By the end of the article, you’ll know everything there is to know about the pop shuv it, including a detailed tutorial and step by step guide.
Learning how to skateboard is full of milestones. Milestones that every skater uses to gauge their progression. The first are the foundations of skateboarding: standing, riding, pushing and turning. Then comes the beginner tricks, kick turn, tic tac, turning on ramps, and eventually the famous skateboard tricks: ollie, drop in, and the milestone we’re here to teach you today: the pop shuv it.
The pop shuv, sometimes referred to as: the pop shove it or pop shuvit, is an important milestone for many reasons but most notably, its significance begins with the name – pop shuv it. Additionally, once you land a pop shuv it, things start to really click for you as a skater.
You guessed it: you have to pop your board in order to land this trick.
This is a sure sign you’ve mastered the foundations of skating and have begun your journey into learning harder skateboard tricks.
At GOSKATE, we’ve helped countless students master the pop shuv it and happily watched them go one to learn harder tricks like the heelflip and the kickflip.
So without further ado, here’s what we’ll go over in this article:
- What is a Pop Shuv It?
- What is a frontside pop shuv it?
- How to Pop Shuv It Step by Step
- The Best Exercise to Help you Pop Shuv It
Need help identifying skateboard terminology? We have the world’s most complete free skateboarding dictionary right here!
What is a Pop Shuv It?
We wanted to include this section at GOSKATE, because so much of skateboarding is about knowing the names of tricks. There’s a ton of nuances or in some instances different spellings.
This is why sometimes you’ll see Pop Shuv It spelled like this:
Pop Shove It
or sometimes,
Pop Shuvit
or even the abbreviated,
Pop Shuv.
The Pop Shuv It, although close in name, is also different from the ‘shuv it‘ which is essentially the same trick but without popping the board. It’s a great trick to practice if you can’t ollie but ultimately the pop shuv it is what we’re here to learn how to do.
The key maneuver of Pop Shuv It is board rotation. We are essentially going to be popping the board and with our back foot, producing a shove or ‘shuv’ making the board spin 180 degrees. Essentially the ‘shuv’ swings the board around making the tail the nose and the nose the tail while you land back on your board in your natural stance.
Imagine you have a piece of paper representing your skateboard. There’s an N written on the top for the Nose and a T written on the bottom for the Tail. Now imagine your fingers taking the paper and swinging around the paper so the N is now the Tail and the T is now the Nose. That is a pop shuv. Now imagine you can do this Fakie, Nollie, Switch, and Frontside.
Need help learning some of the lingo or identifying skate tricks? We’ve got two comprehensive guides for both skate lingo and skate tricks.
What is a frontside pop shuv it?
The most common trick skaters first learn after the ollie is the pop shuv it. While technically there is a backside and a frontside pop shuv it, skaters all agree that the backside pop shuv doesn’t require a prefix of backside, and instead garners the name of pop shuv it.
However, there is also a frontside pop shuv it. And although you might not learn the frontside pop shuv before the pop shuv, you will certainly need to know it down the line.
The normal pop shuv it rotates toe side in front of you, whereas the frontside pop shuv rotates heel side, or behind you. Remember that piece of paper? If you’re goofy footed, meaning your right foot is your front foot, you would spin that piece of paper clockwise for a frontside pop shuv it. You rotate it counter clockwise for a normal pop shuv.
For many beginner skaters, the pop shuv is easier to form and learn as it rotates in front of you, allowing for visibility for landing your feet back on the board. There are some instances though where skaters will learn frontside shuv its first. However, the foot positions are completely different for the back foot, so let’s go over the pop shuv it first.
How to Pop Shuv It Step by Step
Learning how to pop shuv it begins by first understanding the motion we need to create and how to do so by proper foot placement and execution of a few simple but powerful steps. The Pop Shove It should also most likely be attempted after you are comfortable with the ollie. We recommend being able to ollie 1-3 inches off the ground.
Step1: Proper Foot Placement
To pop shove it, you’re going to have somewhat a similar foot position to the ollie with an adjustment to the back foot.
