Flip trick
A flip trick is a type of skateboarding trick in which the skateboard rotates around its vertical axis, or its vertical axis and its horizontal axis simultaneously. The first flip trick, called a kickflip but originally known as a "magic flip", was invented by professional skateboarder Rodney Mullen.
General terms
The following is a list of general skateboarding terms that will assist novice readers to better understand the descriptions of flip tricks contained in this article:Frontside and backside
The concepts of frontside and backside originate from surfing, whereby the terms defined the position of the surfer in relation to the wave.- "Frontside" – executing a trick, whereby your front side faces the direction of travel or the obstacle that is the subject of the trick. This is counterclockwise for regular-footed riders and clockwise for goofy-footed riders.
- "Backside" – opposite of frontside, backside flip tricks are executed with the rider's back facing the direction of travel or the obstacle that is the subject of the trick. This is clockwise for regular-footed riders and counterclockwise for goofy-footed riders.
Nollie
Switch
Switch is a stance on the board that is opposite to one's natural stance. For example, riding with your left foot forwards as opposed to normally riding with your right foot forwards. A "regular" skater's switch stance is "goofy", and vice versa.Fakie
First executed by Eddie Elguera during the 1970s, "fakie" is a skateboarding stance in which the skater is in his normal stance; however rolling backwards. .Pop Shuvit/Shuvit
A "shuvit" involves rotating the skateboard in a 180-degree motion without flipping the board. It involves pushing the tail while also shoving the board under the rider's feet. While the board rotates beneath the rider, he/she maintains the same position in the air. If performed with a larger rotation, the trick is named according to the extent of the rotation: a 360-, 540-degree, etc. shuvit. Professional skateboarder Christophe "Willow" Wildgrube performed a frontside 360-degree pop shuvit for the "Trickipedia" section of The Berrics website.Grind
For the execution of a grind, one makes moving contact with an object using the axles between the wheels, called trucks. Numerous variations have been invented, whereby flip tricks are combined with grinds, such as the 'kickflip 50-50', 'nollie flip crooked grind', or 'crooked grind nollie flip out'.Slides
In a slide, one makes contact with an object using any part of the wooden deck construction of the skateboard, including the griptape, and moves along the object. Numerous variations have been invented, whereby flip tricks are combined with slides, such as the "kickflip boardslide" and the "kickflip tailslide".Grabs
Grabs are a skateboarding trick usually executed on transitional terrain, in the air between takeoff and landing. They consist of the rider holding on to any part of the skateboard while in air. They can also be executed on flat ground—for example, a "boneless" is a grab trick performed on flat ground, whereby one foot is used to lift off the ground and the other is used to grab the skateboard. Numerous variations have been invented, whereby flip tricks are combined with grabs, such as the "kickflip indy grab".List of flip tricks
The fundamental list of flip tricks include the pop shove-it, Frontside pop shove it, kickflip and heelflip. Combinations and variations were then derived from these basic tricks, such as the kickflip shove-it, heelflip front sideshove-it, hardflip, inward heelflip, 360 flip, nollie flip, nollie heelflip, nollie 360 flip, fakie kickflip, fakie heelflip, fakie 360 flip and the laser flip.All tricks can be performed in any of the four stances— natural, fakie, switch, and nollie—and all flip tricks can be performed frontside or backside. When the board spins on both axes, it is more common for both to spin in the opposite direction, such as with 360 flips and laser flips; however, the board flips along congruent angles for hardflips and inward heelflips.
Finger flip
A finger flip requires the skateboarder to flip the board in any direction using their fingers on the nose or tail; the first ollie finger flip was invented by Mullen in 1986. Mullen has been filmed executing finger flip 360-flips and Tony Hawk executed the first finger flip in 'vert' skateboarding.Original kickflip
This was the first version of the kickflip, whereby the rider hooks one foot under the board to create the flipping motion. Mullen explained to Canadian magazine, SBC Skateboarding:
People were doing the original Kickflips, where you hook your foot over the side, and the set-up was so rotten. You had to stand parallel . People tried that trick on banks, and rolled in standing like that and fell straight back. I understood that this trick needed no set-up, and it’d be an important move—for me, at least. I knew it gave me a whole new doorway to go through.
