The 360 flip is, quite possibly, the pinnacle of any young skateboarders career, until they learn it. Sometimes called 3 flips, or tre flips, they'll have little kids all up in your grill asking if you're sponsored. tell them you're Tony Hawk, write vulgarities on their helmets, and bust outta there.
The 3 flip is a combination between a backside 360 pop shove it, with a kickflip thrown in there. A lot of people think that this trick is played out and lame, but a lot of people are just bitter they can't do it.
These are the 2 obvious tricks you should know before learning 3 flips, since these are the two tricks that make up the 3 flip. People might think you need varials, but it's a completely different trick than 3 flips. knowing kickflips is a no brainer, since you need to be comfortable flipping your board, and 360 shove its help a LOT so you'll get used to the rotation. To be honest, I learned 360 shove its consistently after 360 flips, but I could at least rotate the board no problem, and occasionally get one.
Other Skills:
This isn't a trick that you should just go for. Once you learn kickflips and 360 shove its, don't go right for it. I knew plenty of tricks before i could 360 flip. This is clearly a more advanced trick, that requires more than the minimal effort for other tricks. As long as you're comfortable on your board, you shouldn't have too much of a problem.
What You May Find Useful:
Some people find fakie 3 flips to be a lot easier, which is what i think is the case with nollie and switch. With fakie 3 flips, you don't have to scoop as hard, you just need to get the pop and rotation, so it's easier to rotate. I, however, don't agree with fakie 3 flips being easier, because this is a weird trick to land initially, and you'll be rolling backwards, so it will freak you out.
Doing The Trick
Positioning:
When you first try to learn this trick, you are definitely going to have your front foot about 4 inches away from the back bolts, and your back foot way off the tail, trying to get as much scoop as possible. I'm not going to try and tell you how you should be setting up, since it's different for everyone. However, like everyone says, with 3 flips, it's ALL in the scoop. a wise man once said "it's all in the hips... it's all in the hips". well, it's not. it's all in the scoop. So make sure your back foot is in proper scooping position. once you can consistently scoop the 360 shove part, find a happy spot for your front foot to hang out.
Once you've got them mastered, your foot positioning will change drastically. I keep my front foot a little behind the front bolts, and the back foot wherever i can scoop it and let it dangle. front foot caught 3 flips are the nicest, and if you disagree with me, i will drive to your house, and kick you in the throat.
Motion:
Like I mentioned in the foot placement, this trick is all in the scoop. You're going to want to have your back foot hanging off, and your body leaning forward, so you can land over the board. In regards to weight, lean on your back foot, so you can get a better scoop.
So go at a normal speed, because doing these stationary is lame, and you won't be learning these at mach dennis busenitz, which is a real speed, and that speed is fast.
So you're rolling at your normal speed, kickin it, blastin some jams or whatever, and you're gonna do 3 flips. Scoop the board hard, but not too hard. Find your comfortable 360 scoop, and do it.
Once you've successfully scooped, don't immediately flip the board. Wait a little bit. Wait a jiffy, which is 1/100 of a second. Your board will flip a little, in the heel flip direction when you scoop it, so if you wait for it to flip a little, you can flip the kickflip with less effort. The kickflip is a very soft flick. It's really just like a kickflip, except with way less effort.
Lean back when you do this, and you'll get a much easier scoop. give it a soft flick, and BAM!!
People tend to think this trick is way more complicated than it is. "wait, so you mean the board spins ALL the way around?! AND FLIPS?!?! YEAH. RIGHT!!!"
yes, the board does spin and flip all the way around, but if you can scoop, and kickflip, you can 3 flip. Do these Constantly, and they'll be a mighty trick in your arsenal.
Video Trick Tips:
Troubleshooting
Flipping the board too much? That means you're trying to do a 360 pop shove it kickflip, not a 3 flip. Focus more on the scoop, and have your front foot a little more off the board, for less flip. Don't Kick at it so hard either. just a soft flick will do the trick. i'm a poet, and i know it. shut up.
not scooping enough? well then you really just need to scoop harder. there's no secret here.
Not landing on the board? or anywhere near it? Alright, say you're regular. you're rolling forward, the direction you're going in is north. You lean east a little. This is the direction the board will be going in, so lean there, and it will make it a million times easier to land on it.
Where Do I Go From Here?
There are tons of things you can do with 360 flips. you can learn them fakie/nollie/switch, you could throw another flip on that, you could pull it into a 540 flip. Maybe do it into or out of a grind/slide/manual. This is one of this tricks that will impress people if you do it into or out of something. oh manual kickflip? yeah cool, whatever. manual 3 flip? here's my wallet, keys, credit card, and first born. Or, you could learn big flips, or bigger flips, or big flip reverts. 3 flip reverts? yeah, go for it. If you can fathom a trick involving a 3 flip, go for it. There are countless possibilities.
ive been getting a decent flip and what not but sometimes i land on the nose which is like a big board snap there. other times it goes behind me or in front of me. I've landed 1 with a good flip and spin and then after that I caught it in like a 270 flip thingy. any tips?
