Skateboarding Photo Essay: Frontside Grinds

Story by Danika Prochazka        Photography by Steve Rodriguez

   This is the first entry in a series of weekly photo essays dedicated to skateboarding. Each essay will feature a collection of photos  focusing on a particular trick,  type of boarding, or a theme.   This week we look at Frontside Grinds. 

   If you're reading this, you are probably a skater, so you already know what frontside grinds are. For those that don't, a grind is when a skater slide the skateboard  trucks on a corner edge, like ledge, a rail, a curb, or pool and ramp coping. Either one or both trucks. Frontside means  the skater is doing it with his body facing the thing he or she is grinding.  And there's several variations of frontside grinds:5-0, 50-50, smith, feeble, etc... So even with the "Skateboarding... For Dummies" explanations, and on to the photos.

Asher Bradshaw with a frontside smith grind.

A frontide feeble grind down the rail by Leandre Sanders

Sean Johnson frontside smith grinding the deep end of the Venice Skatepark pool.

Jesus Esteban ollies out of the snakerun onto a 5-0  on the skatepark railing.

Frontside 5-0 grind on the spine by one of the girls competing in the Van Doren Invitational.

Desmond Shepherd 5-0 grinding and posing for the camera.

A sequence shot of Jesus Esteban's grind over the a double set of stairs ledge.

This is Aaron Fotheringham...

and here's a sequence shot of him grinding his wheelchair.

Fakie 5-0 grind by Eddie Moreno.

Hayden Estrada smith grinding the pool.

A squence shot of Sean Johnson frontside smith grind.

Frontside 5-0 by Sarah Thompson.

Impressing the girls with his 50-50 grinding.

Kiko Fransico's stylish frontside smith grind.

Fast 5-0 grind by Cameron Revier.

Sean Johnson with one last 50-40 grind as the sun sets.