Frontside Heel Flip

Frontside 180 + Heel Flip

This trick is not very fun to do but it looks amazing due to its circular motion and how slow it gets

Extreme

Prerequisites

Frontside 180

Heel flip

Position

Quick start

Put some pressure on your front foot toes

Pop down, turn frontside with your front foot tiptoed

Flick your front ankle after a delay

Kick your front foot away right after that

Catch with both feet

Sensation

Keep an even balance on both feet, keeping your weight on your toes. Lean slightly backward

Interactive skateboard diagram for learning Frontside Heel Flip

Tips

Put your front foot between the bolts and the middle of the board, a bit lower than you would for a heel flip, and make your toes hang off

1 / 21

Put your back foot in the inner pocket, and angle it toward the tail

2 / 21

Bend your knees a lot to give the board space and time to fully rotate, the rotation is usually high and low

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Apply some pressure on both of your feet toes, especially on your front foot

4 / 21

Open your front arm sideways to make your shoulders rotate and guide your body in the new direction

5 / 21

Keep looking at your front foot, or even further ahead under your arm if you need to

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Make sure you are facing the direction you are moving when you are about to pop

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Lean slightly backward right before you pop, but keep applying some pressure on your front toes as well

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Pop the board almost straight down, just barely scoop it, but do not focus on that part. The scoop will come naturally

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Slide your front foot up, still applying some pressure on your toes, as you would for a heel flip

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Slightly slide your front foot sideways as well, to make it follow your shoulders

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Lift up your back foot to get some height and to leave room for the board to fully rotate

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Wait for a short while in this position, front toes down, going for a weird frontside 180 with the board half horizontal half vertical

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When you reach about 45 degrees rotation then start flicking your front toes up and slightly toward the outer pocket, still turning frontside

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Then let your front foot leave the board horizontally, with a smooth kick. The delay between the flick and the kick is very short

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The flip is initiated by the toes thanks to the ankle flick, and accentuated by the heel thanks to a sideways extension of the leg, kind of a kick

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You need both the flick and the kick to complete the whole rotation, and make sure you emphasize the delay separating the 180 from the heel flip

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Jump pretty high and bend your knees for a long time, the varial heel flip gets high and is pretty slow, you need to leave room for a long time to let the rotation complete

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Lift up your back foot to give the board enough space and time to flip, and slightly forward to make it follow your front foot and take the lead

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Extend your legs when you see the board has fully rotated, catching it with both feet

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Be ready to roll in switch, shift your weight if needed

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Mistakes

'I can't combine both the heel flip and frontside 180 at all'

'You are most likely kicking your front foot away. Focus more on sliding your front foot up and flicking your ankle than on the kick out'

1 / 7

'I lose the board while in the air'

'You are either flicking too soon or not opening your shoulders. Keep in mind there is a delay between the winding up and the pop, and another delay between the lift and the flick'

2 / 7

'I land in front of the board'

'You are leaning forward. Focus on leaning backward while still applying some pressure on your toes'

3 / 7

'I can't do a whole 180'

'You are focusing on the flip too much. Take the time to start rotating before releasing the flip'

4 / 7

'I can't do a whole heel flip'

'You are either not flicking your front ankle, or kicking away too soon, or even waiting too long for flicking. You have to work on the 2 delays between the lift, the flick and the kick out'

5 / 7

'My flip is too slow'

'You are not feeling comfortable with the heel flip, or missing the flick or kick out. Focus on the heel flip, and bend your knees as long as you can to let the board fully rotate'

6 / 7

'I stop after having landed'

'You don't have enough speed. Adjust your rotation to achieve a full 180-degree rotation. The further you are from this, the more you will be slowed down'

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Helpers

Half motion

Try to land the frontside heel flip with only half a flip, this should be halfway through the trick

1 / 3

50-50 grind simulation

Try the frontside heel flip off a curb, as if performing a backside 50-50 grind. This helps with pushing backwards because the board is 'locked in', the wheels are 'stuck' against the curb

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Little by little

You can start turning 20 degrees, then increasing to 40, and so on until you reach the full rotation. You can do this both rolling and stationary. Using lines on the ground can help

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Variations

This trick is slow, tiring and kind of late if you want to do it properly

Transition

Leaning toward the nose will help you pivot on it and complete the rotation, but this will make you lose some speed and not get into the trick, which is pretty slow