holas, i need to learn a frontroll but i dont know if i should do it toeside or heelside, i heard that it was easier toeside, but i can get about 2 or 3 feet higher heelside. any tips, would help Gracias

Toeside i guess. I have been trying. easy to initiate but realy hard to land. nice way to ease into inverts. i am trying scarecrows now which are alot easier and found trying front rolls helped get the confidence.

No such thing as a heelside frontroll, you're either tryng a HS front flip or a really ugly hucked front to fakie and you might be turning it back.

Thanks Jason that was a very helpfull post. <BR> <BR>Heelside front roll, I personally think that this is one of the best looking tricks. <BR>Anyway, I've been trying these for a while with out much progress, but lately I've almost got it down. I watched tons of clips on how to do this trick and this is what I noticed, or at least what has helped me progress. Mine isn't perfect and I still haven't landed it, but I do land on my board pretty solid, so any more tips are appreciated. <BR> <BR>Take your normal progressive cut, probably pretty hard. Get down pretty low on to your heals, anyway as you enter the trough straighten up your front leg, hold the rope in tight and look directly at your lead shoulder, after you are in the air bring up your back leg only. Make sure you hold on with both hands. Hopefully you will spin fast enough to spot your landing and there you are. I'm not quite spotting my landing well enough so I haven't ridden away yet.

oh Rob, you mean a Mexican roll. That's impressive that you find that as one of the best looking tricks. I hope that this is because you are close to landing one. Most people consider the Mexican roll having its beginnings as a backroll with bad form, however, because it is so common now, they have separated it into its own trick. <BR> I would start out with a TS Front Roll because they are fairly easy to get down and you will learn a lot about handle position/control when you are in the air. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by canaday on August 20, 2003)

rob, what you're doing is a hs front flip, not a roll. i agree, it's one of the best looking flips out there, much like a laid-out scarecrow looks. that cartwheel look is cool. my friend said mine was the coolest looking invert he's seen me do (the one time i did it). <BR> <BR>as for tips, i would say that looking at your shoulder is a problem. according to higher education you should be keeping your eyes on the boat, your head forward-looking. perhaps that's what's hurting your flip. they say to put your lead ear on your shoulder - so don't turn your head, just tilt it in the direction you're going. <BR> <BR>they also say keep both hands on the handle and keep your arms in the 90 degree position all the way through the trick. i landed this on my 3rd try. following their instruction made this a very easy trick. <BR> <BR>sean - the mexican is the style andrea gaytan used in doing the trick. although it may have originally been considered ugly, it's now the form used for backrolls-to-blind and double-rolls, so it turned out not to be so bad after all. and i actually do think it looks better than a regular backroll. check out tyler's mexican in the balfor vid. pretty nice and clean looking.

Rob, <BR> <BR>Sorry if you thought my post was rude or something but the fact of the matter is the only legitimate front roll on a wakeboard can be done from the Toeside. It sounds to me that you are doing a HS Front flip, just not with proper technique. If you don;t Believe me on the HS front roll not being a Trick, Maybe you'll believe Shaun Murray. Go to the august WBM with his game on the cover and Read his interview. At one point he talks about how the game can give a Nonaccurate discription of tricks. Like a TS Tantrum and a HS frontroll. Chris Stack has a very good explantation on doing the Front Flip. <BR> <BR>

Sean, don't worry about it. As wakeboarding grows and matures names become more standard. I've seen the same trick called a whole lot of names, anyway what I'm doing may be called a flip but it feels a lot more like a roll as its more of a cartwheel than an actual head over heals flip. Yes I can do back rolls and I've even mastered roll to reverts. Sometimes it's frustrating for me cause I'm built great for basketball but not for board sports. I'm 6'5" but that doesn't stop me. It just means I need to go higher than most to land the same trick. It also means that my ralley's look pretty sick when they're laid out. <BR> <BR>Also Chris, I would love to spend some time with a real coach, I'm jealous and feel a little stupid that I've never paid for lessons, I just go and ride and pick up what I can. As for head position, when I look forward I keep loosing the handle with my front hand with my chin on the shoulder I'm getting much better rotation. I'm wondering if I'm bringing up the wrong leg and I should be bringing up the front and leaving the back straight.

hey rob, <BR> <BR>according to a lot of sources (the wakeboard camp in florida, i.e., kyle schmidt, wakeboardingmag, wakeboarder.com, etc.)- a flip is tip over tail and a roll is rail over rail. so a cartwheel type rotation is a flip and a head over heals is a roll. of course, a backroll kinda is more of a cartwheel, but it's called a roll. it's definitely a roll if you do it mexican. <BR> <BR>as for spending time with a real coach, that's definitely worthwhile (i went to the spot for a week and had a great time), it's not necessary. but i would pick up a copy of higher education and dentention on dvd. <i>those</i> are a must. i find them invaluable aids when going after a new trick. i've watched both countless times. <BR> <BR>it's cool that you don't let being taller and bigger stop you. in my experience it's definitely harder for bigger guys (this is one of the few sports that makes me not mind being small - 5'8" 170lbs - unlike when i play ice-hockey!). but there's plenty of big guys rippin' it up (check out jason buffalo). so props to ya and keep at it!