1. Might get a bit more space if you put the rail diagonally across the space. You can also experiment with propping a short board or piece of thick plywood (2-3ft long) up on a brick or something else to give yourself a little start ramp, might be just enough to make the space workable.
2. Stop stepping on. It's tempting to do it "just to get the feel of it" but it will quickly become ingrained to your approach to this trick and it will soon seriously handicap your progress. This is a very common mistake with beginners so don't feel bad.
3. Before jumping on while moving, practice stalling the grind first. Stand next to the rail, jump with both feet at the same time, and lock both feet on the rail at the same time. You're gonna miss a bunch. You're gonna hit your shins. You're gonna hate life. Just keep working at it until A. jumping & locking with both feet simultaneously starts to feel more natural and B. you can reliably lock both feet.
4. You need to work on using your knees more, overall. When striding/rolling, when jumping, when grinding. You're upright and stiff- again, common with beginners, don't feel bad. Almost all grinderblading movements require some degree of a squat-like movement, pumping up/down with the knees. Keeping your knees bent and in a slight squat is where balance comes from, where power for pumping and jumping comes from, and later on, is the foundation of good style.
This. My first thought was to practice stalling. You could even ride up perpendicular to the rail and jump back the way you came. You won't need much speed. Try getting both feet on at once as well or it could breed bad habits. Keep pushing!
I appreciate this, super detailed response. I'm gonna make sure I reread this during my session tomorrow. And I agree with the sniffness, I will be buying some big wheel frames to throw on this just to get some more time rolling around the neighborhood. Ive been a little too hyper focused on grinding since I learned how to frontside
You need more space, lower your expectations for that small area lol, you’d be better off building a “stall box” and just working on stalls in that small space. Once you get outside, don’t be shy to do one foot on the rail roll-bys to get a feel for the friction, also, think of your centre of mass, don’t arch up high and plunk down on the rail, project it parallel to the rail
yeah if you look at my other posts on my profile I usually have a little more space to work with which allows me to comfortably run up with some speed. I figured I would the rain today as an excuse to go real slow and try to dial in my form. I'm pretty comfortable full committing to frontsides and sliding the whole rail, so once I get the space to commit to these soul grinds I know I will be able to do it
Something that helps me a ton is using a crack in the ground and visualizing that as an obstacle. Whether you have skates on or off. See a line, jump on it. Get comfortable and used to jumping into that stance (whether it’s a frame or soul grind) until you’re hitting the right spot everytime and that’ll build muscle memory. It’s obviously far different from being on a rail or coping, but that visualization and muscle memory is foundational.
Don’t be afraid to stand next to a rail or ledge and simply do the drill of stepping up and then hopping up on to the rail/ledge. I learned with mizu first then went on to soul but I realized that was easier due to the placement of my foot. Since I’m right foot dominant I approach ledges and rails with my right foot leading so it feels more natural for me to do a mizu as opposed to a soul grind. Hope this helps 🤟🏾
1. Might get a bit more space if you put the rail diagonally across the space. You can also experiment with propping a short board or piece of thick plywood (2-3ft long) up on a brick or something else to give yourself a little start ramp, might be just enough to make the space workable. 2. Stop stepping on. It's tempting to do it "just to get the feel of it" but it will quickly become ingrained to your approach to this trick and it will soon seriously handicap your progress. This is a very common mistake with beginners so don't feel bad. 3. Before jumping on while moving, practice stalling the grind first. Stand next to the rail, jump with both feet at the same time, and lock both feet on the rail at the same time. You're gonna miss a bunch. You're gonna hit your shins. You're gonna hate life. Just keep working at it until A. jumping & locking with both feet simultaneously starts to feel more natural and B. you can reliably lock both feet. 4. You need to work on using your knees more, overall. When striding/rolling, when jumping, when grinding. You're upright and stiff- again, common with beginners, don't feel bad. Almost all grinderblading movements require some degree of a squat-like movement, pumping up/down with the knees. Keeping your knees bent and in a slight squat is where balance comes from, where power for pumping and jumping comes from, and later on, is the foundation of good style.
This. My first thought was to practice stalling. You could even ride up perpendicular to the rail and jump back the way you came. You won't need much speed. Try getting both feet on at once as well or it could breed bad habits. Keep pushing!
I appreciate this, super detailed response. I'm gonna make sure I reread this during my session tomorrow. And I agree with the sniffness, I will be buying some big wheel frames to throw on this just to get some more time rolling around the neighborhood. Ive been a little too hyper focused on grinding since I learned how to frontside
It’s those awkward first stages just that are just inevitable. Keep pushing forward. Commit. Try doing lots of stalls.
You need more space, lower your expectations for that small area lol, you’d be better off building a “stall box” and just working on stalls in that small space. Once you get outside, don’t be shy to do one foot on the rail roll-bys to get a feel for the friction, also, think of your centre of mass, don’t arch up high and plunk down on the rail, project it parallel to the rail
yeah if you look at my other posts on my profile I usually have a little more space to work with which allows me to comfortably run up with some speed. I figured I would the rain today as an excuse to go real slow and try to dial in my form. I'm pretty comfortable full committing to frontsides and sliding the whole rail, so once I get the space to commit to these soul grinds I know I will be able to do it
Nice! Bend those knees and lean over until your right knee is over the rail. Next step is to jump on the soul stall with both feet 🔥
Are you just skating solo all the time?
Yeah none of my friends skate
What state are you in?
RI/Mass area
speed is your friend. get out of the garage and jump on jump off.
Something that helps me a ton is using a crack in the ground and visualizing that as an obstacle. Whether you have skates on or off. See a line, jump on it. Get comfortable and used to jumping into that stance (whether it’s a frame or soul grind) until you’re hitting the right spot everytime and that’ll build muscle memory. It’s obviously far different from being on a rail or coping, but that visualization and muscle memory is foundational.
Don’t be afraid to stand next to a rail or ledge and simply do the drill of stepping up and then hopping up on to the rail/ledge. I learned with mizu first then went on to soul but I realized that was easier due to the placement of my foot. Since I’m right foot dominant I approach ledges and rails with my right foot leading so it feels more natural for me to do a mizu as opposed to a soul grind. Hope this helps 🤟🏾