The Back Roll is usually the first invert a wakeboarder learns. It's a commonly done trick that isn't too
difficult once you have the proper technique and edge. It can be done small, or taken extremely big, and lots
of tricks build off of it.
Prerequisties
Before trying a Back Roll you should be able to do the following things:
1. Edge hard and progressively
2. Do very large wake jumps
3. Be comfortable going upside down, practice on a trampoline if you can.
Cut outside of the wake about 10-15 feet and wait for the boat to start to naturally pull you back towards the wake.
When this happens, bend your knees a bit, put the board on the heelside edge slowly, keep the rope in tight,
and lean away from the boat. As you approach the wake, your edge should be getting harder and harder. This is very important for this trick.
As you hit the wake, you should still be edging hard with the rope in tight, but you now should be standing tall like the
rider in this photo. Also, people tend to leave early when learning a backroll, keep edging hard and standing tall
and the wake will kick you up into the roll without you having to do much work. As you take off, look over your
front shoulder and up to initiate the rotation.
While in the air, you can control your rotation speed by your rope position. If you're underrotating,
keep the rope in tighter, if you're going to overrotate, then let the rope out a little bit as you spot your landing
like the rider in the photo is doing here.
You can usually see the water pretty early on this trick, so get your head up and spot your landing. Some people
find it easier to let go with their back hand to make sure they don't do a roll to revert.
Style additions
There are lots things to add to this trick:
1. Learn it switch
2. Grab indy, nose, or method. This is done easiest off the double-up.
3. Cut out super wide and edge long and hard to take your back roll super-big.
Moving On
The Back Roll helps you do the following harder tricks:
1. Switch Roll/Half Cab Roll
2. Roll to Revert
3. Heelside Mobe
4. Roll to Blind and KGBs
If you have specific questions about this trick or would like to
discuss it further, talk about it in the Trick
Talk Forum.
