Laser Flip

also known as: Laser · 360 Heelflip · Frontside 360 Heelflip · Lazer Flip

flip flatgroundstreet difficulty 7/10

roll 0° yaw 0° pitch 0° body 0°

Shown for a regular-footed rider. Teal ring + arrow = the rider's facing direction; teal band = the tail; a dot is where a hand holds the board - bright yellow for the front hand, amber for the back one, which is the whole difference between a mute and an indy. Board and rider rotate independently - each follows its own component. Drag to orbit.

How it works

The frontside mirror of the 360 flip: one heelflip rotation around the long axis stacked on a full 360-degree frontside yaw. The back foot must scoop the tail toe-ward through the mechanically weaker frontside arc while the front heel snaps off the toe-side nose pocket, and the two impulses partially interfere - the frontside yaw carries the nose away from the heel's flick path - which is why the laser sits near the top of the standard flip-trick hierarchy. The name comes from the laser sound effects in the music of a Mike Hayes part - which is also why it is spelled with an S: laser is an acronym, so the common 'lazer' spelling has nothing behind it beyond habit.

Step by step

Back foot on the tail with the heel hanging well off the heel edge; front foot in heelflip position, slightly back.
Crouch deep, hips loaded over the back heel.
Pop and drag the tail through a long toe-ward frontside wrap from the hip.
Snap the front heel off the toe-side nose corner just as the nose starts to swing.
Hover square while the board heelflips and yaws a full 360 frontside.
Spot grip-up, catch, and land over the bolts.

Body mechanics

Front foot	Early heel snap off the toe-side pocket, then lifts far forward - the spinning nose sweeps through where it was.
Back foot	Hip-driven frontside wrap; sustaining tail contact through the arc is the entire trick.
Shoulders	Square with a strong counter-hold; drifting frontside with the board is the classic error.
Arms	Front arm anchors down the line of travel; back arm rises with the scoop.
Gaze	Locked on the deck, reading the slower frontside spin to time a late catch.

Movement components

pop off the tail · 1× heelflip roll · board 360° frontside

pop tailheelflip rollboard 360° fr

Open in the Movement Builder → load these components as controls, and change one

History

Pat Brennan

Rad Rat Video's footage archaeology on the question lands on Pat Brennan, who has one over a hip and another down stairs. The obvious candidates both have one in Questionable in 1992 - Mullen and Rick Howard - and the piece is explicit that neither was first. The ingredients arrived separately: Mullen had the heelflip in 1982 and the varial heel in 1988, Rick Howard made varial heels famous in the video era (the Rick flip, a fakie bigspin heel, is his, and Daewon once called it a Howard flip), Rob Dyrdek put a nollie one in the Tracker video in 1991, and Chad Conner and Chris Hall had frontside 360 shove-its the same year. Marc Johnson's are in the 1994 Maple video. Credited here to Brennan on the strength of the only source that actually went looking; previously recorded as Mullen.