Should I Avoid Flicking Downward?
Mechanism / Why It Happens
The board flips when force is applied perpendicular to its rotation axis
You may often hear that the front foot should slide diagonally upward, but this idea hides a critical issue. First of all, since the board is already angled after popping the tail, you should apply force diagonally downward (perpendicular to the rotation axis). Imagine a crane: a wrecking ball swings downward, but if the crane itself is rising, the ball appears to move upward. The same applies to a kickflip. Your foot applies force diagonally downward, but because your leg and knee are rising, it continues to move upward relative to the ground.
What to Do
Swing your foot diagonally downward from the knee
You may also hear that you shouldn’t flick downward, but don’t worry. The board flips most efficient
Analyze
Focus on your knee position during the flick
No matter how strongly you kick your foot downward, as long as your body and leg are rising, your foot will never touch the ground first. In the video, you can see that the knee continues rising until the moment the flick is completed and the toes leave the board. Try visualizing your knee path using a motion analyzer and check whether it drops during the flick.
