Heelflip
The heelflip (aka heel), is an aerial skateboarding trick where the skateboarder kicks out in front of him/her flipping board 360 degrees along the board's long axis.
A heelflip is executed similarly to the ollie, and like the Ollie has become a defining trick of "New School" skateboarding.
Execution
A heelflip is the opposite of a kickflip, the board spins toe-side (towards the toes). For a regular skater (left foot in front) the board spins clockwise from the perspective of one 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.
While the heelflip is similar to the ollie, it is not a direct variation of the ollie. In performing a standard heelflip you will see the skateboarder:
- Places his or her front foot behind or on the front bolts of the board and towards the heel-side edge of the board.
- The skater pushes the ball of the back foot on the tail of the board slightly angled initiating the "pop" and a slight spin.
- The rider's front foot is slid out diagonally in order to start the board rotating while the shoulders are centered over the board.
- His or her feet are lifted out of the way so that their board can spin completely.
- The rider catches their board and roll away. Skateboarders considered it good execution of the trick to stop the board's rotation with the feet in midair rather than to allow contact with the ground to stop the board.
Variations
Variations and extensions of the standard heelflip are very common - some of these are:
- Double Heelflip, where the board flips twice before being caught.
- Triple Heelflip, where the board flips three times before being caught.
- Heelflip Body Varial,(not to be confused with the disco flip, in which a riders performs a sex change 180 while executing a Kickflip), where the skater does a backside 180 turn, while the board does not spin, but still flips.
- Varial Heelflip, where the board does one heel flip, and spins 180 degrees frontside (frontside pop shove-it) at the same time.
- Laser flip, a combination of the Frontside 360 pop shove-it and the Heelflip. The opposite of a 360 flip.
- Late Front-Foot Heelflip, in which the tail is snapped and the ollie is pursued but, at the peak of the ollie the heel of the front foot pushes downward on the toe-side edge of the board causing it to rotate once.
- Late Heelflip, in which the rider does an Ollie, and at the peak of their air they flick their back foot resulting in a Heelflip.
- The Heelflip Grab, a variation on grabs where the rider flips the board and catches it with his hand rather than the feet. It was first done on a vertical ramp but now is very commonly seen done on launch ramps or other surfaces which can generate sufficient air time.
- Inward Heelflip, a combination of the backside pop shove-it and the Heelflip, this trick is usually executed with the crossing of the skater's legs. The opposite of a Hardflip.
- Bigspin Heel, the skaters body does a frontside 180 while their board does a laser flip.