Learn the smith grind: prerequisites, five stages on a low ledge, typical mistakes like too much pressure on the nose and why the exit comes first.
In the smith grind you slide on the back truck over the edge while the nose dips under the edge. The honest answer: it is a 5-0 grind with a lowered nose, and if you can 5-0 securely, you learn the smith on a low ledge in a few sessions, as long as you do not force the nose down with pressure.
The smith is a trick of patience. It looks as if the nose is about to fall down the edge, and that is exactly what happens when your weight lies too far forward. The weight stays at the back, the nose just hangs.
For perspective: our research found no study on the smith grind. What there is, is data on the edge: in a survey of 197 skaters, 13.6 percent of the 323 injuries happened on ledges [1]; that is a share, not a risk per hour.
How long it takes is experience: a few sessions, once the 5-0 sits.
Ride the 5-0 until you have weight, approach and exit in your feel. Milestone: 8 of 10 clean 5-0s with a roll-away.
Standing, put the board on the ledge so that the back truck lies on the edge and the nose hangs down over the edge. The weight lies over the back truck. Milestone: 8 of 10 times hold three seconds.
From the position you lift the nose, turn the shoulders and hop down. Milestone: 10 clean exits.
Little speed, approach diagonally, ollie, back truck onto the edge, let the nose dip. Slide 30 to 50 centimetres, then off. Milestone: 5 of 10 grinds with an audible slide and rolling away.
More speed, longer ledge. The weight stays at the back, the shoulders parallel to the edge. Milestone: 3 smiths over one metre in a row.
Film check: Film yourself from the side. Does the nose dip without your upper body tipping forward? If the hips stay over the edge, the position is right.
Session structure (experience): Warm up with ten 5-0s, practise the position standing and only then the smith. At most three sets of five attempts, wax before every set, stop at the first sloppy attempt.
If it stalls: If your upper body tips forward in the smith, go back to stage 2 and practise the position standing until the hips stay over the edge. Usually the grind is not the problem but a weight that already lies too far forward at take-off. A second person with a phone helps too: a clip after every attempt shows you the moment the centre of mass tips, much more precisely than your feel.
In the smith the nose can dive and you fall forward over the edge. In an Australian analysis of 5,026 injuries, 44 percent were fractures, 56 percent of them of the upper limb [2]. Register data from Sweden confirm that fractures of the upper extremity are the most common and "skateboard elbow" is a pattern of its own [3].
Wrist and forearm account for more than half of skaters' injuries [4]. A review names fatigue, skill level and lack of fitness among the risk factors [5]. So stop before the legs are tired. Skateboard GB recommends pads and wrist guards for learning [6].
TRANSFER from another sport: in aggressive inline skaters the centre of mass never passed over the base of support in the rail grind, which suggests the momentum of a diagonal approach [7]. That is a pilot finding with ten people on rails, not a skateboard instruction. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. Practise only on low ledges, never on high rails, stairs or gaps.
If the nose keeps hanging up, it is rarely the nose but the pop. Ollie deliberately a little higher and let the back truck land softly. Film yourself from the side: if the hips stay over the edge and the shoulders parallel, the position is right.
A smith grind is a grind in which the back truck slides on the edge and the nose dips under the edge. It is related to the 5-0.
In five stages: refresh the 5-0, position standing, exit first, short smith, longer and more secure. A secure 5-0 on a low ledge is the prerequisite.
In the smith the nose dips under the edge, in the feeble the front truck hangs over the far side. Both grind on the back truck.
So low that you get on it securely: about knee height. There is no study on this. Free ground should lie behind the ledge.
Because in the smith the nose deliberately dips under the edge. If you fall forward doing it, your weight lies too far forward or you press the nose down.
Learning the Crooked Grind: Nosegrind with a Canted Board