The Kickflip is a milestone for skaters. We all remember our first kickflip. But it can be super hard to get it for the first time. I will list the things that worked for me to land my first kickflip as well as a in depth text tutorial on how to land it!

Foot Placement

Above is a photo of the foot placement. Not everyone's foot placement is the same though. But that is a general foot placement that most people have something close to. You want your front foot on the deck at an angle, I usually put mine just below the bolts. Than the back foot sits across the tail. You want your weight / balance point, to be in the center of the deck roughly. That will stop you from losing balance as well as keep you centered.

What's Next?

Now that you have your foot placement, you want to actually do the trick. Well, in order to do the kickflip, you need to do a few things. First thing you need to do, is pop down on your back foot and jump at the same time. Just like an ollie. Than you need to drag your front foot up the deck, into the corner of the nose. But there is a common mistake that gets made when doing that. A lot of beginners will kick downwards. You need to make sure that you kick more up and out than down and out. Make sure that you keep your front foot up and out of the way, and instantly bring it back. So, just to recap the front foot. Kick up and out, bring it back as soon as possible while keeping it out of the way. It's very important to remember to instantly bring it back to above the board. Otherwise, you will land wrong or just not land it at all. And you'll need to make sure that your foot stays out of the way too, so keep it a little higher.

Catching it

Now that your floating in the air, you have to catch the kickflip and land it. The best way to do that, is just look down, and when you feel the time is right, usually when you see the griptape, you just bring your feet down. Usually the back foot catches the board before your front foot. And than all you have to do, is keep your balance centered and make sure you dont lean forwards or backwards. And boom, you landed it!

Common Issues

One common error is flicking the nose downwards, remember to keep it up. Another problem people make is, twisting shoulders to a side. That will cause you to rotate your body and maybe even the board. Keep your shoulders squared with the deck. The last common problem i'll mention is not commiting. If you get scared to land it, you'll just stop trying due to fear, and you wont land it. Just force your body to do the motions and you'll land it.

Final Thoughts

These are just the things I did to learn my first kickflip. Something small, like foot placement might be different for you. But you can try different things as well. These are things that I personally think will help most people. Good Luck landing your first kickflip. You can do this :)