Kickflip

Now for the kickflip. This is probably the most popular trick, and one that you need to learn if you want to be accepted anywhere as a decent skater. It’s also a really useful trick, because once you’ve got it down, you can do it into grinds, out of grinds and anywhere else you want to.

The foot setup is different for everyone, but I’ll show you the way I put my feet, and how they are the most controlled. Your front foot should be just behind the bolts, with your toes at a bit of an angle. Your toes should be facing the corner of the board. Your back foot should be flat across the tail, covering it.

You pop this trick the same as you would do for an Ollie, but as you slide your front foot up, slide it at more of an angle, using your toes more than you would for an Ollie. When you toes get to the edge of the board, flick them off as hard as you can, so that it sends your board into a rotation.

As your board is rotating, get you feet above the board, ready for when you need to catch it.
As soon as you see grip, catch the board with your back foot. This will stop the board from rotating anymore. Put your front foot on, and land the flip.

You’re going to want to land on the bolts on this trick, and make a habit of it, because when you start flipping stairs and gaps, it will be good if you’re already landing on the bolts, because a kickflip is a trick that will break your board if you land it wrong at all.
This is a really important trick to learn, so keep practicing it until you can do it almost every time. You’ll notice that as soon as you can kickflip, people will start respecting you more, and you’ll go from that kid trying to skate, to that kid that’s getting somewhere, has a passion and might have some talent.