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Navigate Flatlandia: your freestyle hub downunder

You found us. Huzza.

When we first set up the Flatlandia website in 2023, it was pretty basic:

ABOUT told you that Flatlandia was there to support Australian freestylers
BLOG had some information about freestyle skateboarding, freestyle skateboard setups, and a couple of interviews.

Since then, the addition of SHOP and over forty blog posts has made the website more complex, making it easy to miss out on a lot of interesting stuff, especially when you’re a first-time visitor. To quote some feedback from one skateboarder:

‘I found there is a wealth of knowledge and resources…[that] are just buried amongst the pages and if you’re not scrolling and reading each article you can very easily miss them. I found myself stumbling upon information I didn’t even know was on there.’

It’s great to hear that netizens are getting something out of Flatlandia, but we don’t like that people are having difficulty locating things, so here is a virtual signpost for the first-timers.

signpost in australia — It’s signposting time. (Photo by Prabhath Jayarathna on Pexels.com)

Fresh to freestyle skateboarding?

‘What is freestyle skateboarding? (And why haven’t I heard about it?)’ is a short and sweet introduction to the sport. If you’re new to skateboarding as well, Stuart Maca’Ghobhainn’s ‘What I have learnt as a beginner freestyler’ shares some insider tips and tricks. Speaking of tricks, Flatlandia has TRICK TIPS, a blog category that has tutorials on rail toespins, k-walks, and other things.

Curious about gear?

A collection of freestyle skateboards — Freestyle skateboards come in many shapes and smallish sizes.

If you’re unsure whether you should buy a dedicated freestyle setup or work with what you’ve already got, we suggest looking at Josh Dunstone’s opinion piece ‘Can you skate freestyle/do freestyle tricks on a popsicle (street) setup?’.

Leaning towards buying something freestyle-specific? ‘The “yeah, nah, yeah” guide to freestyle skateboard setups’ goes through the parts that make up a freestyle complete, as well as where to source products in Australia. Do keep in mind that this article was written prior to us setting up our SHOP which now stocks freestyle brands such as Decomposed, Moonshine, Protostyle, and East Frisian Skateboards.

If you want reviews, Rohan Cowley has been testing out freestyle boards, including the Denny Riordan reissue and MLM Skates’ Goose Country. Jamie Wong also talks about his experience skating three board shapes from Waltz Skateboarding. More product reviews are in the pipeline, so do keep tabs on the REVIEW blog category.

Freestyle brands are very niche and are often run by one, maybe three, passionate skater(s). We thought it important to get to know the people behind the brands. You’ll find questions and answers with people like Decomposed’s Witter Cheng under the MEET THE MAKERS blog category.

Thinking of competing?

It feels like freestyle competitions are popping up all over the place, and there’s talk of one happening in Australia next year. Go ask David Mock for details.

Competing in freestyle requires more than just turning up though. To help you prep, we’ve written posts about freestyle-skateboarding contests, with much input from the global freestyle community.

Needing to connect with more Aussies?

In ‘Fostering freestyle-skateboarding communities’, we talked about the importance of skating with crew.

Freestyle is a fairly small scene, hence it can be hard to find local freestylers to skate with. To make things easier, Flatlandia aims to unearth freestyle-minded folk around Australia. We’ve interviewed skateboarders from Adelaide (SA), Deception Bay (QLD), Inverell (NSW), Melbourne (VIC), Sydney (NSW) and Perth (WA).

Plus don’t forget to follow us on Instagram (@flatlandiafreestyle) where we repost and share stories from Aussie freestylers.

Still lost?

Let us know in the comments below

‘How do I get both feet back on board after a casper?’

Various questions get asked at the weekly meets held by Melbourne Freestyle Skaters. The latest one was from Kris who has been trying to learn caspers. Some of his attempts rotate properly, some of them don’t. Most of them finish with only one foot back on the board. Kris wanted to know what he needed to work on.

The Basics

There’s a bunch of online tutorials for anyone wanting casper basics.

We really love Freestyle Tricktips for a solid grasp of any manoeuvre that veteran Tony Gale dedicates time to unpacking. You’ll find his breakdown on the rolling into and out of casper here, as well as his video.

Sarah Park-Matott has analysed her own casper mechanics. Her video ‘5 Crucial Tips to Keep Caspers Under Your Feet’ is, for anyone starting out with the trick, illuminating. We cannot recommend it enough if you’re wanting consistency.

