for.Coin vs token, the short versionCoins come with a chain; tokens are made by programs on top. The difference, why names prove nothing, and how to check a real token from a knockoff.Transactions and fees on SolanaA transaction is a signed instruction to the chain. How one goes from your tap to the record, what the fee is made of, and what to check before you approve.What is an NFT? A one-off deck explanationAn NFT is a unique token with its owner recorded on a blockchain. Explained with a one-off deck: what you actually own, where the art lives, and what to watch for.What is DeFi? The skater's short versionDeFi means money tools run by programs on a blockchain. Swaps, pools and lending explained with a vending machine, plus the real risks and how to spot a bad deal.The Skate Labs glossarySkate words and crypto words in one place: SKATE, letter, take, line, transition, switch, nollie, address, recovery phrase, Solana and more, with a quick way to use it.
Trick library
Every trick with its steps and lessons from skaters who teach on camera.
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