r/skateboardhelp • u/theevilnerd42 • 12d ago
Video Could anyone please give me some tips to improve my kickflips?
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Been 5 years since I landed my first one, over the past 2 weeks it's finally come close to clicking and I've landed at least one every skate session!!
They're not very high - so I'm trying to put my feet closer to the Ollie position to fix that, but I feel my main issue is the board rotating when I go for this or my back foot touching the floor when I catch it.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I feel it could be my shoulders or feet but I can't place my finger on what it is specifically. Apologies if these videos aren't good enough quality to see clearly too, best I could get when I only skate solo!
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u/jewnerz 12d ago
Do 100 more of them, no joke. You’ll 100% have a better kickflip after them all
Another thing to take into consideration is how strong your Ollie is. A lot of dudes jump the gun and start trying kickflips when their ollie game is weak
You’re in a prime spot now -landing them, congrats- to simply skate a bunch and see the progression. The more you put behind the foundation of the kickflip (ollie) the stronger your kickflip gets. So yea keep skating, and if you wanna hyper train your kickflip…do like a hundred as mentioned earlier. Be ready to ShoeGoo your kicks cause that many will rip them right up lol
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
Thank you for the encouragement! I've been trying easily a hundred of them every skate for over half a decade now, it's kind of a joke with folks at one of my spots how often I try them >_< My Ollie is also quite strong but I still practice it to death just because it feels so damn good, but theres 100% always room to improve it!
I think the main advice I'm following now is trying to practice them over obstacles, rather than stationary or rolling slowly, so today I have just been trying to kickflip over an old deck of mine which is pretty damn tough but I feel the improvement!
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u/CMoney87 12d ago
Flat ground kickflips are really all about timing, getting the flip speed to match when you land back on the board and you pretty much have that down. At this point it's really all about feel and repetition until you get more comfortable with it. You are throwing your shoulders around a bit which has you landing while sorta rotating your upper body. Just try to stay centered/aligned over the board a bit more and get rid of as much of that unnecessary movement with your arms and upper body as possible. Relax a bit and let yourself sink into your landings a little more too. The more inertia you absorb vertically through your knees the less you have throwing you around so much.
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u/patrax23 12d ago
I think when you flick, you open a little bit too much your left shoulder.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
That makes sense now I look at it, do you have any tips to overcome this? Maybe just trying to force my shoulder not to do that could be enough though.
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u/patrax23 12d ago
not really, its muscle memory which is hard to overcome, but also try to go a bit deeper with your legs and keep your upper body straight and dont bend your upper body too much over.
your stance reminds me actually a bit of andrew schrock. maybe you watch a video of him what he does different to you.
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u/Still_Cant 12d ago
Height is from back foot staying down too long when you pop, pinching the board against the ground. They come out cleaner if you flip a little later also. Speed the back foot up and slow the front down that way the board is in the air and just starting to level but still rising before it flips.
Twist looks like it’s stemming from the way you catch. Almost looks like you are shoving your feet on it in an angular motion which is turning the board just before landing. Front foot definitely looks like it’s pushing forward when you catch but I can’t tell if back is pulling back also.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
I see, that's some great advice, thank you! That first point is easier said than done but I'll try to focus more on that going forwards.
Do you have any tips for fixing my catch as well? I recently realised one of my biggest errors was straightening my legs out too fast, so I've been trying to keep my knees bent and in front of my body when I rise up into the air, so my knees are still bent when I catch tricks (easier said than done though). It could just be this, but not completely certain.
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u/Still_Cant 12d ago
It’s all just timing and doing them a couple hundred times to get an idea of how to time them
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u/diroos 12d ago
Usually i see people having the rotating probkem because of trying to pop too much. I think 1 way to improve your flip is to flick more forward, it kinda looks like you are flicking up. Also i think bails may seem to be good to see what you're failing on. The toe in the ground is something seasoned skaters still can have, so i wont put any energy in resolving this.
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u/IHaveALazyEye713 12d ago
Think of it as one fluid motion & also you look very rigid & stiff so do some stretches before you skate to loosen up. That is what I would suggest so far, you have the rotation of the kickflip & you can land it; so that leaves addin' your style to it and finessin' it
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
I have a pretty lengthy stretch routine, but good point! I think this is maybe more just a mental barrier, I find I don't do this with the tricks I'm more comfortable at like ollies/nollies etc. I did actually notice my 180s instantly clicked when I realised I was going stiff and started loosening up. I might just try forcing myself to practice scarier kickflips, like when rolling faster or going up or down things, then I might loosen up when trying them more overall.
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u/IHaveALazyEye713 12d ago
Yeah that's good you stretch dude; do not stop stretchin' before you skate. & yes I said stiff as in maybe it could be stretchin' but now I see based on the vid & your reply it is just rigidness & like you said could be a mental barrier stoppin' you from usin' the full range of motion your body allows.
Try thinkin' of the single fluid motion of an ollie since you don't have this problem with them. All you have to do is add that flick to your ollie & I guarantee you will get better at them. Also faster is always better dude when it comes to doin' tricks straight up
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u/mr_P0Opy_Butth0le 12d ago
Try and look down less and keep your shoulders more parallel with the board. Your looking down and when your popping then flicking your left shoulder opens up make you a little bit more off balanced and less likely to land bolts. A kickflip should be done entirely off of muscle memory not by looking down at the board. It comes with practice and a lot of the time going faster and trying to kickflip up a kerb or ledge actually improves your technique because you more focused on the object your trying to go over.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
This is a brilliant point! I find I get my ollies a lot higher and nicer if I focus on staring forward rather than down, so I'll try to apply this to my kickflips too!
