How To Varial Kickflip

A varial kickflip is a combination trick that involves performing both a kickflip and a pop shove it at the same time. This means you are kickflipping (rotating your board one full rotation toward you) while also spinning the board 180 degrees, or one-half rotation. Before learning this trick, you should have mastered both the pop shuvit and the kickflip. Keep reading to learn how to varial kickflip on a fingerboard.

Step 1: Finger placement

Like a kickflip and a pop shove it, the varial kickflip requires you to place your back finger (middle finger) on the tail of the board and your front finger (index finger) just behind the front four screws.

Step 2: Popping the board

The trick begins like a pop shove it, in which you pop the tail of your board straight down to cause the board to lift up into the air.

Step 3: Flipping and scooping the board

Popping the tail is easy, but the challenging part comes when you have to both flip and scoop the board simultaneously. Like a pop shove it, you will slightly scoop the tail of the board toward you with your back finger. However, you will also be catching and flicking the nose of your board downward at the point of the nose that is closest to you, which will cause the board to spin toward you. Because the board is rotating a half turn or 180 degrees, it will appear that the board is spinning away from you, but the board would be spinning toward you without the pop shuvit scoop.

Step 4: Landing the trick

Once the board has completed one full spin and one-half rotation, catch the board with both of your fingers on the grip to land the trick on all four wheels.

Final thoughts

The most challenging part of this trick is learning how to simultaneously scoop the tail of the board with your back finger like a pop shove it as well as flicking the nose of the board with your front finger like a kickflip. It will take many times before you master this trick, so keep practicing until you can perform this trick every time.

If you are having trouble with this trick, try adjusting the placement of your front finger. Some find that positioning your front finger closer to the direct center of the board can make it easier to perform. Once you’re able to land this trick with ease, you can adjust your front finger back to the normal placement so that you can perform many tricks with the same finger positioning.