Forward Flip

All three tutorials treat the forward flip, also called the dolphin flip, as a vertical version of a varial flip, and all three make it a front foot trick. They agree the back foot only supplies the pop, that the flick has to travel forward and up the board rather than out to the side, and that primo landings are the signature mistake while you are learning. The disagreement is in exactly where the front foot sits: the Josh Katz tip puts it high on the board so the toes can reach the very tip of the nose, NinjaLifestyle keeps it low under the bolts and slides it straight up like an elevator, and Taeho Favre sits between them with a near-kickflip position slightly above the bolts, flicking between the middle and the toe-side angle of the nose. Two coaches independently name the same root cause for a dead flip: the front foot going down instead of forward, so it hits the ground and the board never gets the space to rotate. The strongest single fix comes from Taeho Favre, who has you lean onto your toes before the pop so the board tilts vertical, plus extending the front leg out in front of you to give the board room. NinjaLifestyle adds the useful mental image of the finished shape, which looks like a nollie hardflip done from a regular stance, and the Josh Katz tip gives the best isolation drill, popping and flicking with the front foot alone and judging yourself only on whether the flick goes forward.

• →Drive the flick forward and up the nose rather than out to the side; a sideways component turns the trick into a kickflip or a flat varial flip
• →Extend the front leg and push the board out in front of you instead of straight down, otherwise the foot lands early and stops the rotation
• →Lean onto your toes before you pop so the board tilts vertical and you carry momentum forward into the catch
• →The back foot is almost only the pop, so plant it and spend your practice on the front foot flick
• →Isolate the flick: pop and flick with the front foot alone and count any flick that goes forward as progress, whether or not you land on it
• →Expect primo landings early on; too hard a flick over-rotates into primo, too soft leaves the board half turned

Synthesized from the top video tutorials. Watch them