In skateboarding, there are some tricks that look absolutely amazing, and then there are other tricks that, well don’t look so good.
Now realistically, there’s no such thing as an “ugly skate trick” because it’s all subjective and ultimately comes down to opinion. With that in mind though, there are some tricks that a lot of skateboarders tend to agree look pretty bad.
Today we’re going to be going over the ugliest tricks in skateboarding.
Now personally, I don’t really think any tricks are ugly. These are just tricks that have a reputation for being ugly skate tricks, but when it comes down to it, just about any trick can look good if it’s done properly.
No Comply
As fun as they may be, a lot of people hate on no comply’s as being an ugly skateboarding trick.
I mean after all, you can’t even do them in Battle At The Berrics.
Almost every single flip trick has a no comply counterpart, but people usually dislike them all equally.
I think the reason why it gets so much hate is that you have to step off your board to do it, which tends to be deal breaker for a lot of people. It’s also kind of hard to pop a no comply, so they tend to be pretty low to the ground which is never a good thing style-wise in skateboarding.
Aside from that, a couple years ago no comply’s really got blown out when the trendy style of skateboarding emerged, so that definitely didn’t help the no comply’s case.
Even though no complys are a lot of fun, they’re for sure one of the most hated on tricks in skateboarding.
Late Flips
Late flips get a lot of hate in skateboarding.
Whether it be late front foot flips, late back foot flips, or even a late shuv, a lot of people see it as an ugly skateboarding trick.
Part of it likely comes from people not being able to do them, because let’s be honest, most late flips are pretty hard to do.
Another reason why late flips are considered an ugly trick is that most of the time you don’t actually catch it, and you more so just land on the board.
It’s even worse when they bounce on the ground before you even land on it, which tends to be the case a lot times.
Either way, a lot of people think any kind of late flip looks ugly regardless of how you catch it. The one exception to late flips seems to be with manuals, in which case people are more universally accepting of them.
Pogo
Next on the list are pogos.
Honestly, I’m not even going to take the time to explain this one, you should just already know why people don’t like them.
Boardslides on ledges
Boardslides on ledges are largely considered one of the ugliest tricks in skateboarding.
Other than people who haven’t been skating very long, no one really board slides ledges.
The exception for this is if the ledge is narrow enough to deck your board, in which case people are usually okay with them.
This is kind of a weird one because depending on the ledge, a board slide can either be a pretty cool trick that most people like, or an ugly beginner trick that no one likes.
Basically, if the ledge is narrow enough for a board to lay flat, it’s generally considered acceptable.
On the other hand, if the ledge is too wide for the board to lock it, it’s usually seen as an ugly trick.
The reason why people don’t like this trick is because you can’t really lock into it unless the ledge is skinny, and it just generally looks weird to board slide ledges where you aren’t locked in.
This goes for front boards and back boards, but oddly enough it doesn’t apply to lip slides.
Double Flips
Most of the tricks on this list are pretty well known as the ugliest skate tricks, but it wasn’t until I decided to make this video that I found out a lot of people think double flips are ugly too.
There are two main reasons why a lot of skateboarders don’t like double flips.
The first reason is that, like some of the other tricks on this list, you don’t always catch a double flip, instead you just land with the board. It is possible to actually catch a double flip, but it does seem like most of the time people land on the board just before it hits the ground.
The other reason why people don’t like double flips is that they’re essentially the same as a kickflip, but with another flip. This is kind of self-evident, but the reasoning behind it is that it’s not that much more difficult, and it’s somewhat of a circus trick rather than an actual skateboarding trick.
I’ve always thought double flips looked cool, especially when someone like Jimmy Carlin did them, but again, it all comes down to opinion.
Lazer Flip
Despite being one of the hardest skateboarding tricks there is, a lot of skateboarders think that lazer flips are ugly.
This can be a surprise to some people, because lazer flips are largely considered one of the hardest flatground tricks. With that in mind, it does kind of make sense why some people don’t like them.
The way the board flips for a lazer flips is a bit of a weird motion, and the way you have to move your legs to do one does look a little odd. Lazer flips are also another one of those tricks that’s often landed on rather than caught, but there are cases when someone who’s good at lazer flips can somewhat catch them, even if it’s not super high like other tricks.
Unlike a lot of the other skateboarding tricks that people consider ugly, generally speaking, most people at least respect lazer flips. It seems like even if someone doesn’t think a lazer flip looks cool, they still respect it, just because of how hard it is to do. I mean seriously how many people do you really know with lazer flips?
Pressure Flip
Another trick that’s often considered ugly are pressure flips.
Pressure flips can be any trick that’s flipped solely with the popping foot, but the most common pressure flip is a pressure inward heel, so when someone says pressure flips that’s usually what they’re referring to.
If you don’t think people hate pressure flips, go ahead and do one in a game of skate and see what happens. Aside from being a guaranteed letter on most people, it’s also guaranteed to be one of the most hated on tricks.
