Skateboarding Bails

While it’s an exhilarating feeling to successfully perform a skateboarding trick, all skateboarders have to at some point (often frequently) deal with the agonizing truth of defeat. Especially when you’re starting out, there are going to be many moments when you are simply not able to do a trick; this is normal, even the pros experience defeat. The important thing is that you don’t get discouraged and you keep trying.

Technically, when a trick fails, in skateboard lingo you call it a “bail.” The term skateboard bail can actually have a few meanings, though they’re all related. A skateboarding bail can be used to describe when a skateboarder fails a trick and lands safely on his or her feet; it can also be used to refer to a situation when a skater doesn’t even follow through with a trick, giving up and landing safely on his or her feet. Lastly, it is most often used for a situation where a skater fails a trick and crashes to the ground, not being able to land safely on his or her feet. Often, the skateboarder feels pain after this type of bail; these types of skateboarding bails are the most humorous and the one everyone loves to see.

Indeed, painful skateboarding bails seem to draw quite a bit of attention; you’ll find lots of skateboard bail videos and skateboard bail video clips on the Internet; images of skateboard bails are some of the most watched skateboarding videos around. Funny skateboard bails and pro skateboard bails are also often the subject of DVDs that you can purchase.

Even popular skateboarding videos will feature a section on skateboarding bails; these video clips often show pro skaters and the contorted expressions of pain on their faces when they experience some of their really bad skateboard bails. Bails are so popular that some versions of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games had skateboarding bail clip footage that was unlocked once you reached a certain level; pro skaters falling down stairs and smashing their faces onto the ground were some of the scenes you could enjoy.

Though bailing is not something you should aim for in skating, it will be a fundamental part of your learning curve and so you should learn how to bail properly. This is not so much for the benefit of any onlookers or even to keep you looking cool (though it most definitely can help in this area), but learning how to properly bail will reduce the risk of you getting seriously injured.

One of the most important things to learn is to try never to use your hands to break your fall; if you do, you risk breaking your fingers and/or wrists. Learn to fall onto your shoulder or body and roll with the fall as much as possible. If you bail and get hurt, try to just get up and shake it off; again, the most important thing is to simply keep trying.