In skateboarding, we’re wired to think more is “better.”

In a battlefield rife with crook nollie flips, a simple clean dismount hits like a sip of amaro after a hearty bowl of spaghetti. While this one is a bit of a rule-breaker with the slo-mo flatground trick (that’s landed!) after the grind, this five-Mississippi crook is too good to pass up. There’s nothing like a camera panning out to reveal ten more feet of ledge.

When I was 14, this punker dude picked me up to go skating. He had just smoked dust and started blasting “The Process of Weeding Out” while switching lanes every minute. A thrilling journey for a young man to take, but extremely hectic. That’s how I felt watching Ben Kadow in Hockey IV before Nik Stain closed out the video. While Nik moves with the same power and speed as Ben, his movements are poised, steady, and beautifully restrained.

There’s a lot of Understated Nate™ to comb through, and while it was tempting to throw a clip of a regular-ass 180 in here, this line from Real To Reel nails the concept. No pushes seen, but he’s flying… or maybe gliding. Three tricks, no flips, and a beautiful directional awareness at a storied spot. Thank you for doing less, Mr. Jones.

There are some excellent front noselides in Elissa’s career to choose from, but let’s appreciate this quick hit. Fading out from some casual post-trick pushing is a healthy slide, locked in nicely, and if you slow it down, there’s a point where it looks like this one might get away, before the expert dismount. It’s bright, the light hits the lens, and they run it back so you can soak in the simplicity.

“All of that was sick! But can we talk about that Nollie 👀! Wow 😮!” – Jeremy Wray. Yes, yes we can. Everything in this post (straight to IG might we add) goes hard. Amidst the sea of fire emojis, several Hall of Famers seemed legitimately stunned by this footage–especially the Keenan Milton homage—but the bionic nollie is the star of the post. Don’t you agree?

Young Heath was really good. Then something snapped, and he decided every rail and hubba on Earth was his enemy and he was going to be one of the all-time greats. He entered his “All-Black Era” and then, in a shocking twist, mostly white. That’s minimal! Fuck, he’s so minimal that he’s likely upset that anyone is writing about this, but we’re willing to risk the lashing to give you one of the best trick sequences and middle fingers ever.

Jake Johnson put out a lot of wonderful shit before he entered the “Please give us a few clips” phase. This is not a complaint, because we’re championing scarcity here. Remember? While the spot is semi-complicated, JJ makes the classy choice to back 180. But it’s far from a stock 180. All four wheels over the bar at once, knees tucked deep into the chest, arms like a DaVinci drawing, and a little Hollywood Shuffle to boot.

No matter how advanced skateboarding gets, when you see someone lock into something this high, you think, “Fuck, that must be cool.” AO is a master of choice: his tricks, his aesthetics, the original 917 team, and eventually, when to chill and enter parenthood. I bet it was freeing to have your entire team quit and have time to surf, especially knowing you did shit like this on video.

It’s so nice they showed it twice. Had crazier shit been done down a big set of stairs in 2005 (count ‘em if that’s your thing)? Yeah sure, in the same video, but you have to be very cool and confident to float a fakie ollie like this. Fuck it, you can’t. That’s why this part made Antwuan the new “gotta have his board” guy.

Keith Hufnagel Forever. A legend who always kept it clean and crispy, but would also do the unthinkable, like grind a giant-ass square kinked rail in the ‘90s. He could put his stamp on a spot without doing too much, and a prime example of this is a perfectly balanced back 5-0 before deciding to glide a nose manual to the cute bank at this early-2000s LA staple. Pay attention to the way his left arm winds this one down. Lovely.

The last gasp of upriver Workshop? Yeah, something like that. A hectic and tense edit that makes you feel like you’re on the session, but stressed out about… something. In 2012, Jason Dill had innovated, NBDed, and cemented his influence in skating, so what’s next? Taste. The grind isn’t overseasoned and the rollaway on the 360 has plenty of swing.

Written by: Anthony Pappalardo
Illustration by: Wilson Lucas
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