Andy Macdonald's "Inventors" reveals history behind skateboarding tricks, their names and creators

While some skateboarding tricks have conventional names (such as frontside or backside air, 180, 360, 540 and so forth), others have quite peculiar designations – from Egg Plant and Madonna to McTwist and Caballerial, a few of these original maneuvers not only changed the evolution path of the sport but also carry a lot of history behind their title.

Professional skateboarder Andy Macdonald is giving out the 101 on such history, with his Inventors segment on the online action sports community Go211.

Focusing on one trick at the time, Andy interviews the respective skater who invented it, uncovering interesting  details on when, where and how the trick was originated and named.

Pro skater Andy Macdonald
(Photo by Luiz Calado)

Did you know that the Caballerial was the first spinning aerial maneuver in skateboarding? Or that Lester Kasai was the second skater ever to stick the McTwist? These are just a sample of the numerous facts behind each trick.

At posting time, Andy had five tricks squared, along their inventors: the McTwist (by Mike McGill in 1984), the Caballerial (by Steve Caballero, in 1980), frontside rock-n-roll (by Eddie Elguera, 1979), the Andrecht invert (by Dave Andrecht, 1978) and the Benihana (by Lester Kasai, 1986).

The latter is actually Andy’s favorite trick (the above image is a silhouette of him doing a frontside one). Check the video below where he gets the scoop on the maneuver with inventor Lester Kasai. Then, go to Inventors to see – and learn – much more.