Getting my kickflips back consistently

[Howie]

Like the title says, I can't get kickflips consistently any more. I used to have them down a few years ago but I didn't really skate for a couple of years and I just cant get them back properly. I'll land like 3-4 out of 10 but every other try I end up landing just in front of the board or with my heels on but toes touching the ground. Anyone have any advice? I've been trying for the last couple of days but I just can't seem to figure it out and it's frustrating me more and more every day.

[JB]

I suck at them too now. Skate more and practice. They'll come back. Or drink beer while skating. Last time I skated while drinking I landed the majority that I tried.

And remember to jump straight up. That's what I focus on.

[Silky Johnson]

Sounds obvious but what really helps is not half assing your attempts, really give the board a healthy snap and flick and get out of its way until your grip comes around also practice them all the time like JB suggested

[Tracer]

Do what you were doing before...

[the snake]

try to keep your board under your back foot while catching, the front foot goes out for the flick and comes back to the mothership for the proper landing

[Hannity]

when you're practicing, concentrate on flicking it "into" your back foot. so back foot stops the flip every time. then just stay over that bitch and get the other foot on. maybe try popping forward a little as opposed to straight up.

sometimes i get rusty on them too and have to watch a couple good ones in slow-mo to figure out what i'm doing wrong. usually i'm not moving my foot up the board quick enough. i realized i have to start the ollie/flick with my front foot before my back foot has fully popped the tail. quick feet are the secret in all skating.

i don't do them like this, but have always found this to be a good model to work from. like the Stefan kf or sw flip, back foot in the pocket like for a front shuv. quick response.

https://youtu.be/n8u5SGHTBTE?t=17s

[ChuckRamone]

how often do you skate? I think frequency of sessions is more important than duration of sessions. so you'll get more consistent by skating a little every day instead of one or two really long sessions a week. that's probably what works best for me in terms of learning tricks and developing consistency. that and a little cross training are very helpful.

kickflips are already in your muscle memory so it's mostly a matter of getting your body aligned with your brain.

[the snake]

"relax, smoke a spliff when you want to do a kickflip"

[Noble Experiment]

What everyone else said.
Also, experiment with board shapes and  mess around with your truck settings more. A lot of times when I lose my kickflips it's because im skating a board shape that doesn't work for me or because my trucks are off. If my back truck feels off and has too much give when i lean sometimes I can lose kickflips. Bring a tool next time you skate and mess around with your truck adjustments for a bit and you might just find a setting where they come back to you, you never know.

[venmare]

I thought u getting fat right?one of my friend after being a fat ass landing kf like u,so have a diet,dude!

[Paul Cicero]

May seem silly, but believe in yourself.. You know how to do it, so stop overthinking it & just do it!
A few years back I had some time off the board & suffered the same thing, I wasted my time watching trick tips etc, just get out there and do them how you know how to do them. It will come back.

[the snake]

I thought u getting fat right?one of my friend after being a fat ass landing kf like u,so have a diet,dude!

he's not fat, he's pregnant you prick

[svilleantigo]

i'm working on this too. i've had them off-and-on for years, but this whole "hnn fuck tech tool cool for flip tricks big wheels shaped boards loose trucks etcetc" attitude crippled me, and probably prevented me from developing a whole lot more flip tricks i'd love to have. i feel like they tend to go away a lot faster than any other trick if you don't do them constantly.

only advice i can really offer is to not half-ass it, which has already been said. do a bunch of stuff, get less fat, get more stable/flexible.

[MYXGAMES2015]

Sounds obvious but what really helps is not half assing your attempts, really give the board a healthy snap and flick and get out of its way until your grip comes around also practice them all the time like JB suggested

Really? I'd say the opposite.

Like if I try really hard at something for a while and get frustrated, I'll just put minimal effort in like its a trick I can do every try it becomes so much easier

[sharkin]

Flick with intention

Keep over the board not in front or behind it

[Howie]

Alright I've been trying for the last few days and It's definitely gotten alot better. I set my phone up and filmed a few attempts and figured out my main problem was I was leaning too far forward when setting up for the pop so I ended up in front of my board more often than not. The rest is just getting my pop and flick proper.

A lot of good tips in this thread, thanks folks.

[j....soy.....]

I have a bad habit of opening my shoulders and pointing my chest forward.....like Gonz....I get better when I keep my shoulders even and do the check mark or kick off the corner.....

Man....I learned kick flips when I was like 14 or 15....lost them...and got them back at 35....so you have lots of time to get them back.....

[Andrefosho]

J, why would having chest pointing forward a bad habit? I believe it maintains forward momentum. That's something I would like to improve in my skating. Cyrus Bennett is a good example for forward pointing stance and he has a  mean kickflip.

I have a bad case of mob flip. I can pop it straight, over obstacles, even catching with back foot, but my front foot won't flick out. Has anyone experience of curing mobbing flips?

[fatbackdude]

J, why would having chest pointing forward a bad habit? I believe it maintains forward momentum. That's something I would like to improve in my skating. Cyrus Bennett is a good example for forward pointing stance and he has a  mean kickflip.

I have a bad case of mob flip. I can pop it straight, over obstacles, even catching with back foot, but my front foot won't flick out. Has anyone experience of curing mobbing flips?

Chest pointing forward is only bad if you also swing your front foot with it, so your body turns frontside. This leads to flicking with your toe or the top of your shoe instead of the side of your shoe. I have a bad case of this and I can't fix it. Cyrus Bennett keeps his stance parallel with the board even though his chest points forward. 

[ChuckRamone]

I have a bad case of mob flip. I can pop it straight, over obstacles, even catching with back foot, but my front foot won't flick out.

I do the same thing. When I watched some video of my kickflips recently, my front foot was somewhere between mob and a proper flick. I think this habit comes from skating older board shapes without noses and maybe fear of not landing it. Not sure how to fix this, especially at my age. I guess the best thing would be to really focus on flicking.

I actually do a better flick with my heelflips, almost like a karate kick. Is it considered a "flick" though when it's your heel?

[j....soy.....]

Yeah....if you're kicking it in front of you, it looks bad and for lots of people....it just stays in front of you and not underneath you.....it feels weirder, but I always pull my front shoulder parallel....kick off the corner...and it stays under me....

[N.L.]

I suck at kcikflips but I've been landing every one I try recently. Not sure why. Could be my wheels are worn down really small and I'm riding trucks slightly smaller than my deck for once. Oh, and I've been aiming my flick more off the nose... Pretty stoked.

[Latarian Milton]

J, why would having chest pointing forward a bad habit? I believe it maintains forward momentum. That's something I would like to improve in my skating. Cyrus Bennett is a good example for forward pointing stance and he has a  mean kickflip.

I have a bad case of mob flip. I can pop it straight, over obstacles, even catching with back foot, but my front foot won't flick out. Has anyone experience of curing mobbing flips?

When I haven't skated in a while I have a routine where I do a kickflip with my front foot as far back as possible (middle of the board usually), and then one as close to the nose as possible (usually as far as the middle of the front bolts), then repeat the process with your front foot moving closer in between until you find the sweet spot and that bitch comes up to your feet. Repeat kickflipping 10x.

[HyenaChaser]

Bear with me: ollie then kick your foot off.

Kerry Getz says it's all about bringing your front foot up the board, scraping the bottom three lace holes, then flicking out. If you watch old footage of Carrol at EMB you can see he flicks the board once he's mid-air. Make it a two step process, as oppose to flicking it off as you pop and they become a lot more consistent.

[j....soy.....]

One day I put my hands in my pockets and I couldn't miss one....