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Last updated: Nov 16, 2023
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Skateboarding is a beloved sport that involves a lot of intense and exciting tricks. Many skateboarders love to debate which trick is the hardest to perform.Some of the most difficult tricks are even named for the first trailblazers to ever accomplish the feat.Listed below are the hardest tricks in skateboarding.
Table of Contents
- What Are the Hardest Tricks in Skateboarding?
- 1. Laser Flip
- 2. Hardflip
- 3. Backside Tailslide
- 4. Tre Flip (360 Flip)
- 5. Impossible
- Honorable Mentions
- FAQ
What Are the Hardest Tricks in Skateboarding?
- Laser Flip
- Hardflip
- Backside Tail Slide
- Tre Flip
- Impossible
1. Laser Flip
The laser flip is probably the hardest flat ground trick to land.It combines a 360 Shuv with a varial heelflip.
A 360 Shuv is when you flick your back foot down and back to make the board spin 360 degrees in the air with no other flips. A varial heelflip is a heelflip combined with a Front Shuv. Heelflips are done when the front flicks the board forward, making it spin with your heel. A Front Shuv is when you push your skateboard forward with your back foot, making it spin 180 degrees.To combine these two moves, you need to go into a 360 Shuv and then put all of your power into your back foot at the end so that you can spin the board with your heel the way you would in a varial heel flip.
As you can see, this is a very technical trick, and that is why it is the hardest trick on our list.
2. Hardflip
The hardflip earns number two on our list of hardest tricks because of how technical it is. This trick combines a Frontside Shuv with a kickflip.
To do a hardflip, your front foot should be in the middle of your board and pointed diagonally. This is the foot positioning for a kickflip. Your back foot goes in the middle of the tail, with the ball of your back foot putting pressure on the heel-side pocket of the tail, which is the foot positioning of the Front Shuv.
The key to this trick is to pop hard, so your board becomes vertical enough that you can flick your front foot and do a kickflip.
3. Backside Tailslide
The backside tailslide is not a flat ground trick but rather a trick done on a rail, ledge, or hubba.A rail can be a flat bar or handrail over some stairs; a ledge is a flat block on the ground with waxed-up edges; hubbasare basically ledges that go over stairs.
To do a backside tailslide, you first need to approach your obstacle with your back to it. This is why it is called backside. Then you are going to pop your board, turn your shoulders slightly so your board turns 90 degrees, and slide your tail on the obstacle.
This trick is extremely difficult because you are doing it on your blind side. Approaching an obstacle backside is already hard enough, and adding a tailslide to it makes it more difficult because you have to turn your eyes away from the obstacle and still lock into a tailslide.
4. Tre Flip (360 Flip)
Tre flips, or 360 flips, are the combination of a 360 Back Shuvand a kickflip.A 360 Back Shuv is like a 360 Front Shuv, except instead of pushing forward with your back foot, you push back.
A kickflip is when you position your foot on the middle of your board and point it diagonally so when you slide your foot up to do an ollie, you are able to flick the board and make it spin backward.
The key to this trick is the backfoot. You should scoop as hard as you can while slightly moving your front foot forward. This is not as technical as the other tricks on our list, which is why it is at number four.
5. Impossible
The name might seem intimidating, but this trick is not impossible to land. The impossible is one of those tricks where a lot of emphasis is placed on the back foot.
To do an impossible, the front foot is placed near the front bolts and turned at an angle. Your back foot is placed on the toe-side pocket. When doing an ollie, you are going to scoop the board with your back foot and push forward so it almost looks vertical, and this will make it spin 360 degrees.It is similar to the 360 Shuv, but the difference is the board is spinning vertically, not horizontally.
Honorable Mentions
900
The 900 is one of the most infamous and difficult skateboarding tricks ever landed. It requires a vertical ramp or “big air” ramp. To perform the 900, the skater must spin a full two and a half rotations while in the air and land back on their board.Tony Hawk is credited with being the first professional skateboarder to land the trick in competition at the 1999 X Games in San Francisco, California. Since then, only a few of the most talented and risk-defying skaters have been able to replicate it.
Gazelle Flip
The gazelle flip, also known as a bigspin 360 kickflip, was invented by Rodney Mullen in 1981. Gazelle flips are considered to be one of the hardest street tricks to land, and can take months or even years for the most experienced skateboarders to master. The gazelle flip is a combination of a backside 360, 360 flip, and a bigflip. In order to do a gazelle flip, one must do three things at the same time: rotate the board one and a half times, kickflip, and a full backside rotation.
Heelflip 720
The heelflip 720 is yet another difficult skateboarding trick that didn’t quite make this list. This trick consists of the skater performing two full turns, a 720-degree turn, before going into a heel flip. The most challenging part of this trick is successfully pulling a heelflip during the already intimidating 720-degree turn. If this isn’t daunting enough, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk once said that performing this stunt comes almost entirely down to luck.
Hospital Flip
A hospital flip is a complicated move derived from a kickflip and a Caesar flip.In order to do a hospital flip, the skateboarder must set up their board similar to a kickflip and then pop their board upward. Once the board is spun and the trucks are facing your front foot, you need to use the same foot that turned the board to kick it out. The final part of this maneuver is to pull your feet up into your chest and then land on the board before rolling away.
McTwist
The McTwist is a trick that combines a 540-degree backside spin with a Mute Grab.This move was invented by and named for Mike McGill, the American skateboarder who first did the move during a halfpipe competition in 1984.To perform a McTwist, the skateboarder must grab their board, tuck their head, snap their tail off the wall, and then grab their board behind their front wheels with their dominant hand. Once the skateboarder has rotated a full 540 degrees, they can release and land on their board in a forward motion.
FAQ
Who was the first person to perform the laser flip?
The first publicized performance of the laser flip featured Mike Hayes, who nailed the flip in a 1997 Alien Workshop video titled “Timecode.” Skateboarding has not always been as organized as it is today, so it's entirely possible Hayes learned this trick from someone else. That being said, Mike Hayes was the first person to successfully land the trick in a public forum. Hayes has even asserted that he had been performing the laser flip since 1991, six years before he introduced the world to the laser flip in Alien Workshop’s video.
What are the best places to practice difficult skateboard tricks?
The best place to practice difficult skateboard tricks is an empty parking lot or garage.This provides ample space for practice, as well as alleviates the danger of a collision with a car or person. If a parking garage or lot isn’t available, a smooth sidewalk or a skatepark are the best places to practice difficult tricks.
Who invented the impossible in skateboarding?
The first person to successfully perform the impossible was legendary skateboarder Rodney Mullen in 1982.Mullen was no stranger to inventing new and exciting tricks. In fact, he is credited with developing a wide variety of tricks that have stood the test of time, including the 540-shuvit, the kickflip, the heelflip, and the 50/50 sidewinder.
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