How to Backside Rodeo 540 on a Snowboard

About the Rodeo

The backside rodeo 540 is a classic snowboarding trick. I remember it took me weeks of endless falls to finally stomp, and it only went up front there. They can be tricky to learn and even trickier to learn properly, but it’s a fun trick that’s fun to have in your arsenal. Many riders (including myself oftentimes) are guilty of doing a barrel roll with a late backside 180. This really isn’t a proper rodeo and you want to try to avoid this.

Rodeo Setup

A rodeo has a very unique axis and that’s what makes it such a rad trick when done properly. Set up for a backside rodeo with a backside S-Carve. As you leave the lip, pop off your toes as you twist your torso towards the takeoff and throw backwards. A proper rodeo never goes fully inverted, so keep that in mind. You’re not throwing a barrel roll off your toes. You’re throwing diagonally off the takeoff, both back and up. It’s a difficult concept to explain and that’s why so few riders do them properly. The videos the left should help with the explanation as well.

Completing the Rotation

As the rotation comes around, you’ll be landing blind as you do in a backside 180. Rodeos are super easy tricks to land at 450 and hook your heels. Not to scare you, but be aware. Ideally, your rotation is smooth all the way through and you land a perfect 540. Oftentimes, especially when learning, you’ll do a 450 and wash it around to 540. That’s okay, but land on your toes and not your heels. That way you can safely wash out to 540 instead of hooking an edge. If this is happening, keep practicing and focus on more spin than flip as you takeoff. This should even out the rotation and bring it around more smoothly.

Getting the Grab

Melon is a great grab for a rodeo. Do it better than I did it in the example video and don’t grab so close to your boot. If this one is a struggle, nose grabs actually help bring rodeos around really well and feel awesome. They’re a little scary at first, but once you get it, it really does feel sick while you’re in the nearly inverted portion of the trick. You can kind of tug the nose around to bring the trick around to that 540 mark.

Man, this is a tough trick to describe. Feel free to comment down below with questions and I’ll do my best to respond! Best of luck with the trick.