This dude is the real-est out there. I love that he's sincere and doesn't have the attitude like he's got all the answers.More like a friendly help than a teacher.
I have been landing kickflips consistantly for 2 years now One thing i found out on my own is that when your learning them is that it is easier to do your tricks while moving slow and steady
what helped me was riding fakie. because of the board wanting to move the direction youre rolling helped me keeping the board under my feet and made it easier to flip because the board is coming towards your ''front'' foot. when learning riding forwards i sometimes had my board move a bit forward so my back foot landed behind my tail
yes it's much easier when you go a notch or two faster. It's scarier but it helps prevent tic tacking and gives a clean ride away. That's probably why gaps are easier to roll away from because of the speed needed to clear them.
When I was a little kid, the biggest turning point in my kickflip progress was actually me sitting on a bench and just doing kick flips while sitting for 15 minutes straight. I was just taking a break and it wasn’t an intended exercise, but it was one of those magical things that helped me go from landing kickflips every now and then to immediately landing them every single try. I do the same thing for fun every now and then and I think what makes it help is being able to really really focus on your flick mechanic without flopping your body around. Just need to find a bench where your knee is bent 90 degrees or more, so your legs actually have room to move
I used to do the same thing, although my legs are pretty long and the benches kinda low, so it was always harder than doing kickflips while rolling. I did learn heelflips (which I thought were kickflips) by holding onto the back of our couch in our living room, though; totally cheating, haha, but it worked. I actually learned heelflips that way before I even started skating; I learned them on my sister's old 80's Variflex fish deck (this was in like early 2000) before I even started skating. When I got a proper street popsicle deck a couple months later I could do heelflips while rolling like the first day I skated, so it's definitely a good way to learn them.
Just spent 5 hours straight working on this. Struggling at flicking towards me but still flicking up properly. And when I have the flick for a couple tries, I struggle to lift my back leg to catch. This shit is hard man.
That's Vancouver for you. It has a huge Asian population so it is probably some Tai chi or some form of Asian exercise. I'm so used to seeing it I don't even notice. Richmond, where I live is 50% Chinese.
you're good at making theses videos and really appreciate your humor and professional advice. I would love to kick flip again. At 43 years of age, it's scary. I keep trying to get them back. Love the videos! Keep it up brother.
Kris, I recommend wrist-guards. My first year back was brutal on the palm of my leading hand. I love the way Ben explained in the skating over 30 video. That it's a momentum and you need to do it constantly to keep it. I'd say good luck, but you don't need luck, you just need to go skate. ;)
I don’t know if this is unique to me, but the hardest part of learning a kickflip at ~40 is physical - stiff ankles/knees, and easily injured. I never try a kickflip until 20m after I stary skating. As Ben says, different muscles need to develop. There is one crazy mental trick I discovered that helped me go from 1/5 to 3/5: Fix your eyes at a point on the ground just _behind_ you - if your board’s nose is 12 o’clock sight 10 o’clock. Then flick your toes up above that point, and jump _slightly_ backward.
@@semigloss cheers. Will give that a go. Had a good slam a couple of weeks ago so the ankle and heel are not so good at the moment. Will let you know if that is the gold mate when I can get my ankle to work again
Ben I love this tutorial! I've been struggling forever and it finally seems I'm near to land it. One very very important thing that you are first one to mention is that you've got to build up the muscles of this trick. It really helped me keep motivated. The last week I've been out trying and failing for at least 5 hours in total. I've got the back foot there for the catch but I'm still to slow with the front foot. Been skating on and of in my 45 year old life and kickflips has never worked. I'm finally getting so close I think it will be something I can finally add to my trick list before this summer comes to an end. Thank you for all you great content. /Robert
Another great one! Heel flips have always been more natural for me. Kick flips have always been a struggle but recently started landing them. Never thought about the muscle development!
I began skating in my 30’s because why not and thanks to your videos and useful tips I’m getting the hang of it. So Thank you for sharing and keep it up!
The way to drag the front foot is the best tip ever. I just got into skateboarding again after 20+ years and back then I didn’t know better than to kick down. Today, I landed a kickflip a couple of times due to applying the foot technique shown here. I‘ve only been back on the board for a total of 6 hours or so. Amazing! Thank you for doing these videos!
Back in the 1980s, I found kickflips really easy to learn while holding on to a fence. I was able to do them in less than 5 minutes. And that was with those large, bulky 80s boards. Now, I'm getting back into skating after taking a big break for many years and one thing Ive noticed is that tricks that are meant to be easy are quite hard to relearn. In other words - I could do such tricks quite easily in the 80s but trying them now is pretty challenging. So I'm betting kickflips are going to pretty hard this time around when it's time to try them again. Though I find riding around pretty easy - even though I'm out of practise by nearly 30 years.
I landed my first kickflip yesterday. What an amazing feeling my dude. Also, it was like my second session of trying kickflips after moving up from a 7.75 to an 8.375. The bigger board actually made it much easier (I think partly because it has steeper concave).
