Most tricks have specific names in the system of skateboarding flip tricks. The basic tricks are the kickflip, heelflip, Frontside/Backside 180, and pop shove-it. Though most of the simple combinations have names, such as varial kickflip, hardflip, inward heelflip, varial heelflip, most can be described by using rotation math and the basic name (e.g. frontside 360 heelflip, 360 kickflip). Skateboarding terminology is a sort of 'jargon' as many terms in skateboarding can be used to refer to more than one trick. For example, a "360 kickflip" could mean a 360 pop shove-it with a kickflip, or a "kickflip 360" could mean a 360 body-and-board rotation with a kickflip.
General Terms
- Deck
- The wooden piece of the skateboard. Quality skateboards are normally made out of 7 plies of maple which are laminated/glue together under heavy pressure.
- Griptape
- The sandpaper like paper that is placed on top of the deck. Can be colored and/or display a graphic. This is what allows the riders feet to "grip" the deck.
- Trucks
- metal 'axles' that attach the deck to the wheels. commonly used to grind on (i.e 50-50 grind)
- Bearings
- two "rings" of metal, one small, one bigger with 8 metal balls between them. "Normal" bearings have metal balls however, you can also get bearings with ceramic balls. These are much more expensive, however, the ceramic balls are extremely hard and does not ever "bend out of shape" and thus, the ceramic bearings usually lasts 10 or more times longer. Most active street skaters will blow out metal ball bearings 2-3 times a year however, a set of ceramic bearings often last at least 3 years. There are many recorded cases of ceramic bearings lasting much longer than 5 years.
- Frontside
- When done on a ramp, this is a rotation where the toes are pointing up(away from the ramp) after 90° of the rotation, no matter if it is a 180, 360, 540, 720 or 900 degrees rotation. The naming of rotations in street comes from ramp skating and thus, to know if a rotation is frontside or backside, you must picture it done on a ramp.
- Backside
- Rotations are named after how a trick is executed on a ramp such as a mini-ramp or a vertical ramp. These rotation names don't always "make sense" when used in street skating -thus, to figure out if a trick is frontside or backside, you must picture it done on the lip of a ramp(even though it might actually be done in street skating). You can know for sure when the person has rotated 90° - if the does are pointing up towards the sky after 90° rotation, it is frontside: if the toes are pointing down towards the bottom of the ramp after 90° rotation, it is backside. This goes for any rotation be it 180, 360, 540, 720 or 900 degrees. *Note: For example nollie frontside 180 is often mistaken as a backside rotation, the same goes for fakie frontside 180(frontside half-cab).
- Fakie
- A stance where the rider is in a switch position (your right foot forward for regular stance riders, and your left foot forward for goofy riders) and standing in a nollie position (your front foot is on the nose of the board and your back foot is usually in the middle).
- 180
- A 180° rotation or a half rotation
- 360
- A 360° rotation or a full rotation
- 540
- A 540° rotation or one and a half rotations
- 720
- A 720° rotation or two full rotations
- Railstand
- A stance where the board is popped up on it's edge. The rider usually balances their weight on the trucks. This is also commonly referred to as "primo."
List of flip tricks
- Frontside/Backside Ollie 180
- An ollie in which both the skater and the skateboard rotate 180 degrees either frontside or backside. If the skater spins some other multiple of 180 degrees (e.g. 360, 540), the trick is named accordingly.
- Half-Cab
- A fakie (Going in the opposite direction) frontside 180 ollie.
- Full Cab / Caballerial
- A fakie frontside ]360 ollie. Invented by Steve Caballero.
- Nollie Cab / Helipop
- Frontside 360 nollie. Invented by Rodney Mullen.
- Kickflip
- When a skateboarder flicks off the corner of his nose of the board, if the skater rides regular with his/her left foot first he/she kicks to the left and vice versa for goofy footed skaters. Invented By Rodney Mullen.
- Heelflip
- Similar to the kickflip, only the board spins toe-side (towards the toes). For a regular skater (left foot in front) the board spins clockwise from a perspective behind the skater. Again, there is a kick as part of the ollie, but unlike the kickflip it is directed forward and outwards away from the rider's toe side (diagonal), so that the last part of the foot to leave the board is the heel, hence the name.[1] Instances of multiple spins are named according to how many spins are completed (e.g. double heelflip, triple heelflip, etc.).
- Fakie Kickflip
- Kickflip while riding in fakie.
- Fakie Heelflip
- Heelflip while riding in fakie.
- Back Foot Kickflip
- Kickflip done using your back foot after an ollie
- Nollie Front Foot Kickflip
- The Nollie version of the Back Foot Kickflip. It is a Nollie Kickflip using your front foot after the Nollie.
