The Heelflip is one of those tricks that people either love or hate. It’s either a preferred trick over the Kickflip, or despised. It’s similar in motion but completely different at the same time. No matter which side you’re on, it’s good to master both of these to expand your bag of tricks. For me, the Heelflip was one of the first tricks I learned growing up.

To do a Heelflip, place your back foot on the tail just as you would for an ollie. Make sure that the ball of your foot is right on the edge. Your front foot will be slightly past the center of the board with your toes hanging off about an inch or two and your heel fully on the board. This trick relies on the power and direction of which you flick your front foot. Next, as you pop your back foot to get the air, at the same time, flick your front foot up and outward in the most ever so slightly diagonal direction in order to make the board flip. Picture your leg sticking sideways away from your body while slightly forward. A good visualization for this is kicking your leg at about 10 o’clock.  Wait for the flip to come around and when you see the top of your board under your feet, stick the landing.

The trick was invented by the one and only, Rodney Mullen. The invention of this trick was a stepping stone in the creation of “New School” skateboarding, which was an entirely different wave of the sport. During the rise of New School skateboarding, many people were inspired to get creative with tricks. As the Heelflip grew in popularity, people started to create variations of the trick along with Rodney himself. These include Varial Heelfips, which is a reverse Pop Shuv-it and a Heelflip combined, and the Inward Heelflip which is a regular Pop Shuv-it and Heelflip combined.