Various questions get asked at the weekly meets held by Melbourne Freestyle Skaters. The latest one was from Kris who has been trying to learn caspers. Some of his attempts rotate properly, some of them don’t. Most of them finish with only one foot back on the board. Kris wanted to know what he needed to work on.
The Basics
There’s a bunch of online tutorials for anyone wanting casper basics.
We really love Freestyle Tricktips for a solid grasp of any manoeuvre that veteran Tony Gale dedicates time to unpacking. You’ll find his breakdown on the rolling into and out of casper here, as well as his video.
Sarah Park-Matott has analysed her own casper mechanics. Her video ‘5 Crucial Tips to Keep Caspers Under Your Feet’ is, for anyone starting out with the trick, illuminating. We cannot recommend it enough if you’re wanting consistency.
Mike Osterman has also recorded some of his own thoughts, using descriptors like ‘shovit-y end-over-end’. His video ‘Freestyle Trick Tip: Why your Caspers Suck’ shares technique recommendations that can help you attain that first casper exit.
The Drills
If you’ve followed the Flatlandia blog for a while, you know that we love drills. In the past, we’ve written about practising caspers on a carpet board, as well as drills for better caspers.
This time, with some help from pro freestyler Josh Dunstone, we’ve come up with drills specifically to help Kris commit to exiting caspers with both feet.
So to recap, Kris’ homework includes
- Alternating one-foot lands – don’t just catch the board with one foot; repeat the casper-exit motion and catch with the alternate foot. This breaks the habit of always planting one particular foot on the ground. Be conscious of keeping lands untangled/uncrossed. Aim to land with feet roughly one shoulder-width apart—this mimics the stable landings that we aim for on a board.
- Landings – place the board where it usually lands. Do the casper-exit motion on the ground (skateboard version of air guitar) and practise landing with two feet back on bolts to build confidence.
With these drills, you can either treat them as warm-ups to caspers or you can use them as a reset between casper-exit attempts. Whatever works best for you.
The Hardware
That popsicle board you ride was designed to optimise pop, not freestyle. In the case of caspers, on a popsicle board, you have to fight gravity to keep your foot from sliding off the steep kick.
If you want a board that works with your caspers, look for single kicks or double kicks with one very mellow kick. If you’re getting a lot of foot pain from the board digging into the top of your foot, opt for flat or minimal concave.
Examples of freestyle boards designed with caspers in mind include Decomposed’s Medusa, East Frisian’s Nordic by Nature, Moonshine’s Kill Your Idols, and Waltz’s Huntington spoon nose (various versions like the Rhiana Grigore can be sourced from Aikenheads in Perth).
You may also want to consider installing skid plates and or putting griptape on the graphic side of the kick The edge of the skid plate and that little bit of stickiness will make it easier for you to hold the casper stance, as well as initiate that ‘shovit-y end-over-end’ motion. 🙂
