4 Basic steps for your first air-trick

Wakeboarding has many styles and different tricks, one of them being: inverts.
Inverts are fun tricks but can be a bit scary the first time you want try them. But hey, it’s all about progression right!?

This week we’re going to break down the Backroll to Revert, which is the best invert to start with (in our opinion). The reason for that? When you fall with this trick there’s a big chance you will fall on your side, which will keep you from harm. The Backroll to revert is also a trick that’s easier for most people then a normal Backroll on the cable. Once you start spinning the rotation feels more natural with a Backroll to revert, but remember that you are going to land Switch with this trick. So let’s start shall we:

1: Edging
First off, make sure you feel comfortable with edging, this mean you put pressure on your heelside for this trick. By putting a lot of pressure on your heelside and edging hard, you’ll find that you will built up tension. This tension will start to pull and that is what you want for your take off!

Try to feel comfortable with building this tension in the cable, the harder you edge the higher and further you’ll go! The beauty of a backroll is that you can bust it out with little tension and keep it small or you can lock down, edge hard and send it higher than NASA ever will!

2: Take Off
Allright, so you got the edging down but now comes the scary part for most people: the take off.
When you built up enough tension, you’ll find that the cable wants to pull you out of the water. And that’s exactly what you’ll do, you just go with the flow. But when you take off, you tuck in your front leg a little, making the rotation easier. The moment you take off, you look over your front shoulder; so if you’re Regular over your left shoulder and if you’re Goofy over your right shoulder. Then you kick your front leg backward for that Backside rotation. What’s that? You’re flying? That’s great Houston but you’re not there yet.

3. Keep looking
So you’re in the air and you are looking over your front shoulder and now comes the most crucial part of the trick. You have to keep looking over your front shoulder with this trick, for 2 reasons:

Reason 1: By turning your head you’ll find that your upper body will follow and as a result your whole body will turn. Turn your head to turn your body. Don’t worry; you won’t get a turning head scene from The Exorcist.

Reason 2: By turning your head, you’re in full control. Not only of your body but also of your movement. You can spot your landing nice and early and your body will open up toward your landing, just like with a backflip! Spotting your landing is key for learning this trick!
4: Landing
You’re sending it! You’ve spotted your landing! So now it’s time to stick that son of a gun!
To open up your body towards the landing and landing this trick (SWITCH) you’ll let go of your back arm, for a switch landing. This means that if you’re a Regular rider you let go of your left hand and for Goofy you let go with your right hand. By doing this the cable will pull your body straight making for a switch landing because you’re still holding on with your switch front hand. You are still holding on right?!?

The result will be a stomped Backroll to Revert!
The big thing with this trick is that you just have to give it a go, once you get the right rotation, the last 2 steps will come on their own. Stick it 3 times (the golden rule) and you can claim the Backroll to Revert! From there on its all muscle memory and you can bust it out anywhere at any time!

Still having some issues with the Backroll to Revert? Make sure to ask your local cable operator/instructor to look at your tries, he/she might have the golden ticket to making it all complete.