How to Royale
By Glider
Royales are a new school trick that has changed the sport. From this trick come others
like the unity grind, the backslide, the soyle, the meow, the cowboy, and Im sure many
others. A Royale is a grind in which you are grinding an object frontside like normal,
but your trailing (back) foot is grinding on the outside edge. To accomplish this, you
need to bring your back foot in, and push your ankle over so that you are on the outside
(and hopefully touching the boot to the utensil).
Before you go and try doing it on a rail, just stand in place in your skates and try to
assume the royale position. You may also try and stall it. Its
tricky because you really have to bend that ankle out so that the boot touches. If you keep your weight over you but lean both feet out and bend your knees it may come eaiser.
Some people will unbuckle their boot to make it easier, but its really not necessary. Crank
over the foot as much as possible, then bend your knees as if you were going to take a
dump (heh). Both together should make it possible to get down to the boot. So now you
should be squatting down and have your ankle bent over so that both the boot and frame
of your skate is touching. Good. But now comes the hard part- foot position. Since you
dont want your feet to wash out from under you when you grind, you need to keep the royale
foot no further under you than your shoulder. You may be tempted to bring it in closer, but
DONT DO IT! Okie, so you are grinding with most of your weight on your back foot. But wait,
whats to keep your feet from washing out?! Well to offset the balance of your back foot in
close, you will need to lean forwards slightly.
Now I guess you are ready to actually try it. Just remember to try and land in the royale
position, and keep the weight distrobution much like a soul grind. Keep your ankles and
knees bent down so that you are crouching, and it'll easier to grind. Since you are good
enough to be thinking about this, you should be able to do it. Its not much harder than a
frontside!
As you get comfortable with royales, doing a backslide is a natural extension. Since your
back foot is under you, most of your weight is on that foot. Just like in a soul grind, its
not too much trouble to pick up that front foot once you have the stance down. So after you
have it down, practice your royales and lift up your foot a bit off of the rail/curb. Its
not too hard, so try and lift it up a foot. thats a bit tougher. Now try and land with your
foot a bit off of the rail. Thats a backslide! A few weeks of good practice is typical when
learning this, so dont stress if you cant get it down!
Good luck!