How to Monkey Flip / Banana Flip on Roller Skates | Trick Tutorial

Hi I'm Shorty and welcome back to my YouTube channel Shorty Skate Series. In this video I'm going to break down how I taught myself to monkey flip or some skaters call it a banana flip. So it's only been in the past month that I've taught myself how to monkey flip. I still can't land it super clean as I do tend to put a toe stop down but you my fans were asking for a tutorial on a monkey flip so I wanted to do the best I could and try to deliver something that might be able to help you progress. So here we go. Monkey flip versus miller flip. What's the difference between a monkey flip and a two-handed miller flip? I see a monkey flip as a rotation sort of like a cartwheel which happens parallel to the face of the ram whereas a miller flip is rotating back over your head and pushing away from the ram. A successful monkey flip. So I learned how to miller flip before I learned how to monkey flip. So when I started to monkey flip my muscle memory defaulted more to a miller flip form therefore I had to visualize what I considered a successful monkey flip which might be different for you but for me what I consider a successful monkey flip is where my hands are almost in line with each other and my hips knees and skates are stacked in line with my shoulders. I call this the turtle position. Step one. If you have trouble with a form like I did I found it was helpful to practice on my bed. It might sound silly but it helped me to figure out my body position. Standing in front of your bed swing your arms to help you start the rotation and as you jump onto your bed land in the turtle position. You can also push off the bed and land back on the ground. Once you are comfortable with this you can look to do it over the corner of your bed in one fluid motion. Now you're ready to head to the ramps. Step two. Just like on the bed you want to swing your arms to help you rotate into the turtle position. You'll hold this for a split second before sliding out on your pads or sliding out on your side. Not being afraid to fall will help you when learning this trick as you'll probably fall a lot. Start low and slow and work on muscle memory and really focus on hand positioning as you want to keep them in a line. It will make it easier down the track. Step three. Now to attempt a full rotation. You can still practice this slow but you'll need a little bit more speed. Note. In this step you'll probably be sliding out on your knees until you can go a little bit higher. Because of the motion of this flip it's easier to do it over coping or at the vert part of the ramp. Pump up the transition. Swing your arms to help you rotate like a cartwheel focusing on landing your hands in a line. This is the most important part as it keeps you in the turtle form. The harder you swing your arms the more rotation you'll have to help you make the full 360. Step four. So depending on the height of the ramp you'll need to moderate your speed and pump and I found it's a bit of trial and error. But to land a monkey flip you'll need enough pump to get the weightless feeling which gives you the time to rotate. Before I do the trick I will pick a line on the ramp to place my hands as my focus. The path of travel is also key as you want to do it in an arc as it will help you rotate. As I pump up the ramp I will hold my squat position. As my feet pass my hand line I will push off slightly and aim to place my hands on the ramp. Because of the arc of my path and the swing of my arms it will help me make the full rotation. I will also slightly push off the ramp with my hands to give my feet more space to land. At first you may slide out on your knees but with practice it will get easier to land. Here are a few common mistakes I had when practicing the monkey flip. 1. Trying to rotate or flip too early means I'll rotate my body into the ramp so I'll aim to hold my squat longer at least until my feet pass the hand line. 2. I can't get into the turtle position. So this is when I'll take a step back and practice the rotation into turtle position only. I really focus on my hand placement and looking not to twist my hips. 3. Problems with landing. I tend to tangle my feet a little and I don't really have any tips. Except to practice. But the more arced I can make my exit path the cleaner my landing was. So I hope you were able to take a couple things away from this video that will help you with your monkey flip. If you have any questions please comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Also tag me on instagram shortstop.6 as I'd love to see your progress. Thank you for watching and please like and share this video if you found it helpful. And don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more skating tips and tricks.