Backside 180 Heelflip Definition

Backside 180 Heelflips, also known as backside heelflips, are achieved by combining the backside 180 and heelflip as one spin/flip trick.

Included below are two separate skate support videos featuring the backside 180 heelflip. In these helpful videos, you’ll see Aaron Kyro teaching Gabe and Justin some useful tips for landing backside heelflips. You’ll get to see multiple different angles of both failed and successful attempts. This should help you get on the right track with your backside heelflips.

After reviewing these videos, we recommend that you read the tutorial that follows for in-depth details on performing the backside 180 heelflip. The more information you have at your disposal, the more confident you will be moving forward with learning this classic trick. 

Backside 180 Heelflip Skate Support

How To Backside 180 Heelflip

Before learning the backside heelflip, Braille Skateboarding recommends that you are comfortable and consistent landing backside 180s and heelflips. Since a backside heelflip combines those two basic tricks, knowing how to land those basics regularly will give you a strong foundation for learning the backside 180 heelflip.

There are 6 things you want to keep in mind with backside 180 heelflips:

1. Foot position
2. Speed
3. Body position
4. Back foot pop/swipe
5. Front foot kick/flick
6. Landing in switch position

These 6 pieces of advice should help you with getting your backside heelflips clean and consistent. 

Foot Position

Place your back foot at the tip of the tail. Apply pressure to your big toe, near the middle of the toe-side pocket of the tail.  Your front foot should be near the middle of the board before the front bolts with your toes just slightly hanging off the edge. Apply pressure with the ball of your front foot before popping the trick. 

Speed

It’s important to be going a decent speed when performing a backside heelflip. If you’re going too slow you’ll land the trick at a complete standstill. If this is where you’re stuck, the good news is you’re almost there! The best way to correct this is to push a little faster so when you land you continue riding away.

When the trick doesn’t fully rotate the backside 180, you’ll find yourself completing the rotation with a slight power slide. This can also cause you to stop dead in your tracks once you land. With a good amount of speed you’ll continue rolling the proper direction upon landing, whether you need to power slide the full 180 or not. Remember that you’re going to be landing in the switch position (or fakie, depending on how you look at it). 

Going a nice medium/fast speed will keep you rolling away without having to tic-tac. It’s also a great habit to get into with your other tricks, as skating a bit faster will eventually make all your tricks feel easier and look better. 

Body Position

Since you’ll be turning 180 for this trick, it helps to wind your body slightly before popping the trick. You can load some pressure into your hips and keep your shoulders slightly corked the opposite direction you’ll be turning. As you then proceed to pop the trick; release the pressure, or uncork if you will, by throwing your shoulders forward as you kick out for the heelflip.

Your hips will follow suit and you should find yourself already turned 90 degrees by the time the board begins to flip.  Like most other tricks, don’t be leaning or hunched over the board. You can still apply pressure to the toe-side of the board while keeping your back straight. This will keep you jumping straight above to board so you can spot it as it comes around for the landing.

Back foot pop/swipe

Your back foot will pop the board very similar to how your back foot would pop a backside 180 or a pop shove-it. The big toe of the back foot uses a slight swiping motion behind you as you pop the trick that helps the board complete the full 180.

Play around with the back foot position until you find the best spot to help you achieve the necessary pop and swipe motion. After you’ve popped the board, remember to bring your knees up to allow the board to flip and spin under you.

Front foot kick/flick

Now it’s time to harness your inner Neen Williams and ninja kick off that board with all your might! In all seriousness though, your front foot is going to flick off and kick forward just like a heelflip but you’ll need to exaggerate it a bit more to help the backside heelflip around. It’s very similar to the regular heelflip motion. The only difference is you’ll be kicking forward with a bit more gusto.

Bring your knees up after the front foot has done its job so the board has a chance to do the backside heelflip without any interference. This front foot kick combined with the swiping motion of the back foot and turning your body with the board causes the board to flip under you, setting you up to either catch it at 180 degrees then land, or land on the board then pivot the remaining degrees off the nose. 

Landing in switch position

Now that the board is done flipping and has turned backside, it’s time to deploy the landing gear. If the board doesn’t turn a full 180 degrees you will find yourself finishing the rotation with a slight power slide as stated earlier. As the board comes around your front foot will land on the nose and the back foot will just power it through behind you.

This is normal, and when done right, it can look fantastic. Having your shoulders fully turned upon landing will make for a fast and stylish power slide that completes the board’s 180-degree rotation. Eventually, you’ll find yourself getting the full rotation without the power slide; it just takes repetition.

When you land the trick your back foot will now be your leading foot and you’ll continue rolling switch (or fakie), so it helps to be comfortable riding switch to make your landing look cleaner and more natural. 

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In Conclusion…

The information above should be more than enough to help you land the backside 180 heelflip. We hoped you enjoyed the skate support videos and learned something useful from our tutorial.

At Braille, we have everything you need to help you progress in skateboarding. Our full tutorial Skateboarding Made Simple is a unique approach to learning to skate created by expert instructor, Aaron Kyro.

With a full 9 volumes, you’ll be able to start from pushing on a skateboard, to eventually landing a Backside flip and beyond. Whether you’re a new skater or a veteran, Skateboarding Made Simple is the answer to keep you pushing forward!

Show us your best backside heelflips! Braille Skateboarding wants to see YOU land this classic trick! Film a quick clip of you doing your best backside 180 heelflip and post it on Instagram tagging @brailleskate, #brailleskate, and #brailleskateboarding.  Let us know which piece of advice helped you the most so we can highlight that and we can get more people landing backside heelflips!

Aussie Dan loves backside heelflips and he thinks you should too. The proof is in the pudding. We’ll leave you with this, check it out, and go land a backside 180 heelflip.

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