The kickflip is one of the most technical basic tricks in skateboarding. It requires extreme precision, and a nice high ollie. If you want to learn how to pull off a kickflip on your skateboard, keep reading.
Before doing anything on your skateboard,
you should wear your pads. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of your skull on concrete, and you won’t soon forget it. Be sure to wear a helmet, and also your pads.
Disclaimer: It isn’t my problem if you hurt yourself while skateboarding. By getting on a skateboard, you’re taking a risk, and you should know that. The best you can do to lower this risk is to wear your safety gear, and also stay within your skill level.
Now that the legal mumbo jumbo is through, you’re ready to try doing a kickflip. If you haven’t already figured it out, you’ll need to be able to ollie before doing a kickflip.
You may not know how to ollie. This isn’t a tutorial for that, but it’s pretty simple. Learn from a friend or find a tutorial on the web. You won’t be able to kickflip without first being able to ollie.
You are finally ready to start kickflipping! Get on your board, and ollie once or twice to get ready for the kickflip. When you’re feeling it, place your front foot near the middle of the deck, and let your heel hang off a couple of inches. Your back foot goes on the tail of the deck.
This footing position should give you the maximum amount of leverage to perform an ollie. Having your heel 3 or 4 inches off the deck should let you ollie, but also let you spin the board.
To actually perform the kickflip, you’ll want to slide your foot up the deck as if you’re doing an ollie, and then flick it left or right (depending on if you’re goofy or regular) the moment you get airborne.
When you make it into the air, you should see that your board is spinning under your feet. As it makes it’s first rotation, stomp down to trap it underneath you.
The problem with the kickflip is that since it involves so much timing and skill, the only way to teach it is to let people know the footing, and then tell them how to get the flip started. It’s impossible to teach someone to land a trick, only to teach them how to actually get it started.
Just practice, practice, practice. Sooner or later, you’re bound to land a kickflip. Remember: This trick is all about timing. If you keep practicing your timing, you will land a kick flip.
Don’t forget to wear your safety gear, and keep practicing! Don’t get frustrated and give up if you don’t land a kickflip the first time; that’s impossible.
