Madder, Madder..... Madar?

As promised, young Element Euro rider Madars Apse is appearing in this post as a perfect illustration of my two part should-be-cool and should-not-be-done list. Notice the three shuv (or bad impossible?) down MACBA for example.



Even though it was posted in July, this dude is remarkably worth noting. Dressed like an American and looking like his every trick is done with floppy shoes and a soggy board, the boy pulls off a 9 set no comply along with a Dylan-caliber frontside flip and manages to make every trick memorable somehow. Note the fakie front board.... around a rail? As if that trick isn't awkward enough. The pop out of the dirt on the opening feeble, the pole-jam-like first 5050, the crooks pop over on the inward curved handrail, the front board pop out before the big ass knob at the bottom, the tremendously long round rail 5-0, the nasty kinks on the last 5050, and the ender (a spot I have never seen skated that way, or even assumed possible).... honestly the only clips I don't particularly care for are the 3 shuv/impossible and the switch inward heel. My favorites though have to be the kickflip 5-0 transfer into the bank, and the barrier wallie back 360 launch.

So Mr. Apse aptly demonstrates the ugliness of 3 shuvs while at the same time showing the beauty of the scary as hell no comply 180 down gaps/stairs. I can now start my list.


-----The TRICKS That Should Be COOLER List-----
(TTTSBCL)

1. No comply 180s. Not as a flatland trick. This trick is a primo-king, and it pretty much has to be done right to work down a set or gap. For reference, view Louie Barletta's part in Subject to Change, and anything of Mike Ruscyzk.

2. Boardslide to Hurricane grinds. Jason Adams is the usual king of these, although unfortunately Scott Decenzo pulled out a lovely frontside one in Vamdalism. Like a more risky and potentially awkward footed variation of the boardslide feeble, I don't understand why this trick gets so little use. Just that little powerful nudge into hurricane fits so well with today's passion for 5-0 to switch crooks and the likes. But gnarlier.

3. Slides or Grinds into manual. While not a specific trick, this technique almost always looks good, although some may think it too geeky or combo-like. Joey Brezinski has been doing them for years, and Tyler Bledsoe and even Pete Eldridge had examples of this in Hallelujah. The best, or most eye pleasing, variations I've seen occurred in Luan's part in Extremely Sorry. It's pretty much impossible to go wrong with these types of clips, so why are they not in every video at LEAST once? C'mon. Get creative and show off that fuckin' balance.

4. Nosebonk Pole Jams. Adam Alfaro blasts one of these in his God Save the Label part, if not his Back in Black segment. It's the perfect combination of three tricks. The pole jam, the nosebonk, and the crook(bonk?). The little lift it gives the do-er to jam right at the end is reminiscent of a transition nollie bonk, and since it doesn't require full commitment to the pole, I don't see why they don't appear more often, particularly into banks and across gaps.

5. Late shuvs. Everybody loves a late shuv. Look at the last month of posts for perfect renditions of them by Chris Pfanner and Jordan Hoffart. The problem with these, I think, arises from the ugliness of late flips mixed with late shuvs, although separately both are beautiful tricks. Plus, nothing feels as cool as quick kicking your board and landing back on it. The delayed action of the trick is really cool to watch too, I believe it might have something to do with brain processing time because it seems to fool the vision for a second. Always a good trick to see in any part, particularly with a backside 180 before the shuvit.

6. Halfcab Grinds. As reminded by Taylor Bingaman and also Grant Taylor's part in Mindfield, halfcabs are simple and fun to pop, and look pretty awesome. Toss that bitch into a grind and you couple it with weird timing, making it hard. Yet these types of tricks look much less awkward than nollie front 180 versions, and are much rarer. Assuming everyone has been halfcabbing since their first year of skating, this is yet another maneuver that has no reason for it's all but complete absence in skateboarding footage.

7. 5050 360s. Not much to say about this one. Like tailslide 270s and shit like that, if you can haul at a 5050 and completely rotate a 360 out, it's gonna look sick. Ahem, Vince De Valle and Darrell Stanton (frontsider and backsider).

8. Heelflip lip tricks. Very hard to come by examples, the closest I can think of other than friends of mine in the past is Sean Eaton in The Beginning with his heelflip backside pivot, and Chris Troy in God Save the Label with his blunt backside heelflip. We all know it's easier and more coping friendly to flick kickflips on transition. But considering I grew up seeing a good friend toss Varial Heel rock fakies, nollie front heel tail stalls, heelflip backside pivots and feeble, heelflip nosestalls, and blunt heelflip fakies..... where are they in skating? I know those heelflip pros out there have them stored away somewhere. Hell, even the switch heelers. Where are they at? Show us the footy, boys.

9. Sugarcanes. Hard, very hard. To do right, at least. But even a basher, like Dylan's in the pool in his Gravis promo, is a delight to the eye. Lets not forget Patrick Melcher's transition rips, and Sammy Baca's handrail usages. This trick looks awesome, end of story. Levels above hurricanes, for sure.

10. Bonelesses. I'll put on the bulletproof vest for this one. Watch the Slave video, and see even Matt Mumford cracking the hell out of them. Or Grant Taylor's massive one in Debacle. Better yet, lets take a look at Danny Dicola in Slave's Radio/Television:



Bottom line is, these aren't the bonelesses all the lame kids that couldn't kickflip used to do around the skatepark on flat. Learn to properly snap a boneless and launch them, and you've got yourself a legit, spread out booster of a ramp trick. Or even a gap trick, as Kerry Getz so riskily reminded us in Skate More. Go boneless.

Also when watching Danny's clip, notice the blunt body varial grab and keep that in mind for the ROUGH premiere tonight in Norfolk. Come out and check it!