Mike Osterman has also recorded some of his own thoughts, using descriptors like ‘shovit-y end-over-end’. His video ‘Freestyle Trick Tip: Why your Caspers Suck’ shares technique recommendations that can help you attain that first casper exit.

The Drills

If you’ve followed the Flatlandia blog for a while, you know that we love drills. In the past, we’ve written about practising caspers on a carpet board, as well as drills for better caspers.

This time, with some help from pro freestyler Josh Dunstone, we’ve come up with drills specifically to help Kris commit to exiting caspers with both feet.

So to recap, Kris’ homework includes

Alternating one-foot lands – don’t just catch the board with one foot; repeat the casper-exit motion and catch with the alternate foot. This breaks the habit of always planting one particular foot on the ground. Be conscious of keeping lands untangled/uncrossed. Aim to land with feet roughly one shoulder-width apart—this mimics the stable landings that we aim for on a board.
Landings – place the board where it usually lands. Do the casper-exit motion on the ground (skateboard version of air guitar) and practise landing with two feet back on bolts to build confidence.

Close-up view of a skateboarder demonstrating crossed feet and uncrossed feet during one-foot lands. — Top image: crossed feet. Bottom image: uncrossed feet, roughly shoulder-width apart.

With these drills, you can either treat them as warm-ups to caspers or you can use them as a reset between casper-exit attempts. Whatever works best for you.

The Hardware

That popsicle board you ride was designed to optimise pop, not freestyle. In the case of caspers, on a popsicle board, you have to fight gravity to keep your foot from sliding off the steep kick.

If you want a board that works with your caspers, look for single kicks or double kicks with one very mellow kick. If you’re getting a lot of foot pain from the board digging into the top of your foot, opt for flat or minimal concave.

Examples of freestyle boards designed with caspers in mind include Decomposed’s Medusa, East Frisian’s Nordic by Nature, Moonshine’s Kill Your Idols, and Waltz’s Huntington spoon nose (various versions like the Rhiana Grigore can be sourced from Aikenheads in Perth).

You may also want to consider installing skid plates and or putting griptape on the graphic side of the kick The edge of the skid plate and that little bit of stickiness will make it easier for you to hold the casper stance, as well as initiate that ‘shovit-y end-over-end’ motion. 🙂

ATS founder David Mock's freestyle setup. Skid plates and casper grip have been installed for optimised caspers. — With skid plates and casper griptape, this freestyle setup is optimised for casper tricks. Photo credit: David Mock.

5 minutes with Viro Purcell

Why freestyle?

As many might say, growing up with tapes of Rodney Mullen was my introduction to ‘freestyle’, though I grew up with his later work so my idea of freestyle was skewed for a long time and it wasn’t until much more recently that I stumbled across Ikkei Nagao’s Instagram (@ikkei.nagao). I loved Nagao’s style and tech, but I noticed he rode a tiny board with skid plates…why? And that’s when I fell down the rabbit hole. I had to try it.

Is there a particular video (or two or three) of Nagao that sticks out for you?

The clip I found him from was a dolphin triple flip on flat. But any other clip of him flowing through a skatepark is outstanding. His ability to…take those freestyle elements and apply them to various environments is something so appealing to me.

What tricks are you trying to learn currently? What are the end goals?

Currently trying to learn more traditional freestyle with the end goal of being a more diverse skater. Freestyle opens up a whole new world of tricks to experiment with.

You ended up making your own freestyle board. Can you tell us a bit about the board and the process?

Sure. So I was originally planning to just buy one, but, after realising I’d be paying upwards of 300 dollars for a board and undercarriage, I started looking at my pile of old, cracked and chipped decks.

The first rendition was a single kick. I took a street board with a long wheelbase and cut it just before the nose kicked up, redrilled just the front truck holes so the wheelbase sat at 12.3″ and then filled the pre-existing holes with fibreglass-reinforced filler. Then I cut a very rough outline just based on what I’d seen in shops with classic reissues.

I then went about sourcing the next non-budget friendly element of the build, the wheels. For those, I settled for a set of Impala 58mm 86a rollerskate wheels.

Lastly I found some Bullet 120 trucks on clearance for 30 dollars and threw it all together with leftover hardware from my spares box.

Viro Purcell's DIY single kick for freestyle skateboarding. — Viro Purcell’s first DIY freestyle board: a single kick.