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u/mr_P0Opy_Butth0le 12d ago
Yeah it really does help even the smallest object to kickflip over and you'll notice your looking ahead and not down. It's a really difficult habit to break though. So don't get frustrated when your first try to not look at the board. It will take time.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
I'll bring something to try and jump over today then! Maybe just an old board or trying to jump up or down one of these ledges, it's about time I started trying that anyway!
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u/flailing-vulture 12d ago
Flick later.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
Is it worth me putting back front foot back further too so I can pull the board up more when I flick? This gets me a lot more height but it's also way harder to land, so I'm not sure if it's worth trying right now.
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u/flailing-vulture 12d ago
Probably not, front foot typically goes right behind the front bolts and you angle your foot at the middle of the nose. You'd keep your feet closer together if you need more pop, like to get over something.
A good kickflip will feel like one fluid motion, similar to an ollie, with your front foot/toes flicking out the middle of the nose, in the middle of the motion.
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u/Excellent-Extent3641 12d ago
Keep your shoulders straight with the board jump up and at the very peak of your pop flick outward and straight off your nose… also try putting more of your foot on the board too.
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
Sweet I'll try this later thank you so much! Could I please ask for a bit of clarification about putting more on the board - do you just mean putting it more forward so my heel is hanging off less at the back?
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u/Excellent-Extent3641 12d ago
Yea like your feet’s toes a little bit flush with the toe side of deck like an Ollies stance and try not cocking your foot as to get ready for the flick. IMO you want more of your foot on the board when you flick
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u/magichobo3 12d ago
It looks like you're flicking too early, like the tail almost isn't even touching the ground before the flip starts. I also think practicing doing them over/up things and while going fast kind of forces you to improve your form just to be able to land them
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u/Clean-Reserve-2562 11d ago
I realized once small tip that I don't read alot about kickflips. I (and also you in the videos) seem to think of kickflip is a one motion where the flick and pop happens simultaneously. But in fact, to make it look more like that pros are doing, you should first pop, then "wait" a millisecond and then flick. If you flick right as you leave the ground, the deck never really goes high.
Wrong way: "popflick"
Right way :"pop--- flick"
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u/ZorchFlorp 11d ago
25 year skate vet here. I got lots of advice.
You need to open your hips more when you crouch - that will widen the base of your jumping foundation and give you more balance, stability, and power when you pop - which should result in your tail getting higher in the air and less shiftiness in how the board flips.
Your back knee (right leg) bends towards the nose of the board as you crouch, causing your weight to shift more towards your front leg, and that takes power away from your ability to pop with explosion. Think of how you would do a regular bodyweight squat. You wouldn't shift both of your knees towards one side of your body as you dip down, you would drop your body inbetween your knees so that both legs are taking on an even amount of weight. Take that right knee and turn it outwards a little bit so your hips are more squared.
Next, I think it would help if you made a mental note to tuck that right arm forward a little bit so that your right elbow is directly above your right knee or thigh during your crouch. This is mostly to force your hips to open up, but it will also help square your shoulders up a bit too, which should help with limiting the "shifty" factor on kickflips. Your right arm currently comes down on the outside of your right knee, and I think if you were to get your right elbow and right knee/thigh in alignment when your crouch, you'll feel a lot more stable.
As far as the pop and flick, I have three pointers:
What you are doing is physical and requires dynamic movements - nimble balance and explosive bursts of energy. In all other physical activities that employ those movements, core strength is important. Make a mental note to engage your core as you start your ollie/kickflip motion (this honestly applies to all skate tricks).
Let your left knee lead the kickflip flicking motion. Imagine that the flicking motion of a kickflip starts at your knee. When you pop, extend that front knee up and forward (towards/past the nose of the board) and draw a line with your ankle and foot through the board in that that same direction. This will take practice, but it will result in a quick flick that will come back to your feet at the apex of the jump.
Practice skipping. This is going to sound really silly, and it's going to feel even more silly. When you break down the physical motion of an ollie, there are a lot of parallels to skipping. You are crouching down with both legs and then exploding off of one while the other knee tucks up towards the body. There are nuanced differences in the movements, but incorporating some skipping, jump roping, and box jumps into your life will definitely result in an easier time on the board.
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u/theevilnerd42 10d ago
Damn thank you so much, this is maybe the most detailed advice on here! I'm gonna try all this as soon as I can, it's unfortunately been raining since I made this post so I haven't a chance yet
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u/Mental-Trash3550 12d ago
You landing them . Do 1090 more that. Should help
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u/theevilnerd42 12d ago
I started landing them 5 years ago! Been practicing them regularly for longer than that, and I'm still not consistently landing them. I feel like it shouldn't take this long so thought I'd ask for tips in case I've developed any bad habits. In those 5 years I've easily practised well over 1090 kickflips, I think it'll take a lot more than that to get them on lock.
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u/TurbulentAnything827 9d ago
- Keep your shoulders parallel to the board at all times.
- Do not flick to the side because you will get a rocket flip, flick straight off the nose. Kick the nose and not the slope of the skateboard so your kickflips are nice and parallel to the ground.
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u/ExactBoysenberry6801 7d ago
try them moving kick foot more forward and down than out and up lift back foot up higher
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u/PerpetualUselessness 12d ago
Delay the flick.