I’m not sure how many people would disagree with this statement: The raley is the sickest trick. Like, ever. Maybe a few. Anyway, this trick makes you legitimately feel like superman and it’s amazing. It is absolutely terrifying to learn and often painful. I won’t lie about that. But landing your first one is so damn worth it.

Preparing to Send It

Lots of things come before raleys. Wake to wake airs, backrolls, tantrums, etc. etc. This is a trick that requires a hell of a lot of commitment and good board control. I’ve been told they’re way easier on cable since cable pulls you up. I’ve never ridden cable, but if you have access, apply these steps at a cable park and learn it there.

If you have issues with commitment, do this step first. If you’re ready to send it, move on to the next paragraph. Start with a wakeskate or surfboard – something you’re not strapped into. Get to wake speed and take the hardest heelside carve you can on that thing. As you hit the wake, let your feet float up behind you. Keep your arms slightly bent. Do not try to kick your feet up. They should just float out behind you naturally. Your back should arch and then your feet will start coming back under you. You can bring your arms up in order to bring your feet down faster. Do this until you get your feet under you consistently. Then strap the wakeboard on.

Actually Sending It

You might hear conflicting opinions on this, but when I learned to raley I was told to carve as hard as I possibly could, and I think it’s the best way to learn. Take the hardest heelside carve you’ve ever taken. You want the driver to feel you tug at the back of the boat. Keep your knees bent and ready to pop. As you hit the wake, smoothly pop and let your feet go out behind you. It really doesn’t take much thought or motion. You shouldn’t be kicking your feet out. Just let them go and they will. Once your feet get above your head, your back will be arched all the way and your feet will start coming back down. Keep your arms slightly bent and lift the handle up once you’re ready for your feet to start coming back down. You can bring your knees in to speed up the process as well.

Minimizing Pain

When first learning, it’s better to bring your feet down too quickly than too slow. It is way better to wash out on your heels than to catch your toe edge. You have so much speed on this trick that a toe edge catch is really, really not fun. Been there, done that. I would also wear compression shorts because, assuming you’re a guy (hell yeah if you’re a lady learning to raley), this trick really slaps your balls when you fall. Learning to time this trick properly and putting your first one down is one amazing feeling. The key to this trick is full commitment and speed. Remember not to kick your feet out but to let them rise on their own.

Closing Remarks

Also, when I was learning I had issues accidentally rotating like I was going to do a krpyt. This had to do with not keeping my shoulders square to the boat. I had one arm/shoulder higher than the other, and that put me off axis. Try to focus on being square with the boat. Good luck! Comment below with concussions I mean questions.

The post How to Raley (Superman) on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.

Frontside 180 Early Stages

When you’re first preparing to try a heel front 180, you don’t need to take it wake to wake. Similar to learning your first heelside wake to wake jump, start by hitting the wake with minimal speed and doing the frontside 180 but not clearing the wake. This trick can be odd at first, as it’s likely the first trick you’re doing that has you landing on your toe edge. You will pop and take off just like a normal heelside air. Once you’re at the peak of the jump, drop your front hand and pivot that shoulder in the direction you’re spinning. While we call it a frontside 180, you’re getting slightly less than 180 degrees of rotation.

You want to land flat based with a lean towards your toe edge. Your back hand (now your front hand) should be pulled somewhat behind you with a pull towards the boat. Focus on keeping your body balanced over the board throughout this trick. I’ve seen people struggle with washing out on their heel edge every time because they tend to lean back. While sometimes you can ride a simple wake to wake jump out with poor form, it’s much harder on a frontside 180. Once you’ve got this trick dialed on a small scale, it’s time to wake it wake to wake.

Wake to Wake Frontside 180

Really not much changes aside from the fact that everything becomes a little more scary. Your carve in doesn’t need to be too aggressive – just enough to clear the wake. Again, wait until the peak of your jump to drop your front hand and initiate the rotation. Patience is key. If you try to spin too early, it will often throw you off axis and cause you to wash out on your heels. Once you become comfortable with this trick, start grabbing your nose when you drop your front hand. I find that it actually helps smooth out the trick and you can literally pull your nose around with your hand. It’s more fun, more controlled, and more stylish.

Getting Back to Your Normal Stance

Now you’ve done a 180 – how do you get back to your normal stance? I remember struggling with this step when I first learned the 180. I had really never ridden switch. There are 3 effective methods that are somewhat easy.

1. Do a small switch toeside frontside 180. It’s really not that hard! Take a super mellow carve back into the wake switch toeside. Airing back to your normal stance will allow you to keep both hands on the handle the entire time. All you have to do is pivot your feet under you! I think this is far easier than a switch heel front 180.
2. Simply pivot on the water. This can be scary at first. You can have your driver slow down to allow you to practice this safely. Simply pivot your feet on the water in one fluid motion. Take care not to catch an edge.
3. Pop off the water and do a quick 180. Bend your knees to push your board farther into the water, and as it rises pop up and get a few inches off the water. Pivot your feet in the air and you’re back to regular!