- Pop Shuv-it / Shuv-it
- Popping the tail while also shoving it behind you making it rotate backside 180 degrees under your feet.
- 360 Pop Shuv-it / 360 Shuv-it
- Popping the tail and shoving it behind you making the board rotate backside 360 degrees under your feet.
- 540 Pop Shuv-it / 540 Shuv-it
- Popping and shoving the tail behind you so the board rotates backside 540 degrees under your feet.
- Frontside Pop Shuv-it / Frontside Shuv-it
- Same thing as a Pop Shuv-it except you shove the tail forward so it rotates frontside 180 degrees (behind you) under your feet.
- Frontside 360 Pop Shuv-it / Frontside 360 Shuv-it
- Popping the tail and shoving the tail in front of you so the board rotates Frontside 360 degrees under your feet.
- Impossible
- Where the board completes one rotation by rolling around the skater's back foot, in much the same manner as spinning a baton with one's hand. It is considered good style to make the board flip as vertical as possible. If the board spins laterally or comes off the back foot, it tends to end up looking more like a 360 pop shove-it. This trick can also be done with the front foot. That is called a "front foot impossible". This trick was invented by Rodney Mullen. He shared the idea of this trick with some of his older friends who told him it would be impossible, hence the name.[2]
- Double Impossible
- This trick is done when the board does a full Impossible and continues to spin an extra rotation. It was invented by Richard Harter.
- Bigspin
- The board spins by popping a 360 Pop Shuv-it while the rider also does a Backside 180 Body Varial.
- Big Forward Flip
- A Forward Flip with a Backside/Frontside 180 Body Varial. Invented by Rouven Leonavicius.
- Biggerspin
- A 540 Shuv-it while the rider spins 180 degrees in the same direction.
- Frontside Bigspin
- A 360 frontside pop shove-it with a 180 body varial going the same direction.
- Antispin
- A Frontside 360 Pop Shuv-it with a backside 180 degree body varial.
- FS Antispin
- A bs 360 pop shove-it with a fs 180 body varial.
- Spin Out
- A pop shove it with a bs 360 body varial
- FS Spin Out
- A fs pop shuv it with a fs 360 body varial
- Antispin Out
- FS Antispin Out
- A Pop Shuv-it with a Frontside 360 Body Varial.
- Varial Kickflip
- A Varial Kickflip is a Kickflip combined with a Pop Shuv-it.[3]
- Nightmare Flip / Varial Double Kickflip
- A combination of a Pop Shuv-it and a Double Kickflip. It looks similar to a Varial Kickflip, but has an extra kickflip rotation.
- Frightmare Flip / Twisted Nightmare Flip
- A Nightmare Flip with a FS 180 body varial.
- 360 Flip / Tre Flip / 360 Kickflip / 3 Flip
- A combination of a 360 Shuv-it and a Kickflip.
- 360 Double Flip / 360 Nightmare Flip / Double Varial Kickflip
- A 360 Pop Shuv-it with a Double Kickflip.
- 360 triple flip
- A 360 triple flip is a 360 backside pop shuvit with a triple kickflip
- 540 Flip/ 540 kickflip
- When the board does a 540 degrees and a kick flip all in one motion
- 720 Flip/ 720 kickflip
- When the board does a 720 degrees and a kick flip all in one motion
- 720 triple flip
- A 720 triple flip is when the board spins 720 degrees wile doing a triple kickflip.
- Varial Heelflip
- A varial heelflip is a heelflip combined with a frontside pop shuvit.
- Laser Flip/ 360 Heelflip/ 360 Heel
- A combination of a frontside 360 shove-it and a heelflip. Creator Mike 'Laser Flip' Haze [4]
- Double Laser
- A double heelflip with a fs 360 shove it, in other words a double laser flip
- Hardflip
- A frontside pop shove-it with a kickflip. This trick is awkward to execute, and the board sometimes appears to move vertically through the legs.[5]
- Double Hardflip (Not to be confused with 360 Double Hardflip)
- A fs shoveit with a double kickflip
- Triple Hardflip
- An FS Shove It with a Triple Kickflip
- 360 Hardflip
- A 360 frontside pop shove-it and a kickflip all in one motion
- 360 Double Hardflip
- A 360 Hardflip with two kickflip rotations
- Ghetto Bird
- A Nollie Hardflip Late BS 180. Created by Kareem Campbell.
- Inward Heelflip
- A combination of a backside pop shove-it with a heelflip.
- 360 Inward Heelflip
- A backside 360 shove-it with a heelflip in one motion.
