If you’re interested in learning switchblades, you should be very comfortable hitting jumps and have a control in the air. You should have your can cans and no footed can cans dialed in. You also want your seat foam shaved down as all FMX bikes are; the last thing you want is to hook a foot trying to bring it back.

The Switchblade

The switchblade takes your traditional no footed can can and adds a bit of a twist, where your feet end up behind you instead of out to the side of you. The takeoff for this trick begins with your front end slightly looped out. You don’t want to get carried away, but if you jump with your front end low your body feels heavy and it’s hard to get your body in the right place to perform the trick. So try to focus on taking off with the front end slightly high, but don’t get carried away.

Next, focus on your pop. Once you pop off the lip of the ramp, instead of focusing on your legs, focus on continuing to twist your hips. As you twist your hips, you should keep your butt down low towards the seat. When you twist your hips, be sure your arm (right arm if your feet go left, left arm if your feet go right) bends. This allows your entire body to twist more than it would be able to if your body was upright and arms were straight. With an upright position and straight arms, you’ll end up doing a regular no footed can can instead of a switchblade. As you’re popping and rotating your hips, drop your opposite elbow and drop your butt down a bit.

The last thing to do on a switchblade once you have full extension and start coming back is to be sure to keep your legs tucked. This is important, as when you start to get lazy focusing on your feet is when bad things happen. You do not want to catch on the seat in this case, so focus on ensuring your feet clear. One suggestion is when you get close to returning to the pegs, squeeze the bike. It will give you a brief moment of control to adjust and brace for the landing.

Closing Remarks and Tips

Keep a nice slow progression. FMX is no joke, so take these tips and use them little by little. Don’t push it too quickly; this may take weeks or even longer after your no footed can cans are dialed. Be patient, and prioritize both committing to the trick and knowing your limits.

Credit

Big thanks to @jpfilms for getting this awesome footage and @adamjones760 for helping us get the FMX section of PUSH off the ground! More to come.

The post How to Switchblade on a Dirtbike with Adam Jones appeared first on PUSH.

Frontflipping skis can be a little intimidating, but really isn’t too difficult. Before attempting this trick, I would recommend being able to frontflip on a trampoline or off of a diving board, as well as being comfortable hitting jumps on your skis. Most people also learn to backflip or 360 skis before the frontflip, but it’s not necessary. Backflips are easier and aren’t a bad idea to have in your bag of tricks, as they will help with air awareness on skis of going upside down. But truthfully, as long as you can hit jumps comfortable and have frontflipped before you’re ready to go.

Finding the Jump

Frontflips don’t require a particularly special jump. While backflips are ideal on a poppy jump, frontflips can be done on steep or flatter takeoffs. Super steep takeoffs aren’t ideal as they actually make the trick a little harder, but some decent pop is good. My first frontflip was on a 15-20 foot small park jump with a semi-poppy takeoff. A jump around that size is good to learn on, as one of the hardest parts of frontflips on skis is judging the speed of your rotation since they’re blind. It’s better to start small and work your way up.

Sending It

So you’ve found the jump and you’re ready to get inverted in the forward direction. The biggest thing I was nervous about on my first frontflip was getting over my tips. I was nervous with how much ski was in front of me that I’d try to flip too early and just sail forward headfirst into the landing. What actually happened was that I stomped it, and my fears of getting over my tips were irrational. One thing to focus on in the takeoff is popping slightly earlier than you might on another trick. On a frontflip, the bulk of your pop should come when your tips are right at the end of the takeoff. This allows you to get a little bit of “snap” from your skis to help kick the flip over. If you pop late, you’ll feel it takes a lot more tuck to bring the flip around. This is unlike a backflip, where you pop as your boots are nearing the end of the takeoff as opposed to your tips.

As you snap forward, focus on rising as well. Don’t just throw down into a forward tuck – you’ll get no height and the flip will be low, fast, and sketchy. Think about popping forward but still letting your chest rise up as you throw your momentum into a frontflip. For your first flip on a small jump, tuck until you feel you’ve about finished the rotation and then open up. You’ll quickly figure out if you misjudged or not. On early frontflips, it’s best to underrotate than to overrotate. A backslap and shin bang is easier to deal with than getting bucked over the front to your face. Frontflips are blind to land, which is what makes them scary for many people. After you’ve done 1 or 2, they’re not that hard to judge rotation and are very fun to do.

