Date: 3/17/04
Author: Dave Briscoe
Rider: Sean O'Brien
Video: Bill Jamison

Related Items:
Whirlybird Video (Quicktime, 0.9 mb)

Sean O'Brien - Whirlybird (click to play video)

The whirlybird is a great way to enter the world of mobes. What is a mobe? Mobe is short for mobius, meaning two lines that intertwine but never connect. The name was first introduced to our world through freestyle jumping. In wakeboarding, we call anything that has an invert combined with a 360 a mobe. But enough of the history lesson, let's get to the trick.

A whirly is a tantrum with an overhead backside 360. As always, learn your basics first. Before attempting this, you should have all four 180's wake to wake. That's a heelside 180, toeside 180, heelside halfcab and toeside halfcab. I would also recommend learning at least four solid inverts. Here are a few that will complement this trick; first, of course, is a tantrum. Also, back rolls, front rolls, scarecrow and roll to revert. Any other inverts will help with air sense, but try to stay balanced. When you learn something heelside, balance it off by learning something toeside. Do you have to have all this before you'll make a whirlybird? No, but it will take some of the pain out of learning it. Trust me, when you're not ready to try a trick, the crashes get pretty brutal.

Also, a few base inverts Rolls, Front Rolls, Scarecrow, Tantrum, Roll 2 Rev. and some basic spinning sense, Grab 180's and 360's.

Another drill that will help you to learn the overhead rotation is to take off your fins and slow the boat down to about fifteen mph. Work on some overhead blind 360's on the surface to get the feel of the rope over your head and pulling you around to a 360.

The cut for the whirlybird will be a little different than other inverts. You can't have a lot of tension in the line at take off or you'll never get the handle over your head. However, you need enough momentum to still clear the second wake. So try this: Go out wider on your cut than normal, cut hard at the beginning and surf the wake a little earlier for your tantrum. The idea is to learn to take your tantrums up higher with less lateral movement. You should feel no tension on the line when you're in the air and land right on the down slope of the second wake. When you can do this on your tantrums, then you're ready for the whirly.

The most important thing to remember is that the rope has to initiate the spin and not your head. If your head turns before the rope is over your head, you will turn away from the pull of the boat and make tension in the line, which won't allow you to get the handle all the way in and over your head.

So take the hard edge and surf early. At the top of the wake, pull both hands toward your rear shoulder keeping your head neutral and square to your shoulders. Just as you're leaving the top of the wake, push your lead hand (left for left foot forward riders and right for right foot forward riders) straight up and over your back shoulder (right shoulder for left foot forward riders and left shoulder for right foot forward riders). The movement of your hand will initiate the rotation.

Once you leave the wake and you have the handle over your back shoulder, look over your back shoulder for the second wake. This subtle movement of your head will get your body spinning. You still want to think mostly tantrum. As long as the handle and head are in the right place, the spin will just happen. The tantrum won't. Just like with any mobe, the base flip has to be thrown first.

As you come around, spot your landing early and push the handle back down by your hips for your landing. If the handle stays high, you will end up falling away from the boat on your landing. The key to this is getting that handle in a position that it will work for you and pull you around in the 360 portion of the trick. If you tie a rope up to a tree on land you'll see what I mean. When you pull the handle in and up over your head with tension on it, you'll feel a spot in which the handle wants to easily come back down as you rotate. Now imagine splitting your body into two sections. If you rotate with the handle over your head but on the boat side of your nose it will want to pull your handle down behind your back. But if you rotate and the handle stays on the away side of your nose then it will want to spin you around 360 degrees and back to where the pull is coming from.

Troubleshooting

Problem: I'm getting upside down and the handle is ripping out of my hands.
Solution: Only one of two things will cause this. Either you're cutting too hard into the wake and you're creating more tension in the rope than necessary or you're turning away from the pull too early and that is making the line too tight. Remember, the harder you cut the tighter the line is.

Problem: I'm starting the spin, but only rotating to a tantrum to blind and the handle is getting pulled behind my back.
Solution: This is the most common problem when doing a whirly. This happens from turning your head before you get the handle into that sweet spot that will pull you back forward. Remember, the handle has to get to the away side of your face before you can turn your head. If you're right foot forward, this means your left bicep should be in front of your right eye and vice versa for goofy riders. Once your arm and handle reaches that spot, turn your head, but not before.

Problem: I'm not clearing the wakes and I'm casing the second wake and destroying my ankles.
Solution: This usually happens when you follow the advice from the previous problem because you end up backing off so much or over-correcting so much that you throw the trick early. Or you surf the wake too much and don't have the momentum to carry you across both wakes. Try getting wider on your initial approach and cutting harder at the beginning. Surf a little harder when you get to the base of the wake to get rid of the unwanted tension, and let the momentum you created coming into the wake carry you across. If this still doesn't solve the problem, try shortening your rope one loop until you're landing it. Then let it back out once you can do three in a row.

Problem: I'm getting all the way around and landing on my board, but I can't stop spinning or I'm going through the trick and landing on my back.
Solution: This usually happens when the line is too tight at the end of the trick. It pulls your arm away from your body at the end and gets you stretched out, which makes it hard to stop rotating. As crazy as it seems, this is from starting the rotation too late. If you leave the wake first with hard surf, that's when the line is the least resistant against your arm. If you wait too long to get the handle over your head, it will become tight faster and when you're three quarters of the way through the trick, the boat will start pulling you again and unwind you too quick causing you to spin through. Make sure that you're already moving the handle in with both hands while you're still on the wake. Then punch it hard across your rear shoulder and straighten your arm. If your arm goes straight, you will rotate cleaner. Whereas if it is bent, it will travel too much like a cowboy throwing a lasso.

The driver can help with the whirly as well by driving a slight arc in the same direction that the rider is cutting into the wake. This will help the line go dead enough so that the rider can get the feel of getting his handle over his head.

Dave Briscoe teaches wakeboarding at the Briscoe Ride Center and is sponsored by Supra Boats, CWB Wakeboards, Mica Wetsuits and Vests, Proline Ropes, No Fear Clothing, Smith Optics and Roswell Wake-Air.

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