The kickflip is the trick that separates skaters who can ollie from skaters who look like they know what they’re doing, and it trips up almost everyone for weeks before it clicks. Get the foot placement and flick timing right and the rest falls into place faster than you’d expect.
What Makes a Kickflip Different From an Ollie
A kickflip is an ollie with a flick added at the moment of the pop, sending the board spinning under your feet before you catch it and land. The pop, the height, and the timing are all borrowed directly from your ollie, so a shaky ollie usually means a shaky kickflip. The flick itself is the only genuinely new skill you’re adding.
Before You Try It
You need a consistent ollie before a kickflip is worth attempting. If your ollie still feels inconsistent, spend more time there first. Our How to Ollie for Beginners guide breaks down the pop and slide in detail, and it’s worth revisiting even if you can already ollie reasonably well, since kickflip problems are almost always ollie problems in disguise.
How to Kickflip: Step by Step
Step 1: Set Your Foot Placement
Your back foot sits on the tail exactly like an ollie. Your front foot angles slightly, with the ball of your foot near the edge of the board just behind the front bolts, angled toward your toes rather than straight across. This angle is what lets you flick instead of just popping straight up.
Step 2: Pop and Flick at the Same Time
Pop the tail down exactly like an ollie, and as you do, drag your front foot up and off the edge of the board in one motion. The flick comes from your ankle and the edge of your foot, not from kicking the board away from you. Timing the flick with the pop, not after it, is what most beginners get wrong first.
Step 3: Spot the Flip With Your Eyes
Watch the board spin rather than closing your eyes or looking away, which is a common instinct when something is spinning toward your feet. Spotting the flip lets you time your catch instead of guessing at it.
Step 4: Catch With Both Feet
As the griptape comes back around to face up, catch it with both feet roughly where they started, absorbing the catch with bent knees rather than landing stiff-legged.
Step 5: Land and Ride Away
Commit your weight forward as you land instead of leaning back, which is what causes most bailed kickflips even after a clean flip and catch. A confident, forward-weighted landing is what turns a caught flip into a rolled-away kickflip.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Kickflip
- Flicking before the pop instead of with it — this scoops the board out from under you instead of flipping it in place.
- Flicking too hard — an aggressive flick overspins the board past a single rotation, making it impossible to catch in time.
- Front foot too flat — without enough angle on your toes, you’ll pop the board straight up with no spin at all.
- Leaning back on landing — this is the single biggest cause of bailed kickflips that were actually flipped and caught cleanly.
- Rushing to try it rolling — attempting a rolling kickflip before it’s consistent standing still just adds more variables to a trick you haven’t isolated yet.
Drills That Speed Up Progress
Stationary Flick Drill
Stand next to your board without riding it and practice just the flick motion with your foot, over and over, until the ankle movement feels automatic. This isolates the one genuinely new skill without the pressure of balancing on a popping board at the same time.
Walking Kickflips
Once the standing version feels consistent, try kickflips while walking alongside the board rather than standing on it and popping from a stop. This builds the flick-catch timing without the added difficulty of also balancing through the pop.
FAQ
How long does it take to learn a kickflip?
Most beginners with a consistent ollie land their first kickflip within a few weeks of focused practice, though it varies a lot by how much time you put in and how quickly your ollie was already solid.
Do I need a special skateboard for kickflips?
No, any properly set up popsicle-style deck works. Check our Skateboard Deck Size Guide if you’re not sure your current setup is a good fit for street tricks.
Why does my board flip sideways instead of spinning under me?
That usually means your flick is coming from the wrong part of your foot, or your foot is too far off the edge of the board. Move your front foot slightly further onto the board and flick with the edge of your foot, not your toes stabbing at it.
Should I learn a kickflip or a heelflip first?
Most skaters find the kickflip more intuitive to learn first, since the flicking motion matches how your foot naturally comes off the board. Once it’s consistent, our How to Heelflip for Beginners guide walks through the mirrored version.
Final Thoughts
The kickflip rewards patience with the flick more than raw effort, small, consistent practice sessions beat long frustrated ones. Nail your ollie first, isolate the flick with stationary practice, and commit to landing forward. For more tricks to add once this one’s consistent, see our Skateboard Tricks for Beginners roundup.
