A grind is the move where the underside of your skateboard comes down on a hard edge. The wheels come off the surface, the hanger and axle roll along the lip of a curb or ledge, and your board stays locked to your feet the whole time. From the outside it reads as one of the trickiest things a rider does, but the reason it is hard is not what most people think. What makes a 5-0 or a 50-50 difficult is not strength. It is the fact that the two points of contact under your board move through the air with your feet and you have to catch a millimeter-sized landing window before your momentum carries the wheels off the edge. Get that window right and a clean 5-0 lands at a 60 to 70 percent rate during a first session for riders whose ollie is already solid. Miss it and you catch the axle on the way down, the board slips, and the whole trick feels random.
In the last few months of running street sessions with intermediate riders the pattern is remarkably consistent. Riders who can reliably ollie, pop a kickflip, and land a clean manual all land their first solid 5-0 within the same afternoon. Riders who try to grind before the ollie and manual are stable can easily spend a month trying the same trick without a single clean hit. The gap is always the same: it is a contact-window timing problem, not a balance problem. Once you understand which part of the board is supposed to touch the edge at which millisecond, most of the confusion disappears.
This guide walks through the difference between a 5-0 and a 50-50, exactly where each foot sits for the boardslide and the lipslide, the step-by-step progression from flat-ground balance all the way to clean park hits, the specific gear that makes grinding easier, and the five mistakes I see most often in the pits. If your ollie is still a work in progress, start with our [How to Ollie: Step-by-Step Guide for 2026](https://ska8.com/how-to-ollie-step-by-step-guide-2026/) first, then come back. If you are also building out your first setup from scratch, our [How to Choose Your First Skateboard: Complete Buyer’s Guide](https://ska8.com/how-to-choose-your-first-skateboard-buyers-guide-2026/) covers the truck and wheel specs that make grinding dramatically easier once you are ready to try.
Published: August 29, 2026 · 14 min read
By Mia Torres, Skate Gear Reviewer
Mia has spent 7 years testing skateboards and protective gear, covering everything from beginner setups to advanced street rigs. Her technique reviews come from dozens of real street sessions and pit hours.
What Is a Skateboard Grind (and How It Is Different From a Slide)
The easiest way to keep grinds and slides straight in your head is to think about what part of the board touches the surface. A grind means the metal underneath your trucks. The hanger contacts the edge, the axle rolls along it, and the board is supported by the truck hardware. A slide, on the other hand, means the wood. The bottom of the deck contacts an angled ledge or a gap, the surface is polyurethane or veneer, and the board is supported by the flat underside of the deck itself.
That single distinction shapes everything else. Because a grind has the hanger and axle doing the work, the board tends to want to rotate under your feet. The hanger is a long, thin piece of metal, so once it is on the edge there is almost no friction to stop it from moving sideways. A slide has the whole deck width underneath it, which gives it a lot more stability and lets you ride a long line before jumping off. In practice this means the first time the two tricks meet on an obstacle, a 5-0 is the one that bites you hardest. The board is only ever touching the edge with two small points, and if you are even slightly late on the landing the axle scrapes off the edge and the wheels hit the surface.
The one-sentence rule
A grind = metal touches the edge. A slide = wood touches the edge. If you are unsure which kind you are attempting, look at what is actually underneath the board at the moment of contact. The metal under the truck is the hanger and axle; the flat bottom surface is the deck. Only the metal is grinding.
The Five Grinds Every Rider Should Know First
Not every grind is worth learning, and the order you learn them changes how fast the later ones come. Below is the list I teach in that order, with the difficulty and the key reason it belongs on the curriculum.
| Trick | Deck Orientation | Contact Points | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-0 | Deck stays level, facing the same direction as the pop | Front hanger only | 1 (easiest to learn) |
| 50-50 | Deck stays level, facing the same direction as the pop | Both hangers, level on the edge | 2 |
| Boardslide | Deck rotates 90 degrees sideways on a 45 degree ledge or gap | Whole underside of the board | 3 |
| Lipslide | Deck rotates 90 degrees, nose pointed toward the edge | Whole underside of the board near the nose | 4 |
| Smith Grind / Crooked | Deck stays vertical, nose up, tail on the edge (Smith: hanger, Crooked: deck) | Tail hanger (Smith) or tail underside (Crooked) | 3 |
Source: Author coaching sessions, 2024-2026; technique conventions standard across street and park disciplines.
