Learn the backside air: prerequisites, five stages on a small ramp, typical mistakes like hang-ups, safety rules and why height should never be your goal.
The backside air is a jump over the coping of a ramp in which you turn backside and grab the board with the front hand. The honest answer: it is one of the ramp tricks where the head makes the rules, not the legs: whoever goes too high too early risks the hardest falls this sport knows.
This guide takes you in only on small ramps. Vert or large quarters are no place to learn a first air.
Numbers help to put it in perspective: in seven top skaters the landing force of an ollie from a 45.7-centimetre platform was about 4.7 times body weight, within only 30 to 80 milliseconds [1]. That applies to the ollie, not to the air, but it shows how hard landings are.
How long it takes is experience and depends on your ramp feel: plan weeks, not days.
What does "small" mean? A mini ramp up to about hip height, without an extension, with a clean coping and smooth transition. The height you dare is not the measure. The measure is whether you hit the return into the ramp every time, even when you are tired. A review names fatigue, skill level and lack of fitness among the risk factors [7]. An air you only land on good days is not yet your air. Build it until it also sits on ordinary days.
Ride up with a little more speed and lift the board briefly over the coping, without turn and without grab. The height does not matter, what matters is that you come straight back into the ramp. Milestone: 10 clean mini airs without a hang-up.
Add the grab with the front hand. First only touch, then hold briefly. Milestone: 8 of 10 airs with a grab, landed cleanly.
Turn the shoulders slightly backside as you ride up, without the board turning. Your gaze goes to the landing. Milestone: 8 of 10 landed straight with shoulders turned.
With the grab, the board now turns about 45 degrees. You land at an angle, but in the ramp. Milestone: 5 of 10 airs with a turn landed cleanly.
With more speed you turn back into the ramp in the air and land with knees bent on all four wheels. Milestone: 5 of 10 complete backside airs landed cleanly.
Film check: Film yourself from the side. Where do you leave the coping, and does the upper body stay over the board? If the head stays in front of the board, you are right.
The backside air is rated safety-critical: you fall from the air onto the ramp, and head, wrist and spine are at risk. Practise it only on small ramps, never on vert and never without protection.
In a US analysis of almost 25,000 patients, helmet use was associated with a clearly lower likelihood of a severe brain injury (odds ratio 0.53), as were injuries at the skatepark compared with other places [2]. A review reports head injuries at up to 75 percent of all injuries; tested helmets lost protective effect on the second impact [3]. If you have hit hard, replace the helmet. Fatigue, skill level and lack of fitness count among the risk factors [7]: stop before the legs are tired.
In an Australian analysis of 5,026 injuries, traumatic brain injuries and concussions made up 62 percent of head injuries [4]. Wrist and forearm make up more than half [5]. According to Skateboard GB, pads and wrist guards are often a lifelong must for transition skaters [6]. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training.
Make the air safe on the way back first: practise the landing by doing airs without a turn and concentrate only on returning into the ramp. If you control the return, you can simply add the turn later.
A backside air is a jump over the coping of a ramp with a backside turn and a grab with the front hand. You fly, turn back and land in the ramp.
In five stages: airs without a turn, grab, prepare the turn, add the turn, full air. Axle stall, rock to fakie and secure dropping in are the prerequisite. Start on a small mini ramp.
So low that you do not panic: about hip height or less. There is no study on this. Vert is no place for the first air.
The difference lies in the direction of turn: backside and frontside turn in opposite directions. Which direction comes easier depends on you.
The grab is part of the trick, it stabilises the board. You can practise without a grab first and add it later.
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