How to Backside 5-0 Grind

The backside 5-0 can be pretty intimidating at first, but it’s not as hard as you might think. It was actually the first backside grind I learned, before backside 50-50s, and it worked really simply for me the way I’ll show you.

Before you start

The one trick I’d say you should know is the frontside 5-0, for balance and for dropping off the end. It’s probably not 100% necessary, but it’s the easier trick. If you can’t do that one, this one will be tougher.

Approach and foot position

I come at the box at a slight angle. I don’t usually grind with much of an angle, but for this one I use a pretty decent one.

Start with your shoulders facing the box. When you start the trick, you push the tail forward, and that’s easier if you’re facing forward.

Set your feet about the same way you do for frontside 5-0s. I keep my front foot a little tilted so it’s easier to face forward. Back foot just wherever you can pop. It’s not a very precise trick.

How to backside 5-0

Push the tail forward

This is why I found it simpler than backside 50-50s. When I was trying 50-50s, I’d ollie and land short, over and over. Coming in at a sharper angle and a little faster would have fixed it. But on the 5-0, I ollied up, and before my truck landed, I pushed the board forward. That helped a lot.

That’s the main trick to this one. On a frontside 5-0, you shift your weight back. Here, you push the board out in front of you instead.

Keep your shoulders from spinning

The main problem I had next was kick turning off the box and landing back where I started. The problem was my shoulders. I came in facing the box, so once I was on top, I was still facing that way.

Don’t ride up, then try to swing your shoulders forward. Start facing forward so you don’t start any spin. As you ollie, shift back a little. Not much. You still face the box and still land facing it somewhat, but give yourself a slight backside motion as you pop. You might land with your shoulders a little tilted, but you’ll straighten out as the grind goes.

Drag the tail

On frontside 5-0s, I grind more like a manual. On backside ones, I like dragging the tail a lot more. I pop, toss the tail out, land, lean back and I’m locked in. There’s no balancing. I just stand there and grind it out.

That’s how I still do them, and it’s how I’d suggest trying your first ones. Then you can work on the more precise version without the tail touching.

Getting off the box

Drop off the side

I first learned to land them by dropping off the side. I was going pretty slow and couldn’t make it to the end cleanly. Dropping off the side was a lot easier.

Drop off the end

Dropping off the end is more common. Backside, it’s a lot like dropping off frontside, so if you can do frontside 5-0s, there’s not much to worry about.

Start to kick turn. If you just kick turn, the board will flip. So right as you start to drop off, hop a little to keep your weight off the board. That way you don’t force it into a flip, and you land fine.

A last resort: kickflip in

I wouldn’t really suggest this, but it worked for me. When I started, I’d pop in, push the tail forward and still land too far back. I couldn’t get my weight on top of the box. A sharper angle and more speed would have been the right fix.

What I did instead was kickflip in. My kickflips at the time always landed behind where I started, so they carried me onto the box. I learned kickflip 5-0s before regular ones. The catch is I didn’t really learn kickflip 5-0s. I learned kickflip 5-0s on that one box, and it didn’t translate to other obstacles. 99% of people will be a lot better off with a plain backside 5-0.

What’s next

The frontside nosegrind and crooked grind are good next grinds.