Kiteworld Magazine | The original international kitesurfing magazine

Brandon Scheid – Motor Drive – Kiteworld Magazine Issue #82

Move – Unhooked stale grab roll to revert

Rider – Brandon Scheid

Photos – Vincent Bergeron

Adding a grab not only adds style to a basic manoeurvre, but can transform the feeling of a trick, injecting new levels of fun into a move that you may have already mastered. Brandon Scheid takes you through the unhooked stale grab back roll to revert (toeside), a progression on the basic unhooked back roll to revert which feels great to do and looks dam tight!

Words – Brandon Scheid

Before attempting this trick you need to have your unhooked back roll and back roll to revert dialed in. Not only do you want to be able to perform these basic rolls in control, you also want to have a good amount of height, allowing plenty of time to make a grab in the middle of the trick.

Enter the trick with a moderate and comfortable amount of speed, bear off slightly downwind and unhook. Lean back into your edge and hook upwind in a sweeping J shaped arc. This will give you the necessary pop and help you start the momentum for the back roll rotation.

Release from the water and begin looking over your front shoulder to help initiate the rotation.

Make sure you bring your knees into your body, which will in turn bring the board closer to your hand. Stale is often a hard grab to reach but you can help yourself by poking your rear foot out which should make it easier to reach around your legs and get to the rail of the board. Do your best to keep your core tight to prevent from getting stretched out in the torso region. Be patient – the grab is easier performed after almost completing the back roll rotation. This allows your hips to finish twisting and some of the tension to come off the bar as you travel downwind through the air.

As you complete the back roll you should be able to see the water and gauge if you have enough height for the additional 180. If you do, release the grab and begin to reach for the bar with your back hand. The stale grab will slow down your rotation, so getting your back hand back on to the bar is essential.

Grab the bar with your back hand and swivel your hips in a frontside rotation. Look over your front shoulder with your head and try to think about drawing your rear knee across your body. This will help you initiate the last 180 of the trick, bringing your board around to toeside and ready for landing.

Spot your landing and extend your legs in preparation for touching down. Land with your shoulders, knees and feet all in the same plane to ensure a nice clean landing.

Hook back in and ride away.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

The hardest thing to begin with is going to be getting the stale grab. As the stale is an advanced grab I would recommend just working on those hooked-in for a while before attempting them unhooked and in a back roll. Remember to bring your board to your hand, not the other way around.

The next most common problem is the slowing of the rotation due to the grab. When you poke the stale it will be in the opposite direction of your rotational momentum, which can feel quite off-putting at first and will make getting the last 180 quite tricky. Focus on getting your back hand back on to the bar to help you keep spinning in the right direction and try to remember that your hips are what drive your rotations, so keep them moving!

A third problem with this trick, and in fact any variation on the back roll to revert, is a lack of height. Making sure you have a strong foundation means you can reach for the sky. If you’re having trouble getting enough time to complete the roll to revert, go back a step. Work on your back rolls, make sure they are big and floaty hooked in, and that unhooked they feel under control and slow rotationally. Take this time to work on switch back rolls too. A roll to revert is often easier on your switch side as you will be landing to your strong toeside stance. Make sure you’re comfortable going into this trick with plenty of speed – you need the time in the air to get the extra 180 and the grab. Work on getting a nice, powerful and crisp release from the water as the foundation ofa good back roll is a clean, strong scooping pop off the water.

Once you’ve mastered the stale roll to revert you can begin to think about a back-to-blind. The pause during the stale is a great moment to turn the trick to bind, instead of to toeside.

Brandon Scheid lives in Hood River in the USA, has claimed three overall Triple S Championships, is a Liquid Force International team rider and an ambassador for Patagonia.

Find him @brandonscheid