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Skateboarding => Skate Questions => Topic started by: planman on July 31, 2016, 02:16:04 AM
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Alright SLAP, this is sort of a last resort I suppose. I've been skating since I was a tiny child and skating hard for about six years now, but I can't kickflip. I've tried changing up board width, foot positioning, listening to virtually every piece of advice I've been given. It's not happening for me. I can heel and (sort of) varial heel but I cannot land a kickflip. What usually happens is my back foot lands bolts but I can never bring my front back to the board in time, or on occasion I'll get it perfectly but it hits my back foot in mid turn. It's pretty much at the point where I'm just resigned to never being able to learn them. I don't care if I sound like whiney girl or whatever, I don't like not being able to do one one of the most basic fucking tricks in skateboarding. This is basically my last ditch effort. Anything I'm clearly missing?
Tl;dr been skating a long time, can't kickflip
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Stomp hard as fuck to get good pop with the back foot. For me, I'm better going down a small set or up an incline, instead of on flatground. If I can't land something, it's because I'm not going fast enough or getting enough air.
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how old are you? you sound like you're still pretty young. if that's the case, just keep trying them and trying them and trying them and you will get them for sure. persistence is key.
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Man I remember kickflips were the hardest thing for me to learn. I believe it's kinda the breaking point where it's easier to progress. After you land a kickflip, you kinda understand everything alot more.
With the front foot - just make sure you're jumping high enough
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Flick faster ...practicing anything switch always help me understand some of what I do wrong.
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When you flick with your front foot don't leave it out there like a ninja kick (you will get to that in time) instead, flick,then whip your front foot back towards you. An older local guy showed me this learning technique 10 plus years ago and it worked for me. As you do them more and more consistently you're front foot won't whip back as much as you will know exactly what to expect from the board flipping.. Worked for me anyway. Good Luck!
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I'm a chronic heel flipper did kick flips @ 14 and never again until I was in my 30's.....so there's hope... Heel flips are easier cause they just stay under you....kickflips are harder cause you're looking at it and you kick it away....
My pointers:
Try stationary, on carpet, holding onto a rail....that kind of dumb shit
Try varial flip instead
Don't open up.....keep your shoulders even.....kick off the corner. The idea is it flips under you...not in front.
Do it off of something
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I think I owe all of you guys some credit, finally learned them today and they're a lot more comfortable than heels. I'd gnar you all if I could
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That's sick.....congrats.....
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Well you know, there is an option - you could always pressure flip.
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I think I owe all of you guys some credit, finally learned them today and they're a lot more comfortable than heels. I'd gnar you all if I could
is the gif in your sig from the u-district in seattle?
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I think I owe all of you guys some credit, finally learned them today and they're a lot more comfortable than heels. I'd gnar you all if I could
Hell Yeah!
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is the gif in your sig from the u-district in seattle?
I've been wondering the same thing. Briefly lived/worked on a farm in carnation and usestablished skate UW on wkends. Had big plans for that brick kinked ride on ledge into a hill. Drank myself outta that job/housing situation. Alas
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I'm a chronic heel flipper did kick flips @ 14 and never again until I was in my 30's.....so there's hope... Heel flips are easier cause they just stay under you....kickflips are harder cause you're looking at it and you kick it away....
oh, that makes sense, on flat my kickflips are more consistent, but my heelflips feel way better, with kickflips it feels like the board spun around then i jumped back onto it making it sketchy, but with heelflips it just pops up, hits my feet, feet hit right on the bolts, no tic tacks, it's weird, it's the only flatground trick that i can do that actually feels like i did it properly.
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is the gif in your sig from the u-district in seattle?
I skated red square all the time in the late 90s/early 2000s. and a lot of times I would skate down the ave. and then hit up that kinked brick ledge. but all I ever did on it was ollie the first part of it or just ride down it.
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is the gif in your sig from the u-district in seattle?
