The 180° ollie is the natural thing to learn after your basic ollie. I didn’t really realise this until recently so I’ve spent a long time learning to kickflip instead. However, having discovered the 180° ollie I’ve spent a lot of time practicing this.

The trick seems self-explanatory but is more accurately described if split into frontside and backside 180° ollies. The direction of the 180° turn has such a big effect on how the trick is executed as to make these basically completely separate tricks. A frontside ollie involves turning your front to the direction of travel (and then continuing the spin). For me, as a goofy footed individual, this means turning to the right. You turn the opposite way for a backside ollie.

Unlike the other tricks I have learnt so far, I believe it is best to start learning both of the 180° ollie variations on the move. It is also far easier in my experience to have a small obstacle to ollie up and onto. A kerb is perfect. You will know straight away which direction you feel more comfortable turning in – probably backside. A backside ollie is far, far easier than a frontside ollie.

Before you try this, if you need more help with your normal ollie please check out the article about ollies.

Backside Ollie
You may know that I used the nosestall as an intermediary step towards learning to ollie on the move. In the case of a 180° ollie, I used the axle stall…

Air to Fakie involves turning 180 degrees in the air and then riding backwards after the turn. This Snowboarding Trick is a great way of preparing yourself to get used to moving on air. This will also give you a basic idea of what it feels like to do aerial maneuvers. In this section, learn how to perform an Air to Fakie:

1. Find a gentle slope with as little human traffic as possible. Start riding straight downhill on moderate speed.

2. To initiate the turn, twist your hips and shoulders towards the direction of the spin. Crouch down and remember to shift your weight on your back foot.

3. Lift your board – nose first and then the tail. Try to maintain your balance while doing this.

4. Jump and turn 180 degrees.

5. After the turn, land both feet at the same time. This is to divide the impact and lessen the chance of slipping when you land.

6. Ride fakie after the turn. Repeat the steps and keep on practicing until you get comfortable in turning in midair and riding backwards.

Air to Fakie is one of the Snowboarding Tricks that you must know should you wish to try other aerial stunts. This is a good exercise to fine-tune your movements and make yourself comfortable in doing spins on the air. With enough practice and determination to learn, you will eventually manage to perform other advanced tricks.

WHIPPING IS FASTER
“Back in the day, riders used to whip it just to showboat at the end of a good race, but these days, we scrub the jumps more for speed than anything. I think freestylers and racers alike have an incredible level of respect for a good, solid whip, though, because it’s a beautiful thing to look at.

“In racing, when you whip your bike, you stay a lot lower and you get back down on the ground faster, and the quicker you get to the ground, the quicker you can get back on the gas. You definitely have to hit jumps faster than normal when whipping, because you lose a lot of kick off of the lip, so to make up for having less air, you have to go faster in order to clear the jump.

REPOSITION YOURSELF
“Not only do you stay lower in the air, but whipping is also a great way to reposition yourself on the track. Most of the time when we’re whipping or scrubbing, our line points completely off the track. If you know how to throw your bike sideways once airborne, you can control both where you leave the ground and where you land.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE LEAN
“As I leave the face, I’d say that it’s definitely more of a lean than a turn. I prefer to be standing up on my whips, but you can do them sitting down. I lean way back, and the direction of the bike is pointed towards the side of the jump rather than the landing. The front wheel is angling away, towards the side of the bike that will be most upward in the whip.

1. As you jump, try to pull the bars into your lap without taking your hands off. This is just to get the feel of where your bike needs to be in order to take your hands off. You want your bike as straight up and down as you can get it, so throw the bike into your lap and lean forward.

2. Once you start to feel comfortable, try taking your hands off as soon as your bars get into your lap. Remember, you have to do it like you mean it, so throw the bars into your lap with force.

3. When your hands come off, you’ll want to lean forward as far as you can. This keeps your bars straight and it makes it easier to get the bike level when you want to land. It also makes the no-hander look better.

4. You want to hold your hands off for as long as possible. As you start to come down, stay leaned forward and grab the bars. Stay leaned forward so you don’t loop out, and push your bars out to level off.

5. Hopefully your hands are back on your bars by now. If not, you should really think about getting an aspirin or two. If your grips are in your hands then you’ve pretty much pulled a tuck no-hander. Just make sure you clear whatever you’re jumping and ride away, because we all know that’s what BMX is about.

6. When the bike is completely vertical and your hands are off, some people like to pinch the frame with their knees. Pinching will help to hold the bike in place if you’re not confident with the bike just sitting in your lap. It will also help if you’re doing this trick over a hip or on a quarterpipe.

Once you have learned to consistently complete basic maneuvers in surfing you can expand your horizons by learning new maneuvers, such as the frontside air reverse. Air reverses are my favourite move in surfing, and are also one of the hardest to learn. They involve a 270-degree rotation in the air to a backwards landing where your fins will catch and spin you into a full 360.

1. When dropping into the wave, you need to stay between the middle and the top of the wave to gain as much speed as possible. Speed and timing are the most important things for this trick. Look ahead for a steep section that is just about to break. It is easiest to do this trick on a closeout, but you can do them on steep open-faced waves too.

2. When you find the section approach it the same way you would a frontside straight air. From the middle of the wave bottom turn up the face gradually, projecting your board at a 30 to 45 degree angle off of the curling lip. Make sure to conserve your speed through the bottom turn. Keep your eyes focused on the part of the lip you are about to launch off. Stay low through your bottom turn, and aim for the steepest part of the lip.

3. Just before you leave the lip your shoulders and upper body should be twisting into the spin. This will initiate your spin, and put you in a good position while in the air. Follow your back foot, through the air as you push the tail of your board towards the beach. While pushing on your tail be sure that your body is centred over your board, and your centre of gravity is low.