That’s how you do a heelside frontside 180 on a wakeboard. Feel free to comment with questions or progress!

The post How to Heelside Frontside 180 on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.

The tantrum or the backroll will be your first wakeboard invert. If not, you’re unique and I’m curious to know what you learned first. Comment below! Anyway, let’s get to business. If you’ve never gone inverted that’s fine – there aren’t a ton of requirements to be able to tantrum.

• Clean, comfortable, and consistent heelside wake to wake jumps
• Backflip on a trampoline (not essential but highly recommended)
• The ability to commit

If you’ve done a backroll before that’s a bonus, but I personally find the tantrum easier, more fun, and more comfortable than the backroll. If you’re not sure which one to go for, here’s a brief synopsis:

• The tantrum is more like a backflip and is initiated by “tripping” off the wake with your heel edge. You spot your landing earlier and are holding on with one hand for the duration of the trick.
• The backroll is more like a sideflip and is initiaties with proper pop off the wake as you dip your tailing shoulder. You spot your landing a little later and it’s best done with both hands on the handle.

So you want to do a tantrum? Well then let’s get it.

Setting Up for the Tantrum

The setup carve for a tantrum is not too aggressive. Carve into the wake as if you are going to do a normal heelside wake to wake air. When you are 2-3 feet from the wake, you begin to “square up” with the wake. Think of it like this: when you carve into the wake, your board is almost perfectly perpendicuar to the wake and the boat. When you take off for a tantrum, you want your board to be completely parallel with the wake and the boat. So in the last 2-3 feet before you hit the wake, you want to drop your back hand from the handle and turn your chest to be parallel with the wake. Allow your board to follow. It’s not like a countercarve – it’s a smooth transition from carving into the wake to parallel with the wake.

At the point of hitting the wake, your back hand should be dropped, you should be square with the boat, and your heel edge should be just about to hook. It’s a scary concept at first, but the tantrum really does “trip” you over the wake. If you setup properly, your heel edge should be tripped over the wake as you supply a very small amount of pop.

Landing the Tantrum

Honestly, this is the easy part. If you get a proper takeoff, this is an incredibly natural trick. Let yourself rise while staying square with the boat. Look backwards until you spot water and then either tuck a little harder or open up to time your landing properly. Put it down and ride away clean. That’s a tantrum! Once you dial these in you can start laying them out with your body fully extended. You can also try grabbing indy with your back hand. I always find it difficult to get the hand there since the tantrum naturally wants to be laid out.

Like I said, I learned a backroll first. Tantrums seemed terrifying to me. And then guess what? First try. This is one of the only 2 wakeboard tricks I’ve ever landed first try, and the other one (heelside frontroll) was pure luck. I mention this because the tantrum really is easy (as far as wakeboard inverts go) as long as you can commit.

Common Tantrum Issues

While from my perspective the tantrum is one of the most natural and easy to learn inverts, I know a few great wakeboarders who have struggled with this trick. By watching them, I can try to help with common mistakes and issues. The most common one is patience on tripping the wake. My brother struggled with this trick for ages and it took us a while to pin down the problem. He was so focused on getting the flip around that he was really trying to force a pop – and was doing it too early. If you are underrotating or just aren’t getting much height, be patient. Remember that the tantrum trips itself and you have to do very little pop, unlike a backroll. Be patient on that carve in and let the trick rise itself.

Best of luck with this trick, and have fun. I hope this tutorial has been helpful. Feel free to leave a comment below with questions or progress!

The post How to Tantrum on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.

If you’re here, chances are the heel front 3 is your first trick that requires a handle pass. If not, I’d love to hear what you learned before this. The handle pass is certainly the most difficult part of learning to spin on a wakeboard, and there are a lot of minor details to focus on to get it just right. Before trying this trick, you should be able to do heelside wake to wake jumps with ease, heel frontside 180s, and probably a couple inverts like tantrums and backrolls for body awareness and comfort in the air.

Learning the Handle Pass

The best way to get the feeling of a frontside 360 on a wakeboard is to first learn it on the water going as slow as possible. Have your driver slow the boat down to where you’re barely planing on the water, and a fall won’t hurt. Practice spinning full frontside 360s inside the wake on top of the water. Obviously this is a bit of a different feeling since you need to make sure to keep your edges up and alternate your weight, but it’s a perfect way to learn the handle pass with low consequence.

Before this step, if you have access to a trampoline you can also attach a wake handle to a pole or tree near the tramp. You can than practice jumping and passing the handle behind you as you spin a 360. I’d highly recommend getting these motions down before taking the trick wake to wake.

The Setup

Heelside frontside 360s require a very mellow carve into the wake. When you first learn this trick, it’s best to just go wake to wake instead of taking it out into the flats. A lot of different movements go into this trick, so I’ll try to break it down into smaller bits. Take a mellow cut into the wake with your knees bent to about 90 degrees. Go into the wake with the goal of landing on the downside of the opposite wake.