Since pressure flips don’t involve flicking, they’re almost always super low which makes them look pretty sloppy even when they’re done right. Pressure heelflips are even worse, and a lot of times they either barely leave the ground, or completely rocket flip.
They’re also pretty hard to do in the first place, which is naturally going to make a lot of skateboarders not like them.
Varial Kickflip
Varial kickflips just might be the most despised trick in all of skateboarding.
If you ask a group of skaters what the worst skateboarding trick is, 9 times out of 10 times they’ll tell you varial flip.
The reason why varial kickflips are hated isn’t really clear either. It’s almost like everyone just decided it wasn’t cool, and it’s been that way ever since. This isn’t to say they’re never done, and there hasn’t been some clean varial flips over the years, but they’re definitely few and far between.
It seems like the main reason for not liking varial flips is because it’s considered a beginner flip trick, and is mostly seen as a stepping stone to 360 flips.
The weird thing is everyone loves 360 flips, which is just a varial flip with another shuv, and backside flips are also okay, which are really just a varial flip that you turn with. The thought process seems to be that if you’re going to varial flip, you might as well tre flip, but other than that there’s no real reason why people hate it so much.
Willy Grind
It’s safe to say that when it comes to ledges and rails, willy grinds are widely considered the ugliest skateboarding trick there is.
A willy grind is when the front truck of a board is grinding with the back truck hanging below the rail or ledge. It’s also nicknamed the nose smith, lazy grind, or scum grind, which right away should show the sentiment skateboarders have towards it.
Willy grinds are probably the least popular grind trick, and the majority of the time they’re done it’s on accident. Sometimes if someone tries to 5050 or nose grind they’ll accidentally do a willy, but it’s very rare that someone does one intentionally. If they do one on purpose, it’s most likely done ironically.
If you think about it, everything about the tricks is pretty weird. The board doesn’t level when you pop on, when it’s locked in the back of the board just hangs there, and even popping out looks awkward.
They can be fun to do, and if you’re good at nollie flips then it’s easy to flip out, but most skateboarders still see it as one of the worst skateboarding tricks.
Body Varial
Even though a body varial is a trick variation and not a trick, it’s still one of the most hated manuevers in skateboarding.
Body varials were never a super popular trick variation, but it seems like they were at least tolerated for a while.
They were almost always seen as a weird circus trick, and it stayed that way for a really long time. Then the whole trendy skateboarding era was born and people took what was already a widely disliked trick, and elevated it to a trick that a lot of skateboarders hated entirely.
I mean people hate body varials more than they hate pineapple on pizza, and that’s a bold statement to make.
It’s also scientifically proven that there’s a direct correlation between a skateboarder’s age and their hatred towards body varials. Maybe if people didn’t do them in baggy banana camo pants from the 90s, the growing resentment towards body varials wouldn’t have happened, but at this point, we’ll never know.
The weird thing about people not liking body varials is a lot of times they look pretty cool, but it still seems to be a pretty polarizing trick where people either love them or hate them.
Benihana
Most skateboarders out there absolutely hate Benihana’s, and I’m not talking about the restaurant, even though that is what they were named after.
It’s actually kind of hard to find a good reason for someone hating a benihana other than just not liking the way it looks.
Depending on who does them, it can look kind of weird because you’re spreading your legs and squatting down mid-air, which is a bit of an awkward body movement to do. It’s even worse if someone’s unlucky enough to catch a backside view of it, especially after you’ve worked up a sweat.
Another reason why people hate benihanas is that it’s usually ago-to fly out trick, and they’re usually just done to catch other people’s attention. It’s a trick that’s super easy to do, but always impresses people who don’t skate.
Even if it’s done on street, people hate on street grabs too, so there’s really no winning when it comes to this trick.
Dolphin Flip
A dolphin flip, also known as a forward flip, is pretty high up on most skater’s lists of ugly skate tricks.
Dolphin flips are essentially a varial kickflip that flips forward rather than sideways, you know, kind of like a dolphin.
Now people already hate varial kickflips, so to basically take the same trick and add a weird front flip motion to it doesn’t really help the cause.
If you add up the fact that dolphin flips look weird, you can’t really catch them, they’re pretty hard to do, and they have the same motion as a varial kickflip, you basically get the perfect trick for people to hate on.
With that said, if you bust one out in skate you’re very likely to get everyone a letter, and at that point, it doesn’t really matter if it looks cool.
What Are The Ugliest Skate Tricks?
When it comes to deciding which skateboarding tricks are good and which ones are bad, it’s really all subjective, and it just comes down to opinion.
There are always going to be tricks that some people think look ugly, and other people think look clean, and honestly, a lot of tricks just naturally go in and out of style.
At the end of the day, you should do whatever tricks you want, because that’s what skateboarding is really all about.