I am 39 and in the last 6 months have been Skateboarding again. I have been having trouble with kickflips, but after watching this video a couple times and a couple sessions of shin bashing and ankle tweaking I landed a clean one on flat and some sketchy ones. The tip about the front foot covering the bolt before the pop/flick was like a missing piece of the puzzle. No more rocket after adjusting that and opening up my shoulders more so I am facing forward a bit more. Thanks a lot for this video it helped me to progress and be stoked on skating again at a time in life where I thought I would never skate again.
Thank you, great tutorial. I started here, then watched 30 other how to perfect and how to kickflip videos and then came back here. I now see things you say I didn't see at first. This tutorial is my hold on now. I'm getting closer to kiclflip 👍
William Hufford trying to learn right now, started with Vans and my first day of kickflip practice cost two sets of laces and a hole in my shoe. Already bought new ones haha
Re-learning my kickflip after about 10 years. I use to skate a 7.5 noodle with size 12 shoes, now I'm skating an 8.5 or 8.25. I like the 8.5 way to much to completely switch to the 8.25 even if it flips better. The thing I've always had trouble with with kickflips even back then was getting my front foot on when landing.
Someone told me or I read online to picture an imaginary rectangle box around your skateboard and make sure your shoulders are lined up squared in the middle of that imaginary box [so keep them straight and over the deck] and I basically landed them consistently from that point on.
Almost a year after you posted and I feel this us the most helpful. First person to give the hint that the ollie is part of the kickflip. All it takes is slightly different front foot position and same slide as a ollie and you got the kickflip. I still can't learn one consistently at 29 but hopefully at 30 years of age I will get it!!
I also skated from age 8-13 as a big poser with no confidence and stopped due to the lack of confidence. At 29 though I'm starting again and realizing the steps I didn't take that really held me back.( you need to really master the basics before you can do other stuff consistently)
Love your videos. I'm just starting up again after 12 years, in the mid 30's, it is alot harder than I remember. But after watching you and Jonny Giger, I've started to land them pretty concistent. Was never able too before, so thanx
This video is on point. I've slated since I was 12, I am now 27 and I just got the kick flip. I've been able to heel flip for years but that kick flip was a struggle. You fall off that board, get back on and ride.
Can you explain why you struggled with it? As in, did you ever figure out what you were doing wrong? How often did you try kickflips? I noticed all kinds of things, haven't landed a kickflip yet, but things like keeping both shoulders over the board, instead of looking forward to the nose, but also doing a ollie like drag and then off the side of the nose earlier than what most kickflip tutorials suggest (a lot claim you flick through the nose, when it seems most people do not do that), seems to get the best flicks. It feels I'm close to landing my first kick flip. Also, the other tip that reeeeally helped was starting the drag up the board early. As in, earlier than an ollie really, which can be done with jumping up with the front foot first, tiny delay and then drag. Yes, you get a rocket kick flip motion at first trying it that way, but when flicking strength increases you can do flicks later and later after a pop with the tail. As a beginner the whole pop then drag and flick motion doesn't seem to work. It needs to be more of a single motion to get close to the proper timing of things. Anyway, I already got close to landing one with front foot in the proper position and the back foot only barely missing the tail. Had I jumped higher, I might have landed it lol. Maybe, I don't know.
I couldn't figure out how to keep the board under me and catch it withy back foot. It would always shoot out in front of me but I seemed to catch it with my front foot. Eventually (with in the last couple months) I made sure that when I went out to skate, that once I was warmed up I would practice kickflips for 30mins. One day a couple weeks ago I landed one and it clicked in my head how to do it. *Don't beat yourself up over it and practice Ollies for awhile then come back to the kickflips. *Know that you can do it, it just takes practice and commitment.
lol your 'most people kick down' comment and demonstration illustrates every kick flip I've tried for 25 years. sometimes the flip is nice but I always land with my back foot on the ground a foot away. This will help! great videos dude thanks!
A nice crispy kickflip is sooooo satisfying. I'm struggling with heelflips. Couple years ago in a single game of skate, I landed 1 heelflip and 1 fakie heel. Only 2 heelflips I've ever landed.
I know this video is years old now and you probably won’t see this but thank you so much Ben! In the last couple months I had 3-4 or maybe even 5 30+ minute sessions trying to learn kickflips (I’ve been skating for like 6 years since I was 18 but mostly street transition [ditches, etc] and I never really focused on learning any tricks besides grinds and slides) and in all of those sesh’s I would get so close and land most of them with 1 foot on and every session I would land both feet on at least 1 and slip out or step off or something and it made me so upset and frustrated that I have basically stepped away from skating lately besides 1 or 2 ditch seshs a week Anyways you talking about the specific muscles and all that really did a lot for my mental and made me feel like I don’t just suck at skating and I should get back out to a parking lot! I also usually skate a 10 in winkowski deck so I’m sure setting up a smaller board would help me get them even faster lol
I started skateboarding 2 years ago and couldn't land any trick, but it was just because i wasn't focusing on ONE particular trick. I used to only mess around the whole skatepark, but 4 months ago I started focusing on my ollie, I didn't even go to the skatepark, I tried my ollies in front of my house and got them pretty on point, I moved to kickflips like a month ago, but no progress was seen. Now i'm on my 4th consecutive day of attempting to kickflip and I landed with both feet but the board was upside down, i know i'm pretty close. CONCLUSION: YOU HAVE TO PERSEVERE AND TRY FOR HOURS AND HOURS. Everytime you try a kickflip you can try to do things differently and adjust whatever you're missing
Thank you! Im 30 and taking learning serious. Wish me luck! I found out that I need to get adjusted and work specific muscles but not at gym but with board.
