Tricks "B"

Back Flip
Pretty much exactly what it says - a backwards end over end flip of the rider and skateboard. This is only possible off of ramps, of course. This was invented by Andy McDonald in 1997.

Backside
Backside is often abbreviated to b/s. Along with frontside, this term is used to further define any trick involving rotation of the rider, and some tricks that involve a rotation of the board. Grinds and slides are also defined as backside or frontside.

When a skateboarder flips the board or performs rotations, if their backfoot is moving backwards the trick is backside.

When grinding or sliding, backside is used when the rider has his back to the obstacle as he slides away from it, or in the case of grinds where the board is parallel to the obstacle, if the obstacle was behind the skater as he approached it.

Backside Air
Gaining air (usually out of a half pipe) and travelling in the direction your toes are facing while turning backside. A 180° backside air in combination with a simple grab is probably the most basic half pipe trick you can do.

Backside Alley-Oop
The opposite of a simple backside air (again usually seen in a half pipe); gaining air and travelling in the direction your heels are facing (heelside) while turning backside. Therefore, you are turning away from your direction of travel, and cannot spot your landing until the last second, making alley-oops much more difficult than basic airs.

Backside Boneless
Unlike many tricks, where the rotation of the trick doesn't change how the trick is done, a boneless is done differently when done backside -- the front foot is planted to the toeside of the deck instead of the heelside, and the front hand grabs the board on the heelside edge of the nose (unlike in a normal boneless, where the back hand grabs like an indy).

Backside Flip
Refers to a 180° backside kickflip. When the general term 'flip' is used in a trick name it almost always refers to a kickflip. Similarly, when the amount of spin (ie, the number of degrees) is not specified, the trick is almost always a 180° trick.

Backside Grab
Grabbing the heelside of the board with the front hand between the heels, with the arm to the leading side of (and not between) the legs.

Backside Ollie
A backside 180° ollie; remember when the amount of spin is not specified, the trick is almost always a 180° trick.

Barley Grind
A switch frontside 180° ollie into a frontside smith grind.

Bastard Plant
A backside boneless to fakie.

Benihana
Essentially a tailgrab, with the back hand holding the tail, while the back foot is taken off the skateboard and extended downwards below the board on the heelside.

Bertslide
One of the original Dogtown tricks invented by the Z-boys; simply crouching and placing a hand on the ground while sliding the skateboard and your body 180°. *Note - you see this all the time in old school videos and I have to say it looks pretty dumb nowadays. But this was invented when skateboarding was little more than surfing on concrete, and in fact was inspired by a surfer called Larry Bertleman (hence the title of the trick - Bertslide).

Big Flip
A 360° flip with a body varial in the same direction. Note the linguistic similarity to a big spin which is simply a 360° shuvit with a body varial in the same direction.

Big Spin
A combination of a 360° shuvit or pop shuvit and a body varial in the same direction.

Bluntslide
An advanced slide where the board is at right angles to the obstacle but at a very steep almost vertical angle. The skateboard slides on a lip with the underside of the tail on the side edge and the wheels on the top edge, or in the case of narrow rails, between the wheels and the tail of the deck. Similar to a tailslide but cranked more vertically.

Bluntstall
See bluntslide above; the same position without sliding. This is often seen in park and vert skating as a brief stall at the top of a quarter pipe, since to get into this trick all you need to do is keep the board vertical as you roll past the lip of the quarter pipe and stall with the back wheels hooked over the coping. The difficult bit is getting back into the quarter pipe.

Boardslide
A slide with the skateboard at right angles to and in the middle of the obstacle. The riders weight is distributed evenly between the nose and the tail.
In a boardslide the skateboarder approaches the obstacle (usually a rail, rarely a box or kerb) from either side and ollies onto the obstacle throwing the nose of the skateboard over it. This is the opposite of a lipslide.
A backside boardslide is where the rider approaches facing the rail and turns backwards as he ollies pushing the nose of the skateboard over the rail before landing on it and riding the trick out

Body Jar
A backside nosegrab on vert where you smack your tail on the coping as you re-enter the ramp.

Body Varial
Simply, a skateboarder turning in mid air without taking the skateboard itself with them

Bomb Drop
A skateboarding trick probably best described as a jazzy way to mount your board. The skater begins with the board held behind him with his front hand and jumps into the air, putting the board under his feet with his hand and slamming down to the ground. Can be performed stationary, rolling, or into a half pipe, bowl or other obstacle.

Boneless
An old school way of getting airborne. The boneless was invented before the ollie. It involves stepping off the skateboard with your front foot and jumping off that foot while holding the board with your back hand.

Boomerang
Originally a BMX trick name, I appropriated this to describe the simple yet quite cool trick of a shuvit with a body varial in the opposite direction. There is no 'official' name for it is commonly agreed upon by skaters.

Burntwist
A 360 eggplant, invented by Bob Burnquist.

Butterflip
A specific form of railflip to 50-50 (the freestyle trick, not the grind). You start in a cooperflip position, and push the back foot forwards as you jump. This causes the nose of the board to rise, the board to do a three-quarter flip and (if you've timed it correctly) you should land with the back foot on the back truck with the nose of the board in your hand.