How to Heelflip on a Skateboard (Video and Images)

The heelflip is a great trick to learn after you know how to kickflip, it is similar in a lot of ways, but it is much easier to hurt yourself while practicing heelflips.

A lot of skaters skip learning the heelflip, so you can use that to your advantage and learn it before your next game of skate. It almost looks the same as a kickflip, but it feels very different, and some people find it easier to heelflip than kickflip, so make sure to learn both so you can choose for yourself.

I recommend that you already know how to kickflip before trying to learn the heelflip, but it is okay to start with the heelflip if you have a stronger urge to learn it first. Let's take a look at what a heelflip is and how to perform it.

What is a Heelflip?

The heelflip is a skateboard trick where you do an impart spin/ make your wheels and board do a barrel roll in the air by using your heel on the front foot while doing an ollie with your back foot. It is very similar to the kickflip, but the rotation is the opposite.

You can take it to the next level after learning the heelflip by trying variations like varial heelflip.

How to Heelflip on a Skateboard

It is important that you know how to ollie before attempting to learn heelflips; the heel flip is based on the ollie. You need to land good ollies consistently if you want to heelflip.

You can try to learn heelflip first as a fun challenge, but you can probably learn both heelflip and ollie faster if you do it in the right order.

Foot Position

The heelflip stance is very similar to the ollie stance. Your front foot should be a little under the hardware with your heel angled down and your toes hanging outside the board's edge or on it. You should keep the weight in the center of the board, but most of the weight on your front foot should be on the heel.

Your back foot is the same as the ollie position. Have the front part of the toe of your foot in the middle edge of the tail to maximize pop.

Direction of Body

Both your body and shoulders should be facing forward; it is easy to rotate on accident if you twist your body. You should look at the nose area of your board as the board flips under you.

Heelflip Movement

Get to the correct stance and bend your knees as you prepare to pop. Drag the nose of the board with your front heel after popping; it should go a little to the side to create the rotation. This is where it's different from a regular kickflip; it is more difficult to level the board when you flip it, so you might notice that the board points upwards when you attempt it.

You can practice by putting your back foot on the ground after popping to get the feel of the rotation before you full send. Practice landing on the board with your back foot once you get the rotation down.

You need to snap your foot outwards as the front foot approaches the edge of the board; this will aid in leveling the board. Remember to keep your upper body and weight centered over the board so you can quickly get your feet positioned above the board after snapping.

Draw the front foot back above the board quickly after snapping, then look at the rotation as you slide and wait for the landing.

Landing Heelflips

Your board will spin under your feet if you have done the steps correctly. Follow the board's rotation with your eyes and get ready to catch it in the air.

It is possible to land on it without catching it in the air, but this relies more on foot placement and luck. Learn to catch it in the air to land it consistently.

You catch it with both feet, but you reach it quicker with the back foot. It should be easy to land after you catch it as long as you don't rotate by accident.

How to Practice Heelflips

I recommend practicing while moving since this will prepare you to use the trick while skating, but it's ok to do it while standing still if it feels too sketchy.

Find flat ground clear of gravel or other debris that can make you fall. It should be a large enough area for you to get in the correct stance without rushing yourself.

Record yourself in slow-motion with your phone to watch and find out what you do right and wrong. You will be able to improve much faster if you can observe your movements.

Safety gear

It is easy to hurt yourself while trying new tricks, so make sure that you are properly protected while riding. It is most important that you use a helmet, but I also recommend using wrist guards; you often land on your wrists when falling, and they can get easily damaged, so take extra care of them.

Conclusion

You should know how to ollie and kickflip before you start learning how to heelflip. It is very similar to the kickflip, but it is slightly harder for most people to land a heelflip.

The stance is very similar to the ollie stance, but the front foot position is more angled.

You need to focus to learn to catch the board flipping in the air if you want to land heelflips consistently. You can land without catching the board, but this relies more on luck instead of skill.

Remember to use safety gear as you practice and practice on a flat area without much debris. Record yourself if you want to progress faster as well.