Bob's Trick Tips - skateboard trick archive -- Frontside Manual

Frontside Manual

The Frontside Manual is a move in which you do a frontside roll-out in a wheelie, then roll back, holding the wheelie the whole time.

A little history: I believe the "Manual" really started as a vert and mini-ramp trick. I am aware that these days, most kids refer to any wheelie as a manual, but I think the term manual really refers to a roll out/in on a banked wall, mini-ramp, or on vert. In the old Santa Cruz "Speed Freaks" video, Jeff Phillips does a killer frontside manual on the vert ramp at the old Jeff Phillips Skatepark in Dallas.

In this example, I'm doing the trick in a ditch with a nice roll in/out area. This kind of spot is good for learning the frontside manual. It is harder on a mini-ramp or vert. Obviously, the steeper the wall, the trickier the roll out/in will be. This is also a great longboard trick.

There really isn't much commentary needed for this tip. The secret is to go fast and have good balance in the wheelie. You'll need to find a good balance point for your front foot on the board. On a shortboard, this will probably be pretty far up the board. On a longboard you may need to experiment a little more.

This is a good trick for a beginner to learn. There's no board flipping, board spinning, or ankle-shattering ollies. Its just speed, flow, and balance -- which I think is the real essence of skateboarding.

Check out the video clip here.


In frames 1 and 2, I roll up the wall in a frontside carve, with my feet positioned for a wheelie. As my front wheels get to the lip, I lift them. Now my weight is on my back foot, and my center of gravity is positioned over the rear truck.

Now I'm doing a frontside wheelie roll-out. I carve a nice frontside turn up on the roll-in area of the ditch. If you were doing this on a mini-ramp, you'd be doing the wheelie up on the platform.

In frames 5 and 6, I'm continuing the manual. This trick is much better if you don't scrape the tail during the wheelie. In frame 6, the front wheels are already back over the wall. You'll notice that I'm starting to lower the front wheels and compress my body for a nice pump down the wall.

In these frames, I've put the front wheels down and I'm compressing. You can see the rear knee dropping down for a very longboard-ish drop knee position. You want to try to put the front wheels down as the rear wheels come to the edge. The roll-in is harder on a ramp, and its harder when the wall is steeper. In such a situation, its important that you put the front wheels down right when the rear truck reaches the coping.
	Here is one last picture from a different angle. I'm bent over like a monkey, but I'm pumping that transition. I'm pointing this out because I've noticed a lot of younger skaters aren't very good at pumping transitions in a ditch. You've gotta bend your knees and use your body.