Kerb Wax

Roadside kerbs are used as obstacles on which skateboarders grind and slide, and wax is often used to make the kerb easier to trick on, making the grinds faster, smoother and longer. Kerb wax is sold as a special product, while many skateboarders simply use a candle.

Kickback

The Kickback is an old freestyle trick that is pretty much the forerunner of all the ollie kickflip underflips Rodney Mullen does now. You put one foot into the middle of the board, leaving the other one across the board at the truck bolts, and jump up. As you do this, the foot that is in the middle of the board kicks down – making the board do a half-flip – then kicks up, making the board change direction. The basic kickback should flip 1.5 times on the second part of the trick, as half-and-half kickbacks are considered cheap and generally frowned on.

Kicker

A common street skating obstacle – a curved ramp designed to give a skateboarder maximum hangtime.

Kickflip

The classic street skateboarding trick. A kickflip is a variation on an ollie where the skateboarder flicks his front foot off the heel edge of the board as he ollies, causing it to flip once, twice or even three times before he ‘catches’ the board with his feet and lands the trick. The latter tricks are referred to as double kickflips and triple kickflips.

Kickflips can be learnt in a day but they take years to master, and a nice, high, sharp kickflip never gets boring. See the how to kickflip article which discusses kickflips in depth and gives practical advice on landing them.

Kickflip Underflip

A normal ollie kickflip followed by an underflip done with the front foot while still in the air.

Kickturn

Turning 180° while doing a manual or wheelie. Usually, this is just used to turn around in a tight circle or to turn around on a ramp to avoid rolling back down it fakie, but it can be incorporated into funky freestyle routines and so on.

Kingpin

Part of a skateboard – the large bolt that holds together the trucks and that acts as the pivot for what passes as the ‘steering’ on a skateboard.