Guide · Trick Tutorial
How to Frontside 180 — Step-by-Step Tutorial for Beginners
The frontside 180 is an ollie where your whole body — shoulders, hips, feet, and board — rotates 180° toward your toe side. You start rolling forward and land rolling fakie. It's one of the most fundamental body-rotation tricks, and getting it locked teaches the shoulder-leads-hips-leads-feet coordination that all spin tricks build on.
Frontside vs backside 180 — what's the difference
| Frontside 180 (FS 180) | Backside 180 (BS 180) | |
|---|---|---|
| Rotation direction | Toward your toes (toe side) | Toward your heels (heel side) |
| Wind-up direction | Wind shoulders toward heel side first | Wind shoulders toward toe side first |
| Feel | Opening up — you can see where you're going longer | Closing — you turn away from the direction of travel |
| Common first success | Many skaters do FS 180 first | Many find BS 180 easier (follows pop direction) |
| Landing | Fakie (rolling backwards) | Fakie (rolling backwards) |
Both tricks end with you rolling fakie. The main mechanical difference is rotation direction. Try both — many skaters discover one feels significantly more natural than the other. There's no wrong order to learn them.
Prerequisites
- Consistent rolling ollie — the 180 is built on the ollie, so if your ollie is inconsistent, fix that first
- Comfort rolling fakie — you'll land fakie every time, so practice rolling backwards before trying the 180
- Some experience with body rotation — if you've done kickturns on a ramp or even on flat ground, you've felt the shoulder-hip relationship this trick uses
The wind-up — the key to the frontside 180
The frontside 180 rotates toward your toes. To generate that rotation, you need to wind up in the opposite direction first — coil your shoulders toward your heel side before you pop.
Think of it like winding a spring: the further you coil it back, the more energy releases when it unwinds. A small wind-up means a weak rotation that stalls at 90°. A good wind-up gives you the momentum to complete the full 180°.
Practical execution: as you set up and bend your knees to pop, rotate your shoulders about 45–90° toward your heel side. Your hips follow slightly. Then when you pop, the unwind begins immediately and carries you through the full 180°.
Foot position
Same as an ollie — no changes needed:
- Back foot center of tail
- Front foot over the middle of the board at roughly 45° angle, around the front bolts
The feet don't do anything different from an ollie. The rotation comes entirely from your upper body winding and unwinding. This is what confuses people — they try to spin the board with their feet. The board goes with your feet because your feet are on it and your body is turning; you don't spin the board separately.
The 5-step process
- Wind up. Approach rolling. Bend knees to set up for the pop. As you bend, rotate your shoulders about 45–90° toward your heel side. Your torso coils back like a spring.
- Pop and begin the unwind simultaneously. Pop the tail exactly as in an ollie. At the same moment — not a split-second after — begin unwinding your shoulders toward your toe side. The rotation and the pop start together.
- Let your shoulders lead. Shoulders rotate first, hips follow, feet follow hips, board follows feet. Don't try to guide each part separately — just let the chain reaction happen. Your eyes look toward where you'll land (behind you in your original direction of travel).
- Level the board. Front foot guides the board up slightly as in an ollie. By peak height your body should be at or near 180°.
- Land fakie, absorb, roll away. Both feet over the bolts. Knees bent for the landing. You're rolling backwards now. Keep centered and either ride out the fakie or kick turn to revert back to forward.
Getting comfortable with fakie
Every frontside 180 lands fakie. If rolling backwards feels unnatural and scary, spend a dedicated session just riding fakie before you try the 180 properly. Push forward and let the board slow down while you continue rolling backwards. Do kick turns while fakie. Ride fakie down a gentle slope.
The frontside 180 is much easier to commit to once the fakie landing doesn't feel like a hazard.
Common mistakes and fixes
| Mistake | What it looks like | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Only rotating 90° (landing sideways) | Board ends up perpendicular to direction of travel | Insufficient wind-up or rotation started too late. Wind shoulders further back before popping; start the unwind at the exact moment of the pop, not after |
| Popping first, then spinning | Board goes straight up, then awkward rotation in air | Pop and unwind must be simultaneous. Practice the timing: think of them as one single action, not two |
| Board not following body (rotating alone) | Body spins but board stays forward or goes its own direction | Feet are lifting off the board mid-spin. Keep feet in contact with the board throughout the rotation — don't hop off and try to land back on |
| Landing nose-heavy (pitching forward) | Landing with too much weight on front foot, shooting forward | Weight too far forward during the rotation. Center your weight more over the back foot through the spin |
| Falling out of the fakie landing | Completing the 180° but stepping off on landing | Fakie landing feels unfamiliar. Practice rolling fakie separately. On landing, stay centered and slightly back-weighted — don't lean forward |
| Going backside instead of frontside | Rotating the wrong direction | Wind-up direction is reversed. For frontside: wind shoulders toward heel side, unwind toward toe side. Mark which way "toe side" is before practicing |
Learning progression
- Practice the wind-up and unwind without popping — stand on the board (stationary, on grass) and just rehearse the shoulder motion: wind heel-ward, unwind toe-ward. Get the muscle memory of the direction without the complexity of the pop.
- 180° pivot on the back wheels (stationary) — press the tail slightly, wind up, and just pivot your whole body 180° on the back wheels without jumping. This rehearses the rotation direction and the fakie position.
- Slow-rolling FS 180 (small rotation) — roll slowly, do a small version of the trick. Don't worry about height. Just get the pop-and-rotation-simultaneous timing dialed.
- Full FS 180 stationary on smooth pavement — full pop, full 180°, clean fakie landing.
- Rolling at normal speed — the trick at full speed. Forward momentum actually helps — the board tends to stay under you better when you're moving.
What to learn after the frontside 180
- Backside 180 — the mirror trick; most skaters do both within a few weeks of each other
- Fakie ollie — since you're already comfortable with fakie from the 180 landing, the fakie ollie often comes quickly after
- Frontside 180 nosegrind — the FS 180 body rotation naturally approaches obstacles at the right angle for a nosegrind
- Frontside 180 kickflip — the "frontside flip"; combining the FS 180 with a kickflip is a natural next step once both tricks are independent
- Fakie kickflip — rolling fakie into a kickflip; the fakie comfort from 180s makes this more approachable
FAQ
Is frontside 180 or backside 180 easier?
Depends on the skater. Many find backside 180 easier because the rotation direction follows the natural pop direction. Others find frontside easier because you can see where you're going during the spin. Try both and see which feels more natural — there's no universal answer. Learn whichever comes first and then add the other.
What is a frontside 180?
A frontside 180 is an ollie where your entire body (shoulders, hips, feet, and board) rotates 180° toward your toe side. You start rolling forward and land rolling fakie (backwards). "Frontside" means the rotation opens toward the front of your body — your chest faces the direction you came from when you land.
Why does my frontside 180 only go 90 degrees?
Two causes: not enough wind-up, or the rotation starts too late. Fix: wind your shoulders further back (toward heel side) before popping, and start unwinding at the exact moment of the pop — not a beat after you're airborne. Pop and unwind are one simultaneous action.