- Inward Double Heel
- An inward heelflip with two heelflip rotations.
- 360 inward double heelfip/360 Inward Double Heel
- A 360 inward heelflip with two heelflip rotations.
- Nollie
- A nose ollie (hence the name "Nollie"). Instead of popping with the tail of the board you pop with the nose while in a switch-fakie stance.
- Nollie Kickflip/Heelflip
- A kickflip/heelflip performed from the nollie position. These tricks can be performed fakie as well.
- Frontside/Backside Heelflip
- A heelflip combined with a frontside or backside 180. This trick is also known as a frontside or backside heel.[6]
- Frontside/Backside Kickflip
- A kickflip combined with a frontside or backside 180 ollie. This trick is also known as a frontside or backside flip.[7][8]
- Backside Flip
- A backside 180 spin and a kickflip all in one motion.
- Backside 360 Kickflip
- A 360 flip where the skater spins 360 with the board.
- Half-Cab Flip
- Backside/frontside 360 heelflip
- when you perform a frontside/backside 360 and a heelflip.
- Caballerial Flip / Cab Flip / Full-Cab Flip
- A combination of a Caballerial (a fakie bs 360) and a kickflip.
- Bigspin Flip / Bigspin Kickflip / Bigflip
- A 360 flip and with a backside body varial.
- Biggerflip
- A 540 Flip with a 360 degree body rotation.
- Frontside Bigflip
- A 360 hardflip with a frontside 180 body varial.
- Inward bigflip
- A 360 inward heelflip with a 180 body varial in the same direction
- Big Heelflip/FS Bigspin Heelflip/FS Big Heel
- Laserflip with a FS 180 body varial
- Grape flip
- A hardflip with a fs 360 body varial. [Invented By Donovan Strain].
- Double Grape Flip
- A double hardflip with a fs 360 body varial . [Invented By Donovan Strain with help from George Smart].
- Late Flip
- A kickflip or heelflip performed (usually) by the backfoot.
- Late Shove-it
- A shove-it, either frontside or backside, performed by the backfoot at the highest point of the ollie.
- Shuvit Lateflip
- Is a (pop) shuvit with a late kickflip.
- Underflip
- Flipping the board by using one foot that is under the board and flipping it in the kickflip or heelflip direction.[10][11]
- Pop Shove-it Underflip
- Is a shuvit with a late underflip, performed by the back foot
- Shuvit Lateflip
- Is a (pop) shuvit with a late kickflip.
- Fs shove it body varial
- Do a front shove it and a bs 180 body varial
- Casper Flip (flatgroud)
- using pressure as you would do to get into Primo position but instead keep one foot under the grip tape so the board is not completely i n Dark position (see Dark Casper) Place the other foot on the graphic side of the tail when the board is upside down. use the foot beneath the board to scoop the board up and round. jump to land on the board in its original position.
- Dark Casper Flip (flatground)
- A flatground trick performed with out touching the floor. start in a normal stance and use the backfoot to pressure flip the board into the Dark position. this is when the board is upside down with the griptape on the floor, standing on the graphic side of the til and nose with either foot. then in one swift movement the skater applies pressure to the toe side of the board with either foot lifting upo the opposit and other side of the board. the skater then uses the other foot to scoop the board over and round while jumping to land back o the right side of the board.
- Hospital Flip/Casper Flip
- A half kickflip which is caught upside down with the front foot under the front trucks, then flipped back over heelflip-style with a popshove combined. The only difference between a casper flip and a hospital flip is that the casper flip has the back foot briefly rest on the tail and assist in the board flipping back over in the same manner. With a hospital flip the back foot makes no contact with the board once it is upside.
- Casper heel/Hospital Heel/Scissor Flip
- A half heelflip, the front foot catches the board upside down and does a front side shuvit with it.
- Anti casper flip/Baby Glove Flip
- A casper flip but back foot goes under the board and flips it back around instead of the front
- Big Hospital Flip/ Big Casper Flip/Alpha Flip
- A bigspin hospital flip
- Disco Flip/Sex Change
- A Heelflip with a backside 180 body varial or a kickflip with a fs 180 body varial
- Fingerflip
- A fingerflip requires the skateboarder to flip the board in any direction using their fingers on the nose or tail.[12]
- Forward flip / Dolphin flip/frosty flip/ murder flip
- Usually performed by ollying and sliding the front foot directly off the nose of the board instead of off one of the sides causing it to flip vertically between the riders legs. The rotations of this trick could be described as an inverted vertical varial kickflip or an ollie late nollie hardflip.[13]
- 360 Dolphin flip/360 FORWARD flip
- The same thing as a forward flip except it has 2 rotations
- Dolphin heel/porpoise flip/Forward Heelflip
- A forward flip with a heelflip instead, like an ollie later nollie inward heel
- 1/2 cab impossible
- a half cab with an impossible
- Unward flip
- An unward flip flips in the same rotation as an "inward heelflip", but is flipped from under the board with the front foot.
