Mental block, or lack of testicles!?!?!?!?

I have been wakeboarding for about a year now. I have picked it up pretty well, can do heelside 1's and 3's, and have good progressive edging and pop. It is now time for me to step it up and learn some tricks now that i have the basics. The problem is, I seem to have this HUGE mental block about going upside down. I can go over and over it in my head, and be so ready to try, but when I get behind the boat, I totally freak, and wont try a trick. I have tried back rolls about 8 times, and got along with it pretty good, just wasnt edging all the way through the wake, and it NEVER hurt when I fell. But now I am too scared to try it again fr some reason. I get behind the boat and just jump back and froth trying to make myself try it, adn then get back in the boat pissed when I ride a whole set and dont try anything. I think I am beginning to become the posterchild for POSERS. I have the setup and basics, now I just need some tricks to go along with it. If anyone else has, or has had, this problem, please let me know how you got over it, because I am ready to learn something new, becasue it is such a cool feeling when you do. Let me know guys, is my taco hurting or what??

dude i know exactly how ya feel...well sumwhat how ya feel. i've been wakeboardin for bout a year too and can do all da basics pretty much w/ the exception of a couple. i have yet 2 try a backroll but plan to try one by the end of the summer. i used 2 have the same problem about tryin new stuff but im pretty much over it. just try not to think about n e thing else. dont even think about doin the trick. just cut out as hard as u can and cut back into the wake w/ not a damn thing on ur mind and go for it. if it hurts, well no pain no gain and if it dont then try it again and who knows it could b the time ya land it.

hey c-note give you props i do tantums and t/s backrolls but for some strange reason dont have the cojunes to try a backroll. I think it was a post I read on this site about a year and a half ago where some guy was trying a backroll and it went wrong to the point that he had to have a pin in his leg ,since then BIG mental block on the ole backroll.

I am totally with you guys on the backroll! It took me a long time to throw that one. I was doing tantrums, heelside front flips, and toeside backrolls consistantly, however, the backroll gave me nightmares of landing nose first or something like that. Now everytime I try something new I take half a cut at the wake and try the trick one wake. You still need to pop good though! I did this with the backroll and the backroll to revert and it worked great. I just kept taking it bigger and bigger until it was wake to wake. If you just throw it once you will feel 100% more confident for future attempts and besides, if you never throw it you'll never land it!

what! it took me a long time to learn a back roll and i have taken tons of falls and trust me when i say it dose not hurt as bad as you think.
just go for it and i promise you will be so stoked that it dident hurt the frist time you will try them the rest of the day.

Try going upside down on a trampoline. Then add a rope into the mix. You'd be surprised how much it helps.

Get your biggest ass of a friend to call you every name for sissy there is, from the boat. Nothing works better than someone challenging your manhood to get you to do something you wouldnt normally do. Anyways, works for me. A few beers doesnt hurt either.

what really works is to get a chick in the boat to call you names. Try 'em off the skate too. it's really fun.

The girl thing works, just make sure she's hot! The backroll just isn't a natural movement. The others that chase mentioned are kinda like a back flip or cartwheel which anyone has done on land. You just have to do it...you'll learn that it doesn't hurt...well not like screwing up a raily. Once you get over the mental block of just trying it, then you can start working on technique. But what ever you do, do it at the beginning of the season. I don't know how many times I've tried a new trick the last set of the year, and thought about it all winter.

You're willing to take a bullet on the job but lack the testicles to rip an invert? I don't get it? You run a higher risk every day on the job....

Forget about getting hurt, that can happen going wake to wake anytime just warm up and stretch out before you ride. I have a routine where I carve and squat low both sides of the wake front and switch to get the legs pumped.

Get on the trampoline with a rope and do a sidewayz flip pretending the wake is there. The more flips you do on a tramp the better.
Edge all the way into the wake and right at the top of the wake stand tall and throw the board out the back while thrusting your uppper torso to the right(if you're coming from the right side). KEEP THE ROPE IN TIGHT to your waste (two hands) and tuck slightly that should help you rotate quicker and more compact. You've got it.

If you're tired of trying the backroll, try a tantrum. Square your heels right at the wake on approach, but don't lose speed, and throw your feet over your head while tucking slightly. The tramp will help you get the feeling of when you need to poke the landing. "Let the wake trip you" is what a lot of folks say.

Charge!

You know what, when you do new tricks, they usually happen so fast that you don't have to think about it. To repump myself up for tricks that I have been hurt on before (or new tricks) I just go over the approach a few times on the water, then visualize how good it would feel to actually land that trick, then go for it. It works better when you think less.

IT DOESNT HURT AT ALL TO TRY FLIPS!!!!

IVE TRIED EM AND IT DONT HURT AT ALL!!!

MY FRIENDS THAT ONLY WENT OUT 2 TIMES TRIED EM AND LANDED ON THEIR HEADS AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY!!!

I finally tried my first backroll this weekend. I was too chicken to try. Then I just said the heck with it and tried. almost got it on the fourth attempt. got my bell rung so i went in. just came up a bit short. It was like catching an edge trying your first butter slide. smarts for a bit, then goes away. I'll certainly be tryin it every time I go out from now on. just go for it!

