blog-post // Jun 17, 2026
What to Learn After Kickflip: 10 Tricks That Build on Your Flip Foundation
Landed a kickflip? Here are 10 tricks to learn next, ordered by difficulty with real time estimates and why each one builds on your kickflip mechanics.
You landed a kickflip. Now what? The kickflip is the central node in skateboarding's flip trick progression. Every trick in this list builds directly on the mechanics you just developed, either by mirroring the flip, adding rotation, changing stance, or combining motions. Here are 10 tricks ordered from most accessible to most advanced, with real difficulty levels and time estimates from the Onbolts database.
Note: this article covers tricks after kickflip. If you are looking for what to learn after ollie, see tricks after ollie.
How to Read This List
Each entry shows the difficulty level from the Onbolts database (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and the estimated learning time. These are real ranges based on typical progression data, not guarantees. Your timeline depends on how often you skate and how consistent your kickflip already is. You can track all of these tricks on the Onbolts skill tree.
1. Heelflip (Intermediate, 1 to 4 months)
The heelflip is the mirror image of a kickflip. Instead of flicking off the toe-side corner with your front foot, you drag your heel across the nose to flip the board in the opposite direction.
Why it comes first: the board control, pop timing, and body position from your kickflip transfer directly. You already know how to pop, get your feet above the board, and catch a flip. The heelflip just reverses one axis of the flick. Most skaters with a consistent kickflip find heelflip clicks faster than kickflip did.
2. Fakie Kickflip (Intermediate, 1 to 3 months)
A fakie kickflip is a kickflip done while rolling backward in fakie stance. The flip motion is almost identical to your regular kickflip, but the approach direction and the pop foot mechanics feel different.
Why it builds on kickflip: you are running the same flip programming in a new context. Fakie tricks also train your balance and board feel in a direction you will use constantly. Fakie kickflip often comes quickly after kickflip because the flip technique is so similar.
3. Varial Kickflip (Intermediate, 2 to 6 months)
A varial kickflip is a kickflip combined with a backside pop shove-it. The board flips and rotates 180 degrees at the same time.
Why it builds on kickflip: the flip component is the same as your kickflip. What is new is timing the flip and shove-it to happen together, and catching a board that is moving in two directions simultaneously. The flip motion you already have is about 70 percent of the trick. The shove-it comes from a slight scoop of the back foot at the pop.
4. Kickflip Backside 180 (Intermediate, 3 to 8 months)
A kickflip-backside-180 is a kickflip combined with a backside 180-degree body rotation. The board flips while you turn.
Why it builds on kickflip: this trick adds body rotation to your existing flip. The flip mechanics stay the same. What changes is that your shoulders need to initiate a 180 backside turn while your front foot executes the flick. It takes time to keep the flip clean while spinning, but the flip foundation is already there.
5. Varial Heelflip (Intermediate, 2 to 5 months)
A varial-heelflip is a heelflip combined with a frontside pop shove-it. It is the heelflip equivalent of the varial kickflip.
Why it builds on kickflip: once you have both kickflip and heelflip, varial heelflip becomes a natural parallel to varial kickflip. The same combined-trick timing logic applies. Learning varial kickflip and varial heelflip together deepens your flip coordination across both flip directions.
6. Nollie Kickflip (Intermediate, varies)
A nollie kickflip is a kickflip popped off the nose instead of the tail. Your front foot becomes the pop foot and your back foot handles the flick.
Why it builds on kickflip: the flip mechanics are mirrored front-to-back. Your foot that usually controls the flick now controls the pop, and vice versa. Nollie tricks are a whole new axis of variation that opens up the stance-and-direction matrix. Expect this to take longer than the estimated time if nollie ollies are new territory.
7. Hardflip (Advanced, 4 to 12 months)
A hardflip is a kickflip combined with a frontside pop shove-it. It looks like a varial kickflip but the shove-it goes the opposite direction, making the timing awkward and the catch position more technical.
