Snowboard trick names to remember

Level up your snowboarding this season with our list of basic snowboard tricks. We cover everything from butters to spins, grinds to grabs, and everything in between. 

We go through all the tricks you should know if you’re looking to expand your knowledge base, learn something new, or just put down a roadmap for your progression. This is all you need to become a well-rounded, park-ready rider. 

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Table of contents

Types of snowboard tricks

There are a few types of snowboard tricks, and you can break them down into four categories: Butters, Grabs, Spins, Flips

Butters keep the board on the ground and utilize spins and presses without the need for jumps or rails. Grabs involve grabbing the board in various positions. Spins are rotational tricks on the horizontal axis, while flips are rotational tricks on the vertical axis. 

We’ll go over the most common below. But, before that, let’s talk about the most basic trick of all: the Ollie.

The key to snowboard tricks: the Ollie

The Ollie is the foundational trick that opens up everything from butters to corked 10s. It’s the key to unlocking freestyle riding. 

It’s simple to do but hard to perfect, so let’s break it down. The Ollie is the trick that gets the board off the ground and requires four steps: loading the board with energy, shifting the weight back, springing off the tail, and then poking the nose to level the whole thing out. Get this down tight, and you’ll open up the big bad world of freestyle.

Basic snowboard tricks list

Now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s jump into our basic list of snowboard tricks. We say ‘basic’ because the list is ever-expanding as riders experiment and iterate on existing tricks, ever-complicating the job of naming them all! The following list, as such, isn’t exhaustive but is going to take you pretty far.

Butter tricks

Butter tricks are a great starting point and will teach you basic Ollies and Nollies, board awareness, and rotation. So, beginning with the easiest one, let’s jump in.

Ollie and Nollie - We covered the Ollie above, but the Nollie is the inverse. Crouch, shift your weight forward and then use the nose of your board to spring off.

Tail press - The tail press is initiated by shifting your weight towards the tail of your board while riding straight and lifting the nose clear of the snow.

Nose press - This is the exact opposite of the tail press. The nose press requires your weight to be over the nose of the board, with the tail lifted free of the snow.

Tripod - Riding straight, look behind you. Initiate a heavy tail press, and reach down and touch the snow with your hands, forming the tripod with your tail and arms.

Nose-roll 180 - Start a toe or heelside turn, and once you get on edge, lift the tail of your board, keeping the nose on the ground. Then, spin the board to land switch.

Tail-drag 180 - The tail drag involves initiating a toe or heelside turn, then ollying but keeping the tail on the snow. The, drag it around and land switch.

Nose-roll 360 - Start in the same way as the nose-roll 180, but pop harder and with more rotational force. When your board draws perpendicular to the riding direction, lift the nose from the snow and pop into an airborne spin, coming around into a full 360.

Tail-drag 360 - Begin the same way to the tail-drag 180, but, again, pop harder, dragging the tail to perpendicular, before lifting it from the snow to complete a full 360-degree rotation.

Tail-drag/nose-roll to pretzel - Initiate a tail-drag or nose-roll. But, after the initial pop, muscle the board back straight instead of spinning to land in your natural stance. This is known as the pretzel.

Grabs

Grabs are the backbone of snowboard tricks and choc full of style and steeze. Whether it’s one hand or two, grabbing your board mid-flight is where snowboard freestyle was born.

Indy - Grab your board on the toe edge between the bindings with your trailing hand.

Stalefish - Reach outside your trailing knee and grab your board on the heel edge between the bindings with your trailing hand.

Tail - Grab the tail of your board with your trailing hand (right at the tip! Not on the sides). 

Weddle (formerly the Mute grab) - Named for Chris Weddle, the inventor, grab your toe edge between the bindings with your lead hand.

Melon - Reach outside your leading knee and grab the heel edge of your board between the bindings with your lead hand. 

Method - From the Melon grab, extend your legs so your body is almost shaped like a scorpion’s tail and then reach for the sky with your trailing hand. The Method is the most stylish trick, and everyone has their own version.

