The frontside 180 heel.. It's just a frontside 180 and a heelflip at the same time. Nothing new, right? It's a pretty fun trick, and certainly is one that not enough people work on enough. But wait, you need help with it, right? A
You're not gonna be able to combine a frontside 180 and a heelflip into one motion when you can't do them each on their own. So before you start trying this trick, you should make sure to have solid FS 180s and heels.
Other Skills:
You're going to be landing switch at the end of this trick, so make sure you're comfortable enough riding switch to be able to maintain your balance and control.
What You May Find Useful:
If this trick is really giving you a hard time, don't hesitate to try it fakie. Some people find this trick much easier when done in the fakie stance, so this might help you get a better understanding on how to go about doing this trick. You might want to practice varial heels, as knowing those could make this trick easier as well.
Doing The Trick
Positioning:
The back foot
You want to put the back foot down as if you were going to do a heelflip. But since this trick can be a bit harder to control, you might want to put just a little more foot on the board than usually.
The front foot
I personally like to set my front foot up like a regular heelflip. But, I would suggest you scoot it back an inch or two. You also might want to give your foot a little more of an angle, also.
Motion:
Alright, so you're ready to start trying this trick for yourself. Give yourself a push or two, and place your feet as explained above.
Since this trick include a frontside 180, you know you gotta set your body up before you pop. So, wind up your body up like you would for a 180.
Unwind your upper body, and as your shoulders become lined up with your deck, pop your tail.
Begin the frontside 180 motion, and drag your foot up the board with a slight angle, moving your heel toward the edge of the nose.
You will flick your heel out fairly early into the rotation. The flicking out motion isn't going to be anything new to you. It's about the same as doing a regular heelflip, roll/flick your foot out in that little dip right before the nose
As you have your heelflip started, suck your legs up to get them out of the way. By the time you pull your legs up, you should be roughly about 90 degrees through the rotation.
The heelflip is likely going to finish before the 180 is completed. Keep an eye on the board, and make sure you catch it when it finishes the flip. The flip will likely finish up about 3/4 of the way through the rotation, but of course this can vary based on how much force you put into the flick.
Once you catch your heelflip, you're almost done. All you have left is just finishing up the rotation. You will not have much more rotation left, so use your feet to gently guide the board around the final bit of your spin.
Land as straight as you can, with your feet over the bolts. Absorb impact appropriately and ride away clean.
Video Trick Tips:
Troubleshooting
Whenever you're trying a new trick, you're going to have problems that you need to correct. And of course, this trick is no exception. Check out below and hopefully I can help you sort it all out as fast as possible.
I can't get the full 180 motion
If you're not getting all the way around, there are a handful of things that you could be doing wrong. First off, make sure that you're winding up enough pre-pop to give yourself enough force to spin the full 180. Also, make sure that after you catch the heelflip that you use your body and feet to guide the board around the end of the rotation.
Some people prefer to pivot/powerslide to finish up the motion. If you feel like you want or need to, go ahead and try finishing the trick up with that method a few times. But I'd suggest that you really work on it and get to where you can finish it completely.
My board doesn't finish the heelflip
You'll quickly come to find that the force required to make this trick happen is a somewhat different than a regular heelflip. I find that I personally have to flick out a little bit harder than usual to make this trick happen, but I have friend who say they have to flip out a bit more gently.
If the trick isn't flipping all the way, put a little more force into it. Also, make sure you're flicking your foot right in that groove before the nose, as it will make it much easier to control and such. Hitting that right spot on the board is going to require a bit more focus than you would use if you were just doing a regular heel.
The board comes out from under me
If this is happening, you need to make sure you're not leaning too far back or forward when you pop, and that you're staying right over the deck. Also, make sure that you're getting a clean flick out, and you're not just kicking the board away from you.
This trick isn't just going to happen for you right off the bat. But trust me when I say that this is a really fun trick once you get the hang of it and are a bit more comfortable with it. If you have problems, don't stress it and just keep practicing it. You'll get the hang of it in time. Good luck!
Where Do I Go From Here?
You can go and play a game of SKATE, you can go to some stairs or another sort of gap.. Or.. Hell, I don't know, there's a ton of places you can go once you got this one figured out. Have fun
