Stalefish

All three coaches treat the stalefish as a grab bolted onto a frontside air rather than a trick learned from scratch, so the shared prerequisite is a comfortable frontside air (Rodney Jones traces it further back to frontside kickturns). Everyone grabs with the back hand, reaching behind the back leg to the heel edge of the board, and everyone stresses letting go early so the feet can steer the board back into the transition. Two of the three recommend learning the grab on flat ground first: Fernando Bramsmark learned his in the street before taking them to a ramp, and David Gonzalez has you ollie and twist your knee on flat before going near coping. Gonzalez is the most specific about mechanics, naming the knee twist and a deeper bend at the back as what creates room for the hand to reach through. Rodney Jones is the most reassuring, pointing out that in a frontside air your trailing hand already hangs beside the board so the grab is a short addition. Where they differ is scope: Gonzalez focuses narrowly on the frontside version on a quarter pipe, Bramsmark shows the grab as a base for a whole family of variations frontside, backside, fakie and into stalls. The one hazard called out directly is the coping: come back in close to it, and do not tap it.

• →Get frontside airs comfortable first; the stalefish is that trick with your back hand closing on the board
• →Grab with the back hand, reaching behind your back leg around the back truck on the heel edge
• →Twist your back knee and bend at the back to open the space your hand needs to reach through
• →Drill the grab on flat ground with an ollie before taking it to a ramp
• →Release early and let your feet guide the board back in, staying close to the coping without tapping it

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