Why it builds on kickflip: the flip is the same, but the frontside shove-it works against the natural direction of the kickflip rotation. This creates a moment where the board seems to fight itself, and landing it requires precise timing and commitment. Most skaters approach hardflip after they have varial kickflip and frontside 180s solid.
8. Inward Heelflip (Advanced)
An inward-heelflip is a heelflip combined with a backside pop shove-it. It is the heelflip equivalent of the hardflip, and like the hardflip, the two motions work in opposing directions.
Why it builds on kickflip: you need both heelflip and varial heelflip before this is approachable. Getting your flip vocabulary developed on both flip directions is what makes this trick tractable. Without solid heelflip mechanics, the inward heelflip is nearly impossible to diagnose when it goes wrong.
9. Tre Flip (Advanced, 6 to 18 months)
The tre flip (also called 360 flip) is a kickflip combined with a 360-degree backside pop shove-it. It is one of the most iconic flip tricks in street skating.
Why it builds on kickflip: the flip is a kickflip. The scoop is a full 360-degree backside rotation. Getting the two motions to synchronize so that both complete at the same time and the board is flat when you catch it is the core challenge. The kickflip foundation is essential. Skaters who try to learn tre flip before their kickflip is very consistent usually spend far more time on it than those who wait.
10. Switch Kickflip (Advanced, 4 to 12 months)
A switch-kickflip is a kickflip done in your unnatural stance. If you skate regular, you do it goofy. If you skate goofy, you do it regular.
Why it builds on kickflip: everything you know about kickflip, your brain now needs to relearn mirrored. The motor pattern exists; the challenge is that it is stored for the wrong side. Switch kickflip is worth learning because it trains ambidextrous board control and opens up the full switch trick catalog. It takes most skaters as long as the original kickflip did, sometimes longer.
Where to Go From Here
The 10 tricks above range from the natural next step to the benchmark of a serious street skater. You do not need to learn them in order, but the intermediate ones build toward the advanced ones. A solid heelflip makes varial heelflip easier. Solid varial kickflip makes tre flip easier. Solid kickflip-backside-180 makes other combined-rotation tricks more accessible.
Track your progress on each of these tricks at Onbolts and the skill tree will show you what unlocks next. Start with the kickflip trick page to log your current status and see your full progression path.
Frequently asked
- What is the easiest trick to learn after kickflip?
- Heelflip is the most natural next trick for most skaters. The mechanics are the mirror image of a kickflip, so the body position and board control transfer directly. Fakie kickflip is also a common first step because the fakie stance removes the need to nollie pop and the flip motion is nearly identical.
- How long does it take to learn heelflip after kickflip?
- Most skaters who have a consistent kickflip land their first heelflip within 1 to 4 months. Having solid kickflip mechanics speeds up the process because your board control and flip timing are already calibrated.
- Should I learn varial kickflip or heelflip first?
- Heelflip first for most skaters. The heelflip is a clean flip trick that deepens your flip control. Varial kickflip adds a pop shove-it rotation on top of the kickflip, which is a different mechanical challenge. Heelflip builds your flip vocabulary; varial kickflip builds your combined-trick coordination.
- Is tre flip hard to learn after kickflip?
- Tre flip (360 flip) is considered advanced and typically takes 6 to 18 months after kickflip. It combines a kickflip with a 360-degree backside pop shove-it. Most skaters reach it after solidifying several intermediate tricks like varial kickflip, fakie kickflip, and kickflip-backside-180 first.
- What is the difference between fakie kickflip and switch kickflip?
- In fakie kickflip you are rolling backward (fakie stance) and flip the board the same direction as a regular kickflip. In switch kickflip you are in your unnatural stance and executing the trick as if you were a mirrored version of yourself. Switch kickflip is significantly harder and considered an advanced trick.
- Do I need tricks other than kickflip before learning hardflip?
- Yes. A hardflip combines a kickflip with a frontside pop shove-it, and the timing is awkward compared to a clean kickflip. Most skaters learn frontside 180s, varial kickflips, and have a very solid kickflip before hardflip becomes approachable. Jumping straight to hardflip from kickflip is a rough path.