Love your videos! Both Channels! Your explanations are superb! Im old and if I keep watching I just might go out get a board lol. Keep up the good work!
Is such a great expirence when you see a skater starting to learn kickflips and then all of a sudden they figure them out. You can almost feel the weight getting off their shoulders lol.
I've found that it helps to not only pop your back foot down, but also to pull the board back away from the direction you're traveling. (Relate it to how a nollie pushes forward). So, bend knees. Pop back foot down and "behind you" -slightly. This is in relation to popping the board off the ground. Also, do it like a thousand times and you're on your way!
Bro, since I lost my kick flip several years ago, I accidentally tried heel flip. Finally I landed regular heel flip and nollie heel flip. I am 40 years old. In my early youth ages, I rarely practice heel flip. However I found heel kind of easier than kick or more precisely slide your toe. Only what you do is keep your ankle in rolling action and slide it to your inwards direction that makes heel flip. Do not think of your board flip too much, slide too much off your board. Instead think of you just performing an Ollie, except your heel slide doing it.
nollie heels are one of the steeziest tricks for sure Im still working on my nollie and switch pop I can barely ollie that way so until then its fakie heels
I wish I would've had this video back when I learned those ahahah. One thing you didn't talk about was weight distribution, major part of the weight is on the front foot
I didn't even notice the muscles on my shins until i saw this video. I already knew how to do a kickflip but maybe I'll learn something, I thought by watching it. I did
I mobbed flipped(usually in rocket fashion) for my first year of kick flipping. It took one older guy making some very polite suggestions on my foot placement and motions, along with about 45 minutes of effort for me to start catching them over a mid sized pylon.(Thanks Zack) Skate "coaches" at skate parks can be annoying and cringe inducing, but NEVER turn down or ignore an offer of advice. ...as long as it isn't coming from the skate coach that has a "tip" for every single thing anyone does. You know? the type of guy that spends more time pointing out what everyone is doing wrong more than they are actually skating.
I'm not an expert. The best trick I can do is a varial flip. But for me, the trick was trying to prevent my back foot from slipping off the tail after I land. So popping a little bit backwards and not flicking the board out in front as much. I still have trouble with them if I haven't skated in a while. Kickflips are one of the few tricks that I don't have commitment issues with though. I imagine a lot of people might have trouble committing to it though.
Restarting skating at 30 I can attest to the u do not have the muscle yet so don't get frustrated. I was hella good at flatground as a teenager. I had the muscle memory and knew exactly how to do my tricks still at 30. But man my muscles in my shins were TOAST after 3 kickflips my first time back on the board. Imagine that feeling. Your legs already have put in the work in the past so they already know what to do, but the strength youve lost is a decimal of how long u could before. My muscles were in super mad pain for a few days after my first couple times skating again and every day I was landing harder and harder tricks more consistently and it didn't hurt my muscles and could go for longer periods flipping the board. It literally made me understand why skaters can go from not being able to flip anything in the beginning to getting them super precise within months. It's because the muscle needed for certain flip tricks gets stronger and it becomes more effortless. Tre flips are a good example too. You can have them super effortlessly if u do them everyday yet its a trick if u dont use it u lose it.
I have the opposite issue. I can land back foot but often in jackknife position and cant get my front leg back in time. Ive tried crouching lower on the pop and higher knees on the jump but nothing works.
Ben your right the biggest problem I had was fear. But I did learn my problem it was I would flick and form the trick and my feet were to spread apart. The solution was after the flick I would jump and land feet close together. Now I land everytime.
Great video Ben! The way you explained it was great! I gotta polish my kickflips. They never were right. What you said about landing either with the front or back foot and then combining them is really interesting, I'll do that to see if they become less rockety. Looking forward to your Indy 149s video! 😎😁 Your videos are the thing!
Thanks Jorge. I have problems with rocket flips if I have the wrong shoes or deck. I never used to. It started in my late 20's. My ankle must have gotten weaker or I just lost form. I have never lost my switch kickflip. I can do it on almost any board or shoe combo. Kinda weird. I just started filming for the 149 video today. Maybe after next weekend.
I put shoe goo on my shoes where kickflips and heelflips really tear them up before there are any holes. Makes them last a lot longer. It does take some breaking in when the goo is fresh on the shoe but once you use it a bit it grabs the grip tape good enough.
About 10 years off my board. Getting back into it, I can still land kickflips about 75% of the time but it keeps aggravating a really old groin injury on my back leg(not the flip leg). Stretching a lot helps but it still happens. It's very frustrating.
