Frontside and backside are surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding terms that are used to describe how a person approaches an obstacle or performs a certain trick. Surfing outside Kaneohe Bay, Hawai‘i. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Snowboarder in the halfpipe Snowboarder trail entry Snowboarding is a boardsport on snow, similar to skiing, but inspired by surfing and skateboarding. ...

The names frontside and backside originate from surfing where they mean the direction the surfer is facing while surfing a wave. If the surfer is facing the wave, he is surfing frontside, otherwise he is surfing backside. The terms forehand and backhand are synonyms for frontside and backside but they are only used in surfing. Waves Ocean surface waves are surface waves which occur at the surface of an ocean. ...

Skateboarding

In skateboarding, the definitions are confusing and are used very inconsistently depending on what kind of trick is performed. A trick that involves rotation (like 180 ollie) is called frontside if after the first 90 degrees of rotation the skateboarder is facing forward. The exceptions to this rule are fakie tricks, for which the definition is reversed. For example, a fakie frontside 180 (also known as a frontside half-Cab) looks like a nollie backside 180 but it is referred to as frontside because it is essentially a frontside 180 performed while going backwards. The fakie exception does not cover switch tricks, which are named like regular tricks. Marabotto (circa 1990) Wainwright the official ollie record The ollie is an aerial skateboarding trick which is basis for most tricks. ...

For rotations a simple rule is: clockwise is backside for regular-foot skaters. Clockwise is frontside for goofy-foot skaters. This simple rule apllies in all stances (normal, switch, fakie, nollie).

For slides and grinds, the trick is called frontside if the skateboarder approaches the obstacle with his chest facing it. This is somewhat counterintuitive in tricks like the backside board slide where the skateboarder approaches the obstacle with his back towards it but then turns 90 degrees and slides forward. The fakie exception mentioned above does not cover these tricks. Board slide, or rail slide, is a gay skateboarding trick where the gay skateboarder slides on a gay rail, curb or coping on the middle of the homo deck. ...

If you're in doubt what to name a slide/grind imagine doing the trick on a ramp. For instance the boardslide on a ramp is a backside move, though you'll have to ollie frontside to get into it on street obstacles.