Once you’ve landed a couple on smaller jumps and want to take them to bigger features, I recommend laying out the beginning part of the flip. It doesn’t have to be full superman, but you can stare at the landing without tucking until you know you have just enough time to flip left. At that point, you can tuck hard and finish the flip out. This essentially allows you to flip any size jump the same as you would a small jump – you simply lay it out at the beginning until it’s time to flip, and then you can flip at the same speed each time. This take out a lot of the guesswork. Instead of being tucked and blind for say 2 seconds, you know exactly where you are for 1.5 seconds and quickly rotate the flip in 0.5 seconds. This isn’t the method everyone likes, but I do personally find it easier to judge.

Punch Fronties

If you want to learn tiny frontflips off of knuckles, rollers, natural features, etc. they’re not too much different aside from the takeoff. On a jump you can take off evenly since there’s so much time, but for punch frontflips one foot must dominate the takeoff to initiate a harder snap. To do so, lift your dominant foot right before you want to flip and then try to snap it down to initiate power and force over the tip of that ski. Your back ski will follow (your legs should be slightly staggered) and you can then drive that tip off the lip as well to provide a little extra momentum. From there, everything else is the same. Keep it tucked tight and ride away clean.

Common Mistakes and Closing Remarks

The most technical and difficult part of the frontflip is the takeoff. Taking off to early isn’t too common, but if that is your issue be patient. I know I said the takeoff is earlier than many tricks, but it’s not too early. Be patient and remember to snap when your tips are at the lip of the takeoff. Many people, on the other hand, flip late. This makes it hard to get a lot of snap and causes you to flip slowly. In a frontflip, it’s better to flip fast and open up to slow your rotation down than to wish you were flipping faster and not be able to do much about it. Focus on snapping at the correct time so you have as much control in the air as possible.

Frontflips aren’t an incredibly common trick, but they’re super fun. Once you get past the fact that they’re blind and learn to judge your rotation, they truly are a blast and learning to lay them out makes you feel like superman. Best of luck this trick! Comment with any questions!

The post How to Frontflip on Skis appeared first on PUSH.

Learning to jump on skis is essential for any freestyle skier from park to big mountain. Jumping is a fundamental skill that is a building block for everything else you’ll learn in freestyle skiing. Before attempting to hit a jump, be sure you’re very comfortable with basic skills. This involves making turns as well as skiing at high speeds.

I always prefer park jumps for learning because they are perfectly built and there should be a variety of sizes to choose from depending what mountain you’re riding. Natural features work as well, but it tends to be harder to find a good beginner hit. When first learning, start on the smallest jump you can find and work your way up. There are a few factors that go into jumping on skis: speed, body position, and pop.

All 3 of these factors play a big role in successfully hitting a jump on your skis. For small jumps, speed should be easy to judge. It becomes harder as you start hitting bigger features. Coming up short on a jump, or “knuckling”, is no fun and is hard to ride away from. If you can follow someone into the jump who has hit it before and match their speed, do so. Once you have a good idea of the speed required, you’re ready to hit the jump. Approach the jump with mellow turns. As you reach the takeoff, transition to your flat bases and bend your knees. As you leave the takeoff, extend your knees slightly to get “pop”, which helps you gain height and clear the jump. Keep your body relaxed and don’t stiffen up.

As you hit the landing, put your skis down flat based. Once you have control of yourself, immediately carve onto an edge to keep yourself in control and prevent yourself from catching an edge. Bend your knees to absorb the impact. As you become more comfortable, you can begin hitting bigger jumps as well as learning freestyle tricks. Also, grabbing your skis can help keep you locked in and calm in the air. One of the easiest beginner grabs is the safety grab, which is either hand on your outer edge right next to your boot.

Once you learn to hit jumps on your skis, endless possibilities are created. The mountain becomes your playground as everything starts to look like a jump takeoff. Have fun and comment below with questions or progress!

The post How to Hit a Jump on Skis appeared first on PUSH.

Performing the Backside 180

The backside 180 is considered difficult by many because the landing is blind. Personally, I think backside 180s are very predictable to put down clean. Although you can’t see the landing, you can see exactly how far you’ve rotated based on what you see uphill. Approach the jump slightly on your toe edge. This trick does not require a heavy S-carve. Although you’ll be on your toe edge, be sure to leave the jump straight and not at an angle. As you leave the jump, pop as you would on a normal straight air. Take your head and leading shoulder and softly turn them uphill towards your takeoff.

