Fingerboard Trick Glossary: 30 Trick Names Explained
Fingerboard trick names come from full-size skateboarding, and there are hundreds of them. Most videos and forum threads assume you already know what a nollie-heelflip is. This glossary organises the 30 most common trick names by family — ollies, flips, grinds, slides, manuals, rotations, and stalls — with a plain-English description of what each one actually is. It's the reference to keep open in a tab while you're watching skate videos or reading trick tips.
How trick names are constructed
Almost every fingerboard trick name is either a base trick or a base trick with modifiers stacked in front. 'Nollie-heelflip-frontside-boardslide' looks impenetrable but breaks down into: nollie (a variant), heelflip (the base), frontside (direction), and boardslide (the second trick in the combo).
The four common modifiers, in the order they usually appear, are: stance (nollie, switch, fakie), rotation (frontside, backside, 180, 360), base trick (ollie, kickflip, heelflip, boardslide), and combo trick (into another trick).
Once you know the modifiers, most trick names decode themselves. The glossary below covers the bases; the modifiers stack on top.
Ollies and pop-based tricks
Ollie — pop the tail down while dragging the front finger forward across the deck, launching the board level into the air. The foundational trick.
Nollie — a nollie is an ollie done from the nose instead of the tail. Pop the nose down, drag your back finger across the deck. The board still comes up level, just from the front.
Fakie ollie — an ollie done while rolling backward. The board rolls in the opposite direction from your fingers' natural orientation.
Switch ollie — an ollie done in your non-dominant stance. If you normally push with your left hand, a switch ollie uses your right, and vice versa. Fully learning switch stance is what separates casual fingerboarders from serious ones.
Pop shove-it — pop the board like an ollie, but at the same time push the tail sideways so the board rotates 180 degrees flat under your fingers. Lands facing the opposite direction.
Flip tricks
Kickflip — pop the tail like an ollie, but flick the front finger off the side of the deck (rather than dragging forward) so the board rotates one full spin along its long axis. Grip tape faces down for a moment mid-air.
Heelflip — the reverse of a kickflip. Flick with the heel side of the finger instead of the toe side, so the board spins the opposite way.
Varial kickflip — a kickflip combined with a pop shove-it. The board flips and rotates 180 flat at the same time.
Tre flip (360 flip) — a kickflip combined with a 360-degree flat rotation. Board flips once and spins a full turn on the ground plane.
Impossible — a very rare fingerboard trick — the board wraps around the tail-popping finger through a full rotation. Hard to describe, harder to land.
Grinds and slides
50-50 — both trucks locked on top of a rail or ledge, deck parallel to it. The most fundamental grind.
5-0 — only the back truck grinds; front trucks lifted. Deck angled tail-down.
Nose grind — only the front truck grinds; back lifted. Deck angled nose-down.
Board slide — the underside of the deck slides across a rail or ledge, with trucks hanging off either side.
Nose slide — the deck's nose section slides across a ledge, tail up.
Tail slide — the deck's tail section slides across a ledge, nose up.
Lipslide — a board slide entered by rotating over the top of the obstacle rather than into it from the side.
Bluntslide — the very tip of the tail (the 'blunt') sits on the ledge, rest of the deck angled vertically. A style trick, rewards precision.
Manuals
Manual (tail manual) — rolling on the back two wheels only, nose lifted.
Nose manual — rolling on the front two wheels only, tail lifted.
Manual combo — any trick that ends in a manual position. E.g. kickflip-into-manual: kickflip out of a manual, then hold the manual for a distance.
Rotations
180 — a 180-degree flat rotation of the whole deck, usually paired with an ollie. Frontside or backside describes the direction of spin.
Frontside — a rotation direction where your finger travels clockwise around the deck (if you're right-hand dominant looking down). The 'front' of your hand faces the direction of spin first.
Backside — the opposite direction to frontside. Back of the hand faces the direction of spin first.
360 — a full 360-degree flat rotation. Harder than a 180 at fingerboard scale because there's more inertia to overcome.
540 — one and a half rotations. Video content, mostly.
Vert and transition tricks
Grind stall — trucks placed on the top edge (coping) of a ramp or bowl, briefly held, then rolled back into the ramp.
Rock 'n' roll — the deck balanced with the front trucks on top of a ramp's coping and the back wheels hanging over the ramp side, briefly stalled.
Axle stall — trucks locked on coping with the deck parallel to it, both trucks on top.
Fakie disaster — rolling forward, ollieing over the coping, and landing with the deck across the top edge (nose in, tail out).
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a kickflip and a heelflip?+
Both flip the board on its long axis, but in opposite directions. A kickflip is flicked off the toe side of the finger; a heelflip is flicked off the heel side. On a fingerboard the distinction is which way your fingertip angles when it leaves the deck.
What does 'frontside' and 'backside' mean?+
Directions of rotation. Frontside is when your dominant-hand fingers travel clockwise around the deck (looking down); backside is counterclockwise. The 'front' of your hand leads on frontside spins.
What's a nollie?+
An ollie done from the nose instead of the tail. Pop the nose down while dragging your back finger across the deck. The board still comes up level — just from the front instead of the back.
Are all these tricks scaled from full-size skateboarding?+
Yes. Every trick name in this glossary comes from full-size skateboarding, adapted to fingers. That's why fingerboarding culture and full-size skate culture share vocabulary — the tricks are recognisably the same shapes, just at different scales.
What's the hardest trick on this list?+
The tre flip (360 flip) and the impossible are the hardest of the base tricks to land consistently at fingerboard scale — both require kickflip-level control plus rotation. The bluntslide is the hardest of the slide family.
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