I tried my first back roll, failed miserably. They said i looked like a chopper. Upside down and spinning.

Somethimes the closer you get to landing, the more it hurts!!

i definatly understand adout the backrole thing. ive never had the guts. i dont have much of a problem trying front flips though (even if i have a very slim chance of pulling them off) there is just something about goin upside down backwards.
i have a trampoline(its pretty much broken now cause kept jumping from the roof to the tramp, u all have to try that) and cant do a backflip but can do all the front flips in the world, if u guys got any tips let me know

FOR ME IT IS MORE MENTALLY HARD FLIPPING ON MY TRAMP I ALWAYS THINK SOMETHING WIIL GO WRONG AND I WILL GET KICKED OF THE SIDE. HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THIS FEELING.

get a couple of hot girls in the boat and ull try it. ive tried a backroll prolly 5 times still havent came close to landing it but with a little encouragment u will try.

Dude see if you can borrow a helmet it could make all the difference mentally cause half the block is a subconsious fear of landing on your head or it might just give you that little bit more confidence wearing one to give the backroll a nudge

Stellar Vid Chris.

Wrong post - sorry guys.

wow... i cant imagine riding for a year without trying it... ive been riding less than two weeks and threw a backroll yesterday.... the board landed on the water, but I still dont have enough skill to ride great, so the recovery didnt happen... my coaches were pissed that i tried it, so i didnt throw another one up. get to jumping on the trampoline, or pick another invert to try... i think the toeside backroll will be much easier for me because i am very natural with backflips and all you do is toss your head back... way easier to spot your landing... i plan on landing at least one of each by the end of march... besides... when you are riding with people way better than you, it gives you motivation to not be the sucky guy anymore...

Ok, I have 2 ways that help motivate you to do the HS backroll or whatever trick you want.
1) Tell your friends this... "If I don't try it, I give you all permission to kick me in the nuts one time." Make them swear they will do it, or you are not going to board. Trust me, they will swear to it.
2) Are you religious? If so, before you make your cut out to attempt your trick say this. "God I swear on this attempt I am going to try my trick. I swear." Now I don't know about you, but when I say that, it really makes me wanna atleast try. You gotta hate to piss the big guy off.
Good luck!

P.S. The girl in the boat always does wonders. I strongly suggest that one too.

(Message edited by dunk11 on March 11, 2004)

CBrown (powdrhound)said it best, i fell when i first started trying Backrolls and the board hit me in the head, eight staples later i bought a helmet. Now im comfertable do most every thing. Its just a piece of mind.

when i started boarding just over a year ago, i knocked my self out, concused for a bit.

since then i had a huge mental block (the only good side to this was that my grabs got really smooth, and got some sweet pokes in there)

I was landing 3's all of last summer, (still to try one again this year)

i'm also trying backrolls in the last few weeks, i've made about 8-9 attempts and today i landed on the board. it may seem like its gonna be painful, but diggin the nose in doesn't hurt that much, and i'm a real pussy when it comes down to pain......(altho' i've got a real bruise leg, its only from repetitive crashing down, rather than one bad fall.

what i'm doing now to make myself try harder & committ, is the fact that i don't want to get to this summer, and have no new tricks to enjoy, if i was just gonna keep landing the same old moves, there's no satisafaction.

So, what i'd suggest, go out get someone in the boat to say, "so what you practising today?" and thats' all you need, cause then you have no choice cause you've said, i am tryin backrolls, like it or not!!!!

backrolls are gay anyways. learn something cool

kyle, altho i'm only just learning backrolls, they're pretty important to lead onto a whole load of other sweet moves

was jus thinking and mayb gettin into some lessons so itll give urself some more confidence if that is what u need

i found out what works for friends of mine with the same problem is just to make them go off the wake and purposly land on their head. if you can convince them to do that then nothin will seem that bad in their head and will try anything pretty much. it might sound crazy but can work. the problem is just convincing them to take the face plant.......

lol brian... nice method of teaching. i dont think i'd do that in case the person did get hurt. the person i'd be teaching would either be mad at me forever.... or they'd beat me up lol

I am surprised to hear how many people are afraid of the HS backroll. I have not landed one yet but am very close after many attempts and non of them have been too painful. You want pain try a Raley, your usually only good for 1 attempt per day on those and thats when you can work up the nerve to even try. I tried one the night before last and did the same thing as every other time, got fully extended and panicked and let go of the rope. I wouldnt suggest that approach you end up doing a front flip a mile in the air and crashing back down hard. Tantrums also scare the crap out of me after I tore my MCL on my third try at one last year, still havent worked up the nerve to give that another try. Bottom line is dont be afraid of the Backroll in my opinion it is the tamest trick to try as far as the crashes go. My attempts at 3's are even more painful than backroll crashes. Just go for it youll be pumped up after you try your first one.

Besides from the Raley, I have had more mental blocks and injuries from spinning than any time learning my backroll. I broke a rip in two places and pulled the cartlige (sp?) away from my sturnum (the most painful and longest to recover from) doing a HS BS 360. The backroll crashes are less than half of the rest, so go for it.

