Below are some basic tips to get you started on soul grinding. Dont be afraid to let it all hang out- If you don't commit to the trick, the chance for injury goes up. Commit to grinding the bar and trust your skills- After all, its just a little grind! To start down the road to effortless souls, you must first work on the foundation- stalls. Practice doing soul stalls on everything from planters to the edges of stairs, so that your body will become accustomed to the odd contortions that you are trying to put it in. A good way to practice is by hopping up a flight of stairs in the soul position. Ie- Do a soul stall on the bottom step, hop up to the next step in a soul stall, rinse, repeat. But I guess this is getting ahead of things, especially if you are not sure what the proper position for a soul is.. First skate up to a curb and bring up your lead foot. (For arguments sake, lets say the left is the lead and the right is the soul) Step on the curb just like you are doing a fronside with your left, and point the toe of the skate in the direction you want to travel about 30-45 degrees. Next step up with your soul foot (right) and plant it firmly on the edge of the curb. The curb should be located between the bottom of the boot of the skate (the sole), and the wheels. If you have a large soled boot like the TRS or Roces, you should be able to easily stand in this position. However, if you cannot, you need to push in (or bone in) your knee so that it is over the curb. This allows your weight to be centered more on top of the curb, and not leaning out as much. Once you are in position you should be facing parallel (or looking down) the curb. This is not like a fronside stall where you are looking across the object- In a soul you are going with it.. Now on to the grind... Since you can now stall with ease, grinding is but a tiny step away. Skate up to your bar (a curb can work,

but is harder to learn on because you need more speed for it to work) and stall in soul position. Easy enough.. Now come at it at an ever-so-slight angle. This way, you will go up to a soul stall, but slide an inch or two. Gradually work your way till you are approaching the bar at 45 degrees, and then you are ready to give it a shot.. Skate up to the rail at normal speed (the same speed used for front sides). Make sure you are running perfectly parallel to it, and are centered slightly to the side of the bar. As you are readying for your jump you need to keep a few points in mind: 1. It is not much different than the stalls. 2. Dont be afraid of it- try and jump higher than normal. and 3. Watch the bar carefully, and watch your landing. With these points in mind you should be able to easily jump, lock on, and slide a bit. Keep in mind that soul grinding is much slower than frontsiding- After all you are grinding away on your skate and not sliding on some grind plates! So if you want to go further, make sure to crank up the speed. Diagnosing problems is pretty easy for souls.. If you keep falling off towards the side you came from, you are not over the bar enough. Make sure to bone your knee over the bar more. It feels awkward, but it is necessary. If you keep falling off away from the side you came from, you are either leaning too far over the bar, or aren't coming at it straight. If your body turns as you grind and you end up coming off backwards, most likely the problem is you aren't keeping your soul foot locked onto the bar very well. Make sure you keep both the front and the back part of the soul foot on the bar. If you keep getting caught up when you jump on, make sure you have enough speed. Also make sure you are landing your front skate on the grind plates and not between the wheels... Give these tips a shot and you should be souling in no time! Good luck!