The first board opened my eyes to some design flaws, and I also realised I didn’t like the way single kicks felt, especially while riding the board backwards.

I broke out the jigsaw once more and tried my hand at cutting a double-kick board. I applied the same method for filling holes and redrilled all of the holes this time. The shape is loosely based off the Huntington Spoon Nose which weirdly lends itself well to the double kicks. Rail cuts were introduced and the undercarriage was carried over.

Viro Purcell's DIY double-kick for freestyle skateboarding. — Viro Purcell’s second DIY freestyle board: a double kick with rail cuts.

The core of one of the Impala wheels tore out while doing flip into rail, so local freestyle legend Josh Dunstone donated a set of real freestyle wheels.

Getting some free freestyle wheels from Josh Dunstone — Viro Purcell got given a set of Josh Dunstone’s old wheels at a Monday freestyle skateboarding meet outside Marvel Stadium.

While the concave and kicks can be a touch more aggressive when cut from a street deck, they gives a close enough feel to the ‘real thing’ to stop me questioning my board while learning.

How do rollerskate wheels work with a skateboard setup?

They work fine with skateboard bearings as the bearing cavities and the axle sizes are the same. The only caveat is that they typically have a larger diameter and are softer which may be a positive for some. Before I switched these out they were fantastic for bombing down to the shops over any terrain. The trade off? Stickier footwork and boxier-feeling flip tricks.

The width is notable too. The roller wheels I used were approximately 32mm wide, whereas the Momentum freestyle wheels I am currently riding are about 38mm. As they’re both basically sideset, the width is taken from the outer edge. In plain English, you’ll need to use trucks closer to the actual width of your deck as the [roller] wheels won’t protrude past the nuts as much.

Did you end up using a bearing spacer too? I heard that the rollerskate ones are smaller.

Correct! 8mm x 10mm skateboard spacers will not work with rollerskate wheels. Instead 8mm x 8mm spacers are required.

I did try spacers, but the sound of my board was so foreign that I couldn’t get used to it. To this day I don’t run spacers!

You made your own skid plates as well, is that right?

Yes sure did! I cut them from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) chopping boards on a scroll saw, though you could likely do it by hand with a coping saw just as easily.

How have your non-freestyle skate mates responded to this new direction?

Occasionally someone will turn up their nose at the idea of it, but overall skaters are really intrigued and excited to try it out.

Strangely, I experienced the most resistance from the online freestyle community who would tell me things like ‘[the board is] going to feel wrong’ or ‘it’s super weird’.

Like any skate community, the freestyle community has a gatekeeper mentality at times. Do you think it does freestyle a disservice? Or do we need to protect ourselves from being lumped with every random flatground trick out there?

I think like you said, any community has its own vocal minority, especially online. However rolling with the Melbourne Freestyle Skaters has shown the general community is extremely welcoming and supportive of any background of skating. I hope it stays this way.

Regarding the second half of the question, I honestly don’t feel qualified to answer as I’m not a freestyle purist. But the blurred lines of technical skating and freestyle can be a great bridge/introduction into more traditional freestyle for those who cut their teeth street skating.

Music is a big part of freestyle. Do you skate to music (and if you do, what is your music of choice for a line)?

I don’t exclusively skate to music, but it definitely helps with getting in the zone and setting the tone. Depending on what I’m skating that day will depend on the tunes! For flowy lines and freestyle I tend to listen to rap and R&B, but with more aggressive styles of skating like stairs and gaps, I’ll listen to something more sporadic and hype like metalcore.

Ok, last one. What song will you never be caught skating to?

One song you won’t catch me listening to in general is ‘Raindance’ by Dave and Tems, simply because they play it 5 times a day MINIMUM at work. 😭

Connect: Viro Purcell hails from Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs. When he’s not skating/thinking about skateboarding, he enjoys working on and modifying cars. Follow him on Instagram (@viro.purcell).

Drills for better casper disasters

In this YouTube short, Russian freestyle skateboarder Alexey works his way up to the casper disaster, a rail trick invented by ’70s legend Bobby ‘Casper’ Boyden. The basic version consists of a seamless transition through the following: a fakie roll, a heelside rail entry, a 180 pivot, an exit to bolts. For those of you seeking a detailed breakdown of the trick, Tony Gale has provided a write-up on Freestyle Tricktips, as well as a YouTube video.

