Kiteboarding: Back Roll Roast Beef Grab - Ride with Blake: s3 ep5

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The roast beef is arguably the best looking grab you can pair with a back roll, especially if you follow the tenets of style from our first video in this playlist. It might look like a difficult grab, but it’s actually really easy if you learn the muscle memory of the grab first. This is a trick you can master hooked in and cross over to your unhooked riding if you really want to up your game. The secret to making this trick look good is keeping the kite low and letting it pull you through the trick while you tweak and poke your board.

We recommend you download the attached PDF on your phone. Check it before your next session!

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This is the fifth video in our How to Jump with Style Playlist. Our last kiteboarding tutorial covered the Front Roll Stalefish. While this trick is a little more difficult, it’s one an experienced kiteboarder can learn in about 4 sessions if you focus on the steps. Like our last video, we recommend incorporating an off-axis roll to make this trick easier. Inverting on this one will take a lot of work and may not add all that much to the trick. The focus of this series is to stuff your bag full of easier, stylish tricks that you can do in all conditions.

The most basic form of the kiteboarding back roll

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Step One - Back Rolls

If you want to learn this, it goes without saying you must master your back rolls. Do them sent, do them just popping, do them with the kite high, do them with it low. More importantly, you can start working on your form on this step. Practice tucking your front knee hard into your chest every back roll. This will take some getting used to and it may feel awkward at first. Do it anyway; you’re building muscle memory to add the grab later. Another key habit to get going on this step is to practice pulling on your front hand. You want to dive the kite forward so that it pulls you through the roll. Doing these two things are setting up the body position needed to actually do the whole trick, and part of what will make it look good later when you start adding the actual grab.

Tips

• Keep front hand pressure
• Dive the kite and let the kite pull you through the roll
• Tuck your front knee hard

Bring that front knee in hard

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Step Two - Remove your Back Hand

This is just an extension of step one. Practice all the recommended tips, but start reaching for the board. You don’t actually have to grab. The point of this step is to teach you how to control the kite with one hand while rotating. Focus on the control bar and make sure that kite stays low. If you practiced good form in step one, the goal is to maintain that form on step two.

Progressively, over time, start bringing your knee close to your chest and getting your back hand closer to the board. Good form and getting the muscle memory is paramount on this step. Depending on how proficient your back rolls are, you may want to spend a couple sessions really working on perfecting this step.

Tips

• Start tucking your knee all the way into your chest
• Progressively get your back hand closer to the board
• You don’t have to reach for the roast beef grab

Reach though your legs

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Step Three - Learn the Grab

Rather than learning this grab while rotating, you’ll want to get comfortable just sending the kite and going for it.

The trick is to bring your front knee as close to your chest as possible. Now reach your back hand through your legs and grab the heel side edge of your board. You might notice the pattern from the first two steps. Remember: don’t reach but bring the board to you. At first you just want to get the grab. As you progress, make sure you start straightening your back leg as much as possible. This is what will bring the board even with your head when you start rotating with this grab.

Tips

• Keep your front knee tucked
• Don’t reach; bring your legs up
• Straighten the back leg a lot

The most stylish form of the back roll

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Step Four - Bring it Together

Now it’s time to bring the two together. Send the kite, pop and do the back roll you’ve been practicing. As you come around, bring that front knee into your chest and bring the heelside edge of the board right into your back hand. This step should feel natural if you put the work in and practiced the correct form earlier, and if you are really comfortable with the grab.

Remember to start reaching as soon as you pop and bring your front knee in. If you’re having a hard time making the grab, it’s because you’re not tucking the front knee enough. You really need to connect the leg and knee into your torso. Of all the tricks we’ve covered, you’ll want to get the kite low and poke your back leg on this one. Doing so will completely change the trick and it honestly makes it look epic.

Like all the tricks in this jump with style playlist, remember to practice the tenets from our first video along the way.

The Five Tenets of Style

• Keep the Kite Low
• Tweak it Out
• Off-Axis Rotations
• Add Grabs
• Land with Power.

We hope you find this video helpful. Make sure to to check out the whole playlist so you can take your riding to the next level this year.

-Rygo

-Written and produced by Blake Olsen & Ryan (Rygo) Goloversic.

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Blake Olsen

A Michigan boy through and through (even though he was born in Saudi Arabia), Blake is a youth with a lifetime of experiences and adventures. Not only that, he's passionate about sharing his zest for life with others. He is proficient at many fields, including kiteboarding and acting as concierge to any who simply ask. Looking for an adventure? Well, Blake is your guy. From sailing the Gulf and the Caribbean to backpacking Hawaii and Southeast Asia, he knows his stuff and can make your vacation into an adventure.

Webpage: BlakeTheOlsen.com

Instagram: @BlakeTheOlsen

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Ryan (Rygo) Goloversic

Just a dude from a kite shop testing all the gear one session at a time.

Many people dream of quitting their job, traveling the world and pursuing their passions. Rygo is one of those people who pulled the trigger. About eight years into a postal career, he decided to change everything and travel as a freelance videographer & writer. This took him from coast to coast and a variety of countries. Nowadays you can catch him on the phones, doing lessons, or working on videos. Of course, he still makes a point to travel as often as possible. His mission is to help people and share the stoke with his customers and students alike. Get out there and kiteboard.

#Instagram

Producer of: Ride with Blake I Sessions I Versus I Destinations I Foil Friday

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