You would kick your left left up and out to your left (heel side edge of the board behind you). Make sure you really have your ollies down first as it will help a ton to learn this trick quickly. Let me know if I can help any further!
The first video I seen of you Ben, I made a joke about skating in sweatpants/tracksuit pants. And I still think it's wrong on so many levels 😂😂😂 but goddamn if this isn't one of the best skateboarding channels on UA-cam. Love your spec videos on tricks and boardwiths and shapes. Also think it's tops that you do all this with a family and full time job. So Bravo, great channel. Also, awesome background setting there man. Beautiful skate spot background
Nice video bro! Tryin to do kickflips for awhile now, and your vid kinda helped me out, thanks for that! ... But did noone notice this guy rotating and t-posing in the backround at 3:17?
Thanks for the always killer tips, I hope this helps me land my kickflips. I can flick nice but I can’t lift my back foot high enough to catch it with the back foot. I can ollie so high but when doing the kick flip my back foot can’t hop enough to get up.
I can land it after about 8 months of practice 2 broken boards busted up knee and a lot of fails and bails lol … but I finally can do it.. I get one good kick flip out of 100 bad ones and 1000 flying damn near busted my truck window out tries .. thing I love about kickflips is u CAN learn it before an Ollie .. and it’s really cool to kickflip off of stuff like stairs n other stuff lol.. if u practice everyday for at least 2-3 hrs u will eventually nail it.. I did and I can only do a rocket Ollie
The back foot catches it while the front is out for lunch
Its a back foot catch?
SwanyD can’t put the front down tho
I read the comment at the exact same time as he said it lol
Same
Lol what a great way of putting it!
This dude is the real-est out there. I love that he's sincere and doesn't have the attitude like he's got all the answers.More like a friendly help than a teacher.
Guys like this who seem nice in videos are actually super narcissistic arrogant assholes in real life.
0:54 did anyone else notice how beautiful that background was???
Typical British Columbia 👌
wow it is
YES.
It almost looks fake
so true didnt even notice
I haven’t skate in over 4years. I start skating again for about a month and just landed a kickflip! Love your videos 👊🏽
I have been landing kickflips consistantly for 2 years now
One thing i found out on my own is that when your learning them is that it is easier to do your tricks while moving slow and steady
I totally agree. That's why I kept messing them up because I wasn't moving:)
True
what helped me was riding fakie. because of the board wanting to move the direction youre rolling helped me keeping the board under my feet and made it easier to flip because the board is coming towards your ''front'' foot. when learning riding forwards i sometimes had my board move a bit forward so my back foot landed behind my tail
the faster the easier
yes it's much easier when you go a notch or two faster. It's scarier but it helps prevent tic tacking and gives a clean ride away. That's probably why gaps are easier to roll away from because of the speed needed to clear them.
genuinely the only guy who actually teaches properly. no disrespect to other tutorials, but this guy is a natural teacher.
When I was a little kid, the biggest turning point in my kickflip progress was actually me sitting on a bench and just doing kick flips while sitting for 15 minutes straight. I was just taking a break and it wasn’t an intended exercise, but it was one of those magical things that helped me go from landing kickflips every now and then to immediately landing them every single try. I do the same thing for fun every now and then and I think what makes it help is being able to really really focus on your flick mechanic without flopping your body around. Just need to find a bench where your knee is bent 90 degrees or more, so your legs actually have room to move
I used to do the same thing, although my legs are pretty long and the benches kinda low, so it was always harder than doing kickflips while rolling. I did learn heelflips (which I thought were kickflips) by holding onto the back of our couch in our living room, though; totally cheating, haha, but it worked. I actually learned heelflips that way before I even started skating; I learned them on my sister's old 80's Variflex fish deck (this was in like early 2000) before I even started skating. When I got a proper street popsicle deck a couple months later I could do heelflips while rolling like the first day I skated, so it's definitely a good way to learn them.
@@morgellon7877 Interesting for sure, might try this for shuv tricks. Thanks for the comment.
best kickflip tutorial ive seen, straight to the point!
Just spent 5 hours straight working on this. Struggling at flicking towards me but still flicking up properly. And when I have the flick for a couple tries, I struggle to lift my back leg to catch. This shit is hard man.
Yeah this trick is hard i try for a day, when i try do a kickflip become ollie
“It’s like an Ollie North with a flick” keep that in mind and you will get it.
thank you that's actually a great tip im much closer now !
Yeah i tried to olie north and almost got a kickflip out of it lol, great tip
I can't ollie north, but I'm pretty close to kick flip
Now how do I do an ollie North without kick flipping
What’s an Ollie north??
3:11 hahah wtf the guy in the backgroung
That's Vancouver for you. It has a huge Asian population so it is probably some Tai chi or some form of Asian exercise. I'm so used to seeing it I don't even notice. Richmond, where I live is 50% Chinese.