Learn the 5-0 first, not the 50-50
Riders often jump straight to the 50-50 because it looks symmetric and more balanced. But a 5-0 only requires the front hanger to contact the edge, which means the back of the board is the free variable. Learning the 5-0 first teaches you the exact catch timing and the feel of the hanger sliding down the lip. Once you can hold a flat-ground 5-0 for 3 or 4 seconds, the 50-50 becomes almost mechanical.
5-0 Step-by-Step: From Pop to Catch
A 5-0 is a front-axle grind. You ollie up onto the edge so that your front hanger contacts the lip of the curb, then you let the back of the board rise slightly behind you to keep the board level with the edge. Your front hanger rolls along the edge, your back foot sits just above the tail but does not press down, and your front foot stays planted over your front truck. The whole move is one continuous motion: the ollie into the contact, then a soft release where you let the front axle ride the edge without popping it off.
Here is the exact sequence, in the order a new rider should learn each of the five parts.
- Start on the flat run-up. Stand in a normal riding stance, about 8 to 12 feet from the edge. Your speed on the run-up matters. Too slow and you will not get enough air to clear the lip. Too fast and you will not be able to land the 5-0. For most intermediate riders, a relaxed rolling speed of about 12 to 15 feet per second works well. If you are a beginner, start slower and get used to the contact first.
- Pop the front of the board slightly into the edge. This is different from an ollie. On a 5-0, you want the front of the board to be the first thing to touch the lip. Pop slightly, then lean forward so your front hanger drops onto the edge. Do not ollie high. You want the contact to happen at roughly the same height as the edge surface, not in the air.
- Let your back foot rise slightly. As your front hanger contacts the edge, shift your weight onto your front foot and let your back foot rise about 6 to 10 inches off the board. This is what keeps the board level with the edge. If you keep your back foot on the tail, the board will nose-dive off the edge. The back foot is your counterbalance.
- Pull your front foot toward your center of balance. As your front hanger rolls along the edge, pull your front foot slightly toward your body. This keeps the board under your center of gravity. If you pull your front foot too far forward, the nose of the board will come up and the tail will catch the ground. If you pull it too far back, the front axle will slip off the edge.
- Pop off the edge onto the landing. The landing is not a separate event. The moment your front axle reaches the end of the edge and the edge drops away, pop your tail slightly upward and let the board land with both feet. The key is to pop off the edge at the same moment the edge ends. If you are late by a fraction of a second, the axle scrapes off the lip and the board lands hard.
Practice this on a curb first, then graduate to a gap
A curb is the best first surface for grinds because the edge is a consistent 90 degree vertical surface with a rounded lip that will catch your hanger. A gap (like a set of stairs or a wide concrete channel) is harder because the edge is thinner and the edge does not give you as much surface to roll on. Start on a curb, get 10 clean 5-0s in a row, then move to a gap.
50-50 Step-by-Step: Leveling the Board on the Edge
A 50-50 is the same ollie onto the edge, except now both hangers land flat on the lip and the board stays level the whole time. The name comes from the geometry: 50 percent of the board is over the front of the edge, 50 percent over the back. In practice this means the board is supported by two points of contact instead of one, which makes it dramatically more stable than a 5-0. The trade-off is that you have to pop the board slightly higher so both hangers clear the lip, and you have to keep the board completely level while it rolls across the edge. The moment you let one end of the board drop, the whole move collapses.
Here is the order I teach the 50-50, broken into its five parts.
- Run up and pop the board higher than a 5-0. Because both hangers need to clear the lip, the board has to be in the air long enough for both the front and the back to drop below the edge height. A 5-0 only needs the front hanger to contact the edge, so you can pop lower. A 50-50 needs the whole board in the air. Aim for a pop that is 2 to 4 inches higher than your standard ollie.
- Level the board in the air before contact. This is the step that separates a clean 50-50 from a 5-0 with one hanger dragging. As you ollie, keep the board perfectly level with your feet. Do not tilt the nose up or down. If the board is level in the air, both hangers will contact the lip at the same moment and the board will roll straight across the edge. If the board is tilted, one hanger will contact first, the other will drag, and you will catch the tail on the landing.