Kickflip
When a skateboarder flips the board 360 degrees on its horizontal axis by flicking the corner of the board towards the backside of the skater—the trick was invented by Mullen in 1982 in a Floridian farmhouse. Instances of multiple spins are named according to how many spins are completed —professional skateboarder Daewon Song was filmed in 2010, performing both a double and triple kickflip, in a web video entitled "Daewon Dorking Around at DVS".Heelflip
Similar to a kickflip, the heelflip is instead executed with the heel section flipping away from the skater this time. For a regular-footed skater the board spins clockwise from the perspective of a view from behind the skater. Again, a kick formulates part of the ollie, but unlike the kickflip, the kick is directed forward and outwards, away from the rider's toe side, so that the last part of the foot to leave the board is the heel—hence the name. The trick was invented by Mullen in 1982. Instances of multiple spins are named according to how many spins are completed —skateboard videographer, Jon Fistemanu, is filmed executing a double heelflip in a 2010 web video entitled "Daewon Dorking Around at DVS".Frontside/Backside 180 kickflip
A kickflip combined with a frontside or backside 180-degree ollie—the trick is also known as a frontside or backside flip. The backside 180 kickflip was invented by Mullen in 1984. Professional skateboarder Andrew Reynolds performed a frontside kickflip for the "Trickipedia" section of The Berrics website. Professional skateboarder Steve Berra performed a backside kickflip for the "Trickipedia" section of his website. Multiple spins can also be incorporated into this trick and a frontside 180 double kickflip was filmed for the "Skateology" web-based video series.Frontside/Backside heelflip
A heelflip combined with a frontside or backside 180-degree movement—the trick is also known as a frontside or backside "heel". Song is filmed performing a frontside heelflip on a transitional structure located on the back of a truck in a web-based video entitled "DVS Daewon x Almost Love Child".Late kickflip
A late flip is a kickflip executed in a secondary motion, using your front or back foot, after or at the peak of an ollie—this is different from the one fluid motion that is involved with the execution of an ollie. Professional skateboarder Mike Mo Capaldi used a late flip variation in his heat against Shane O'Neill in the "Battle at the Berrics V" competition.Ollie impossible
An "ollie impossible" involves the vertical 360-degree rotation of the board around the skater's back or front foot—the board rolls around the foot similar to the spinning of a baton around one's hand. A proficient ollie impossible is executed when the rotation of the board is as vertical as possible, whereby the board wraps around the foot. When the trick is executed with the front foot, the trick is named a "front-foot impossible". In a "trick tip" video presented by professional skateboarder Lee Yankou, the trick is described as a "scooping motion", rather than a trick that is launched with the execution of an ollie.The trick was invented by Mullen in 1982, who shared the idea of this trick with some of his older friends who believed the board rotation of the trick to be "impossible", hence the name. In the 21st century, professional skateboarder Dylan Rieder accomplishes the trick over a New York park bench in a video segment for the Gravis footwear company. Professional skateboarder David Gonzales performed the trick for the "Trickipedia" section of The Berrics website.
Ollie Imposter/Mo flip/Manhatan flip
This flip trick variation involves the execution of a back-foot ollie impossible, followed by a flipping of the board, also with the back foot, as part of the same motion. The trick is also called the "Mo flip" because it was popularized by professional skateboarder Mike Mo Capaldi. The original name is “Manhatan flip” by MajadaCLN, a no professional skateboarderFront-foot impossible bigger spin/Merlin twist
Professional skateboarder Chris Haslam was filmed performing this trick in slow motion and the footage was published on the Internet-based RIDE Channel. Haslam performs the trick while adopting his natural stance, but when the trick is performed "switch" it is called a "Merlin twist."Varial kickflip
A varial kickflip is a kickflip combined with a backside-pop shuvit. The trick featured prominently in the Blueprint video The First Broadcast and the trick has received a significant amount of criticism from within the skateboard community; former Blueprint rider Mark Baines has stated in an online interview:
The shuv-it flip thing is weird. I don’t think there are many tricks that look bad all the time. Gino can do heelflips and make them look like the best trick ever. It’s how it’s done not what it is. I wouldn’t say my shuv-it flips were that good though. The fakie varial flip in First Broadcast is the best thing I ever filmed though. People basically hear or read something on a forum then feel they gotta hate it I suppose. I don’t really know. Like I say a lot of the time with tricks it’s how it’s done.