Ah i see! Keep up the good work man
Picco Lini He's flying
"I'M ASCENDING!!"
lol
you're good at making theses videos and really appreciate your humor and professional advice. I would love to kick flip again. At 43 years of age, it's scary. I keep trying to get them back. Love the videos! Keep it up brother.
Thanks Kris. I hope you can get them back too.
Kris, I recommend wrist-guards. My first year back was brutal on the palm of my leading hand. I love the way Ben explained in the skating over 30 video. That it's a momentum and you need to do it constantly to keep it. I'd say good luck, but you don't need luck, you just need to go skate. ;)
43 as well mate.... and I am still completely frustrated with my flips buts it's only been 5 months... shove it is nearly down on a bank
I don’t know if this is unique to me, but the hardest part of learning a kickflip at ~40 is physical - stiff ankles/knees, and easily injured. I never try a kickflip until 20m after I stary skating. As Ben says, different muscles need to develop.
There is one crazy mental trick I discovered that helped me go from 1/5 to 3/5: Fix your eyes at a point on the ground just _behind_ you - if your board’s nose is 12 o’clock sight 10 o’clock. Then flick your toes up above that point, and jump _slightly_ backward.
@@semigloss cheers. Will give that a go. Had a good slam a couple of weeks ago so the ankle and heel are not so good at the moment. Will let you know if that is the gold mate when I can get my ankle to work again
2:26 is pretty good angle in my opinion. great job on that shot makes it super easy to see what the front foot actually does
Ben I love this tutorial! I've been struggling forever and it finally seems I'm near to land it. One very very important thing that you are first one to mention is that you've got to build up the muscles of this trick. It really helped me keep motivated. The last week I've been out trying and failing for at least 5 hours in total. I've got the back foot there for the catch but I'm still to slow with the front foot. Been skating on and of in my 45 year old life and kickflips has never worked. I'm finally getting so close I think it will be something I can finally add to my trick list before this summer comes to an end. Thank you for all you great content. /Robert
I bet you still haven’t landed it and you switched to heel flips like a real man? Nice.
yo you got it hope you landed it
Another great one! Heel flips have always been more natural for me. Kick flips have always been a struggle but recently started landing them. Never thought about the muscle development!
I began skating in my 30’s because why not and thanks to your videos and useful tips I’m getting the hang of it. So Thank you for sharing and keep it up!
The way to drag the front foot is the best tip ever. I just got into skateboarding again after 20+ years and back then I didn’t know better than to kick down. Today, I landed a kickflip a couple of times due to applying the foot technique shown here. I‘ve only been back on the board for a total of 6 hours or so. Amazing! Thank you for doing these videos!
Back in the 1980s, I found kickflips really easy to learn while holding on to a fence. I was able to do them in less than 5 minutes. And that was with those large, bulky 80s boards. Now, I'm getting back into skating after taking a big break for many years and one thing Ive noticed is that tricks that are meant to be easy are quite hard to relearn. In other words - I could do such tricks quite easily in the 80s but trying them now is pretty challenging. So I'm betting kickflips are going to pretty hard this time around when it's time to try them again. Though I find riding around pretty easy - even though I'm out of practise by nearly 30 years.
man that's a great idea, i never thought about using a fence.
Same comment every video huh?
@@billclinton3010 Yea I'm so original.
That’s how I learned to Ollie. I held onto something and it came really easy. Same as heelflips, I could never land a kick flip though.
I landed my first kickflip yesterday. What an amazing feeling my dude. Also, it was like my second session of trying kickflips after moving up from a 7.75 to an 8.375. The bigger board actually made it much easier (I think partly because it has steeper concave).
I still come back to this tutorial every now and then to make my kickflips better.
I am 39 and in the last 6 months have been Skateboarding again. I have been having trouble with kickflips, but after watching this video a couple times and a couple sessions of shin bashing and ankle tweaking I landed a clean one on flat and some sketchy ones. The tip about the front foot covering the bolt before the pop/flick was like a missing piece of the puzzle. No more rocket after adjusting that and opening up my shoulders more so I am facing forward a bit more. Thanks a lot for this video it helped me to progress and be stoked on skating again at a time in life where I thought I would never skate again.
Thank you, great tutorial. I started here, then watched 30 other how to perfect and how to kickflip videos and then came back here. I now see things you say I didn't see at first. This tutorial is my hold on now. I'm getting closer to kiclflip 👍
This got me my first kickflip. Not because of any magical trick, just the fact that he said try 100 a day.
Me too but by the time I got the flicking motion down I ripped through the fabric of my vans n the laces lol
William Hufford trying to learn right now, started with Vans and my first day of kickflip practice cost two sets of laces and a hole in my shoe. Already bought new ones haha
Re-learning my kickflip after about 10 years. I use to skate a 7.5 noodle with size 12 shoes, now I'm skating an 8.5 or 8.25.
I like the 8.5 way to much to completely switch to the 8.25 even if it flips better.
The thing I've always had trouble with with kickflips even back then was getting my front foot on when landing.
I think it comes down to timing , you really need to focus on the board rotating under your feet and just time it with commitment.