- Back Foot Placement: Instead of having your black foot in the center of your tail, you’re going to move it to the edge of the skateboard where your toes will be hanging over the edge. Instead of focusing all your weight to pop the tail like when you do an ollie, as you’ll see in our next steps, the back foot will be popping downward and outward to scoop the board. You’ll need to have your toes substantially over the edge with the ball of your foot in the pocket to scoop the board at an angle.
- Front Foot Placement: The front foot should simply be over the front bolts or where you place your foot for an ollie. Sometimes having the foot slightly higher helps keep your weight equally distributed and your center of balance more realized. The best pop shoves will catch the board with the front foot while in the air and some skaters prefer to have their front foot slightly angled.
Step 2: Bend Your Knees & Center Your Shoulders
Before you scoop the tail of your board to produce the pop shove it, we have to make sure our bodies are balanced. Make sure that when you bend your knees down to begin your scoop of the tail of the board you’re keeping your body centered with your shoulders aligned over your feet.
A very common beginner mistake is to have your body turn with or against the board when you produce the scoop, but you want to keep it centered to land back on the board. If your body is turning, it’s a sign you’re not trusting your feet to make the board spin.
To combat this, hold onto a fence or a wall to help you master keeping your body over your skateboard. Keep your shoulders directly over your feet to prevent losing the skateboarding from underneath you. Remember, it’s all in the toes!
Step 3: Scoop Your Board Down & Backward
By placing your back foot on the side of the tail of the skateboard with your toes gripping over the edge, you’re ready to begin scooping the board down and backward. As you will see below in our best exercise to help you pop shove it, there are ways to practice the scooping motion without committing. But in order to land the trick you’ll have to learn how to commit.
Essentially however, you’re going to be popping the board down almost exactly like an ollie, except instead of popping all your weight precisely downward like an ollie, you shove your weight backward or beneath you to make the board spin. Imagine you just stepped on a piece of toilet paper and it got stuck to your shoe, and you kick your foot back behind you to get it off. Or imagine you’re at the beach and you want to flick sand at the person behind you. You essentially want to create this scooping motion simultaneously to your pop.
Step 4: Commit to Landing Both Feet back on Skateboard
If you’ve followed the above steps, you’ve hopefully been able to shuv the board and get it to scoop all the way around. If you’re having trouble landing back on the board, try our exercise below to increase your scoop to make it faster and more reliable. However, generally if you are committing but having a hard time landing on the board, you may be unaligned or simply not producing the trick fast enough.
Commitment begins with pushing yourself and ends with trusting you’ve put in the work. Follow the steps above and trust in the foundations of skateboarding you’ve mastered. If you’re having some trouble, no worries. We’ve got a few more tips to help you land the pop shove it.
You can always practice the shuv it instead of the pop shuv it while you master the popping motion.
The Best Exercise to Help you Pop Shuv It
What is the best exercise to help you land a pop shuv it? Well, we’re glad you asked:
Mastering the Scoop!
If you’re having trouble landing your first pop shove it, narrow things down by focusing on the scoop and no other part of the trick. The rest will certainly come later if you remain committed.
Take your front foot off the board so it’s just your back foot on the edge of the tail. With one foot on the ground practice scooping your tail by popping the board both downward and outward. You want the nose and your tail of your skateboard to switch places. Remember, it’s not a one-two motion, but both motions in one.
Practice bringing that back foot back and spinning the board around and catching it back with your back foot. You should be able to do this 10-15 times in a row before practicing now getting your front foot on. Remember, maintain proper foot placement and open shoulders while you prioritize the scoop. Do all these things correctly and the board does all the work.
We’ve included a video below for your viewing pleasure!
Variations of the Pop Shuv It
The pop shuv it is one of the most versatile tricks in skateboarding because it can be performed in basically every way imaginable. You can pretty much perform a pop shuv it on any skate obstacle, into and out of every trick scenario and combine the pop shuv with other flip tricks to grow your skate trick arsenal.
In essence, you can pop shuv it into a grind, out of a slide, into a lip trick or before performing a grab. Nonetheless, here are some of the main variations of the pop shuv it you can start learning right after landing your first pop shuv it:
Shuv it: A Shuv It is essentially the board performing the 180 degree rotation but without you popping the board. The truth is, you might accidentally land a shuv it while learning how to land a pop shuv. They can be just as fun and satisfying but down the road in your skate journey, learning how to pop shuv will unlock a whole new world of tricks.