Have your arms bent at about a 45 degree angle with your elbows closer to your side than they would be on most other tricks. You want to keep the handle as close to your body as possible so that it doesn’t go out of reach on the pass. As you hit the wake, pop exactly like you would on a normal heelside wake to wake jump. You don’ t do anything differently until you’re almost to the peak of your jump.

Performing the Spin

You’re nearing the peak of your jump, your arms and handle are close to your body, and you’re ready to spin. Drop your front hand and twist your head and torso behind you. Place your front hand behind your back and reach for the handle. As your back hand wraps behind your back, your front hand should find the handle. This is where you really need to focus on keeping the handle close to your body. If it starts to pull your back hand out, you won’t have enough reach with your front hand to catch the handle and finish the rotation.

Once you do manage to grab the handle, drop once again, this time with your back hand. At this point you’ll be finishing the spin. You can land with just your front hand, but it can often be tough to hang onto. Keep the grip clenched, or better yet, try to get your back hand up and land with both hands on the handle. Congratulations, you can heel frontside 360!

Closing Remarks

360s on a wakeboard are hard and scary. Frontside is easier than backside due to the nature of the setup. While the landing is a bit blind, the setup is way easier. When I first learned this trick, I was so close about 20 times where I got it around and the handle slipped out of my hand. The closer you can keep the handle to your body, the better. If you land with your arm or arms bent, you have some room for them to extend and make it easier to hold onto the handle. If you barely get your hand to the handle and your arm is straight by the time you land, it becomes really tough to ride away clean.

Handle pass tricks are scary, but once you land this is feels so smooth and so sick. Best of luck – leave a comment below with questions or comments!

The post How to Heelside Frontside 360 on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.

The heelside front roll is a super awkward trick that feels insane when you ride away clean. Before trying this trick, be sure you have a few other inverts dialed (backroll, tantrum). Frontflips and sideflips on a trampoline are helpful as well.

The tough part about this trick is timing your pop as you throw your shoulder forward off of the wake. You’re flipping the opposite direction as the wake wants to throw you, which makes this so weird. I like to take a really aggressive carve into front rolls. With an aggressive carve, you have plenty of time to get this trick around when you pop properly and you can really float it out. If you don’t pop properly, the speed can help you still whip it around even if you’re a bit low.

Learning the Trick

The first few times you try this, there’s a decent chance you’ll mess up the pop and get about half way around. It happens. I like to think about my legs and torso doing 2 separate motions in this trick, and then coming together. As I hit the wake, I pop my legs like I’m doing a normal wake to wake jump, while at the same time I throw my front should up and across the wake. Try to thing about rising as much as you can, because if you try to throw too much flip too early you won’t get any lift.

As you leave the lip of the wake, you can start to tuck that front knee up a little bit and really lead the flip with your torso. Once you’re fully off the wake, your legs can follow and you can complete the flip evenly. With a good takeoff this trick won’t take many tries to land at all. It’s not too technical in the air and as long as you bring it around at least 3/4 you can usually ride away. The nice thing about the front roll is that you can’t really catch your nose or tail – the falls aren’t usually too bad.

Closing Remarks

I’m still not consistent with this trick, but I’ve done a handful of good ones and know and feel the difference when I pop properly. Like the back roll, this trick requires patience off the wake and good attention to how and when you pop. There’s a period in this trick when your legs are almost straight up and down while your torso is approaching at like a 45 degree angle, and that’s awkward. Accept that this is a weird trick and try to get that motion down.

Like I said, this is a super fun trick to land so get out there and stomp it! Comment below with questions or progress!

The post How to Heelside Front Roll on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.

The backroll is a backflip/sideflip on a wakeboard that some riders love and some riders hate. Personally, I think they’re tougher than tantrums but I have friends who think they’re way easier. Either way, I would say that the backroll or the tantrum should be your first invert on a wakeboard, so if this is the one for you then let’s get learning.

Back Roll Prerequisites and Setup

Obviously you need to be able to do wake to wake airs smoothly and consistently, probably with some grabs. That’s pretty much the only prerequisite, although I’d highly recommend being able to backflip and maybe sideflip on a trampoline for that body and air awareness. The backroll requires a somewhat aggressive heelside carve into the wake. Approach the wake with your knees and arms bent. As you rise up the lip of the wake, don’t forget to pop. This isn’t something you have to think about on every trick. It’s essential with a backroll. For years I struggled with lack of pop on backrolls, and it made them scary and inconsistent for me. I fell a lot and caught my nose a few times. Don’t do that.

Helpful Back Roll Tips

Be patient up the lip and extend your legs as you rise. As you pop, throw your back shoulder and head to the tail of the board. Keep both hands on the handle to maintain your axis with the boat. Keep your head turned towards the tail of the board. This will allow you to spot your landing at around the 1/2 to 2/3 mark of your rotation. Once you spot, either tuck your knees in to speed up the rotation or extend to slow it down. Put the board down flat and ride away like a boss.

Comment below with questions or tutorial requests. Get out there a stomp a backroll!

The post How to Heelside Back Roll on a Wakeboard appeared first on PUSH.