Someone told me or I read online to picture an imaginary rectangle box around your skateboard and make sure your shoulders are lined up squared in the middle of that imaginary box [so keep them straight and over the deck] and I basically landed them consistently from that point on.
majestic UNcasual
Yeah that was my problem, I wasn’t aligned with the board at all
But then I can't fucking flick properly
That is something I feel goes unmentioned a lot... keep your shoulders square
an important trick most UA-cam videos leave out.
@@Lil_Geeky have to learn to flick while being aligned with the board. Learning the flick alone helps but does not come close to completing the trick.
Almost a year after you posted and I feel this us the most helpful. First person to give the hint that the ollie is part of the kickflip. All it takes is slightly different front foot position and same slide as a ollie and you got the kickflip. I still can't learn one consistently at 29 but hopefully at 30 years of age I will get it!!
I also skated from age 8-13 as a big poser with no confidence and stopped due to the lack of confidence. At 29 though I'm starting again and realizing the steps I didn't take that really held me back.( you need to really master the basics before you can do other stuff consistently)
Love your videos. I'm just starting up again after 12 years, in the mid 30's, it is alot harder than I remember. But after watching you and Jonny Giger, I've started to land them pretty concistent. Was never able too before, so thanx
Best Kickflip explanation video I ever watched. Really!
so that'z why my muscles are super sore.
Back foot catch 👍 I’ve given up on this trick in the past, you have given me hope
Member when Tony Hawk taught us how to ollie on the Disney channel?
This video is on point.
I've slated since I was 12, I am now 27 and I just got the kick flip. I've been able to heel flip for years but that kick flip was a struggle.
You fall off that board, get back on and ride.
Can you explain why you struggled with it? As in, did you ever figure out what you were doing wrong? How often did you try kickflips? I noticed all kinds of things, haven't landed a kickflip yet, but things like keeping both shoulders over the board, instead of looking forward to the nose, but also doing a ollie like drag and then off the side of the nose earlier than what most kickflip tutorials suggest (a lot claim you flick through the nose, when it seems most people do not do that), seems to get the best flicks. It feels I'm close to landing my first kick flip. Also, the other tip that reeeeally helped was starting the drag up the board early. As in, earlier than an ollie really, which can be done with jumping up with the front foot first, tiny delay and then drag. Yes, you get a rocket kick flip motion at first trying it that way, but when flicking strength increases you can do flicks later and later after a pop with the tail. As a beginner the whole pop then drag and flick motion doesn't seem to work. It needs to be more of a single motion to get close to the proper timing of things. Anyway, I already got close to landing one with front foot in the proper position and the back foot only barely missing the tail. Had I jumped higher, I might have landed it lol. Maybe, I don't know.
I'll get back to you. Need to think about it. At different points in time I was doing a lot wrong. BRB.
@@Embe042 I appreciate it. Any advice is welcome.
I couldn't figure out how to keep the board under me and catch it withy back foot.
It would always shoot out in front of me but I seemed to catch it with my front foot. Eventually (with in the last couple months)
I made sure that when I went out to skate, that once I was warmed up I would practice kickflips for 30mins. One day a couple weeks ago I landed one and it clicked in my head how to do it.
*Don't beat yourself up over it and practice Ollies for awhile then come back to the kickflips.
*Know that you can do it, it just takes practice and commitment.
Loved the guy spinning in the background. Had to rewind to re watch and pay attention 😂
lol your 'most people kick down' comment and demonstration illustrates every kick flip I've tried for 25 years. sometimes the flip is nice but I always land with my back foot on the ground a foot away. This will help! great videos dude thanks!
When it's not winter.. the amount of territorials and scenery really makes one want to travel there.
A nice crispy kickflip is sooooo satisfying. I'm struggling with heelflips. Couple years ago in a single game of skate, I landed 1 heelflip and 1 fakie heel. Only 2 heelflips I've ever landed.
I know this video is years old now and you probably won’t see this but thank you so much Ben! In the last couple months I had 3-4 or maybe even 5 30+ minute sessions trying to learn kickflips (I’ve been skating for like 6 years since I was 18 but mostly street transition [ditches, etc] and I never really focused on learning any tricks besides grinds and slides) and in all of those sesh’s I would get so close and land most of them with 1 foot on and every session I would land both feet on at least 1 and slip out or step off or something and it made me so upset and frustrated that I have basically stepped away from skating lately besides 1 or 2 ditch seshs a week
Anyways you talking about the specific muscles and all that really did a lot for my mental and made me feel like I don’t just suck at skating and I should get back out to a parking lot!
I also usually skate a 10 in winkowski deck so I’m sure setting up a smaller board would help me get them even faster lol
Yo this was a lil batch of sunshine. Subscribed. Loved the moral support. 😂🤙♥️
Great tutorial dude, you're the first one to offer a solution/technique to work on the issue of landing kickflips front foot only 😎👍
Dan Roeters this is where I’ve been stuck for a long time. I’m excited to try it out.
Yeah, probably the best kickflip tutorial out there. Absolutely the best.
