How to Hospital Flip

There’s a slight difference between a casper flip and a hospital flip. On a casper flip, you flick it, catch it in a casper and spin it back around with your back foot. A hospital flip is all in the front foot. I’m teaching the hospital flip, because there are a lot more ways to expand on it. You can add a 360, do a bigspin or do it out of a tailslide. It’s the more popular way to do it. In a game of SKATE, I don’t think it matters which one you do.

If you want the history, I made a video about who really invented the casper flip.

Before you start

All you need is a kickflip and a pop shove it. Those are the building blocks. This trick is quite a bit tougher than either one, though.

Kind of a weird thing: I do these switch. It’s not because it’s harder for me. It’s actually a lot easier. That might just be me, but try them regular and switch (or nollie) at first and see which feels better.

Foot position

• Front foot: close to the nose, not quite touching the front bolts, maybe a little behind them. After the board flips, you’re catching the nose and pulling it back, so you want to be close to it. Small changes here feel like a big difference when you catch it and pull back, so tweak it.
• Back foot: normal kickflip position on the tip of the tail. Even though the board spins backside, don’t scoop it at all. That would probably make it a lot harder. Just a normal kickflip pop.

How to hospital flip

1. Weight a little back

I like to flick the board out ahead of me, catch it and pull it back. You don’t have to, but I think it’s the best way. It makes it look like its own thing instead of a shove it where the board flips a little and flips back.

To do that, have your weight a little farther back than you should. It’s kind of risky. If your weight is back when you pop the kickflip, you might slip out a little, but you have more of a chance to grab the board. If your weight is too far back, it’s really tough to get both feet on, and you’ll do the trick over and over without landing it. Be careful with it. I think that’s one reason switch is easier for me: my balance is a little shaky switch, so my weight sits back naturally.

2. Flick down under the board

Pop it like a normal kickflip, but it won’t feel like a normal kickflip. It feels like I flick straight down, then go straight up. It won’t actually look like that on video. You’ve been doing kickflips for so long that it ends up a hybrid of the two. I really think I’m flicking straight down, and I’m not, so sometimes you have to trick yourself.

The thing is, you’re used to flicking and staying above the board. Here, you have to flick below the board. If you’ve trained yourself for years never to mob, now you’re kind of doing it on purpose.

3. Catch it on your ankle

The board starts to flip, and it’ll hit the top of your foot against your ankle. If you try this a lot in one session, your ankle can get sore. But that’s what makes it work. There’s nowhere else for the board to go. In the heelflip direction, nothing would catch it as easily as the top of your foot against your ankle does.

If you threw the board slightly ahead and kept your balance, your foot should be right around the front bolts, not on the tip of the nose.

4. Bring it back

This is where your personal style comes in. I like to pull straight up and do it like a half back flip. I think they look really cool, but you don’t get a lot of height. If you watch mine, the tail is always right next to the ground.

Some people throw it forward when the board is upside down and do more of a flat shove it with a half flip. The technique isn’t much different. The board is really locked onto your foot, so it’ll do what you want.

This is actually the easy part. Getting the board to stop and come back isn’t that tough.

5. Land with a decent foot position

The real problem is landing with your feet in a good spot. It’s similar to the impossible: as the board wraps around your foot, your foot travels to the middle of the board. Even if you just tip it back, you’ll end up landing around the middle.

You don’t have much air time to adjust. For me, the hardest thing is getting my back foot on. You’re so focused on your front foot that you’re not thinking about your back foot. That comes with practice. Once the wrap part feels natural, you can focus on your body position and how you land.

Troubleshooting

Landing with a bad foot position

Try them fakie. You’re kind of pulling the board with you in the direction you’re going. A lot of people’s regular freestyle caspers naturally land going fakie anyway, so this trick might feel better that way.

Leaning too far back or pushing the board too far

If you can’t get both feet back on, you’re either leaning too far back or throwing the board too far ahead. Find the balance.

What’s next

The hospital flip opens up a lot: 360 versions, bigspins and doing it out of a tailslide.