Rail Whip

Rail Whip

Rail Whip
Short Hand	Rail Whip
Difficulty Level	Intermediate

A Rail Whip is a Rail Trick where you balance on one wheel with the ball of your foot and kick the board with your other foot to spin the board 360 degrees around the axis of your balancing foot and catching the board in the same rail position you started from. Most skaters kick the board backward but you can also kick it forwards like Denham Hill does.

Here are a few helpful tips:

1. Use offset wheels for the most stable platform possible.
2. Use Axle Washers to bring the wheel out flush with the rail. This will help reduce the downward pressure and friction on the rail.
   

   

   Wheel flush with rail for reduced friction.

3. Do this trick on a smooth surface to reduce friction. The smoother the surface, the less effort required to spin the board.
4. Use a deck with a Lindgren cutout design like the Moonshine Skateboards Tony Gale Pro Model Deck or Decomposed Hans HAZZE Lindgren Original Crowbar Deck. Again, there will be reduced friction with less wood scraping against the ground.
   

   

   Original Schmitt Stix Hans Lindgren Crow Bar Deck, circa 1986

5. Sand or file out a wheel well to help prevent your toes from binding up against the board during the Rotation. Witter Cheng does this on his setups.
   

Custom wheel well on one of Witter's Decomposed Witter Cheng Vampire Fairy Deck.

Different angle of the wheel well.

Video

Trick tip video by Mike Osterman.