The casper disaster is something I’m currently focusing on. The individual components are easy enough; combining them all into one fluid motion is less so. To level up, Skate-IQ style, I’ve been adding some drills to the mix.

Drill one: one-legged heelside rail entry

How to do it:

Get into heelside rail with only the back foot resting on the wheel.
Hold one-legged balance in rail for five seconds.
Knock the board down with the back foot.

The aim is to stay controlled. Work on a consistent pull up (not too strong, not too soft). Minimise the amount of balance corrections (i.e. arm/leg flailing).

This drill builds confidence and control in the first part of casper disaster. It also teaches freestylers how to maintain their weight and balance over the back foot for the trick.

Drill two: fakie backside pivot

How to do it:

Start rolling fakie.
Prepare with a ‘wind up’—the torso should turn to face the nose of the board.
Unwind by turning the torso backside and let the board follow with the pivot.

Where possible, link the pivot to something else (i.e. a hippie jump or a shuvit), aiming to minimise the pause in between tricks. This trains the body and brain to get used to a smoother transition from pivot to rail exit.

Skaters seeking an extra challenge might also want to practise fakie casper bigspins on the side.

Drill three: rail exit with under-rotated torso

How to do it:

Stand in heelside rail with the back foot on the back wheel with the torso facing the nose (i.e. open stance).
Touch or kick the griptape with the front foot.
Kick the board down with the back foot.
Land bolts in an open stance.

In ~~life~~skateboarding, stuff happens. Occasionally, the board and leg sweeps ahead of the shoulders during a casper disaster, making for a sketchy land. Practising for when things go wrong will make it easier to commit to landing bolts every time.

Drill four: rail pivot to bolts

How to do it:

Place the board in heelside rail.
Stand behind it with the back foot resting on the back wheel
To prep, wind up (torso turning more towards the nose).
Step up and backside pivot, leading with the torso and using the front foot to guide the board with you.
Quickly transition into a rail exit.

A final word

This last dril is the most important one for me personally because my main failings with casper disasters are 1) under-rotation, and b) commitment issues.

But this might not be the case with you. You might find the first drill the most helpful. Or you might find none of these drills helpful at all.

I encourage you to reflect on your own attempts, see where your weaknesses lie and think of ways to fix them. Watch other trick tips, like YouTube videos from Denham Hill and Sarah Park Matott. Ask for feedback from your online/IRL freestyle crew. And as always, don’t forget to share what you learn with the rest of us.

A love-hate relationship with skid plates

Until recently, freestyle skateboarder Josh Dunstone preferred riding skidless, choosing razor tail over fussy installations that required drill bits and a mallet. We thought it would be ~~fun~~ helpful for the rest of us to quiz him about his ambivalence towards skid plates.

What skid plates have you tried in the past? How did you find them?

I think the first skids I had were a pair from Decomposed. Not sure if they were made for a popsicle shape or not and I didn’t drill them in; I used self-tappers so they weren’t stable at all. At the time, I disliked using them but I think that stems from my own ignorance.

And then you didn’t use them for a while. Why?

It was accessibility (or lack thereof). I did manage to wrangle up a pair once, but they just didn’t work well.

I’ve ridden popsicles most of my skating life and it was tricky to find skids that fit and felt right. I was skating hybrid street/freestyle at the time and found they dampened my pop and got in the way of tail/nose slides.

Then I got comfortable skating without them and didn’t want to change things up.

Why have you started using skid plates now?

I decided to try a freestyle board again after coming back from Worlds in Germany last year. I had previously tried out freestyle shapes with no skids, then went back to what I thought was the old reliable popsicle shape up until going to Germany. Over there I was inspired to try again seeing the versatility and benefits of not just a freestyle board but one with skids. Carolyn also pushed me to give skids another go and I haven’t looked back since.

How has it changed the way you skate?

Durability has been the biggest change in general. I’m not as worried when it comes to the tail scraping that is a big part of my style in footwork. It’s saving a bunch of boards turning into kitchen knives from razor tail.

A close up of Josh Dunstone's razor-tailed skateboard. — Before skid plates, Josh would razor tail a board in less than two months.

And I’m now venturing into trying more truck-based tricks thanks to the stability that skids provide.

How long do your boards last a) without skids and b) with skids?

Without skids? I would go through roughly a board every two months if not every month. I was blessed to be sponsored by Maple Roads and Glen Billwiller gave me a new, free-of-charge popsicle board whenever I needed one.