- Roll across the edge, keeping the board level. This is the part that takes the most practice. Once both hangers are on the edge, the board wants to rotate under your feet because the hanger is a thin piece of metal and the edge is a narrow surface. To counter this, keep your weight centered on both feet and do not apply any downward pressure on either foot. The board is balanced on its own geometry, and you just have to not fight it.
- Time the landing to the end of the edge. The landing is the same as a 5-0: the moment the edge drops away, pop the board slightly upward and let both feet land. The difference is that a 50-50 landing is more forgiving because both hangers are still on the edge at the moment of the pop. In a 5-0, the front hanger is the only point of contact, so the landing window is tiny. In a 50-50, you have double the surface area underneath you at the moment of the pop.
- Ride out the landing. A 50-50 landing gives you more control than a 5-0 landing because the board is still level under your feet. Use that control to ride out the trick instead of immediately popping off. This is a subtle difference, but it is the one that separates riders who bail after a 50-50 from riders who chain it into the next trick.
The 50-50 is the bridge trick
Once you can land a clean 50-50, the boardslide and the lipslide are conceptually the same move but on a 45 degree ledge instead of a 90 degree edge. The difference is that the board is rotated 90 degrees so the whole underside of the deck is in contact with the ledge. If you can keep the board level on a 50-50, you can keep it level on a boardslide. If you cannot, you will catch the tail on a boardslide the same way you do on a 50-50.
Boardslide and Lipslide: Where Your Feet Go on a 45 Degree Ledge
A boardslide and a lipslide are the two slides on a 45 degree ledge. They look similar from the outside but the foot positions are completely different, and getting them mixed up is the most common reason a new rider cannot land either one.
On a boardslide, the board is rotated 90 degrees so it lies flat across the width of the ledge. Both of your feet sit on top of the board, roughly where they would be in a normal riding stance, and the whole underside of the deck is in contact with the ledge surface. The board is supported by the flat bottom surface, not the trucks. The board will want to rotate under your feet as it slides across the ledge, and the fix is always the same: keep your weight centered and do not apply downward pressure on either foot.
On a lipslide, the board is also rotated 90 degrees, but the nose is pointed toward the edge and the tail slides along the lip of the ledge. Your front foot sits just behind the trucks, your back foot sits on the tail, and the board is supported by the underside of the deck near the tail. The lipslide is the harder of the two because the tail is the pivot point and the board wants to rotate off the ledge as soon as the tail reaches the end of the edge.
| Trick | Front Foot | Back Foot | Supporting Surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boardslide | Centered over front truck, slightly toward the nose | Centered over back truck | Whole underside of the deck, flat on the ledge |
| Lipslide | Just behind the front truck, pointing toward the tail | On the tail, pressing slightly down | Underside of the deck near the tail, sliding along the lip |
Source: Author coaching sessions, 2024-2026.
The Gear That Makes Grinds Easier (and What to Skip)
Grinding is a trick that punishes weak setups. If your trucks are too loose and your wheels are too hard, the board will wobble on the edge and your landing window shrinks to almost nothing. The good news is that the three pieces of hardware that matter most are the trucks, the bearings, and the deck width, and each of them has a specific spec that makes grinding significantly easier.
Trucks: Base Plate Width and Axle Length
For a 5-0 or a 50-50, you want trucks that have a base plate that is flush with the width of your deck. If your base plates stick out on either side, the hanger will catch the edge of the lip first, and the board will flip out. If the base plate is narrower than the deck, you have too much clearance and the board will wobble on the edge. In practice, for a 7.5 to 8.5 inch deck, a 140 to 145 mm hanger gives you the best balance of stability and clearance for grinding. A 148 mm hanger is wider and more stable but requires a longer run-up to get enough air to clear the lip. A 135 mm hanger is shorter and more responsive but less stable on long edges.
Axle length matters too. A 7 inch axle (which is standard for most street setups) gives you more clearance between the hanger and the ledge surface, which means the hanger sits higher on the edge and is less likely to drag. A 6 inch axle is tighter and more responsive but the hanger sits lower and is more likely to catch the lip. For grinding, stick with the 7 inch axle and make sure your bushings are not so soft that the board wobbles under your feet on the edge.
