When grabs Become "Moves" or "tricks"

After last weeks thread on Stalefish grabs and this weeks thread on Nuclear grabs I got into a very long discussion with a few riders at a local board shop about how some grabs when done right are more than grabs, they are moves. These two young bucks that I was chatting with did not agree with me at all, they thought that grabs enhance visual appeal of wakeboarding but are not actually a move by themselves. So this conversation leads to this post.

I think we can all agree that everyone’s favorite the Method, a move not a grab (the young bucks agreed as well). But what about some other grabs, with this new judging format there is a ton of emphasis on style. So I pose the question when is a grab a move and not just a grab? I would have to say that watching some riders, there are a lot more grabs that are moves moreso than just a grab. Take Rathys Stalefish pokes in Push Process, Randall’s Giant Tail Pokes in Transgression, or Lymans Crazy huge Melons. I would say they are all moves not grabs.

So do we judge this on difficulty or style, I prefer to think style over difficulty.

What does everyone else think? I would like to think that grabs like Indy pokes are moves not grabs, I know that I could do a backroll years before I could make an Indy poke look good.


anyway end rant begin discussion: