Nose and tail rolls

How do you switch from riding Fakie to riding regular? Many times when landing we end up riding Fakie and you may wish to revert back to riding regular. There are many ways to do this but some ways, such as nose and tail rolls, are a little more stylish than other ways.

A nose and tail roll is an fancy way to quickly change your riding direction while looking very good on the slopes. Nose and tail rolls use a pivot point to allow you to reverse you direction instead of the board slide method you may be more used to. Of course the pivot point is either the nose or tail of your snowboard depending upon your current direction of travel.

Nose and tail rolls are similar to a wheelie so it only makes sense that you have some practice and skill at being able to wheelie. A wheelie is easy to learn how to do. Begin by riding down a gentle slope and raise you front foot up into the air. This action will raise the nose of your snowboard off the ground thus leaving you wheeling on just the rear of your snowboard. In order to perform a roll you will need to be able to wheelie fairly well so make sure you are very proficient at it.

A nose roll may be the easiest to try first. As you are riding down a gentle slope, straighten your front leg and do a mild nose wheelie by raising your rear foot and thus tail off the snowboard off the slope. Once the rear of your snowboard has cleared the slope twist your hips to begin to turn the snowboard 180'. The pivot point for this turn will be the point where the nose of your snowboard is contacting the slope. Once you have rotated 180' you can relax your legs and set your snowboard back down on the slope. A tail roll is done the same way but you raise your front foot instead of your rear foot.

A nose or tail roll isn't all that hard to do as long as you can maintain your balance. This technique allows you to change how you are riding much faster than you could any other way. Since it allows you to react to what is happening so quickly a nose or tail roll is very suited to freestyle riding. Be sure to practice this in order to improve your skill and look on the slopes.

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