How to 360 Flip

Ah the 360 flip, the greatest skate trick ever invented, in our opinion. While they look effortless when perfected, learning how to 360 flip takes time, patience and practice.

The 360 flip is known by many names, commonly referred to as a 360 kickflip, tre flip, or 3 flip the humble 360 flip is another hugely popular skateboard trick accredited to the infamous Rodney Mullen.

Landing your first or thousandth 360 flip feels exactly the same! They all feel amazing, even the ones that roll on the floor! Tre flips are a must have for any street skater and any skater who just wants to feel awesome on their board.

How to 360 Flip

Now, 360 flips are not too difficult to learn, as long as you have the basics down. However, they do take a little bit of perfecting to get right.

So, follow the tips below to learn 360 flips and then work your butt off to get them feeling the way a tre flip should, insanely cool!

What tricks do you need to learn before a Heelflip?

The tricks you need to learn in order to 360 flip are:

  • Ollies – The base for any flip trick
  • Pop shuv-its – You need to know how to pop shuv-it so that you are used to the board spinning underneath you
  • Kickflips – Kickflips are likely the first flip you’ll learn, and you need them for a lot of other flip tricks. Practice these, and you’ll be comfortable when it comes to learning loads of other tricks.

The following tricks aren’t essential, but will help with 360 flips are:

  • Varial flips – Although varial flips are useful to know when trying 360 flips, they aren’t a must. They can help you feel more comfortable with the board flipping and spinning underneath you and help you spot the board in the air.
  • 360 pop shuv-its – Again, not an essential trick, but it can help some people with the spinning part of the tre flip. However, many people who can tre flip can’t 360 pop shuv-it. The actions of both are quite different anyway, so don’t worry if you can’t spin these just yet. They are fun though, so make sure you learn them one day, you’ll be glad you did!

360 Flip Trick Tips

Now let’s look at how we go about landing our first 360 flip.

1. Foot position

There are many different foot positions for 360 flips, what works well for us, may not work well for you. However, see our picture for our foot position. As you can see, we put our front foot in the middle of the board right on the edge. Our back foot is right in the pocket of concave on the tail. The back foot position for most people is the same. The ball of your foot should be touching the edge of your board inside the little pocket of concave on the tail, and your toes should be overhanging it. This position will become very natural to you over the years, but to start with you’ll need to pay attention to make sure both feet are in their positions before you pop.

2. Popping and flicking a 360 flip

Right, this is the hard bit of a 360 flip. There is a lot going on when you pop your board for a tre flip. To start with, you want to pop your board as you would for a pop shuv-it but kick it harder than normal. If you can already 360 pop shuv-it, pop the board as hard as you would for a 360 shuv. As you pop your 360 shuv, your front foot needs to flick the kickflip and get out of the way of the board. So, all your front foot does with a tre flip is a normal kickflip. As you flick your foot for the kickflip, the board is already spinning the 360 pop shuv-it, this spinning will mean that your front foot just catches the board to flick it and then it extends out of the way and lets the board spin and flip.

3. In the air

There is a lot going on underneath you in the air with a tre flip. To start with, all the spinning and flipping may leave you a little confused and so you may not be able to catch the board. However, don’t worry about catching tre flips for now, that will come in time. For now, try and spot when the board has completed the spin and the flick. Once again, this is tricky, but you are basically trying to spot your grip tape. When you see your grip tape starting to come round you can put your feet back on your board.

4. Rolling away

Now that you have spotted your grip tape and you have put your feet back on your board, you can land the 360 flip. Now, you need to see how you land your first few 360 flips. A lot of people land too nose heavy with tre flips and end up in nose manual and then stepping off the board. If this is the case, you are either jumping too far forward when you pop, or you aren’t going quick enough. We certainly aren’t saying go lightspeed with your first few 360 flips, but you need to be going at a comfortable speed to ensure you are landing back on the board with your weight completely over it.

How to 360 Flip Video Tutorial

Still not quite getting it?

This video tutorial should help you visualize the steps ou need to take in order to master the 360flip.

Summary

Once you have figured out any issues you are having with your balance, you should be able to nail 360 flips.

Now all you have to do is practice 360 flips and start catching them and feeling awesome!

They are our favorite trick because they feel a little bit dangerous, really fun and when you get a good one, they make your week!

We hope you have success with your 360 flips, check out the rest of our skate trick tips and all of the great skate products we’ve reviewed too! Happy skateboarding!

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