wakeboarding

 

 

 

     

 

          If you already know how to jump then here are some tricks you can try for yourself. The Tantrum to Blind is a difficult trick that requires finesse and skill. It's quite difficult to get consistent. However, its difficulty makes it a trick that is well respected by other riders, and it looks quite good as well. Approach the wake with enough speed to take your Tantrum wake-to-wake. You don't want to go real far, it's easiest to learn this trick landing on the downside of the wake. Stand tall and wait for your pop so you get maximum height. Keep the handle in tight to your body as you take off, you'll need it in close to your body for the whole trick. As you take off, you want your back to face a bit more towards the boat then on your normal tantrum. This helps you get a little less rope tension when you land. You don’t want to spin to blind too early.

 

 

          To do a whirlybird approach the wake just as you would for your normal tantrum. Come in with a good strong edge, and get ready to back off and stand tall off the top of the wake. As you stand tall off the top of the wake, turn your body a little more then you do on a tantrum, so that your back starts to head towards the boat a little bit .This helps you have a bit of rope slack. Keep your arm bent and the handle in tight, and initiate the rotation by throwing your arm, shoulder, and head away from the boat. Keep your arm and elbow up longer then you think you should, if you bring your arm down early, you'll only rotate 180 degrees. As your legs catch up to your upper body, start to spot your landing. Bring your arm down to the middle of your body to stop your rotation to land. The landing is similar to a tantrum landing, so getting the rotation down is the hard part of this trick.

 

 

         To do a front flip cut outside of the wake about 15-20 feet, then come back to the wake on a good hard, progressive edge with more weight on your back foot. As you pop off the wake, straighten out your back leg and roll your weight towards the front of the board. Throw your head and shoulder toward the nose of the board while bringing the front of the board up with your pop. This is the key to getting huge pop and initiating the cartwheel rotation correctly Continue the rotation by keeping your legs slightly bent, the handle in tight to your body, and keep your head looking at the nose of the board with your shoulder leaning in that direction as well. Get your head up and spot your landing as you feel yourself coming around. Let the rope out a bit if you're going to over rotate, or pull the rope tighter if you might come up short on the rotation. Let go with your back hand to get your balance and bend your legs to absorb the landing. Front Flips have a harder landing then most inverts, so bend those legs and ride away like a champ.

 

 

          To learn the Elephant, you need to approach like you're going to do a very large Scarecrow. You need to have enough air time to look like you're doing a Scarecrow, then through the board back to forward. So, edge in hard and put a little more weight on your toes then you normally do for Scarecrows. If you have waited long enough for the pop, you should get shot up in the air pretty good. Begin the Elephant rotation just like you are going to do a Scarecrow. Look up and over your front shoulder while moving your hips and shoulders in that direction. Hold on the to the handle with both hands. As you're coming over the top in your rotation, the natural tendency is to let go with your front hand to help you do the 180 for a Scarecrow, but don't let this happen. Keep both hands on the handle, and keep the handle in tight so you have the line tension you need to pull the board to forward. After boning out your back leg to make it look like you're going to do a Scarecrow, pull the rope back to your front hip and point the tip of your board towards the shore you're heading toward. This will help you not do a Scarecrow. Land with the handle in your front hand, and try to lean forward and land on your toes so you don't sit down on the water when you hit.

 

 
 
 
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