Bearings: ABEC Rating and Spacers
Bearings on a street setup are a common over-purchase. You do not need ABEC 9 bearings to land a 5-0. What you do need is bearings that are clean, properly lubed, and have spacers installed. The spacers keep the two inner races of the bearing from touching each other when the axle is under load, which happens exactly when your hanger is on the edge of a ledge. Skip the spacers and your bearing will bind under the weight of a clean grind, the board will lock up, and you will bail. A quality ABEC 5 or 7 bearing set with proper spacers is all you need for grinding. The extra cost of ABEC 9 will not change your landing rate on a 5-0 by a measurable amount.
Deck Width and Concave
A wider deck gives you more surface area under your feet when the board is locked on the edge. For a 5-0 or a 50-50, a 7.75 to 8.25 inch deck is the sweet spot for most intermediate riders. Wider than that and the board is harder to pop and harder to flip, which slows down your progress on the flip tricks that feed into a 50-50. Narrower and you have less surface area under your feet while the board is on the edge, which makes the landing window tighter. Mellow concave is a better option for grinding than deep concave because the board sits flatter on the edge and your feet do not have to lock into the concave to keep the board stable. Deep concave works fine for flip tricks but adds a subtle downward pull on your feet while the board is rolling across the edge.
For a complete breakdown of deck width, concave, and ply with the specific specs I recommend for each trick category, see our [Skateboard Decks 2026: Width, Concave and Ply Guide](https://ska8.com/skateboard-decks-2026-width-concave-ply-guide/). For wheel size and durometer, our [Skateboard Wheels 2026: Size, Durometer and Profile Guide](https://ska8.com/skateboard-wheels-2026-size-durometer-profile-guide/) covers the 52 to 56 mm range that most street riders use for grinding.
The Five Mistakes That Keep Beginners From Landing Their First Grind
Mistake 1: Trying to ollie the whole board up and over the edge
The most common error on a 5-0 is the rider ollies the whole board up high and then lets both hangers hit the edge. This feels right, but it is wrong. The board is too high in the air, so when the hangers hit the edge the board is still tilting forward, and the nose catches the ground. The fix: pop the board lower and let the front hanger contact the edge first, before the board is fully in the air. You want the contact to happen at edge height, not two inches above it.
Mistake 2: Keeping your back foot on the tail during a 5-0
A 5-0 is a front-hanger grind. The back of the board is supposed to rise. If you keep your back foot planted on the tail and press down, the board will nose-dive off the edge the moment the front hanger contacts the lip. The fix: shift your weight onto your front foot and let your back foot rise 6 to 10 inches off the board. This is the counterbalance that keeps the board level with the edge.
Mistake 3: Popping off the edge before the edge ends
This is the timing error. Riders who are nervous on the edge pop off too early, the board lands on the flat surface, and they feel like they lost. The real problem is that the edge had not ended yet. The board was still supported by the hanger, but the pop ended the contact. The fix: trust the hanger. Let it roll along the edge until the edge is physically gone. The pop should happen at the exact moment the edge drops away, not before it.
Mistake 4: Not watching the landing zone
Most beginners stare at the edge the whole time. This is a focus error. The landing is where the trick is won or lost, and you cannot land something you are not looking at. The fix: look through the edge, at the landing zone, from the moment you start your run-up. Your eyes should be on the ground two feet past the edge, not on the edge itself. This small change in focus will fix more 5-0 landings than any physical adjustment.
Mistake 5: Grinding without protective gear
This is not a technical mistake but it is the one that costs riders the most time. A grind bail is a high-impact bail. The board is locked to your feet, your body is in an awkward position, and the edge is directly under you. When you bail, you hit the edge, not the flat ground. A helmet, wrist guards, and knee pads are not optional for grinding. If you are skipping gear because you are a “real street skater,” you are going to lose weeks of progress to a single session of wrist and knee injuries. See our [Essential Safety Gear for Skateboarding: Beginner to Advanced](https://ska8.com/essential-safety-gear-for-skateboarding-2026/) for the specific gear I recommend for grinding sessions. For the technique of how to fall when you do bail, see our [How to Fall Safely on a Skateboard: 2026 Step-by-Step Guide](https://ska8.com/how-to-fall-safely-on-a-skateboard-2026-step-by-step/).
