Anyone tried or landed a heelside Front flip.

Right i want to try a front flip heelside. i have bashed my frontleg on a scarecrow and to give it a rest would like to try a front flip. i dont think i will have much problem initiating the flip. are the crashes bad??? someone i know broke his leg last year, is this usual to take such a pounding. dont reall want to cane my front leg too.
thanks

I've tried about 4-5 times - all unsuccessful. However, I was given some good advice by someone who sticks them with grabs all day long, and that is: Progressive edge, weight on your back foot (70% or so), wait for the pop, then place your lead ear on your lead shoulder. Keep the handle in tight the whole time. Your weight distribution on the approach and your head motion at the pop will give you the "cartwheel" motion you need. Hope this helps.

yeah, right....Im crashed first 10 times, and all they were assplants, and then landed...If your boat not makes big wake, probably you have same trouble like with me...Sometimes i cant get good pop and my frontflip seems like tantrum with both hands...its sucks....ok, good luck!

hey andrew, we meet again! ;)

i landed one on my third attempt and i have to give all credit to the higher education dvd. but then i landed hard on my next couple of attempts and decided i really wanted to learn 3s.

the keys for me in order of importance (to me) were this:

1) handle position
2) ear to shoulder

handle position - both hands on the handle, the handle at waist position and held in the same position you would cutting in; arms relaxed but fixed. as charlie patterson says in hl, you want your arms to form a right triangle between your elbows, the handle and your shoulder. this handle position remains the same thru the entire trick.

ear to shoulder - as you stand tall and leave the wake, put your lead ear on your lead shoulder. this should initiate the front flip.

if you stand tall and get your pop - initiate the flip by putting your lead ear on your lead shoulder, and hold the handle in that 90 degree locked position - you should just pop up and rotate over.

as for the crashes, if you let go with one hand or if you don't fully commit to putting your head on your shoulder, you may under rotate - i did this a couple of times, stalling out my flip and landing on my side. hurt a bit, but nothing really damaged except my courage.

i recently decided to start trying these again as i think they're a pretty cool looking flip - and one you don't see a lot of people doing. and they look especially nice grabbed of course.

good luck with it. let us know how it goes!

Hello Chris,
I looked at the higher education too. I understand the take off and handle position. I think i will be able to initiate it ok but just a am a bit cautious of my front knee. Do you come in quite hard being a long way round? or is it more of a slow progressive pop flip. i see most coming in quite hard and with timing being so key this could be difficult on a small wake.

So your working on 3s eh? they came quite easy for me. I learnt off the double up were i found they hurt less because of the vertical pop. a good tip is as you go up spot to see if you will land on the down side before throwing it this forces you to spin it late as well as having a smooth landing.

I will try the front flip then its tantrum i think.

cheers chris.

Fronts are the coolest looking flip. I think they are much easier then people think. It took me less then 10 tries to land one. The only problem is that they are not consistent. I land one every 10 tries.
Cut into wake on edge. When you are about to pop "ollie" like you would on a skateboard. Man does it send me flying.
I am scared of landings. WHEN I miss, I am either to far forward or to far back, but either way it "rolls" my knees. Board stops, top half of my body doesn't.

Andrew, the landing are not that bad. Just land on edge. If you are trying to protect your front knee, make sure it is bent through the entire trick, especially on the landing.

Badzuki, edge all the way through the wake with your weight pretty heavy on your rear heel. Leave off the tail and let it kick your over. It sounds like you are trying to do too much with your "ollie", which makes it inconsistent. Let the wake and your board's edge do the work. Also, land on edge to soften the impanct and prevent the deceleration which "rolls" your knees.

here's my last attempt at it (as you can see it was awhile ago - last feburary!). im guessing that im not standing up at the wake (my age old problem), and therefore not getting the height or the pop. any suggestions before i go out and kill myself on this again?

http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=8798

apologies for the poor wmv quality...

Chris, it looks like you flattened out right as you got to the trough. Your progressive edge until that point was good. Stay heavy on your back heel and pull hard against the boat all the way through the top of the wake. This will kick you up and over. Also, try to face the boat the whole way through the trick to prevent twisting. Keep the handle in tight to your middle. Good luck.

thanks matt, i believe you're spot on. i'll let y'all know how it goes. going out friday at least this week so i'll try it then (and get video too!)

Loadsa good advice.

Matt do you have to come in progresive and hard with speed? i can see that it is a trick that takes you into the flats and it is a long way round so i guess a pretty hard edge? not like backroll cut but not as hard as a raley? the trick goes tip to tail, cartwheel but depending on the cut determines the angle the board goes behind you when it goes up and over?

went out to get a ride today but the solenoid went on the starter motor! hopefully tommorow!

Andrew, speed at the wake is not really important. You will need a hard edge through the wake, but a lot of people confuse coming in at Mach 3 as a hard edge. Come in progressive and do not start to far out. As long as you RIDE ALL THE WAY UP THE WAKE with your weight mainly on your rear heel, you will get plenty of height and rotation. The body position is not like a roll or raley becuase on a front flip, you should drop your hips back a bit to get that weight on the heel. Let me know how it goes.

Makes sense matt, shall give it a go today if i can get a ride at the club. thanks