Once in the air, it should feel like you’re floating backwards with a slow rotation. Keep your knees bent and your body loose and controlled. As you lose sight of what’s uphill from you, you are close to landing. Be prepared to put your toe edge down first. If you complete the rotation and land on your heel edge, you are likely to wash out on the snow instead of riding away clean. If you underrotate and land on your heel edge, you are going to have a bad time. Your heel edge will catch on the snow and you will be tossed backwards. This is what many people are scared of on backside 180s, but don’t let it get to you. It’s not difficult to tell if you have not spun a full 180 – it’s not a huge rotation so it’s not that tough to feel.  You can also pivot your feet at the end of the rotation if you need a little bit more.

Backside 180 Tips and Progression

Overall, be confident when trying this trick. Make sure you have the proper speed when trying this trick by straight airing the jump a handful of times first. Since backside 180s are blind, one of the dangers of this trick is overshooting or undershooting a jump. If you do either, you won’t know it until it’s far too late to try and compensate.

Once you’re comfortable with this trick on small jumps, you can start adding grabs and taking it to larger features. It’s also a great trick to do off of rails, and once you get super good at it you can do it onto rails as well. The backside 180 japan is a classic high-style trick, as well as a shifty back 180. Work on getting comfortable with the trick and then your possibilities are endless.

The post How to Backside 180 on a Snowboard appeared first on PUSH.

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.

Finding the Right Feature to Slide

Findind a mellow ride-on feature for your first fifty fifty is important. A box is the easiest to learn on since it’s a bit wider of a platform. There are a lot of variations of boxes, from dance pads (very wide) to down boxes and more. I would recommend a nice flat box that is around 10 feet long when first learning. There should not be any rise from the snow to the start of the box – you should be able to ride right onto it. Now that you’ve found the right feature, let’s learn a 5050.

Your First Fifty Fifty

Approach the feature with a reasonable amount of speed. You want to be sure to have plenty of speed to slide the entire box, but do not need to nuke into it your first hit. As you approach the box, you’ll likely be on edge. As you leave the snow and ride onto the box, be sure you transition to be completely flat based. This is where a lot of people struggle when first learning to slide a box or rail. On the snow, you’re almost always on an edge. When jibbing, you always want to be flat based. If you ride onto the feature on edge, you will almost immediately slide out. Simply put your base flat onto the feature and keep your body square over your board. Ride the box all the way through and ride away like a champ! It’s pretty simply, but a little scary at first.

Learning to Slide Bigger Features

Once you can slide a ride-on box, there is still so much to learn. Transition from a ride-on box to a ride-on rail. The rail will be a little skinnier and will require more balance. From there, you can begin to learn how to do urban-on 50-50s. This will require you to know how to ollie as mentioned above. I personally believe frontside 50-50s are easier than backside 50-50s, so I would recommend starting frontside. This means you will approach the ride-on feature facing it, but to the side. On a ride-on feature, you approach the box or rail straight on. On an urban-on feautre, you approach the feature from either side. Frontside means you approach with your face to the rail, and backside means you approach with your back to the rail.

Start with something small – just a 2 or 3 inch pop required. Ride up from the side and  ollie onto the rail. It’s important to get your entire board over and onto the rail, or you will hang up and fall. It’s also important to focus on simply jumping over and keeping your momentum going forward. If you jump at an angle, you will slide off the other side of the rail prematurely. It just takes practice! Remember to keep that base flat always. Best of luck with this trick!

The post How to Slide a Box or Rail (Fifty Fifty) on a Snowboard appeared first on PUSH.

I always prefer park jumps for learning because they are perfectly built and there should be a variety of sizes to choose from depending what mountain you’re riding. Natural features work as well, but it tends to be harder to find a good beginner hit. When first learning, start on the smallest jump you can find and work your way up. There are a few factors that go into jumping on a snowboard: speed, body position, and pop.

