Quick and Easy 180 Tutorial - 7 Minute Tutorial

What this video teaches

Note: this video teaches general 180-rotation mechanics covering both backside and frontside spins, not the combined kickflip frontside 180, but its cue about generating rotation from the ground up (rather than sliding your weight back and forth) applies directly to the wind-up for the frontside half of this trick. Skate IQ isolates the frontside-specific setup near the end: shoulders square to the board, back foot shifted toward the heel side of the tail, and hips rotating down into the pop.

Key tips

• 1Generate your rotation power by pushing straight down into the ground and unwinding fast at the top of the jump, not by leaning or sliding your weight back and forth
• 2Wind up by spreading your knees apart so your hips naturally start facing your direction of rotation
• 3For frontside rotation specifically, keep your shoulders square to the board rather than winding them up like you would backside
• 4Shift your back foot toward the heel side of the tail so you can intuitively push the tail forward through the pop
• 5Rotate your hips down into the wind-up, then push your back foot forward through the ollie to complete the spin
• 6Avoid leaning back to try to force the spin, since that just causes the board to shoot out from under you
• 7Practice the same rotation fundamentals in every direction so the ground-up power generation becomes automatic
• 8Frontside is generally easier to spot since you can see your landing, but watch for over-rotating since it's a common frontside error

Summarized from the video transcript.