Motopsychoz MC

How to Heel flip on a Skateboard

Heel flip Setup

The heel flip is similar to the kick flip, and is a natural next trick to learn. If you don’t know how to kick flip, you can still learn to heel flip, but I recommend first Learning how to kick flip. Heel flips are a little harder than kick flips.

What is a Heel flip? A Heel flip is where a skater ollies (or jumps with his or her board) into the air, and flicks the skateboard his or her heel so that it spins in the air along the nose-tail axis, with the heel-edge coming up first, while staying parallel to the ground. The board spins once, and the skater lands on the skateboard when the wheels are facing the ground again, and rides away.

If you are brand new to skateboarding, you’ll first need to learn to Ollie before learning to heel flip. Plus, you may want to take some time getting used to riding your skateboard before learning to Ollie, kick flip or heel flip. Of course, it is totally up to you – if you are aggressive and want to learn to heel flip on your skateboard before learning how to ride, that’s up to you!

Step 2 – Heel flip Stance

Position your feet like you would an Ollie – with your back foot across the tail for the pop, and your front foot near the center of the board. However, you will want to have your front foot placed more forward on the board, so that your toes hang off a little. This will make the trick much easier.

Step 3 – The Pop & Kick

The pop is done just like with an Ollie, except that right after you pop the board into the air, you need to kick the heel of your front foot forward.

Once your front foot leaves the skateboard, point the toes of your front foot up in the air, and kick your front foot forward, out in front of you. You want to be flicking the edge of the skateboard with your heel. This is, of course, why it’s called a heel flip!

Step 4 – Get Out of the Way

Just like with a kick flip, you want to get our feet out of the way of the board so that it can spin freely. Take this moment to pull your front foot back up underneath you, and get ready to catch the skateboard. When heel flipping, the skateboard can spin pretty fast. It helps to be looking down and watching the board spin, but try to not lean forward.

Step 5 – Stay Level

Just like with the kick flip, make sure you stay level. If you lean too far forward – as in, toward your toes, you will tend to leave your skateboard behind you. Keep yourself level and your weight over your skateboard.

Take another look at this photo of P-Rod at the X Games, pulling off a switch varial heel flip. Notice how level his shoulders are with the ground.

Step 6 – Catch the Skateboard

Once the skateboard has spun around completely one time, put your back foot on it to catch it. This means that you’ll need to be watching your skateboard, to see when it has made one complete flip. This can be tricky – keep practicing. Some day when you are awesome, you’ll have a stronger board sense and be able to kick flip without watching the board, but even pros look down when they do tricks, so keep an eye on that board.

Once you catch the skateboard with your back foot, you’ll want to put your front foot on the skateboard too.

Step 7 – Land and Roll Away

This is done just like with a kick flip. As you fall back toward the ground and land, bend your knees again. This is important! Bending your knees will help absorb the shock of landing on your skateboard; it will keep your knees from getting hurt from the impact, and keep you in control of your skateboard. Bend your knees deeply as you land. Finally, just roll away. If this sounds simple, then great – get out there and practice! If this sounds too complicated, don’t worry. Just go slow, and take your time.

This is a lot of technical information to remember while trying to do a trick that takes only a second or two. Just make sure you understand the concept – make sure that you have a good mental picture of what’s happening. Go practice, and if you run into a wall, come back and read some more, and hopefully you’ll get it. Your body is learning how to heel flip more than your mind is, so it may take time. With practice, you’ll eventually get it.

Step 8 – Alternate Heel flip Style

The heel flip can be done other ways as well. A very popular method technically isn’t a heel flip at all, but the skateboard does spin in the same way. This method is called the “Anti-kick flip”, or “Opposite-kick flip”, and most people find it easier than the true kick flip, and it can look a lot cleaner.

In this version of the heel flip, you want to set your feet up the same way you would for a kick flip. When you pop your board into the air, you make the same motion as with a kick flip, but you flick the board on the opposite corner (see photo). This makes the skateboard spin the opposite way from a kick flip. It’s a fairly simple variant of the trick.

However, be careful – the kick flip is a more natural way for your board to want to spin. With this heel flip version, the board has a good chance of flipping up and nailing you in the groin. Sound like fun? Oh, it isn’t.

Step 9 – Common Heel flip Problems

I Can’t Get the Skateboard to Spin Enough

This is the most common problem with heel flips. You have to get a good, strong pop off of your tail, and you need to give the board a good strong flick. If you are using the alternate heel flip method (the “opposite kick flip”) the board does spin more slowly than with the true heel flip method. The only other way to fix this is with practice a lot.

My Skateboard Goes Behind Me

This is a pretty common heel flip problem that comes from leaning too far forward (as in toe side, not toward the nose). Try focusing on leaning back a little, toward your heel side edge. Keep your weight centered over your skateboard and this won’t be a problem.

I Can’t Control my Board

Your board pops up, and might nail you in the groin (getting “credit carded). This is probably happening because you are using your toes in the flip – make sure to use just your heel. Also, just practice. That does mean that you might end up rolling on the ground in pain a few times – this is why it takes guts to be a skater!

I Catch the Board Sketchy – or Not At All

Have someone watch you heel flip. If your tail is dragging too close to the ground, then give a stronger pop, and put some pressure on your front foot to even out the skateboard. If your problem is with the actual landing, the make sure you are catching the board with your feet flat and even. Don’t use only your toes. You may need more air in order to have enough time for this. Again, practice more!

Popularity: 6%