All 3 of these factors play a big role in successfully hitting a jump on your snowboard. For small jumps, speed should be easy to judge. It becomes harder as you start hitting bigger features. Coming up short on a jump, or “knuckling”, is no fun and is hard to ride away from. If you can follow someone into the jump who has hit it before and match their speed, do so. Once you have a good idea of the speed required, you’re ready to hit the jump. Approach the jump with mellow carves. As you reach the takeoff, transition to your flat base and bend your knees. As you leave the takeoff, extend your knees slightly to get “pop”, which helps you gain height and clear the jump. Keep your body relaxed and don’t stiffen up.

As you hit the landing, put your board down flat based. Once you have control of yourself, immediately carve onto an edge to keep yourself in control and prevent yourself from catching an edge. Bend your knees to absorb the impact. As you become more comfortable, you can begin hitting bigger jumps as well as learning freestyle tricks. Also, grabbing your board can help keep you locked in and calm in the air. One of the easiest beginner grabs is the indy grab, which is your back hand between your bindings on your front edge.

Once you learn to hit jumps on your snowboard, endless possibilities are created. The mountain becomes your playground as everything starts to look like a jump takeoff. Have fun and comment below with questions or progress!

The post How to Hit a Jump on a Snowboard appeared first on PUSH.

Adding the Revert

Obviously this trick starts with a standard nose stall. The difference is how you drop back in. Be prepared to full commit! In a normal nose stall, once you’re in the stall you simply put pressure back downwards and drop in fakie. The revert forces you to focus on a few more things. First, you feet are going to want to slip off the board. You are essentially spinning the board with no pop – just the force of your feet. Your front foot is pushing forwards towards the toe edge of the board while your back foot is pulling backwards towards the heel edge of the board. Try to focus on keeping your feet locked in.

From the stall point, start allowing your weight to transfer back to go back down the ramp. Simultaneously pivot your feet in the motion described above. At some point in this motion all 4 wheels will be in the transition and you will be powersliding the rest of the rotation. At this point, your front foot still needs to be supplying force to rotate the board, but also needs to transfer weight to the heel edge to avoid from hooking. If your weight isn’t back on the board, your board can catch up and throw you down into the transition.

This does not mean lean back – it simply means have your weight on your heels instead of your toes. That really sums it up – it’s one fluid motion that can be intimidating at first. Commitment is the hardest part of this trick if you’re good at nose stalls. I remember thinking it was going to be really hard to learn, and I believe it took me 3 tries. Commit to it and get it done.

Best of luck! Comment below with questions or progress.

The post How to Nose Stall Revert on a Skateboard appeared first on PUSH.

Frontside Lipslide Prerequisites and Early Steps

Before attempting a frontside lipslide, make sure you are comfortable doing 5050s on boxes and rails. Ideally, you should be able to 5050 urban-on features as well. This is where the start of the rail is higher than the lip of the takeoff, requiring you to actually pop up to get onto the feature. Ride-on features are features where the lip of the takeoff is at the same level as the start of the box or rail. I would highly recommend learning the frontside lipslide on a ride-on feature and then working your way up to urban-on features.

Start with a ride-on box or rail. Approach the rail frontside. If you’re goofy, this means you’ll be approaching the feature from the right. If you’re regular, you’ll be approaching it from the left. Be on your toe edge with your knees bent as you approach the lip. As you begin to leave the lip, pop up and rotate your back leg towards the box or rail. On a ride-on feature, you have little to worry about. On an urban-on feature, it is essential to be sure to pop hard enough to bring your tail over the rail. If you don’t, you’ll quickly become a human taco.

Cleaning the Rail and Riding Away

As your board hits the feature, focus on staying completely flat based. If you’ve never been sideways on a box or rail before, it’s not like riding sideways on snow. On snow, you have to be on your heel edge. On a feature, you have to be flat based. Your weight should be perfectly centered over your snowboard. Try to lock the feature in between your bindings and ride through to the end.

The setup for this trick is a little different whether you want to bring it back to regular or ride it out to switch. If you want to pull the trick back and ride it out in your normal stance, focus on putting the rail more under your front foot when you first get on. This along with a counter motion in your torso will allow you to pull it back. The trick naturally wants to go to switch.

Progression of Frontside Lipslides

Once you are comfortable with this trick, you can begin doing it on taller features that require more pop as well as tougher rails, like down flat downs. Instead of just going to switch or regular you can also start working on doing 270s off or pretzel 270s off. Best of luck with this trick! Leave comments below with questions or progress.

The post How to Frontside Lipslide on a Snowboard 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!

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