The backside 180 Kickflip is the next intermediate trick you will be learning. This trick alone will allow you to start opening those pivot muscles so make sure to always stretch before starting your skate session. Sometimes it’s easier to learn this backside trick rather than the frontside.

This is all determined on how much time you practiced on the 180 rotation and how each direction feels to you when doing so. Before we actually get into the trick, let’s take a look at what a Backside 180 Kickflip actually is.

Backside 180 Kickflips Definition

Backside 180 Kickflips are acheived by combining the BS 180 and Kickflip as one spin/flip trick. It’s also known as a Backside flip.

This trick is also covered in Skateboarding Made Simple Volume 5! Skateboarding Made Simple is your full length road map to learn skating. Starting with learning the very basics in Volume 1, you will go from a complete beginner just starting out, to landing more intermediated and advanced tricks. You CAN learn to skate, and Skateboarding Made Simple is the way to do it.

Tricks you should know

Because this is considered an intermediate/advanced trick, you should have a few tricks down before trying this trick.

• Ollie
• Backside 180
• Pop Shove It
• Kickflip
• Varial kickflips 

Once you have all of these down, you’ll be in a good place to get the Backside Flips down. If you go in blind, you could be spending a lot more time than needed on this trick.

Overview

We’re going to be breaking this trick down into several parts. We go into detail on each part so you can have all the information and practice steps you need so you can land this trick FIRST TRY!

1. Foot Position
2. The “Flip and Catch” Explained
3. Practice Steps
4. Putting it all together
5. Common Barriers

Foot Position

Your front foot should be in the Kickflip position near the front bolts with your front foot at an angle. Your back foot should be in the center of the tail, ready to pop straight down just like you would on a Backside 180.

One thing to keep in mind, if there’s any change with your foot positioning the trick won’t be as accurate as you may think it is. you will see the difference of how the trick comes out if you don’t have the proper foot positioning.

Lastly, make sure it feels comfortable. Learning new tricks requires you to stand on the board in different positions. At first, just like every other trick, it will feel strange or awkward to stand on and keep your balance. Spend time standing in the position while riding and get a good feel for the board so you’re really used to it.

The “Flip & Catch” Explained

One key aspect of this trick is the flick and catch. That can be confusing, so let’s go over it a little so you know exactly what to do.

The flick is the motion of dragging your front foot up the board in a certain direction. For example, the kickflip flicking motion is off to the toe-side of your board. The catch is simply catching your board with your foot.

Being able to catch your Kickflips with your back foot in the air is necessary for this trick. The front foot on your skateboard will be in that flicking position where it feels just right to flick. Once you begin to pop your tail for the trick, make sure to comfortably flip the board without any hesitation.

You will be  adding a backside 180 with your kickflip, so its very important that you get a good flick to be able to bring it back down with your back foot. Once the board is brought back down, your back foot will be landing in a blind spot. This is where you can’t look forward in the direction your board is landing. Make sure to bend your legs on the landing while keeping your hips loose in order to to absorb the impact.

Keeping this in mind will allow you to focus on the landing clearly so that you can roll away every time. These movements will show off your style and gain that muscle memory so you can roll away from it every time.

Practice Steps

In classic Braille style, we will break this trick down into practice steps. If you’ve made it this far, we’re assuming you already have those above tricks down. If not, go back and get each of them mastered before you go into the practice steps.

Pop the board

Hop on your board in the proper foot position. Pop the board up so your tail is down, but the rest of the board is tilted at an angle. With the front foot, you’re going to drag it up in the Kickflip position. Do this at the same time you turn your head and shoulders. Practice getting that motion down of dragging your foot and turning your body. It’s probably something you’re not used to, so it’s good to learn it now.

Flicking the board

Next, place your entire board on the ground. Pop the board, flick it, and turn 90 degrees while stepping off with your front foot. You can play around with this to find what’s most comfortable for you, as long as you’re keeping that foot position in mind.

Now, try stepping off with your back foot. This will allow you to focus on how much you have to lift up your back foot so you could have enough air to rotate and land on the board. Kickflipping and landing on the nose, then pivoting the 180 rotation is another good step to practice for this trick.

Once you practice these both ways, you will start to develop that muscle memory for flicking the board and bringing that foot back on the board. This will make landing and pivoting easier.

Learning the Pivot

For this trick , you will need to practice a lot. For the pivot part, you can practice that with the backside 180. Doing so will allow for an idea of how your front foot will need to land. Once you understand the movements of how to land on your front foot, your back foot will need to swing itself back toward the direction you’re riding.

Putting it all together

Once you have the prior steps down, you’re ready to put it all together. Make sure to continue to practice this trick somewhere spacious. Bumping into objects makes learning new tricks very difficult.

Place your feet in the proper foot position. Pop straight down while turning your head and shoulders, scoop your back foot, and flick your front foot the same way you would for a Kickflip.

You will need to turn your head and shoulders at the same time as you’re doing the pop and flick. Watch the board spin under you, and once you see the board do the full rotation, catch the board with your back foot. Commit, land and roll away!

It’s great to practice bringing the backside flip to a high 90 degree angle and falling back down by completing the 180 degree rotation. This trick will be easy or hard depending on how well you can do both the backside 180 and Kickflip. If you’re having a lot of trouble with this trick, go back to these other two tricks.

Just as in every skate trick, you’ll need to practice this trick a lot! The more time and energy you put in, the quicker and easier this trick will be.Landing this trick will be exciting, especially as you get better and better at it.

As you keep practicing, you can take this trick to higher levels. Start out small, then take it to stairs, ledges and gaps. Use this trick to pop in and out of grinds and slides. Your lines will never be the same!

Common Barriers

While practicing this trick, there’s a high probability of landing on the board with your trucks facing up, also known as landing Primo . This hurts the bottom of your feet when landing, and just doesn’t feel very good. Landing Primo is one of the most common errors with flick tricks.

Make sure you have the full flip down and you can catch the board with your back foot. If you are having trouble getting the full 180 rotation then go back to the practice steps. Remember, these are there to ensure you can learn these tricks faster and easier.

There is also a possibility that you don’t flick your front foot strong enough, and the board flips and hits your shins. This hurts and could easily take you out of skating for the rest of the day. The best way to overcome this is simply to commit. You know the trick and the movement your body must take when in the air and jumping for this trick, so go ahead and do it!

We want to see your Backside 180 Kickflips! Film a quick video and tag @brailleskate, #brailleskate and #brailleskateboarding. Let us know which part of this post helped you out the most so we can highlight that and help other skaters learn this amazing trick!

Since you made it all the way to the end, go ahead and reward yourself with this video tutorial we made on Backside Flips. It covers everything in more detail so you can land this classic trick.

Backside 180 Kickflips Tutorial