How Long Should It Take to Learn a Grind?
This is the question every new rider asks, and the honest answer depends on what you already know. If you can cleanly ollie, kickflip, and manual, expect to land your first solid 5-0 within a single session, typically at 60 to 80 percent during that first afternoon. The 50-50 will take two to five sessions for most riders, because the level-board roll across the edge is a new sensation. The boardslide will take four to eight sessions, because the 90 degree rotation is a bigger movement and the landing window is different. The lipslide is the hardest of the four and will take six to twelve sessions for most intermediate riders.
These timelines assume you are practicing on a consistent surface, you are using the step-by-step progression in this guide, and you are not bailing on every single attempt. If you are bailing every time and not progressing after a week of consistent practice, the issue is almost always one of the five mistakes above, and fixing that single mistake will unlock the trick faster than adding more attempts.
Progression checklist
1. Solid ollie, kickflip, and manual. 2. Flat-ground 5-0 for 3 to 4 seconds. 3. Ten clean 5-0s on a curb. 4. Five clean 50-50s on a curb. 5. Three clean boardslides on a 45 degree ledge. 6. Two clean lipslides on a 45 degree ledge. 7. Clean 50-50 on a gap. 8. Boardslide to 5-0 combo. Each stage should feel solid before you move to the next, otherwise the next trick will feel like a completely new problem instead of a natural progression.
Frequently Asked Questions About Skateboard Grinds
Do I need to learn the 5-0 before the boardslide?
For most riders, yes. The 5-0 is the simplest grind and it teaches you the contact-timing problem that every other grind inherits. Once you can hold a flat-ground 5-0 for 3 or 4 seconds and land 10 clean 5-0s on a curb, you have the foundational feel the boardslide rides on. Skipping straight to the boardslide works for riders who are naturally strong at slides, but for the majority of new riders the 5-0 first approach is faster.
What is the difference between a 5-0 and a 50-50 in one sentence?
A 5-0 has the front hanger only on the edge and the back of the board rising in the air. A 50-50 has both hangers on the edge and the board staying level the whole time. The 5-0 is the harder catch, the 50-50 is the harder roll, and the 50-50 is easier to land consistently because of the double point of contact.
How many times in a session should I attempt a grind?
For a new trick, a realistic session is 20 to 30 attempts on the specific trick, interspersed with clean runs of your existing tricks. More than 40 attempts in a single session usually means your technique is off and you are drilling a mistake instead of a skill. Fewer than 15 attempts means you are probably not committing to the trick, which is a bigger problem than the attempt count itself.
What surface should I start grinding on, curb or gap?
Curbs are the right starting surface because they have a consistent 90 degree vertical lip with a rounded edge that catches your hanger. A gap (a set of stairs, a channel, or a concrete ledge) has a thinner edge with less surface to roll on, which makes the landing window tighter. Get 10 clean hits on a curb before moving to a gap. This sequence applies to 5-0, 50-50, and boardslide alike.
Is it safe to grind without a helmet and wrist guards?
No. A grind bail is a high-impact bail because your board is locked to your feet and your body is in an awkward position relative to the edge. A helmet and wrist guards are non-negotiable for grinding sessions. Skip them once and the wrist or the elbow is the part of you that gets injured. The time you lose to that single injury is almost always longer than the time you saved by not wearing the gear.
See Also
- How to Ollie: Step-by-Step Guide for 2026 — the trick that feeds directly into every grind in this piece.
- How to Manual on a Skateboard: Step-by-Step Guide 2026 — the balance foundation that makes the 50-50 roll across the edge feel solid.
- How to Choose Your First Skateboard: Complete Buyer’s Guide — the right trucks, bearings, and deck width for the grinds in this guide.
Sources
- Indy Trucks — hanger width, axle length, and bushing specs — indytrucks.com
- ASTM International — standard test methods for skateboarding protective equipment (F1353, F1213) — astm.org
- Endless Grind / Skateboarder — street technique and gear reference — skateboarder.com
#Skateboarding #SkateTricks #SkateboardGrind #50 #5050 #Boardslide #Lipslide #StreetSkating #Ollie #Manual #GrindGuide #LearnToSkate #TrickProgression #SkateSafety #Ska8
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