Baker Makers

Skaters dragging their hands on the ground has never been a new thing, but after the rise in popularity of the Baker videos (started with the release of Baker Bootleg in 1998), a landing technique called the 'Baker Maker' was popularized. Given the lifestyle choices of its originators (known informally as the Piss Drunx), it's feasible to infer that the move, which simply consists of dragging one's hands upon hitting the ground, has its origins in skating drunk or hungover, requiring the skater to need some extra balance assistance.

Sometimes landing with a Baker Maker adds flavor to a trick, and other times it calls into question whether or not the trick was actually landed. Does it count if one hand touches when you land? What about both hands? What about both hands and a knee? Arguing about stuff like this is what keeps skateboarding interesting. We're not going pretend like we have the answers, but we do have a list of Baker Maker's that stand out to us:

Danny Renaud - Mosaic
When one of these is thrown into an otherwise smooth part like Danny Renaud did with this one, it comes off as pure style.

Ali Boulala - Baker 2G
Two in one maneuver? This is what makes Boulala the king of landing with his hands. He's done quite a few of these, but this one is about as definitive as it gets.

Dustin Dollin - Sight Unseen
Given the intense incline of the rail he's skating, it's no surprise that Dollin needed some assistance in landing this one. That's where the Baker Maker comes in handy. 

Erik Ellington - This Is Skateboarding
Now for something different: a hand on the actual obstacle being skated. Leave it to a Piss Drunx charter member to innovate on this one.

John Motta - A Happy Medium
This polejam wallride polejam is so weird, we're assuming this was the best he could land on such a challenging obstacle. Mr. Motta has his skateboarding predecessors to thank for making landing with one's hands on the ground (sort of) acceptable.

Jim Greco - Baker 2G
In our research for this piece, we were surprised to find that Greco doesn't have as many of these as we'd assumed. Nevertheless, his time spent on Warner Avenue shows through in this backside 360.

Johnny Layton - Suffer the Joy
When you go as big as Johnny Layton did in his Toy Machine days, it's only a matter of time before you have a clip with some hand dragging involved. This one looks like it could have taken off some skin.

Lizard King - The Deathwish Video
We'll let you decide if this trick was actually landed. Skidding on the tail is a novel approach, but he does eventually ride away standing up.

Andrew Reynolds - This Is Skateboarding
Of course the Boss has a super stylish hand drag. This was the first one we thought of, and in our opinion, the coolest. 

Trainwreck - In Bloom
Not a make (unless this was intended as a backside noseblunt to Bertleman slide), but this clip came out at the height of hands-on-the-ground mania, so it got a pass at the time. Now that the banks are lightly skateable we're assuming this one will appear properly landed in some kid's Instagram story any day now.