How to Wildcat on a Snowboard

Setting up the Wildcat

A wildcat is an over-the-tail backflip on a snowboard. It’s a fun and stylish trick that can be difficult to get just right. The difficulty often comes with staying on the proper axis. As you’re approaching a jump takeoff, bend your knees slightly. As you take off of the lip of the jump, think about throwing your back shoulder directly towards the tail of the board. This is important – it can be easy to backflip but hard to wildcat. The tendency is to throw both towards the tail and straight backwards in a bit of a diagonal, which gets you slightly off of that perfect sideways axis. You will often still land the backflip, but the beautiful straight-over wildcat can be difficult in that sense at times.

In the Air

As you throw your back shoulder directly towards your tail, tilt your head upwards in order to spot your landing as early as possible. Your back hand will naturally be very close to your front edge, so once you’ve got the hang of the trick it can be pretty easy to add an Indy grab. When first learning, it is nice to have your front arm up as it allows you to keep that front shoulder up and spot the landing sooner. As you get more comfortable, you can even start grabbing with your front hand as well. Once you spot your landing, open up at the appropriate time and stomp. Overall, the hardest part of a Wildcat is keeping it straight over the tail. Really, really focus on putting your back shoulder directly back on the takeoff. With all flip tricks, commitment and confidence is key. Go into it like you’re going to stomp and it’s pretty likely you will.

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions. Best of luck!