How to Fakie Bebop
The original Bebop was first done by Hans “Hazze” Lindgren in the 1980s. Hazze set up for this trick in the Hang-10 stance, with both feet on the nose of his board. Today, most skaters do the bebop from the fakie stance, so that is the version that we will be focusing on in this trick tip.
Transworld - April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2
The fakie bebop involves rolling in the fakie stance, popping the board vertically, between your legs, grabbing the board with your front hand, flipping the board ½ of a rotation, and landing in your natural stance.
Before learning the bebop, we recommend that you learn the finger flip (tail stop and rolling), ollie, pop shuvit, and airwalk. All of these tricks will help you to develop confidence when grabbing the board, flipping the board, and landing on a moving target.
I ride regular stance, with my left foot in front. I like to begin the bebop rolling fakie, with my right foot in the center of my board’s nose, pointing 45 degrees in the direction that I'm rolling. I place my left foot just ahead of the rear truck, in the center of the deck. I simultaneously pop the nose of the board and begin rotating backside or clockwise. The goal here is to force the board into an end-over-end rotation between my legs. Once the board is vertical, I grab the tail with my left hand, Turn the board counterclockwise ½ of a rotation, and guide it down to its wheels. I aim to land with my feet on the grip tape.
Okay, that was a lot. Lets break it down. Like so many other freestyle tricks, I think that it’s helpful to practice the fakie bebop in two sections.
Pop-and-grab
Popping the board between your legs can be freaky, especially when you are riding a longer board. It helps to practice this segment on its own — Aim to pop the board just enough to roll it vertical, between your legs. Try to turn 90 degrees and get your hand on the tail BEFORE your feet land on the ground.
There are a few things that can go wrong in this step: The board can begin to flip, over-rotate, or under-rotate. If you find that the board is flipping (ie. like a kickflip or heelflip) as you pop it, there are two likely causes. Your leading foot could be causing the board to “roll” because it is not popping directly on the center of the nose. Check your foot placement. Be sure that the ball of your leading foot is in the center of the nose.
If you still find that the board is flipping, this may be because your trailing foot isn’t disengaging from the board properly. Your back food needs to lift straight off of the board as you turn backside. If that foot is sliding off of the griptape sideways, it might be sending the board into a sort of half cab heelflip rotation. This is especially common for folks who practice a lot of ollie flip tricks. You can prevent this by angling your trailing foot toward the nose, and turning your knee inward before you pop the trick. As you pop, drive your trailing knee forward and upward rather than sideways.
If you are under-rotating the bebop, and the board is not reaching your hand, this may also be because your trailing foot isn’t disengaging from the board properly. Try setting up with a narrower stance. If you find that the board is spinning out of control past your fingers, you might be using too much power. Apply less force to the nose when popping, and try to drive the nose straight DOWN. Do not scoop the nose backwards, the way that you would for a fakie impossible or fakie tre flip. We only need to tilt the board vertically. We don’t need to send it into 720 degree end-over-end spin.
Before you move on to the next step, you should be able to pop the board into your hand three times in a row. The more consistent you are with this step, the easier it will be to execute the fakie bebop.
Flip-and-land
Next, you can practice flipping the board back to your natural stance. To do this, stand with the board in hand, with your fingers on the griptape and thumb under the tail. Hold the board vertically in front of your body with the nose rested on the ground. If you’re regular footed like me, you will then practice slowly turning the board ½ of a counterclockwise rotation as you lower the board back to its wheels. Jump and turn 90 degrees to land back on the board.
Okay, now do it again.
And again.
Until you can do it blindfolded.
Mashing those two maneuvers together can be a challenge. You will need to pick up your feet and trust your muscle memory as the board turns below you. This takes courage but YOU CAN DO IT! Put your feet down! Roll away and high five the nearest pedestrian! They probably weren’t watching but that’s okay. You landed it!
Be sure to visit the Waltz Discord to share your progress with our community or to share any challenges you might be encountering with the fakie bebop, and until next time, keep dancing!