I skated red square all the time in the late 90s/early 2000s. and a lot of times I would skate down the ave. and then hit up that kinked brick ledge. but all I ever did on it was ollie the first part of it or just ride down it.
I think so but I wouldn't know, I pulled it from the 2015 Seattle All-City Showdown video
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Added kf tip:
I think it helps to keep in mind that u should level out your feet when u flick, in the same way as an ollie (the follow through motion).
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I taught my 10 year old son how to do them with the "ollie then flick"
Had it down within a week
Wtf? Kickflips took me like 3 years hahaha
Op thats sick ya learned em
Nothing beats the feeling of a nice fast, popped kickflip
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jump highger so you give yourself the best chance of landing it
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Kickflips were hands down the most frustrating "basic trick" I've ever learned. You're not alone. Glad you made it through though. :D
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Kickflips were hands down the most frustrating "basic trick" I've ever learned. You're not alone. Glad you made it through though. :D
True for many Johnny, funny how so many tricks make sense though after you get them!
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Kickflips were hands down the most frustrating "basic trick" I've ever learned. You're not alone. Glad you made it through though. :D
True for many Johnny, funny how so many tricks make sense though after you get them!
Yup. It's all about getting that proper flick. From there, the possibilities are endless.
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often overlooked...... Keep your shoulders parallel to the board... do not turn your shoulders at all. boom. done.
keeps your feet above your board and in the correct position.
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I feel you guys, kickflips took me forever to learn! But now it's all I really do on flat haha I'm lame. But it's the most fun for me.
I usually have my shoulders facing forward slightly, not parallel with my board. But whatever works for you!
Backside flips on the other hand...how the fuck????
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I feel you guys, kickflips took me forever to learn! But now it's all I really do on flat haha I'm lame. But it's the most fun for me.
I usually have my shoulders facing forward slightly, not parallel with my board. But whatever works for you!
Backside flips on the other hand...how the fuck????
The usual advice is to do a regular kickflip and turn your shoulders. Didn't work for me. I have slightly more front foot on the board and I aim to flick even higher on the nose than on kickflips. Also I have more of my backfoot on the tail to get that slight scoop. I start rotating my shoulders before I pop. I kinda try to rotate the board 180 around the front truck of that makes sense, so it stays under me and use my backfoot to guide it the rest of the way after I catch it. This on took me years after learning kickflips to get. Have fun with it. Its also way easier on a hip. Maybe try that first.
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is the gif in your sig from the u-district in seattle?
I skated red square all the time in the late 90s/early 2000s. and a lot of times I would skate down the ave. and then hit up that kinked brick ledge. but all I ever did on it was ollie the first part of it or just ride down it.
It is in the U-district. Across from the Deca Hotel.
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the best tip i ever got for kickflips was to drag my toe right over the bottom left (for regular stance) truck bolt and right out of the pocket.
turned my stanky rocket flips to legit kickflips that 13 year old me was hella proud of.
also,
pop flick catch BANG!
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This might be worth a gander
You have one of the most perfectly popped kickflips in the biz, what?s your secret?
It?s all in the front foot. I see a lot of people use the front part of their toe to flick, but it?s more about using the entire side of your foot to flick, like where your laces start, the last last three lower loops.
Watch Jeremy Wray do it, he is a prime example. He?s got a big ass foot and he would be riding a 7.5 board, kickflipping with his foot almost right in the center of the board. If you see his shoes his laces are fucked halfway up the shoe because he?s using the entire side of his foot to do that kickflip. Andrew Reynolds does the same. Just stay on top of it at all times, jump up, flick and that board will come right up ? it?s going to come up to your feet just like an ollie.
http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2015/04/09/the-cky-era-with-kerry-getz/ (http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2015/04/09/the-cky-era-with-kerry-getz/)
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I ride loose and my kick flips suck, I can do em but there ugly
But if I ride my friends board with tight trucks there really easy
It's the only trick that's easier with tight trucks for me
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Id say the vast majority of flat ground tricks are easier to flip at least with tight trucks....
