Switchblade

freestyle freestyle difficulty 4/10
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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

A footwork trick that turns the board 180 degrees under the front foot and finishes one-footed with the board stopped. It looks like a shove-it and is not one: instead of scooping the tail, the front foot presses through the ball of the foot and swivels at the ankle, pinning the nose against the floor while the heel stays high enough for the deck to pass underneath. The back foot only nudges the rotation along. Weight is the whole trick - too heavy on the front foot and the board stops short of the 180, too light and it goes off across the car park. Because the 180 reverses the board, the end being stood on is the trailing one when it stops. Aaron Watts' account for Freestyle Tricktips adds the detail that matters: the back foot goes straight across the tail in roughly an endover position while the ball of the front foot sits in the CENTRE of the nose at a loose 45 degrees, the stance is slightly open with the shoulders turned toward the nose rather than square sideways, and the knees bend with the weight forward - lean back and the board shoots away. Up to the moment the nose is pinned it looks exactly like a shuvit, back foot whipping the tail round behind. The finish is a hop: there is no room for both feet on the nose, so the back foot replaces the front one on the lowered end before levelling the board out.

Step by step

  1. Roll slowly with the front foot on the nose, heel over the front bolts, toes pointing forward.
  2. Set the back foot over the back bolts with the toes hanging off the edge.
  3. Press down through the ball of the front foot and swivel the ankle so the board starts turning backside.
  4. Nudge the rotation along with the back foot as the deck comes round.
  5. Keep the toes pinning the nose and the heel high enough to let the board pass.
  6. Let it stop at 180 and hold the position on one foot.

Body mechanics

Front footDoes the work: presses through the ball of the foot and swivels at the ankle, pinning the nose while the deck turns under it.
Back footOnly nudges - a real scoop here turns it into a shove-it.
ShouldersSquare and still; the board turns and the rider does not.
ArmsLow and quiet, since the whole trick is a weighting problem.
GazeDown on the nose, watching how much weight is going through it.