- Gazelle flip
- A 540 flip with a body rotation of 360 degrees in the same direction.
- Gazelle Spin
- A 540 Shuvit with a body rotation of 360 degrees in the same direction. Fs/Bs/. Fakie Fs/Bs. Nollie Fs/Bs. Switch Fs/Bs.
- Kickback Flip
- The board does a half pressure kickflip rotation, then it is brought back up and thrown in the heelflip direction, making it a half pressure kickflip to a late one and a half helflip.[14]
- Plasma Spin
- Frontside bigspin with a pressure Impossible.
- Pressure flip
- Any flip trick that gains its rotational and flip direction from the same foot that popped the nose or tail.[15] Pressure flips are executed using a scooping technique. Nate Sherwood is well-known for his extensive array of pressure flip tricks. Most Pressure Flips are performed like Inward Heelflips, because they are much easier than the Hardflip version.
- Kiwi Flip
- fs shuv late under flip
- Kiwi Spin
- a kiwi flip with a body varial in the same direction
- 360 PressureFlip
- A Pressure Inward HeelFlip/hardflip going 360 degrees
- ToeFlip
- A Pressure Varial Kick
- 360 ToeFlip
- A Pressure 360 flip
- Semi-Flip
- A quarter kickflip late back foot varial heelflip. Invented by Rodney Mullen.
- Storm Flip
- A Nollie Backside flip with a late kickflip. Invented by Jerry Hsu.
- BullFlip
- A BS 720 Gazelle NerdFlip - the main way people do this trick is Nollie. Invented by Robby Williams.
- Bull Double Flip
- A 'Bullflip' with an extra flip. Created by Bo Polite.
- Sigma Flip
- A Half Nightmare flip to an anti Casper flip in one motion
- Haslam Flip
- A Half Varial Kick to a half late heelflip in one motion
- HangTen Flip/ Gingersnap
- When you go in a HangTen then you pop down making it do a pressure nollie hardflip through your legs.
- Handstand Flip (Handstand Fingerflip/Handstand Handflip)
- Can be done rolling or stationary. The skater can either be on the board or start out on the ground (if the board is rolling, they usually hop off then perform it). They put their hands on the board and then quickly pull the board's edge up, causing it to flip, and then land on it with their feet. If they're good, they roll away smooth.
- Rail Flip
- When you stand on the side of the board and use your back foot to flip the board using pressure.
- Shove-it late shove
- A BS shuvit kick it back to a FS shuvit.
- Nerd Flip
- Perform a regular BS shuvit, but dip your back foot below the board when it is suspended. when the board is on its way to straighten, lift your back foot up in a flick motion, causing the board to kickflip. Known as a BS Shuvit, to Underflip. Invented by Robby Williams.
- Half Wrap Kickback Flip
- Perform by doing half an impossible and once your front foot is under it you kick it back like the second half of a kickback flip. You then land.
- Half heel half kick
- opposite of half kick, half heel can be front foot or back foot.
- Heelside kickback
- Do a quarter heel flip than kick it back so it does a rotation like a kickflip and land it.
- 360 Double heelflip/360 Daydream flip
- A front side 360 shove it and double heel flip mixed, or in other words, a laserflip with two heelflips.
- Frontside/Backside 180 north
- 180 where you slide the front foot off the board. An ollie where you slide your front foot off is an 'Ollie north' but isn't listed here due to it not being a flip trick but a freestyle trick.
- No comply flips
- A No Comply is where you foot plant and then use your back foot and knee to lift the board off the ground. It is a freestyle trick but you can do pressure flips, finger flips, and spins from it.
- Shifty tricks
- Perform an ollie shifty or an ollie where you land in the same stance but move right or left. You can do flip tricks like this but they're very difficult and usually are done as late flips. Shifty tricks can be frontside or backside. It can be only done with a heelflip or kickflip, backside or frontside.
- Half wrap Half Heel
- Half an impossible but you put your front foot forward and once it goes half way kick it back with your heel and land.
- Bubble flip
- A pressure anti casper flip
Stalling on the rail along the edge of a halfpipe, placing your front foot underneath the middle of the board, popping the board up and spinning it 180 degrees and landing switch. (Originally invented by Kyle Hadden in 2010 shown in Transworld Skateboarding Magazine with Danny Way in 2011)
