Video of the Week: Taylor Smith - Shep Dawgs Tape Deck

Some dudes are just natural at skateboarding. Taylor Smith aka T-Spliff is definitely one of them. Now I always love some raw, uncut, behind the scenes footage, so 16 minutes of Taylor getting gnarly without even showing it is just priceless. His make-everything-look-easy style is too enjoyable and the fact that he hits up some of the scariest rails is the reason why he needs to be looked out for this year and years to come. I first learned about him through his WTF part, which was a sick first big part for him, and his Shep Dawgs 3 part (where most of these BTS clips are from) solidified my liking for him. Just look at the 14 minute mark in the uncut clips: Taylor boardslides a super sketchy high rail like it's nothing, and throws in a downhill kickflip because he's got it like that. Then, in prime Shep Dawg fashion, he figures the sketchy boardslide isn't enough, so he kickflips into it and rolls away without flinching once again. Seeing raw skate talent like this never gets old.

Also from this week, in keeping with the "Random Teams" theme, sml Wheels released an awesome 13 minute compilation of their whole team from the past year, including some footage I haven't seen before. sml is another one of those pretty stacked teams so this half-length video is something to get psyched on.

Now I already expressed how Luan's part in Chronicles was a bit disappointing and I think I finally know why. The hype for the video was so big that I was expecting some totally stunning NBDs from Luan (kind of like Shane pulled out), but in actuality he shredded in his usual precise fashion, but without anything completely mindblowing. Luan's new Strike and Destroy part, on the other hand, was described to be a short trip to Brazil to film in the area and came out without crazy anticipation. Couple that with the fact that Luan didn't skate lightly at all and this part is in my opinion much more exciting and entertaining than his Chronicles part. From the not-seen-too-frequently Brazilian streets to Luan's flawless style to his well-picked tricks, and especially to his downhill lines, this part has all the right ingredients to be very tasteful.

In other skate news from the past week:
-John Gardner and Nik Stain both released heavy East Coast video parts for Skate Jawn. Thrasher was totally right in seeing the similarities between John and Zered Bassett...
-One of my new favorite contests in skateboarding, The Berrics and Matix's 2UP contest is amazing so far.
-Brandon Nguyen kills it in his Video Check Out.
-Andrew Norris skates with a solid style and makes some difficult spots look easy in his Mag Minute.
-The lineup alone for Outliers is enough to be stoked on, but the trailer made it all official with Marius Syvanen unexpectedly filling in the last spot.

Speed Demons #2: Zack Wallin

Zack Wallin is still on a strong come up. He's been gathering sponsors and getting good coverage this year. But as of late, I've been noticing him as one of the fastest skaters out there. Take his Welcome to DVS video above for instance. He manages to skate a foundation spot exclusively for this solid welcome clip, and skate it super fast. No-push lines for days and just raw speed and power, Zack Wallin can certainly attack any spot. The fakie ollie at 1:25 also jumps out at me because of just how much speed you'd actually need to get that trick high enough and over a bench.
What makes Zack stand out to me more, apart from his fast and powerful style, is that his back-story of his blood clotting condition is both intriguing and makes what he does more appreciable. It makes skateboarding for everyone more appreciable for that matter, realizing what luck most of us have health-wise. This story is best covered in his Brick Harbor Interview, which also contains a super fast line at 4:00 including a downhill push and a very, very long boardslide. Another take on the story is through Matix's "Who Is Zack Wallin?". The first two lines here are very good representations of Zack's high skating speed with some sweet pushing, and then Zack shows how speed can be used creatively at 3:29 by gapping out past the first tier of a manny pad to manual the second - in both directions!
Zack's Welcome to Matix Clothing clip has a quick bump to bump ollie along some sidewalk at 0:30 and his Tweak the Beef leftovers shows a fast gap to crooks on a metal bench at 0:35. In Tweak the Beef itself, he comes through with an awesome no push line at 1:43: nollie up, nollie backside flip, then switch big heel down some stairs. At 3:41 he flies through a smooth front noseblunt and then pushes a bunch at 6:11 to get speed for a massive ollie, which I feel wasn't justified fully by the angle but nevertheless looks pretty big.
But the footage that made me a permanent fan of Zack was his Welcome to Enjoi part. I could mention the sand gap ollie over the bench at 0:26, the ollie from the little bump at 1:04 covering distance to get over the sign, the two downramp rail tricks at 1:35, the zooming by on the 180 up a long 6 set at 3:02, or the well-shown literal run up and pushing for the long kickflip at 3:18. But what I really want to point out from this great overall part is the ender at 3:37. Just look at the picture below to get an idea of just how wide the street is and how much distance Zack had to cover. In video format the ender street ollie is mind-blowing without a doubt and clearly demonstrates how well Zack handles flying downhill at mach 10. But with the picture from The Skateboard Mag to cement that still frame in your head for that split second Zack flies by on video, the gnarliness of the trick becomes oh so real. This ollie alone makes Zack memorable for his speed and power, and it is definitely supported in all the footage he has been putting out this year.