What does it really mean to invent a trick? Does just being the first person to land a trick good enough? Or does it have to be something completely new?
I want to tackle this question in 3 different ways – single tricks, combos, and trick theory.
Let’s talk single tricks, like the kickflip. It came up in a Transworld article about how Ali Mills invented the nollie flip. It’s true that he was the first person to land one on video, even though Mullen most likely did one before that. Assuming Mills was actually the first to do it, does that count as a new trick? Nollies weren’t new, and kickflips weren’t new. Let’s see what Mullen has to say on the subject. From the Transworld article:
“Heelflips were done with hardly a nod, merely as putting a minus sign on a kickflip, on one axis. I don’t remember when, but it was clearly shortly after KF’s were first done (Ed Note: circa 1983). Fakie KF’s were not even considered a variation then—same with Fakie HF’s. Minus signs, directionally. Could make the same argument for double flips. Point being, I’m not sure if it’s worth bothering—certainly it isn’t for me.”
Basically, Rodney learned every trick every which way. This certainly included what would today be called a nollie flip. But at the time, calling those variations anything different than a kickflip hadn’t even occurred to anybody. […]
Still, he was willing to give Ali credit with some caveats, if only for officially making it a street trick.
Rodney Mullen: “By all means, give Ali credit for nollie flips as a street trick if that’s in your heart to do, but also realize by that time, clearly other forms were done, and could be as hard to designate as a bs shuv, concomitantly potentially taking credit from other street dudes and stirring up strife, as these things sometimes do.”
See, this is complicated, and this is a good point. At the basic trick level of kickflips and heelflips, it almost doesn’t matter who was the first to do any particular stance. Rodney invented popping the tail and kicking the board to flip it one way or the other. Does it matter what stance and direction you’re skating?
To me, it’s still important, but it’s tough to call it an invention. There has to be a cutoff somewhere. Did Dave Bachinsky invent kickflipping 20 stairs? Or did he just apply an existing trick in a way that nobody had the skill to do it yet? Adapting freestyle tricks to street still requires a lot of talent and ability, and it’s still impressive, but it’s not an invention.
What about combos? Can you ‘invent’ a trick combo? Does the first person who landed a kickflip manual kickflip out deserve inventor credit for that, even if the flip in and flip out were both already done first?
If that was the case, Daewon Song invented a ton of tricks. But I don’t think this counts either.
Let’s take a look at the Bennett grind.
Now, Matt Bennett doesn’t claim to have invented the Bennett grind, which is a backside 180 to switch backside smith. But for the sake of argument, would he have any legitimate claim to it?
Smith grinds were invented by Mike Smith. They were first done backside by Monty Nolder. Donny Barley spun frontside into switch frontside smiths. And in this version of history, Bennett was the first person to do it the other way. Real story here though.
To me, it’s not an invention either. It’s just being the first to do a combo that many others could have thought of. Or maybe someone did it on transition and it felt a bit different. Who invented the 270 lipslide? Nobody. It’s just a combo of tricks that had already been done. In a way, it’s the same as a nollie flip just being a combo of a nollie and a kickflip. It can’t be invented. It’s just an NBD – a never been done. Still awesome, still impressive, still important, but not an invention.
Let’s go one step further. Can you invent a trick in theory, without being the first to actually land it? Or landing it first without thinking it up? Let’s look at a couple stories that would show that you can.
The boneless was invented by GSD. I’ve talked about that on the channel before. But pay attention to the details of his story about it:
“In December 1979, influenced by a trick I saw in Skateboarder Magazine called the footplant (done backside, planting the rear foot), I thought up a frontside version, planting the front foot. It all happened when Robert Hamrick, Mark Mounts, and I were messing around with our boards while sitting on the floor in Robert’s house. We considered this trick impossible and promptly forgot about it for the next few months.
Mark called me up in the spring of that year, breathless, announcing he’d just pulled “that trick” I had thought up. I rushed down to the D.O. banks in Cincinnati, only to find him popping Boneless Ones three feet off the Main Bank. Within a few minutes, I was doing that “impossible” trick, too. We were blown away at how much higher, and easier, we could boost than with a backside footplant.”
In other words, the guy who we generally all agree invented the boneless only thought it up indoors, and was the second to land it. But he came up with the idea, so it’s his, right?
How about McTwists? Spinning a 540 isn’t exactly an innovative idea, just a difficult one. Mike McGill absolutely invented the McTwist, but chances are, he wasn’t the first person to come up with the idea to spin 540 on a skateboard. Or 900 in Tony Hawk’s case if you prefer, since the McTwist does invert in a specific way.
Or how about this ultimate example?
Before we get to it, I’d like to thank Sean for submitting this question. You can submit your own on radratvideo.com. There’s a form on the homepage to send them to me, or you can submit them through Patreon to get a guaranteed response. Also, hit the like button if you’re enjoying the video.
Here’s my last example. A couple of years ago, I met up with Andy Anderson, and we talked about some trick ideas for him to do in a video part, which just came out as of this recording. When we talked, I came up with a very difficult trick that only someone with a lot of freestyle AND street skill would be able to pull off. And he did it! I remember coming up with the idea of doing a coco wheelie, the trick that looks like a primo slide, but the wheels are rolling, and then slappying it up onto a curb. He ended up doing something similar, but from a primo slide instead, which is actually harder than I imagined.
But let’s say he did it the exact way I imagined it. Did I invent it? If not, what makes it any different from the boneless? What if I attempted it with him, and he was just the first to land it, but I got pretty close? In this case, it’s a combo, which I wouldn’t really count anyway, but it’s an interesting question.
I’d like to hear your answers to all of these questions in the comments, but here’s where I land. A basic trick can be invented. A 360 flip. A crooked grind. Even variations, like a bigspin flip or a frontside crook can be invented. Different stances and combos with the trick don’t count.
They have to be thought up and landed by the same person, or else that’s a co-inventor credit.
The trick can’t come from another discipline. In other words, there isn’t a snowboarder who invented the stalefish, since it came from skateboarding.
Do you agree? Let me know below.