John Lucero, vintage slappy backsmith

To me, the slappy has always been at the heart of skateboarding’s inexplicable coolness. It’s so simple, and yet when you see someone carve up onto a curb like that, it’s hard not to want to go out immediately and try to recreate what you just witnessed. It’s stylish, it’s mysterious, and, best of all, it just looks like so much goddamn fun.

First invented in parking lots on little curbs and parking blocks, the slappy has since taken many forms, and has graduated from parking lots to regular sized ledges, down big hubbas, and beyond. I took a look around the web to find some extraordinary slappies as well as some classics of the form. Check them out then head out to your local painted curb and roast a few in honor of one of skateboarding’s coolest tricks.

10. John Lucero – Fat Guy on a Curb

Well, the dude invented it so he’s gotta be on here. Not to mention this is honestly a great video to watch. Lucero has always had the right attitude about what skateboarding is supposed to be: friends bullshitting and goofing off at the local curb spot. You don’t always have to go out and get the craziest hammer to have a good day skating, if I could slappy back smith like this dude for a day, I’d be all smiles. Thank you, Lucero.

9. Jason Adams – Slappy Hour

Jason Adams has been a longtime slappy enthusiast and an incredible “slappier” at that. I love watching Jason’s skating, it’s almost like he’s surfing more than he’s skateboarding. He’s always putting out something original and fun and having been in the game for so long, it’s sick to see someone still charging it. Slappy no-complies, slappy 180’s..if you’re still trying to figure out the technique this is the man to study, he’s nothing but text book.

8. Mitchell Wilson – Paych

This one blew me away. Full speed ahead, Mitchell Wilson crushes this doozie of a backside slappy, taking a tight corner and threading the needle right behind a park bench. This is just technique and balance at it’s finest, Mitchell fought for this thing the whole way. Too rad.

7. Pacific Drive Skateshop Homies – Curb Killaz

It’s always nice when the local shop has a flatbar or a box that you can borrow and skate especially if your scene lacks a park. For those lucky enough to call Pacific Drive Skateshop their local shop, they offer a double sided red curb for friends and employees to shred when they roll through. And boy do they shred; these kids are fucking insane. Nosegrind slappy nollie flip out? Front blunt slappy hardflip out? Yeah, these dudes know their way around a curb.

6. Danny Sargent – 1281

Like Alva, Lucero, and Jason Adams, Danny Sargent is a slappy legend. There used to be Independent Truck ads of what Danny’s trucks looked like after he was done with him; the dude would grind to the axle everytime. He skated hard, he skated fast, and when he would grind he would grind as far as he possibly could. Danny took his signature slappy backside to the high ledge of EMB, a remarkable feat even by today’s standards let alone 1991’s. Big ups to Danny Sargent, definitely one of the best to ever do it.

5. Lucas Puig – Instagram

So if you watched the “Fat Guy On A Curb” video with John Lucero, you’ll notice him ripping slappy backsmiths on a little curb. Here we have an instagram video from Lucas Puig at MACBA, and what at first seems like is going to be a slappy crooked grind or noseslide, Lucas manages to dip this into a perfect back smith, defying all logic and modern physics. I’ve watched this over several times and I’m still not sure how he did it but I’m glad he did because it’s awesome.

4. Didrik Galasso – RVCA Promo

This video came out pretty recently and I was surprised that it didn’t catch all that much attention because I was floored by this kid. He puts together some crazy lines, darkslides a handrail, and does one of the most bizarrely radical crook slappies I’ve ever seen. Didrik first crook slappy’s on top of the curb, then quickly wallrides a wall, then drops off the curb to nose manual and wheelies right into crook slappy to fakie. That’s a legitimately sick line, skating nothing more than a curb and a wall. Not an easy feat with the talent level of today’s skateboarding youth.

3. Jake Johnson – Static 4/5

The shocker from Josh Stewart’s latest Static video still hasn’t gotten old. You can watch this clip frame by frame; it’s hard to comprehend how he climbed on top of ol’ Clipper but by the grace of god he managed it. Jake flung the door open for a couple other ridiculous slappy tricks down the behemoth hubba, but Jake slithering up the side of the ledge might still be my favorite.

2. Wes Kremer – Pack of Hydes

Wes Kremer took his cue from Jake that Clipper was slappy-able and decided to kick it up a whole couple of notches. Frontside 180 5-0 slappy, and he even balanced the 5-0 to boot. I like this clip in particular because you actually get to see some of the work he put in to roll away from this, but even then it really didn’t look all that hard for him. SOTY is what SOTY does.

1. Dennis Busenitz – Curb Your Enthusiasm

There are three things about this video that make it so amazing: I love Curb Your Enthusiasm, I love Dennis Busenitz’s skating, and I love slappies. Lucky for me and the rest of this world, this video combines all three. Slappy frontside feebles, slappy hippy hop to slappy, and the extremely hard to comprehend but incredibly rad, frontside/backside 180 powerslide to slappies. I should point out to everyone at home seeing this video and maybe thinking about trying some of these tricks that Dennis Busenitz is one of the best professional skateboarders on the planet and not all of these tricks you’re seeing are even remotely possible for regular human beings…sorry :(

Words: Rob Ridge (@rojosworld)
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