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yeah your right I've been skating for 12 years and figure
I would have them if I was ever going to
For real though I can do good fs flips tres
And All the fakie variations but somethin about regular kick flips
Just doesn't work for me
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This might be worth a gander
You have one of the most perfectly popped kickflips in the biz, what?s your secret?
It?s all in the front foot. I see a lot of people use the front part of their toe to flick, but it?s more about using the entire side of your foot to flick, like where your laces start, the last last three lower loops.
Watch Jeremy Wray do it, he is a prime example. He?s got a big ass foot and he would be riding a 7.5 board, kickflipping with his foot almost right in the center of the board. If you see his shoes his laces are fucked halfway up the shoe because he?s using the entire side of his foot to do that kickflip. Andrew Reynolds does the same. Just stay on top of it at all times, jump up, flick and that board will come right up ? it?s going to come up to your feet just like an ollie.
http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2015/04/09/the-cky-era-with-kerry-getz/ (http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2015/04/09/the-cky-era-with-kerry-getz/)
This is how I learned it. Also kicking out to the corner of the nose, not off to the side or too downwards otherwise your rocket or the tail will come up way too high.
It's all about trusting the board will come up and letting your back foot come up. When I didn't have em I would always leave my back foot hanging low and the board would just rocket. Also, you can try putting more pressure on the front foot. You'll notice for most tricks you're not comfortable with you'll tend to lean back and try to square your shoulders forward. Try not to do that, and a lot of tricks will start to feel better.
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pressure in your baby toe and pretend to do an ollie north.
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Holy shit, had a major breakthough with kickflips recently. Being a former mob-4-life flicker, I could always do them and land them halfway decently, but never enough to reach into the "satisfactory" territory. I've tried working away the mob motion I've got used to over the past 1-2 years and would always have trouble still. Basically the problem was the pop. I'd spent so much time focusing on flick (which is better now) but couldn't ever get it to feel right. Pretty much, I started messing with my back foot and alls I did was stood on my toes/ball of the foot more (with my heel raised), and all the sudden I started getting that right pop and the spin/catch just starting coming along so much easier all the sudden. It's surprising how the smallest change can do the trick sometimes.
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Backside flips on the other hand...how the fuck????
A good friend of mine who's a local at my hometown skatepark gave me some great advice with backside flips. The first step is that before you even try them have backside 180s on lock, to the point where you can do them every time without any thought or consideration put into it at all. After your backside 180s are as subconscious as possible, you're ready to start trying backside flips. Put your front foot in the kickflip position and your back foot in the backside 180 position (the ideal spot is up to debate but I like to put my toes squarely in the middle of the tail, I reserve the "pocket" of the tail for 360 degree tricks like tres, backside 360s and impossibles). Go for your subconscious slight wind up for the backside 180, but when it's time to pop, (here's the important part) focus ENTIRELY on the kickflip. Your brain should be pretending that it is only doing a kickflip and no other trick because focusing on that flick is critical as fuck. If your backside 180s are locked deep enough in your brain and you really paid attention to that flick you should be starting to land them no problem. Also, learning them on banks helps a good amount because gravity helps you even more with the backside 180 so you can put even more brain effort into that flick.
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Whooooooaaaaa he's a local at your hometown park that's quite a pedigree
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often overlooked...... Keep your shoulders parallel to the board... do not turn your shoulders at all. boom. done.
keeps your feet above your board and in the correct position.
^ this goes for so much of skateboarding and it's what I fight with.....
With kickflips I have to tell myself to jump backwards like east/west, so the board stays under me.....
The vortex I see people get into is they do it like Gonz shoulders facing forward board flips between legs and then you never jump on it. Sort of like a shit frontside flip....
If you keep everything super parallel it just lands under you. It feels super weird but it's for the best....
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Backside flips on the other hand...how the fuck????
focus ENTIRELY on the kickflip.
this is solid advice