Fakie Pop Shuv: A fakie pop shove it is when you rolling backwards and perform a pop shuv. Your tail is still leading you, as you roll fakie, and you pop the board and scoop it around with your back foot (which is now your leading foot). Many skaters will actually find a fakie pop shuv it easier and once mastered is a great segway into the fakie bigspin.
Nollie Pop Shuv: A nollie pop shuv it is a pop shuv performed on the nose of your skateboard. While this trick is generally considered harder than a fakie pop shove it, learning this trick can open a whole new door of skate tricks for you to master.
Switch Pop Shuv: Switch stance is when you stand the opposite of your natural stance. So naturally, it’s quite a bit more difficult to produce than the regular pop shuv it. However, skaters who have gone on to master the switch pop shuv it are some of the best skaters in the world. This trick is also regarded as one of the most stylish when done with massive pop.
360 Pop Shuv: A 360 pop shuv it is when the board does another rotation for a full 360 board scoop. That is, the nose went all the way around to complete a full circle instead of switch places with the tail. This trick is one almost every skater endeavors to land as it is the precursor to one of the most celebrated tricks in skating – the 360 kickflip. As you will see next, that is when the 360 shuv it is combined with the kickflip.
Combining A Pop Shuv with a Kickflip: When you combine a pop shuv with a kickflip, you’ve opened up a whole new realm of skateboarding tricks. Let’s take it this way first with a normal pop shuv and a kickflip. That is what skaters call a varial kickflip. A variel kickflip will be one of the first tricks many skaters will learn. However, if you were to do a frontside popshuv it with a kickflip, that is known as a hardflip. The name speaks for itself. The hardflip is one of the hardest tricks to do and even this slight variation of frontside from backside creates all the difference. That’s why we encourage all our students to practice their frontside popshuvs at an early age.
Combining a Pop Shuv with a Heelflip: Just like the kickflip, combining a pop shuv it with a heelflip opens up a whole new arena of skate possibility. However, since frontside pop shuvs are performed heelside, frontside pop shuvs combined with heelflips are considered much easier (like the varial flip with pop shuv and kickflip), than their backside counterpart. Frontside shuv it plus a heelflip is known as a variel kickflip. Whereas a pop shuv it with a heelflip is known as an inward heel. Many beginner skaters are more comfortable with kickflips than heelflips but if you can start learning heelflip tricks with pop shuv variations, you’re surely destined for great things.
GOSKATE Can Help You Pop Shuv it!
In addition to providing industry leading editorial on skateboarding news, trick tip tutorials and skatepark information, GOSKATE is dedicated to helping you accomplish your skateboarding dreams. That is precisely why we offer several comprehensive services to ensure you and your loved ones receive the most qualified assistance and instruction.
Here are two services GOSKATE offers to help you not only Pop Shuv It but take your skateboarding to new heights!
Submit for Free Video Feedback
We’re excited to share with you our latest service: video feedback! Need help learning to Pop Shuv It? Is your foot placement off? Or maybe you just need to hear it straight from the mouth of one of the world’s leading skateboarding instructors? GOSKATE invites you to submit your video and we’ll give you detailed feedback.
All you need to do to apply for Free Video Feedback is by checking out our guidelines.
Telephone video should be filmed horizontally.
Film your trick from a few different angles for the best results including your entire body and zoomed in close ups.
Relay to us your specific problems you are having with the trick and any questions you might have.
Upload the video to YouTube or similar platform and send us the link via our Video Feedback Page.
1-on-1 GOSKATE Lessons!
While reading articles and watching video tutorials are some of the most proven ways to learn skateboarding tricks, there really is no substitute for direct feedback from a GOSKATE Instructor. As the largest network of highly trained skateboard instructors, GOSKATE offers the most robust 1-on-1 lessons, proven to help you master the foundations of skateboarding in your first three lessons!
Find out what local instructors are in your area today by contacting GOSKATE or visiting our homepage.
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