Not that i will be able to try one untill spring now, but i want to try to learn a backroll next season. How hard is it to learn? I think it would take a lot for me to get the nerve to attempt it. I can just see myself landing upside down on my head and that cant be fun at all.

I am getting pretty close to landing one and a 360. The 360 fall hurts way more than the back roll from my experiance. Trust me I have falling a lot doing both of these. Go for it. Water is soft!

I have never gotten hurt trying a backroll and neither have any of my friends. I landed on my board the first time I tried it and after that it took me about 3 sessions(about 20 tries) to get it. My biggest problem was that I was letting go of the handle, almost instinctively. Just make sure you have a good progressive edge into the wake and hold on to the handle and you will be fine, and whatever you do DON'T try to initiate the flip by throwing your body weight. Let the wake and the board do all the work.

Its actually a very simple trick, just commit to it, hang on, and also its all in the cut to the wake! My first few were really sloppy and I did'nt see the landing but after a few you will fill more comfortable doing rolls then clearing the wake toeside!

So you hold your edge just like you are doing a normal wake jump? Then just keep your head on your lead shoulder and let the board go straight up or what? If you let the board go up will you just follow it or do you have to really try to roll? I dont get it i try to slow motion my dvd's but they are always regular and i am goofy so it makes it hard to follow. Is it just like a cart-wheel or what?

Its total cart wheel-ish. If you can try it off a diving board at a swimming pool, thats how I got the motion.

The thing that really made the difference for me learnig the roll was the handle position. When I pulled the handle close to my hips upon take off it just spun me around so much easier. The biggest problem I see with most people learning the roll is not cutting through the wake.

What do you suggest for a first invert attempt and which do you think is easier; a backroll or tantrum??

It depends on the person. If you have any trampoline experience a tantrum should feel easy. It is just a back flip. You just have to get the timing down. For me they were about equal as far as difficulty.

backroll is starting a good progressive edge, keeping the handle in, looking over your lead shoulder and you can thrust your hips into it, but don't push your hips into until you leave the wake. Make sure to pop off the top of the wake and keep your eyes open. <BR> <BR>Landing on your head doesn't hurt so bad, however coming up short repeatedly may bruise your hip, I had bruises on my lead hip for many weekends this summer.

Its not that hard of a trick, but it took me about 200 tries.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> Oh ya it was on a low pole with no weight in the boat. You want to go in to the wake with a progressive edge and at the top of the wake you want to have your board on its edge all the way. As you release from the wake look over your front shoulder and up away from the boat. take the tip of the board and throw it up and away from the boat. Keep your arms in and bent if you let them out it will slow the rotation down. when you get ready to land try to kinda sit down and absorb the landing. (If you were to look at the way a rocker rocks back and forth thats exactly how you want to throw it off the wake) If you edge proper and release from the wake it will just all fall in to place most of it is the edge and release. Good luck oh ya have fun.

Ok, do you just hit the wake and stand tall, and wait untill you are in the air then start rotating? It seems like it would go smoother if you just hit the wake and leaned into it right off the wake.......I dont know it just all seems weird to me maybe i just need to try it and see what happens?

you said it best yourself my man.......just do it. Getting past the first attempt or two and realizing the falls arent that bad will build your confidence and you can get past any issues you have landing it from there. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.wakecoupons.com" target="_blank">www.wakecoupons.com</a>

Cool thanks. The thing that sucks is my wake is all washed out because it is a 26' searay with an I/O and it isnt all that big, but i do have a skylon tower. The wake wont limit me from doing inverts will it?

The way I explain it to some ive taught is to edge hard throught the wake. I tell them that they should throw their head and board as they are cutting through the wake. It should be like your board hit a banana peel as you are cutting through it. It seems that the two hardest things are being patient - not trying to throw it to early and to keep the handle to your hips. Some people spin around easier if they leave the handle out just a bit and pull it in hard as they are starting their rotation. One thing that has helped my landings on the roll is to let go with back hand when Ive almost rotated all the way around. It seems to stand me up more so I dont butt check. Dont begin your cut too far out because you will have a tendency to flatten out and not edge through the wake. If you make a smaller cut you will find yourself wanting to edge harder all the way through. Hope this helps

Chris, I learned them behind a 17.5 i/o. You're going to come up short a bit more often behind an i/o but it really teaches you how to rotate. For washed out, trying playing with your trim, when my wake is washed it's always a combination of weight and trim, and weight more often than not is people vs other ballast.

This is my first year riding and i got the backroll after 7 attempts. Once you get the nerve to do it its easy. I wasn't landing them consistently until I remembered to hold the rope in close so that i spin easier and made sure that i looked at the shoreline when i landed.

Chris, don't blame it on the boat you can throw these behing PWC's. Load the line, when riding up the wake - try to think of it as cutting away from the boat, Da HUI and Squid give great instruction take it from there!