The move likely originated in backyard pools in the early '70s, as the early skaters gained in skill and confidence with their high speed carves around the top of the pool walls and one day went that little bit too high. The trucks of the time, often being merely 'borrowed' rollerskate trucks, didn't allow much contact due to their narrowness, but as skateboarding gained its own truck manufacturers who widened the hanger design, the possibilities for exploration became apparent, and all sorts of moves started popping up. There was a big leap in street skating starting in the '90s. It has evolved ever since. Today, grinds are commonly performed on handrails, lips of benches, tables, hubbas, on a hard normal ledge, a flatbar, or just simply anything that is possible enough to grind on it.
Property damage
Grinding is damaging to materials which are not hardened for the specific purpose of the sport, as may be found in a skate park. The trucks are composed of a hard metal without lubricant or bearings on the grinding surface, so they literally do grind on the objects they slide across. Grinding can strip paint off of steel and wear down the edges of concrete, stone, aluminum, and woodbuilding materials. Affected business owners and government buildings have put up anti-skate devices as a deterrent to grinding. Grinding in public places may be seen as a form of vandalism and may cause skateboarding to be banned by business owners and city ordinances.
Back-side or front-side
Whether a grind is back-side or front-side depends on how rider approaches the rail or edge. If the skater approaches the rail with his back to it, the grind is a back-side grind. If the skater approaches the rail with the front of his body to the rail, the grind is a front-side grind.
;5-0 grind ;Nosegrind ;Crooked grind ;Overcrook grind ;Feeble grind ;Smith grind ;Willy grind ;Losi grind ;Suski grind ;Salad grind ;Hurricane grind ;Sugarcane grind ;Novacane grind ;Note- Two missing "cane"-type variations. The alley-oop 180 into fakie feeble, and the alley-oop 180 into switch smith. These two moves are so rare as to have never been given proper names. It's unlikely to encounter either of these trucks unless the rider is skating on transition. ;Bennett grind ;Barley grind ;Caveman grinds ;5-0 hand drag ;Tractor grind ;Nosegrind hand drag ;Layback grind ;Wax the rail ;Primo slides/grinds ;Body varial grinds ;5-0 overturn ;Nosegrind overturn ;Crail grind ;Seatbelt grind ;Coffin 50-50 ;Tailblock grind ;Noseblock grind ;Hang-ten nosegrind ;Hang-five nosegrind ;Handstand grinds