I started skateboarding 2 years ago and couldn't land any trick, but it was just because i wasn't focusing on ONE particular trick. I used to only mess around the whole skatepark, but 4 months ago I started focusing on my ollie, I didn't even go to the skatepark, I tried my ollies in front of my house and got them pretty on point, I moved to kickflips like a month ago, but no progress was seen. Now i'm on my 4th consecutive day of attempting to kickflip and I landed with both feet but the board was upside down, i know i'm pretty close.
CONCLUSION: YOU HAVE TO PERSEVERE AND TRY FOR HOURS AND HOURS. Everytime you try a kickflip you can try to do things differently and adjust whatever you're missing
Thanks to this video, this is the week I begin trying kickflips.
Thank you! Im 30 and taking learning serious. Wish me luck! I found out that I need to get adjusted and work specific muscles but not at gym but with board.
Thank you brother. This is how videos on UA-cam should be. Short and to the point. edit: (my opinion with skateboarding tutorials.)
"Your muscles have not developed yet," Made me feel a lot better. x'D
Love your videos! Both Channels! Your explanations are superb! Im old and if I keep watching I just might go out get a board lol. Keep up the good work!
Is such a great expirence when you see a skater starting to learn kickflips and then all of a sudden they figure them out. You can almost feel the weight getting off their shoulders lol.
Hey Ben, cool vids. I'm 33 and have decided to get back on my board. Your washed up 90s pro bit is hilarious. Thanks for the entertainment.
Do it.. We're the same age.. I did it too.. And I feel like 16 again.. Haha
roboliño schmidt, yup today was day 1, I’m reacquainting my body to the pavement.
Your very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wish you many happy sessions:)
Best tutorial out there 100%, you are so underrated brother. Keep the grind going
I've found that it helps to not only pop your back foot down, but also to pull the board back away from the direction you're traveling. (Relate it to how a nollie pushes forward). So, bend knees. Pop back foot down and "behind you" -slightly. This is in relation to popping the board off the ground. Also, do it like a thousand times and you're on your way!
somebody told me if you stay low its way easier to do,ive been trying this and it actually helps
Bro, since I lost my kick flip several years ago, I accidentally tried heel flip. Finally I landed regular heel flip and nollie heel flip. I am 40 years old. In my early youth ages, I rarely practice heel flip. However I found heel kind of easier than kick or more precisely slide your toe. Only what you do is keep your ankle in rolling action and slide it to your inwards direction that makes heel flip. Do not think of your board flip too much, slide too much off your board. Instead think of you just performing an Ollie, except your heel slide doing it.
nollie heels are one of the steeziest tricks for sure
Im still working on my nollie and switch pop I can barely ollie that way so until then its fakie heels
I wish I would've had this video back when I learned those ahahah. One thing you didn't talk about was weight distribution, major part of the weight is on the front foot
I never thought about that. Darn! Now I have to make it again🤡
3:17 Why is there someone spinning like a helicopter in the background for several minutes
He's stuck on the select character screen
Probably me practicing kick turns
Drugs
tai chi or some sort of asian exercise
Canadians man.
Thank you so much bro ur tips helped me to fix my kickflip
Landed my first kick flip earlier this week. Felt amazing. Finally after a 2 month fight. Next battle land them consistently
I didn't even notice the muscles on my shins until i saw this video. I already knew how to do a kickflip but maybe I'll learn something, I thought by watching it.
I did
1:46 is how my kickflips currently look lol
Same
@@HistoryyRevisitedd update: I can land a kickflip now
@@coalman1356 yessir
I mobbed flipped(usually in rocket fashion) for my first year of kick flipping.
It took one older guy making some very polite suggestions on my foot placement and motions, along with about 45 minutes of effort for me to start catching them over a mid sized pylon.(Thanks Zack)
Skate "coaches" at skate parks can be annoying and cringe inducing, but NEVER turn down or ignore an offer of advice.
...as long as it isn't coming from the skate coach that has a "tip" for every single thing anyone does.
You know? the type of guy that spends more time pointing out what everyone is doing wrong more than they are actually skating.
No matter how well you explain them. I don't think I'll ever learn to flip the board. 😢
:(
Great vid, to the point, and the angles with the slow mo are helpful. Thanks!
Great tutorial Ben.
Still haven't got my first Ollie yet but saved for later.
I'm not an expert. The best trick I can do is a varial flip. But for me, the trick was trying to prevent my back foot from slipping off the tail after I land. So popping a little bit backwards and not flicking the board out in front as much. I still have trouble with them if I haven't skated in a while. Kickflips are one of the few tricks that I don't have commitment issues with though. I imagine a lot of people might have trouble committing to it though.
Restarting skating at 30 I can attest to the u do not have the muscle yet so don't get frustrated. I was hella good at flatground as a teenager. I had the muscle memory and knew exactly how to do my tricks still at 30. But man my muscles in my shins were TOAST after 3 kickflips my first time back on the board. Imagine that feeling. Your legs already have put in the work in the past so they already know what to do, but the strength youve lost is a decimal of how long u could before. My muscles were in super mad pain for a few days after my first couple times skating again and every day I was landing harder and harder tricks more consistently and it didn't hurt my muscles and could go for longer periods flipping the board. It literally made me understand why skaters can go from not being able to flip anything in the beginning to getting them super precise within months. It's because the muscle needed for certain flip tricks gets stronger and it becomes more effortless. Tre flips are a good example too. You can have them super effortlessly if u do them everyday yet its a trick if u dont use it u lose it.
