Double tail decks

Double tail skateboard decks are by no means a new invention. World Industries' first double tail, the Mike Vallely Barnyard Deck, was released in 1989 and was the result of the rapidly changing skateboarding landscape at the time, with skateboarding moving more and more from the ramps to the streets. New, more technical tricks and switch skating demanded a nose that wasn't as short as its predecessors, and so the first Double Tail Deck was created in collaboration with Chuck Hults. Over time, today's popsicle shapes evolved and the nose became longer than the tail.

After the double tail concept had died out for many years, there have been more skateboarders skating and celebrating this shape for some time now. The most well-known Double Tail protagonists include Ishod Wair, Jamie Foy and Neen Williams.

But why Double Tail? Here we highlight all the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of double tail decks:

What does double tail actually mean? Such decks are absolutely symmetrical, there is no front and no back. This means you always have the same riding experience, no matter which side of the deck is in front. Your pop point is always the same whether you are doing your trick normally, nollie, switch or fakie. This is definitely interesting for skaters who skate almost as much switch as regular because you always have the same pop, no matter in which direction your deck is pointing.

Due to the "memory effect" of your bushings, your axles get used to the main direction of travel. You've probably noticed that if you mostly ride your deck in one direction and when you ride the tail forward, your trucks steer a little differently, which can be annoying. With a double tail deck, this effect does not exist because there is no front and rear, so you ride in your trucks evenly.

Using the nose and tail more evenly will wear the deck a little slower because let's face it, no one wears their nose like their tail.

Another point that Jamie Foy particularly emphasizes is the possibility of simply turning the deck around when one tail has become a bit soft, because the other tail still has pop.

When you skate lines you don't have to worry about whether your nose or tail is in front.

So much for the advantages of double tail decks, but there are also some disadvantages:

Paul Schmitt, owner of the wood shop P.S.Stix and longtime skateboard producer puts it like this: If you have a Swiss Army Knife, would you rather have 2 identical knife blades or 2 different ones? The logical answer would be 2 different ones, because then you can use them for different things. It's similar with skateboard decks. The tail is usually shorter than the nose. The shorter the nose or tail, the longer it takes for it to hit the ground when popping away. While this requires more energy and effort, it creates more pop on the other side and you jump higher. However, this extra jump energy also requires a higher degree of precision. A longer nose gives you the ability to pull off tricks with a little less pop and timing. This is often an advantage when learning new tricks or doing tricks you don't feel quite so comfortable doing yet. Another advantage of a traditional, longer nose is the better standing area for tricks like nose slides, etc.

Finally, it should be said that in addition to double tail decks there are also double nose decks, as is the case with Neen Williams's decks, for example. Neen loves super flat boards and prefers the longer length and lighter pop of a nose. These decks are often also referred to as double tails, but everything over 6.75 inches in length should be referred to as nose because there are hardly any decks with tail lengths over 6.75 inches.

As with all things skateboarding, double tail decks have to be tried to know if they're right for you or not.