From safe rolling to real control: kickturns, tic-tacs, clean carving and the right order in which to learn your first tricks.
You roll safely, can brake and carve — now what? The honest answer: not the ollie directly yet, but the fine work on your control. Kickturns, tic-tacs, clean weight shifts and riding in both directions are the unassuming skills that take you from "can roll straight" to "command the board." They pay off twice, because balance is the strongest predictor of how fast you learn tricks afterward.
And trick order is not a matter of taste: EMG analyses show that ollie, kickflip and 360-flip share the same basic motor synergy — a common "jumping" motion onto which each flip only adds the foot motion. The ollie is thus the neural foundation of all flip tricks, and it's considered the "most dangerous fundamental skill" — so you don't learn it first, but only on a solid riding base. This guide deepens exactly that base. A note up front: the exercise order here is proven practice knowledge, grounded in the documented building blocks of balance and jumping synergy.
Steering happens over the edge, not the upper body: weight slightly onto toes or heels, the trucks tilt, the board draws the curve. Practice tight and wide arcs and both sides equally often. Clean carving in both directions is the precursor to everything involving controlled weight shifts.
Shift some weight onto the back foot so the nose lifts slightly, and turn with your shoulders and gaze into the new direction. First standing, then in slow motion. Kickturns are your first real "I actively steer the board" and the basis for riding transition.
Repeatedly lift the nose slightly by briefly putting weight on the tail, and tap it alternately left and right. These tic-tacs train the weight shift onto the tail — exactly the motion you'll need later for the pop of the ollie — and even give you drive without pushing.
Now and then deliberately roll backward (fakie) and with reversed feet (switch). It feels foreign but doubles your skill long term and trains your balance more broadly. A few meters per session is enough to start.
The path is: roll and carve safely → kickturns and tic-tacs → ollie standing → ollie rolling → first flips. Because all flips share the ollie's jumping synergy, chasing the kickflip before a solid ollie is a waste of time. Automate the jumping mechanics first, then the rest almost comes on its own.
Build a "warm-up circuit": one minute of just carving tight figure-eights, then one minute of tic-tacs, then five kickturns per side. These three drills train exactly the weight shift from which pop and control later arise — and they broaden your balance, the factor that decides your pace at learning tricks. Two minutes at the start of every session, and in weeks your board feels like an extension of your feet.
First the riding base (roll, brake, carve), then kickturns and tic-tacs, then the ollie standing and rolling, then first flips like the kickflip. This order is neurally grounded: all flips share the ollie's jumping synergy, so the ollie is the foundation that must be dialed first.
In an ollie you jump up with the board without it rotating. In a kickflip you add a rotation around the long axis (the board "flips"). In a shove-it the board spins flat around the vertical axis (about 180 degrees), usually without a flip. Ollie, kickflip and 360-flip share the same base synergy.
Yes. The ollie is the common base: ollie, kickflip and 360-flip use the same "jumping" synergy and the same motor complexity. Automate the take-off mechanics and you have the foundation onto which each flip only adds the foot motion. Flipping before that only costs time.
Over the edge, not the upper body. Shift your weight slightly onto the toe or heel side, then the trucks tilt and the board draws a curve. Practice tight and wide arcs in both directions; for sharper direction changes, add kickturns, where you briefly lift the nose.
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