How to 360 Pop Shove It

Pop Shove It
Özgür Mülazımoğlu/Flickr

The 360 Pop Shove It looks a lot like a regular Pop Shove It, only the board spins around a full 360 degrees instead of the usual 180 from a Pop Shove. This trick looks like it might be an easy step up from the Pop Shove, but it's actually pretty tough! So take your time as you practice, and don't get too frustrated if it takes you a while. And if it DOESN'T takes you a while, well then, go brag about it!

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How to 360 Pop Shove It

Skateboarder doing a 360 Pop Shove It
Shazamm / ESPN Images

To practice the 360 Pop Shove It, you don't need much space at all. Your garage or the street in front of your house is plenty of space. Because of this, it's a great trick to practice when it's winter or raining out.

Make sure you understand the basics of this trick before you go out and do it. Try to visualize yourself on your board, popping it up, spinning it and landing on it. Running through it in your head before you go out and give it a shot will help you out.

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Foot Placement

360 Pop Shove It Foot Placement

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You want your feet on the board in more-or-less Ollie position, but with your back toes hanging off of the edge of the board, and your front foot back just a bit, like an inch or two.

You want to be up on the ball of your front foot before you go for the pop. It'll help.

For some reason, with 360 Pop Shove It's, it's strangely hard to explain exactly where you want your back foot to be. People often run into a bit of a wall with this part, and it's because everyone is a little different. You want your toes over the edge because when you pop the board up, you're going to want to scoop that edge of the board around to get it to spin. If you are having a hard time getting the board to spin the way you want it to, then the first thing you should change up would be the placement of your back foot. Just scoot it around a little. It's amazing what a difference an inch can make.

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Pop and Shove

360 Pop Shove It in mid air
Odilon Dimier / Getty Images

Get down low, still up on the toes/ball of your front foot, and pop up and backward, just like with a regular Pop Shove It.

The difference is in two things. First off, you want to REALLY pull those feet up. High. Don't wuss out — knee yourself in the chest, and suck those feet UP, soldier! Just like with Ollies, this is a place where a lot of skaters struggle. It's because you're lazy. But it doesn't change that you gotta suck your feet up if you want to pull off a 360 Pop Shove It!

The second difference is the key to the entire trick — the scoop. Remember how when you did a regular Pop Shove It, you scoop the board back behind you? You still want to do that, but you want to scoop it behind you and also give it a shove around to get it to spin faster. There's a good chance you were already doing something like that when you learned to Pop Shove It. But whether it did make sense or not, for the 360 Pop Shove It, you need to scoop the tailback and then around, towards your front foot, or you won't get enough spin.

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Landing

Landing 360 Pop Shove Its
Robert Glenn / Getty Images

Watch the board below you as it spins, and use your front foot to keep it level. Once you've done your scoop and pulled your feet up, the trick works just like a regular Pop Shove It as far as your concerned. The board will be spinning more, but that's the board's job. Your job is to keep it level with the front foot, and don't let the board get on your feet!

As the board comes back after turning 360 degrees (a full circle), catch it with your back foot and crush the board to the ground. Bend your knees deep to absorb the landing, try to keep your balance, and you will look awesome.

Landing the 360 Pop Shove It can be tough, and it's easy to end up landing on the nose of the board, and with your feet too close together. This just takes practice. It takes a lot of balance so don't worry about it — just do the best you can and try to land it. The more you freak out about whether you are going to land it right or not, the more likely you are to tense up and staying loose is key to landing any skateboarding trick.

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Problems

Boy falling on skateboard ramp
Cavan Images / Getty Images

One of the most common problems when learning to 360 Pop Shove It is having the board flip over. This happens because of where your back foot is placed, and the direction and force you are using to scoop it with. Try adjusting these around, and see what works for you. This might also be from not using your front foot to control the board more - while it's sitting there, in the middle of your board, it's job it to help keep this from happening.

Another common problem is that the board doesn't spin the full 360 degrees. When this happens, it's either because you didn't pop high enough into the air so that it has enough time to spin, or because you aren't scooping it with enough power. You can usually tell which one is the problem, but if you can't, ask a buddy to watch you. Friends can usually tell what's wrong with you long before you have a clue!

Sometimes, skaters, have their feet get under the board while it's in the air. This will ruin the trick and can hurt. PULL YOUR FEET UP!

The board landing behind you is another problem that can happen. If this is your problem, then you are probably either using your front foot to try and help the spin or when you scoop you aren’t pushing the board forwards enough. When you pop and scoop, you want to push the tail towards the nose, all with a diagonal combo pop. This will help push the board along. It will WANT to fly behind you, but with this push, you should balance that out.

The last common problem is our old adversary, Chickenfoot. You know, this is where both feet refuse to land on the board. If you are having Chickenfoot issues while trying to learn to 360 Pop Shove It, but you aren't having these problems with regular Pop Shoves, then that's just weird. This all comes from fear, so you need to buck up and deal with it! If that doesn't work, then practice regular Pop Shove It's for a while, or something else where you land with both feet without thinking about it, and then come back.

Whatever your problems might be, remember to relax, and remember that skateboarding is fun! Don't get pissed off about the problems you are having, just relax and know that someone somewhere else is probably having or has had the same issues. You can always go ask another skater at the skatepark or your local skateboard shop if you need help.