Great tutorial and video. I bet ur kickflip looks better now 🔥
Remember to feather that edge with the left foot !!!! Nice 👍
Ive been skating since 98 and my kickflips always looked so gross this video helped me improve my kickflips
I have the opposite issue. I can land back foot but often in jackknife position and cant get my front leg back in time. Ive tried crouching lower on the pop and higher knees on the jump but nothing works.
i love how you explain .
Perfect Tutorial, Ben! Love the slow mo...
Got more from this... Back foot and Vans... Not going to give up lmao. Its a bucket list thing.
Damn! I used to live on Knight Street! Really miss this skatepark. Dope tutorial man
Thanks for contributing to skateboarding man, big fan of your videos, most slap pals are just negative.
Ben your right the biggest problem I had was fear. But I did learn my problem it was I would flick and form the trick and my feet were to spread apart. The solution was after the flick I would jump and land feet close together. Now I land everytime.
Hey dude, I have that issue can you make a video on it please?
This man is so Canadian, I can smell the maple syrup through the videos.
Great video Ben! The way you explained it was great! I gotta polish my kickflips. They never were right. What you said about landing either with the front or back foot and then combining them is really interesting, I'll do that to see if they become less rockety. Looking forward to your Indy 149s video! 😎😁 Your videos are the thing!
Thanks Jorge. I have problems with rocket flips if I have the wrong shoes or deck. I never used to. It started in my late 20's. My ankle must have gotten weaker or I just lost form. I have never lost my switch kickflip. I can do it on almost any board or shoe combo. Kinda weird.
I just started filming for the 149 video today. Maybe after next weekend.
I put shoe goo on my shoes where kickflips and heelflips really tear them up before there are any holes. Makes them last a lot longer. It does take some breaking in when the goo is fresh on the shoe but once you use it a bit it grabs the grip tape good enough.
About 10 years off my board. Getting back into it, I can still land kickflips about 75% of the time but it keeps aggravating a really old groin injury on my back leg(not the flip leg). Stretching a lot helps but it still happens. It's very frustrating.
Bro I've been trying to figure out why my leg hurt so bad. Thank you hahah
This was actually very helpful better than most I’ve watch
This is the best tutorial I’ve seen for a kickflip👌🏼
Which direction do I flick if I skate left leg front?
You would kick your left left up and out to your left (heel side edge of the board behind you). Make sure you really have your ollies down first as it will help a ton to learn this trick quickly. Let me know if I can help any further!
Knight street! i used to always go skate here when i lived in Vancouver, and then go to Duffins Donuts down the road afterward.
This is really nice, and shout out to the absolute legend who seems to be tripping balls in the background.
Your going to want to start trying these stationary. Get over the fear and learn the trick while rolling. You'll benefit much more in the long run.
Best kickflip tutorial I've seen yet
cool vid, thanks for the tip about the back foot, i'll give it a try next time. happy shredding everyone :)
Beautiful place
The first video I seen of you Ben, I made a joke about skating in sweatpants/tracksuit pants. And I still think it's wrong on so many levels 😂😂😂 but goddamn if this isn't one of the best skateboarding channels on UA-cam. Love your spec videos on tricks and boardwiths and shapes. Also think it's tops that you do all this with a family and full time job. So Bravo, great channel. Also, awesome background setting there man. Beautiful skate spot background
Yeah bro... thank You so much... good vibes from Ecuador
3:23 dude spinning in the background like a kickflip
Nice video bro! Tryin to do kickflips for awhile now, and your vid kinda helped me out, thanks for that!
...
But did noone notice this guy rotating and t-posing in the backround at 3:17?
Thanks for the always killer tips, I hope this helps me land my kickflips. I can flick nice but I can’t lift my back foot high enough to catch it with the back foot. I can ollie so high but when doing the kick flip my back foot can’t hop enough to get up.
The concave of the kick side matters too(theyre better long outwards)you get super pop,nobody will tell you this it seems
thanks bro this really helped! I'm sure i will get a kickflip from this video!
Thanks for the tips!
My come to light moment 20 years ago was jump up and forward to land kickflips
I can land it after about 8 months of practice 2 broken boards busted up knee and a lot of fails and bails lol … but I finally can do it.. I get one good kick flip out of 100 bad ones and 1000 flying damn near busted my truck window out tries .. thing I love about kickflips is u CAN learn it before an Ollie .. and it’s really cool to kickflip off of stuff like stairs n other stuff lol.. if u practice everyday for at least 2-3 hrs u will eventually nail it.. I did and I can only do a rocket Ollie
Such good tips! Regardings from Brazil!
I am 35 yo and start skateboarding :D,ty for that tutorial!