Today Aaron Kyro is here to teach us how to hardflip. Before you start trying to hardflip, you’ll need to be very comfortable riding your board, doing ollies, frontside 180s, pop shove its both ways, and kickflips. The more consistent you are with those tricks, the easier the hardflip will be for you. A hardflip is essentially a frontside pop shove it combined with a kickflip, so having those tricks on lock will be crucial.

Foot Position

Having a solid foot position for the hardflip is vital to your success. Some people will set their front foot up like a kickflip but, Aaron’s front foot position (A.K.A his “secret sauce”) points more towards the nose. If most people kickflip with their foot at a 45-degree angle, Aaron’s hardflip position would be about 80 degrees, give or take. With Aaron’s toes pointing more towards the nose, he’s able to get his front foot out of the way of the board’s rotation more efficiently during the hardflip. You can also try bringing your front foot down the board, closer to your back foot. Experiment with a few different foot positions and see what works best for you. 

Practice Step

The hardflip has such an interesting flick that the best way to do a practice step is to pop the trick then leave your back foot off, planting it on the ground. Simply pop it, flick it, step off with your back foot, and try to land the hardflip with only your front foot. This trick you’ll be catching with your front foot, which is different than most flip tricks where you’d catch the board with your back foot. The board pops, flips around, and your front foot should be there to catch it and put it down to the ground. Repeat this step over and over again until you are flipping the hardflip and consistently bringing it down with your front foot while your back foot stays off the board and on the ground. 

Putting It All Together

Going from having the hardflip practice step on lock to actually committing and getting both feet on the board can seem like a huge leap. Remember, when you’re actually trying the hardflip don’t change anything from when you were doing the practice step. All you have to do now is bend your back knee. Pop it exactly the same but this time instead of planting your back foot on the ground, pop the trick and bend your back knee. Bending your knee will bring your foot up in the air. Sure, technically you’re jumping but, don’t think of it as having to jump high in the air to get above your board. Just pop it, make the board flip, bend your knee, and land. 

Common Issues

Not flicking enough will have you landing primo, so adjust your flick if you find yourself getting bodied. Over-rotating and under-rotating the board are normal and part of the process when learnig how to flick the hardflip perfectly. Just keep practicing and you’ll get them down in no time.

Watch the video below for an updated and in-depth breakdown of the hardflip. You’ll get to see Aaron’s “secret sauce” hardflip foot position firsthand, and you’ll bare witness to the two different schools of hardflips; vertical / through the legs hardflips, and horizontal / front shove style hardflips.

Now get out there and SKATE!