I just learned how to do the Flip On, and I’m quite excited about it so I thought I would share it with you all! You’re probably reading this thinking, “What is this girl talking about?” Not to worry! A Flip On is probably the easiest skater trick in the book, but considering I’m fairly new to skateboarding, successfully executing this trick was the highlight of my day. This is when you place the skateboard upside down over the tips of your feet. Then, you simply jump up, flipping the board as you do so, and land right side up on the skateboard. At first, this seemed to be quite daunting (for me at least). I would be in the correct position, my feet on the board, flailing my arms in preparation, but shying away from actually doing it. But hey, I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t done it, would I? And lucky for you aspiring skaters, I’m not here to just boast about learning this amateur trick, I’m here to help you rookies carry out this trick in less than 10 minutes!
- Step 1:
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Get a skateboard. I use a longboard just because I find it easier to work with when I’m actually skating. But any board is adequate for this trick.
- Step 2:
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Practice flipping your board. Place the board upside down in front of you, and with one foot, push it up with the top of your foot. This is so you get used to the movement of flipping your board.
- Step 3:
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Practice jumping onto your board. Keep the board right side up in front of you, and simply jump onto it with both feet at once. This is to practice your balance when you land on the board.
- Step 4:
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Get into ready position: This is what I described earlier, with your skateboard upside down on the tops of your feet. Stand with your feet slightly separate to gain a sturdy stance. Now, all I want you to do is jump, pushing the skateboard up with your feet. Only jump so that one of your feet lands on top of the board. To do this, make sure you jump slightly forward. The other can act as a balancer and remain on the ground.
- Step 5:
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Get your hands on some sort of pole that can act as a stabilizer. I used a squeegee, but a broom or hockey stick could also work. Simply hold the pole out in front of you and the skateboard with both hands. Now, practice flipping the board up and jumping up and slightly forward to land on top of it. The pole helped me A LOT with getting over my anxiety of falling. (I would hesitate to even try to jump.) But with the squeegee, I was able to land my first Flip On in under 5 minutes!
- Step 6:
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Once you are comfortable with jumping and landing on your board with the help of the pole, throw it away. It’s time to try for real! You are going to do the exact same thing: jump up and slightly forward and plant both feet on the skateboard. Use your arms to help propel you forward a bit. Your arms can also help to steady you once you land on the board. I landed the first one but slipped off the board, and I found that the next time I did it, waving my arms to steady myself really helped me get the hang of it. Once you have landed the Flip On multiple times without the help of anything, you can let your arms hang down, a bit away from your sides. Gotta have that cool skater stance, you know?
- Step 7:
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Go impress your friends! It’s an easy trick, yes, and you will undoubtedly realize this once you’ve successfully completed it, but your friends will see you and say, “Woah, you’re so cool.” At least mine did (but now that I think about it, it might have been sarcastic). Nevertheless, skating should be about having fun and learning something new! If you enjoyed this 10-minute process, (even if you haven’t been able to successfully land the Flip On), then you have done this step-by-step exactly how I wanted!
One of the benefits of quarantine was the constant empty space to fill with learning new skills. Skateboarding was something I had always wanted to try but was daunted by; seeing all those experienced skaters out there made me feel like I could never live up to them. But you’ll never know unless you try, right? So I did. And I fell in love with skating. I’m nowhere near as good as experienced skaters, and can only do this one trick, but glass-half-full mindset: I can do one more skill than I could do 10 minutes ago! Wow. I’m so cool.