Learn the tailslide: prerequisites, five stages on a low ledge from tail tap to long slide, typical mistakes and why big rails are no place to learn.
In the tailslide you slide along an edge on the underside of the tail while the nose hovers in the air. The honest answer: if you can noseslide securely you know the idea, but the weight lies at the back and looks unfamiliar; on a low, waxed edge you learn it in a few sessions.
The tailslide is the mirror image of the noseslide. From a spectator's perspective the trick often looks easier than it feels because the weight lies over the tail, which you hardly see.
Competitions reward such tricks only when they are clean: in Olympic formats, according to Skateboard GB, five judges score from 0 to 100 on, among other things, difficulty, flow, execution quality and use of the course [1]. A clean tailslide on the low ledge counts more than a near-slide on the big rail.
How long it takes is experience: a few sessions with noseslide experience.
What counts in the tailslide is balance on a small area. In a study of 45 skaters, static and dynamic balance were among the most important factors for good performance [7]. In the tailslide you travel only on the tail area, and your weight shifts as soon as you go too far forward or back. That is why it pays to break the trick into small parts and practise each stage until it gets boring.
Ride the noseslide until you have the rhythm of approach, turn and exit again. Milestone: 5 of 10 noseslides with rolling away.
Roll parallel to the low edge and let only the tail land on the edge briefly, then roll down again. Milestone: 8 of 10 taps without stepping off.
Standing, put the board on the edge so that only the tail area rests on it. Feel how the weight sits over the tail. Milestone: 8 of 10 times hold five seconds.
Little speed, approach slightly diagonally, ollie onto the edge, slide 30 to 50 centimetres, then jump down. Milestone: 5 of 10 slides with an audible slide and rolling away.
More speed, longer ledge. The weight stays over the tail, the shoulders parallel to the edge. Higher only when the short slide sits. Milestone: 3 slides over one metre in a row.
If it stalls: If the board keeps slipping away in the tailslide, practise the tail tap again in sets of ten and watch only one thing: the weight stays over the tail, the chest over the board. If you lack the feel for it, stand on a low edge and rock carefully forward and back to feel where the tipping point lies.
Film check: Film yourself from the side. Does the weight lie over the tail, and do the shoulders stay parallel? If the board slips off, the clip shows the moment you go too far forward or back.
In the tailslide you fall sideways or backward, and wrist and head are close to the obstacle. In a survey of 197 skaters in Spain, 13.6 percent of the 323 injuries happened on ledges and 25.7 percent on stairs and gaps [2]; these are shares of accidents, not risk per hour. So practise only on low ledges and not on stairs or gaps.
In an Australian analysis of 5,026 injuries, 44 percent were fractures, 56 percent of them of the upper limb [3]. Register data from Sweden confirm this and describe "skateboard elbow" as a pattern of its own [4]. Wrist and forearm account for more than half of skaters' injuries [5]. Skateboard GB recommends pads and wrist guards for learning [6]. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training.
Make the tail tap your test: if you tap the tail cleanly on the edge five times in a row, your timing is there. Only then is the slide worth it. And wax the edge anew before every set, because a dry edge breaks the trick, not your skill.
A tailslide is a slide in which you slide along an edge on the underside of the tail while the nose hovers in the air. It is the counterpart to the noseslide.
In five stages: refresh the noseslide, tail tap, position standing, short tailslide, longer and higher. A noseslide on a low ledge is the prerequisite.
In the noseslide you slide on the nose, in the tailslide on the tail. The weight sits forward or back accordingly.
So low that you get on it securely: about knee or hip height. There is no study on this. The wax matters more.
Yes, a waxed edge glides, a dry one hangs up. Wax is the simplest help at the start.
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