What Is A Kickturn?
Kickturns are an essential skateboarding movement, especially when skating parks and transition. When learning how to skateboard, you will want to learn how to kickturn pretty early on. A kickturn on a skateboard is when you go up a ramp, turning 90 degrees, riding back down the ramp in your normal stance. The kickturn is a light spinning motion, performed by lifting up your front trucks, pivoting off your back 2 wheels, using your front foot to guide the board around for a full 90 degree turn. To end the kickturn, you will stomp back down with your front trucks so you are riding back down the ramp on all four wheels. A kickturn is a skateboarding technique you will use a lot as a beginner as well as when you are an advanced skater as it allows you to easily ride up a ramp and back down in your normal stance. As a beginner skateboarder, the kickturn will be your first step away from rolling up a ramp and rolling back down fakie every time. When learning how to kickturn, it would be helpful to already know how or have an idea as to how to manual on a skateboard. Before reading any further, check out our earlier post on how to manual so you understand how to apply pressure on the tail of your skateboard, lifting up your front trucks. Make sure before attempting the kickturn that you are comfortable pressing down on your tail, lifting up your front trucks, followed by stomping your front trucks back down with your front foot so you are riding normally again on all four wheels. Being comfortable shifting your weight from front foot to back foot on your skateboard in this manner and vice versa, is very important when learning how to kickturn.
Turning Your Body And Your Board
In addition to applying pressure on the tail of your skateboard to perform a kickturn, the bulk of the motion is in your upper body as well, especially the shoulders. To perform a kickturn, you will want to apply pressure on the tail of your skateboard, lifting up your front trucks as you start to approach your peak height on the ramp you are skating. As you start to lose speed, climbing higher on the ramp, lift up your front trucks and turn your shoulders in the direction you would like to kickturn. Turning your shoulders first, then using your front foot second to guide the board, will ensure that you have a successful kickturn, completing the whole 90 degree motion. Now there are two directions in which you can kickturn: frontside or backside. Frontside is when you are facing the coping of the ramp you are skating as you turn, with your back facing the way back down. That is why most people learn how to kickturn backside first, as it allows you to see where you are going more easily on the way back down. As you turn your shoulders for a backside kickturn, your head will be facing the bottom of the ramp, so it will be a lot easier as a beginner kickturning backside as you will easily be able to watch the front of the skateboard and know exactly where you are going.
How To Kickturn
Now that you have a basic understanding of how to kickturn, it's time to put it all together. The kickturn is all about pressing down on your tail on the way up a ramp as you start to lose speed, turning your shoulders 90 degrees in the direction you want to turn, using your front foot to guide the board around. For a full video on how to kick turn, check out our TikTok video on how to kickturn:
@howtoskateboards Turn those shoulders and shift your weight to your back foot toes #howtoskateboard #howtoskateboards #miniramp #skatepark #skate #skateboard #skateboarding ♬ Puff - Hany Beats
When first learning how to kickturn, you may want to practice the motion on flatground first, applying the same techniques but in a stationary and controlled environment. If you have any questions on how to kickturn or how to skateboard in general, feel free to drop a comment below!