Nose - Grab the nose of your board with your leading hand.

Other grabs - There are many other grabs and variations. These include reaching between the legs to grab the opposite edges of the board, reaching across the body to grab the tail or nose with the opposite hand, or grabbing with both hands simultaneously. Explore different variations at your leisure. Just remember to never grab Tindy!

Spins, flips and corks

Spins are rotational-based tricks on the horizontal axis that will land you in your natural position or switch. They go in increments of 180 degrees. So, 180, 540, 900, 1260, and 1620 are the spins you’ll land switch, and 360, 720, 1080, 1440, and 1800 are the spins you’d land in your natural position.

Flips and corks are rotational-based tricks on the vertical axis. Still, unlike spins, there are a few variations within these tricks that give them specific names. We’ll cover the basics below, so you know what you’re looking at on the mountain!

Wildcat - A Wildcat is a backflip that keeps the board parallel to the riding line, so you’re doing a sort of ‘side’ flip without losing momentum.

Tamedog - The exact inverse of a Wildcat is a Tamedog. This is a frontflip that keeps the board parallel to the riding line. A hard Nollie uses the nose as a springboard to initiate the rotation.

Backflip - A backflip turns the board perpendicular to the snow, so you flip directly backwards, shifting the board straight for the landing.

Frontflip - Much like a Tamedog, the frontflip requires you to nose-press and Nollie off a lip. You’ll then reach forward with both hands to initiate the somersault and shifty the board back into place for landing.

Rodeo - A Rodeo is a frontflip with a twist. Literally. As you come up to the lip of the jump, initiate a frontside turn. Then, pop off the toe edge of your board, continuing the rotation, so you perform a frontflip with a frontside 180, landing switch.

Backside Rodeo - The inverse of the Rodeo, a Backside Rodeo involves initiating a backside turn off the jump, popping off your heel edge, and then performing a backflip with a 180 to land switch. More rotation can be added to make it a Backside Rodeo 540, for example – a favorite among the pros for its insane style!

Corked Spin - A Corked Spin simply adds a front or backflip into a flat spin. You’ll usually hear this in competition settings when pros throw Back Double Corked 10s or Cab Triple Cork 14s. But any spin can be corked, like the Rodeos above.

Rails and boxes

If air and flatland tricks aren’t your bag, then perhaps you’re a street rider, and your passion lies with rails and boxes! If this is the case, this next part is for you. So, listen up as we break down the common grinds you’ll encounter on the mountain.

50-50 - This is riding a rail or box with your board straight on the feature.

Frontside boardslide - This is riding up to the rail with it on your back side, then popping onto it with your nose rising over the rail. You’ll land with the rail between your bindings, your board perpendicular to the feature.

Frontside lipslide - The same as the above, but you ride up to the rail with it on your front side. You’ll then pop onto it with your tail rising over the rail to land with it between your bindings. 

Backside boardslide - Ride up to the rail with it on your front side, and pop with your nose rising over the rail. The rail lands between your bindings, but with your heel edge leading, i.e., sliding the feature backwards.

Backside lipslide - The same as above, but you ride up with the rail on your back side and pop with your tail rising over the rail to land with it between your bindings. This is with your heel edge leading.

Tailpress - A 50-50 with an added tail press.

Nosepress - A 50-50 with an added nose press.

Bluntslide - A bluntslide means the rail sits under one of your bindings instead of the middle of the board. You’ll often see this as a frontside blunt boardslide, or a backside blunt lipslide, depending on how you got on the rail and what direction you’re going.

Wrapping up

There you have it – a quick, dirty, comprehensive glossary of snowboard trick names! While there are many more out there — such as Bloody Dracula, Roast Beef, Chicken Wing … The Switch McTwist? The Double Crippler!? — this list is a great starting point!

Every trick is definitely worth checking out on YouTube or at your local park. For now, get practicing, be safe, and always wear your helmet. See you out there!