Movin' it: Skateboarding

An occasional feature on Hernando County residents and the sports they play.

By KELLIE DIXON
Published May 24, 2007

At Stewy's Skate Park in Spring Hill, skaters take to the ramps and rails to show off tricks or just release stress. "

Everything is a trick," said Charlie Nicol, a 19-year-old amateur professional who lives in Brooksville. "You can make anything up. If you're skating with friends and you do something that makes everybody shout out, you just keep doing it." But before skaters such as Nicol were busting the more advanced tricks, they were fine-tuning the basics. Here are a few basic moves they shared Monday:

The trick: ollie

This is a jump with the board. There are four different types of ollies. "Everything around here starts with an ollie, "said Steve Keyes, 22, of Spring Hill, who has been skateboarding for nearly six years.

"It's like a warmup," added Daniel Guida, 19, of Spring Hill.

The trick: kickflip

Use your toe to flip the board. You also can do a heel flip.

Land it: "Put your foot behind the bolts and the other one to the side," said Steven Erickson, who attends Powell Middle School. "Then flick it out with your right foot." That's if you skate goofy (left-footed) like Erickson. Rightys just reverse it.

The trick: pop shove-it

Do an ollie and turn the board 180 degrees under your feet. You'll still be going the same direction.

Land it: "It's all about the back foot," said Devin Grob, a fifth-grader at West Side Elementary. "You try to scoop it with your back foot."

The trick: frontside 180

Ollie and turn your whole body 180 degrees.

Land it: "(You've got to) get your weight into it " said Darren Rance, 21 of Spring Hill. "You know, inertia."

The trick: 50-50 grind

Straddle a rail or ledge with the front and back wheels on the board and keep grinding along it. Brianna Johnson, who attends Fox Chapel Middle School, likes another version she called the 5-0 grind on the spine, where you ride with the board propped up and grind along the inside of the back wheels.

Land it: "Go fast, and go at an angle," Johnson said.

What sport keeps you active? E-mail kdixon@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 24, 2007, 00:58:45]