The downside is you’ll need freestyle wheels before you can even think of learning this trick – and expect to burn through them a lot, especially if you’re using OJII-inspired wheels like the Mode, Momentum or Moonshine/Speedlab wheels. Trust me, though – it’s worth it.

One last thing: I apologise for how low the image quality is on the sequence below. Due to the nature of this trick, it’s really hard to get a crisp and clear image sequence. I’ll give it another shot in the coming weeks.

Oddly enough, you’re going to start this trick the same way you’d pull up to heelside rail. However, I find it helps by having the front foot a bit further forward than I normally recommend.

You’re going to want to go fast into this trick. Really fast. Bend your knees, and get ready to pull up into rail as if you were stationary – only now you’ve got to stop the board hitting the floor.

As I pull up, my back foot has to stay in contact with the board at all times. If I try to pressure flip the board into position by pushing down too much with the front foot, I won’t be able to stop the deck touching the ground.

As the board moves towards a rail stand, I want to feel for the perfect moment – just a split second before the deck would hit the ground – and push back slightly with the back foot, locking my back leg, holding it in place. At this point, I’m already in a solid, balanced position.

You don’t want to be hunting for that front wheel with the front foot. You need to know where the foot has to go, and get it on there quickly. The worst thing you can do is miss the wheel – especially if you kick the board as you try to find it.

Once you’re on the board, there isn’t a whole lot left to do. Keep your weight over the back foot, and use your front foot to correct any steering issues. That’s basically all there is to it.

From this angle, you can see how deeply I squat as I go into the trick. This is important; the quick straightening of your legs produces a pseudo-weightlessness, as I described with the Railwhipback. That gives you a split second more time before the deck hits the ground and stops you dead.

This angle also shows how crucial the back foot is to this trick. You cannot flip and catch into a coconut wheelie – well, not unless you’re ten years old and Japanese, anyway.

And this is the posture you want to find yourself in. Relaxed, but with a back leg locked and holding the board in position, with your weight split roughly 70/30 between the back leg and the front. Once you’re here, momentum will do all the work of keeping you upright and rolling.

Additional Notes

If you haven’t already done so, buy some freestyle wheels. You’ll need them. I can’t stress that enough.

This trick really demands harder wheels, too. 97a is the minimum I’d suggest. I can do them on the 95a Seismic Focus, but the added friction from the softer compound makes it noticeably more difficult.

You also want to make sure your trucks are the right width – you want to aim for an axle length roughly 0.35″ shorter than the deck width. This translates to a 106mm-109mm or 4.25″ truck for a 7.25″-7.4″ deck. If in doubt, check the truck specs over at the Freestyle Knowledge Base, or drop us a comment below.

Also, you’ll need to make sure your trucks are relatively tight. You don’t need to have them rock solid – I actually find these harder to control on overly-tight trucks – but if you’re coming from street skating where floppy trucks are all the rage, this is going to feel nigh-impossible. Aftermarket bushings – preferably at least 95a – are your friend.

One last thing. This is purely my personal opinion, so don’t take it as gospel, but please don’t slide these to a stop. I always think that looks ridiculous. Get out while you’ve still got a bit of speed – whether you just let it drop or do something a bit more fancy.