Now, with skids, I’ve been riding the same board for about four months: the Moonshine Nick Beaulieu shape.

Replacing worn-down skid plates on a freestyle skateboard. — Switching out the skid plates, from Crystal Skids to Thin Blistered Skids, on the Nick Beaulieu board.

The first skids I’ve tried with the Nick Beaulieu were the Decomposed Crystal Skids 5.5″: a really good all-round skid plate that accommodates most shapes and I liked how they’re clear so they blend with the graphic a bit more (until once they get all scratched up).

The second skids, the ones I’m using now, are the Decomposed Thin Blistered Skids 5.5″: I love the low profile to these. After a small break-in period, they feel pretty unnoticeable. To me, the durability is holding up a bit better than the Crystal Skid as well and will probably be my go-to pair from now on. But I’m always happy to experiment with more.

What was using 3D-printed skids like?

That was an interesting experiment. It was fun having our friend Cass knock out a bunch of different shapes and sizes with a 3D printer. The fun aspect of playing around with those also influenced my interest in riding skids again.

In conclusion I have been converted. Skid plates are a worthy investment, especially if you have a freestyle board and care about your wallet. I’d recommend doing a bit of research on how to install skids and making sure you’re getting the right shape for the board you are riding.

Josh Dunstone performs truck-stand tricks at sunset. — 2026 predictions: more skids and more truck tricks for Josh Dunstone.

Tricks for the less confident freestyle skateboarder

Some start learning freestyle with a solid set of skateboarding skills. Others begin without any skateboarding background.

If your experience is the latter, it can be hard diving into most freestyle tricks. Yes, you can watch a bunch of online tutorials on freestyle kickflips from the likes of Mike Osterman and Tony Gale for instance, but actually tackling said kickflip in the real world requires a certain level of confidence.

And while there is no shortcut to gaining such confidence—just hours and hours of time spent on the board—there are some beginner-friendly things to work on while you’re waiting to get good enough to try the tricky stuff.

Popcorn

Remember this trick?

Almost every beginner starts with the popcorn. It’s one of the most accessible ways to flip the board; the only prerequisite is a stationary hippy jump, and that’s not even a firm prerequisite.

There’s one particular version of the popcorn that can help you get used to the build up of tension needed to flip the board over during a freestyle kickflip, as well as get used to the rotation required to land afterwards.

To do this variation, start with the board on the ground with the griptape facing down, and stand in the original kickflip starting position. Keep one foot on the board and hook the other foot under the board.

Top view of a skateboard, featuring a signature and graphic designs, alongside a foot wearing a patched sneaker. — Starting position for our variation of the popcorn.

Pull the board over into a half flip and jump. While jumping, rotate ninety degrees to land bolts.

Unlike the freestyle kickflip, the feet are always in contact with the board for this popcorn variation, so there isn’t the added complication of spotting the land. It’s a good way to ease into freestyle kickflips.

Judo kick

If you’re learning basic truckstand exits—the half-fingerflip-out variety—you might be stuck at the point where you can flip and catch the board with one foot, but not with both feet. And you never will, unless you start keeping both knees above and in line with the board while in truck stand, ready for the land.

Judo kicks can be used as flourishes while in truckstand stance and are a good manoeuvre to work on in conjunction with truckstand exits as they teach you to a) keep the knee of your free leg above the board, b) explore the space above the board, and c) improve your balance in truck stand.

To do judo kicks as a truckstand exercise, grasp the kick with one hand and step onto the truck. While balanced in truckstand stance, pull the knee of your free leg close to your chest so that it is above the board. Hinge kick from the knee to create the judo kick.

Yoyo hops

This one is no secret: yoyo hops are the stepping stone to fingerflips. They have the tug and the land of the fingerflip without the flipping part of the equation.

If you’re really fresh to skateboarding, start in tailstop and land in tailstop. If you’re confident with landing bolts (i.e you are comfortable with high hippy jumps or rolling hippy jumps), start in tailstop and aim to land bolts.

Not sure what yoyo hops are? Sarah Park-Matott has got you covered.

Needing more homework?

We’ve covered a bunch of beginner-friendly drills in previous posts, for caspers, walk-the-dogs, and rail stance. Francisco Patrone also has given recommendations on some skills to focus on in his interview with us during WFSC 2025. All of this should keep you going for a while…or at least until our next blog update. Have a read, give things a go, and let us know if our homework helped you with your freestyle.