Grosso did a Love Letters on handplants but if you don’t have the time to find it or the energy to sit through it, well…there’s always Zaturdays. Sorry. But since all of a sudden every kid in the world seems to be obsessed with hand turns, you should at least know what you’re talking about. A word of caution: handplants were all the rage in the 1980s, but by 1990 they were virtually extinct. The reason? Overuse, abuse even. So be careful. It took a good 10 years before they started to come back around. So I beg you to use plants wisely.

HANDPLANT

This is a generic name for any trick where your hand is on the coping and you’re going upside down. Oh, and if your hand is NOT on the coping, you’re NOT doing a handplant…you’re still learning.

INVERT

The most garden-variety handplant there is. Back hand on the coping, front hand on the inside edge of the board, right between the feet. Once learned, this trick is actually insanely easy.

SAD PLANT

Same thing as an invert except you straighten your front leg. Lance Mountain is an OG master of the Sad. There was also the happy plant, where you straighten the back leg, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen one.

SMITH VERT

Another invert variation but the board is turned an extra 90 degrees so it’s perpendicular to the coping. Invented by Mike Smith.

TUCK KNEE INVERT

One more invert variation. By reaching around the knee, this one allows for the full scorpion body flex. If you can tap your board on the back of your helmet (or head!) you’ve achieved another plane of shred. Mike Conroy, Jeff Hedges, and Bucky Lasek are three that come to mind that have successfully tapped.

INVERT FAKIE

Now you’re getting tricky. Same as any other invert except [PSYCH!] You come in backward. Sad plants to fakie look really good, Smith verts to fakie look even better.

ANDRECHT

Invented by Dave Andrecht way back in the day. Grab the outer edge of your board just behind your front foot. Timing is crucial here, these are a million times harder than inverts and are way more difficult to reel back into the pipe, but if you learn it you’ll set yourself apart from your bros as a legend.

EGG PLANT

The egg really flips the script. Instead of the back hand on the coping, you’ll be throwing an indy grab upside down and grabbing coping for dear life with your FRONT hand. This one takes commitment to get into, but once you’re upside down you should be able to dive bomb it in with few worries.

McEGG

540 egg plant, invented by Mike McGill, modeled after the McTwist. Hardly anybody messes with the McEgg.

GOOD BUDDY

Definitely the handplant with the coolest name. This is a weird one but looks amazing when done properly. Fakie up into an egg plant and come in forward. No turning required.

BURNTWIST

Egg plant bs 360. Debate still rages as to whether it should be called a Mike Frazier Twist.

FRONTSIDE INVERT

The crown jewel of handplants. When done properly the back hand will be grabbing frontside, and the front hand will be on the coping as you rotate frontside around it. The key to this one is to try to aim the nose of your board at the wrist of the hand that’s on coping. And….you just landed it!

FALL GUY

Frontside invert to fakie! First conceptualized by Neil Blender on a napkin drawing. First executed by Lance Mountain on the U. Maybe the greatest handplant out.

MILLER FLIP

Frontside invert 360 to fakie.

UNIT

Frontside 540 invert. Nutty.

EL GUERRIAL

Invented by and named after Eddie Elguera. He came up backward and did a half gay into an invert. If you can stall one of these you’re a champion. If you can stall one and come in fakie you just did a half Elguerrial and you should win some kind of an award.

HOHO

Start with an invert. Go into a handstand. Turn it into an egg plant. Schaefer is one of only a handful of humans that has done ‘em.

PHILLIPS 66

Come up fakie, grab it like an invert and spin a frontside 3. Yikes!

I could go on and on here, but I think you have enough to work with for a while. Shoot me an email once you’ve mastered these and I’ll come up with another list for you to start on.