Skate Skills Session #4: How to Kickflip, 50-50, Rock 'n' Roll & More

A kickflip is the first flip trick a lot of us learn (although, heelflip can make more sense for certain people, as flicking action feels more natural to some), so Daryl Dominguez is here to show you the best way to go about learning what is one of the most important skateboard tricks. From experience, learning how to kickflip is the most frutrating, but ultimately most rewarding trick you will learn. It teaches you perseverance and how slight movements of foot placement and weight distribution can have a huge effect on how your board flips.

Before learning kickflips, it is important that you already have a solid ollie. The best place for your front foot on a kickflip, is slightly diagonal and sat just under the bolt; your back foot should be sat in a similar position to an ollie, on the balls of your feet and in the centre of the tail. The easiest way to think about a kickflip, is an ollie where your front foot flicks off the side of the board with your toes. When you start out learning, try to just get the board flipping first, and then you can look to land on top of the board. As always, remember to aim to land on the bolts for the best chance to roll away. 

TOP TIP: Keep your shoulders straight, in line with the length of the board. This will help you land straight and prevent the board from turning one way or another.

From your first flip trick to your first grind. The 50-50 is the base of all grind tricks, and the frontside version (facing the ledge) is the easiest of the two, as you can see where you are ollieing and it is easier to ollie parallel frontside than backside, especially for beginners. The best way to learn a 50-50 is on a curb, because it requires a lower ollie to get onto. As you approach the ledge, you want to be parallel to the curb or ledge and when you are close enough to the edge, ollie up and over onto the ledge and try to get as much of your truck on the ledge as possible, so only your outside wheels (heel side) are off the ledge/flush with the edge of the ledge. 50's are relatively easy to stay in as long as you stay over your board. The easier way to get off the end of the ledge is with a slight manual. 

TOP TIP: Wax is your friend. If you keep handing up on a ledge, apply wax for that extra slide, or, if waxed enough, try putting a bit extra speed into your attempts.

Airing out, or riding out, of a ramp is one of the first things you will learn when you start skating ramps. It is a fairly simple skill. Like dropping off a curb or a ledge, you essentially want to lift the front wheels up slightly by pushing down on the tail and then level yourself back out when you feel yourself clear of the ramp and above the deck, and then land with all four wheels on the deck and roll away.

TOP TIP: Aim head on at the ramp, as opposed to at an angle, to give you the most momentum when coming out of the ramp.

On the surface, this looks like a very complicated trick, but with Helena's help, you'll see that you can learn this in no time with the right technique. To start out, you want to be comfortable riding fakie (backwards) with your usual popping foot on the tail. Having a solid shuv or fakie shuv, as well as a BS half cab, will make the trick a lot easier. Start by putting your feet in a shuv position, wind your shoulders up the opposite way you will turn, and then bring them back the way you are going to turn. As your shoulders are back straight with the nose, slightly pop or lift the tail and scoop the board, pushing your back foot behind you. The board will do a 360 degree turn whilst your body does 180. As the board has done the shuv, you want to land back on top of it, now riding forwards, and roll away.

TOP TIP: When first starting, you do not need to pop your board really high for this trick. The momentum of going fakie will help the board go round.

The first slide trick most people learn is a backside boardslide (although, some opt for backside noseslides, instead). It can be quite scary getting over a rail for a boardslide, so learning on a nice, low rail is the best place to start. Your feet positioning will be just like a regular ollie, and you want to approach the rail at a slight angle, with the rail on your heel side (backside). Just before the rail, pop an ollie and try to land exactly perpendicular in a squat, to keep your centre of gravity over the board and look to the end of the rail. When you get to the end, all you need to do is turn your shoulders back straight, brace for landing, and roll away.

TOP TIP: Making sure you do not lean to far back is key here, as it can lead to slip outs and your board shooting out ahead of you. Squat slightly on the rail to help with this.

A tail stall is a foundation mini ramp trick, super useful for keeping a line going when you roll back out of a trick fakie. It essentially resets your line back into a drop in position, so obviously, you'll need to be able to drop in first and foremost, as well as be comfortable riding fakie. Anticipate when your back wheels are about to touch the coping and lean back on your tail back up into a drop in position. Then, just simply just drop in.

TOP TIP: This trick is all about timing. 

The final segment of this lesson is a toughie, but it will take you to the next chapter of your mini ramp. A rock 'n' roll is essentially a mixture between a rock to fakie and a kick turn. Approach the coping as you would for a rock to fakie, and as you 'rock', turn your shoulders and do a full BS kickturn out, lifting your front trucks back over the coping. To take it to the next level and style it out, deck the board all the way to the back truck, and roll your back foot sideways as you full extend (see Sam's effortless example in the video for a master at work).

TOP TIP: Keep your body leant inside the ramp.