I have to agree with Jake on the Raleys. When I was first working on it, I could only get 1 attempt per day. Technically it is an easy trick, it is the mental part of it that is so hard. And you never let go of the rope! If you are going down, you go down with the handle! Otherwise your feet come over your head and you are crashing flat onto your back from 10-12 feet up. PAINFUL!

this is how i learned...
cut out as far as possible and then cut in as hard as possible hit the wake and pull on the handle to try a huge off axis 360. in the air actually try and land it even though you wont. Just through the handle and take the hard fall. After i did this i wasnt scared i almost got knocked out but im not a tiny bit scared. or you could do something else i did and do a 7 off a double up and smack your chin on your knee. well whatever you decide to do good luck

c-note, I have the same story, but this last week I changed all that. On our annual trip to Shaver lake I was able to nut up and attempt at least 25 backrolls. I wasent able to ride away with the handle on a single one, but at least Im trying. None of these hurt very much except the ones where I let go of the handle, in mid flip, and landed on my head. I think what helped was finally doing a back flip off a 12 foot rock. No kidding! I backflopped real bad about 10 yrs. ago and have never been able to attempt it again. Well not anymore. After getting that first one I was flipping off of every rock I could find. Anyway I was so stoked I just went for the backroll. Let me tell you the feeling of just getting over that fear and throwing that first one was worth it. Just do it you wont be sorry!!!!!!!

I had the lack of testicles problem too, I kept smacking my board when I was wiping out, and I was getting cut and bruised a lot. I went out and bought a helmet. I know that probably sounds like I'm a pansy, but I don't care. The ear flaps help a lot, and if a lack of anything else, it's helped me get over the confidence issue. I'm learning my new tricks with it, and once I have it down I feel comfortable without it. I've been able to try a lot bigger stuff without freaking myself out (as much).

i tried my first backroll over the weekend. on the first try i didnt even "roll". the second try the same thing except i landed stretched across the opposing wake & had the breath knocked out of me. that sucks, but i'm used to it now. then i decided i either have to give it 100% or keep getting banged up. the third try i made it all the way around, but the nose dug in on the landing. on the rest of the attempts the board would slide out! i'm dying to get back on the lake & stick one! remember--- if u commit to the trick, even if u dont land it, the crash wont hurt. when u bail on it you're screwed!

Now thats the kind of attitude I'm talking about. Good luck next time out.

thanks! i went out on sunday & threw @ 7 backrolls, but didnt stick any. i am getting closer though. on one try the board actually started tracking & i just fell backwards. i'm pretty darn close!!

my only advice that I could think of is to end the flip early in the air, and be able to spot your landing. maybe not though...I haven't landed one yet.

But i'd think that frotn rolls are easier, but that's just me.

i think you need to grow some balls and just keep trying it. i've never landed a backroll, but i've tried it a lot (behind an '88 bayliner pos) i just landed a hs 3 this summer and those falls hurt a lot worse that backrolls and tantrums

just make it a point of emphasis to fall i dont know it works for me

make it a point of emphasis to fall? dont u mean land it & ride off into the sunset?

when ur outside the wake and thinkning about it i just start edging in that way i don't talk myself out of it. also the hot chick in the boat always helps

i finally stuck a backroll yesterday!! it took me a second to realize i was actually riding away. man, it felt incredible!! i'm so stoked to get back out there. it was on my last run, i tried 2 more times & they were near misses. now i'm just gonna work on dialing 'em in.

i gotta agree, tryin any kind of spinning menuever hurts about 100x more than any invert, you dont have to worry about tripping your board perpendicular to the wake and gettin ya eyeballs knocked out of your head on a harsh faceplant, i jus landed my first tantrum the other day and aside from messin my knees up pretty good im fine...realy woulda helped if somone told me to trip them the first time...i spent 2 months trying to just pull a backflip offa the wake without trippin...

i dont know it makes me try harder

the o0nly time it hurts for me is when i case the wake and one of my edges catch and i just get pounded into, got the wind knocked out of me todfay and couldn't swim

I Got to get me some really hot girls, a some jerks in the boat. O ya and mabee a little more wake on my bayliner.

First time i went out with my buddy wakeboarding ever i told him "if i even get up ill try a backroll" well needless to say i got up on my first try & had to do it... really doesn't hurt like you would think landing on your head would... I've since landed it

At WSSR I started working on my backroll each time I went out. I had been scared of the continous nose pick I had been experiencing. Well I have not rode it out but I am just sliping out. It is close. I just had to block out the fear and huck it. I am sure there will be a nose pick here and there but I am not going to stop until I am consistant with them.

i'm more of a weekend-warrior here in the arabian gulf, and i almost landed a backroll on my first try... havent been out in a bit, but the trick is to do it last, have a great run, and tell yourself you're just gonna bust on one last trick, if you get hurt it'll look cool anyways, and if you land it, kudos... last trick = best trick.

and i was riding behind this pesky little 15 foot 'seagul' with about the wake of a pwc.. i was like "WHAaAA??"

the backroll is really the only trick i can do. i thought it was easy. im just scared to progress from here...