Snowboarding
Get to grips with snowboard grabs at a glance
Do you confuse your Starfish with your Lien, or Crails with Indies? Not any more, thanks to our handy guide.
Be honest, can you correctly name the 10 commonest snowboard grabs when you see them in a video?
Don't worry, often we can't either. That's why we dug out this highly useful infographic for trick theorists to get their heads around all the variations of grabs.
Study the infographic below, get your grab game on point and be prepared for a pop quiz.
Understanding snowboarding grabs
© imgur.com
When Am I Ready for Grabs?
Want to know the easiest way to get ready for grabs? Get on a trampoline. These snowboarding tricks require a lot of coordination. You'll want to make sure that you can connect your brain to your feet and hands and pay attention to what all of your body parts are doing.
You also need to get super comfortable with straight airs before trying grabs. Make sure you can land solidly after getting some air. If your legs still feel a bit like jelly and your heart still skips a beat every time you get some air, you're not ready for grabs. Start with some basic tricks and easy grabs at first, and then work your way up to those more advanced grabs named after food.
Basic Tips for Snowboarding Grabs
Whether you're at a resort or out in the backcountry, grabs are a great way to spice up your riding and impress your friends. Here are some basic tips for mastering various kinds of snowboarding grabs:
- Make sure you're completely down with the basics.
- Start with flatland tricks and jibbing.
- Master controlled pops, ollies, nollies, butters, and spins.
- Consider learning from a freestyle coach.
- Again, get on a trampoline.
- Find a freestyle park for practicing.
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Beginner Grabs
If you're new to snowboarding but have mastered the slopes and are ready for some more excitement, start with these beginner grabs:
Mute Grab
When performing a mute grab, your leading hand grabs the toe edge between the bindings.
Melon
Your front hand grabs the heel edge of the board between the bindings to do a Melon Grab.
Indy
To do an Indy, flip the Melon around and grab the toe edge between the bindings with your rear hand.
Tindy
For a Tindy, scooch the Indy Grab back a little and grab the toe edge between the binding and the tail with your rear hand.
Intermediate Grabs
Feeling good with those beginner grabs and ready for more? Then it's time to take on these intermediate grabs:
Nose Grab
Don't overthink this one. With a nose grab, you grab the nose of the board. Perform this grab with your front hand, and bend your front leg.
Lien
For a Lien Grab, use your front hand to grab the heel edge between the binding and the nose of the board.
Tail
Another obviously named trick, the tail grab has you grab your board's tail with your rear hand.
Tailfish
For a Tailfish, grab the heel edge between the binding and the tail of the board with your rear hand.
Stalefish
Grab the heel edge of the board between the bindings with your rear hand to do a Stalefish.
Advanced Grabs
If you've mastered the beginner and intermediate grabs and you're still craving more, then it's time to move on to the advanced and pro grabs. Don't take these lightly. It takes an experienced snowboarder to do these successfully, so don't try to nail them before you're ready.
Before you try them out on the snow, make sure to test them out on the trampoline. This way, they'll become second nature by the time you're ready to get back to the slopes.
Check out these advanced grabs:
Method
A method grab is like a Melon with a little added backbend and a Shifty (which is where you rotate your board 90 degrees in the air and then rotate it back for the landing). Grab the board on the heel edge with your front hand between your feet. Then, tweak the board up behind you and arch your hips forward. Finally, twist in the air to do a Backside Shifty. Don't try this grab until you've mastered a grabless Shifty.
Slob
A Slob is the same thing as a mute grab except that your back leg is boned. It's a frontside mute grab, so you're grabbing the same part of the board, but you're rotating backward.
Seatbelt
For this move, grab the toe edge between the binding and the tail with your front hand to make it look like your leading arm is a seatbelt across your body. Get it?
Crail
To do a Crail, grab the toe edge near your front foot between the binding and the nose with your rear hand. The rear leg should be boned.
Roast Beef
For a Roast Beef Grab, your rear hand reaches through your legs and grabs the heel edge between the board's bindings. You can bone out your back leg to add some style.
Chicken Salad
Do a Chicken Salad Grab with your front hand reaching between your legs and grabbing the heel edge between your feet. Your front leg should be boned, and your wrist should be turned 180 degrees inward.
Canadian Bacon
Yeah, we're getting hungry, too. For a Canadian Bacon, grab the toe edge with your rear hand while reaching through your legs from behind your rear leg. Do this with a Frontside Shifty to make it look a little more exciting.
Cannonball/UFO
To do a Cannonball (also called a UFO), grab the nose and the tail of your board simultaneously. This is typically called a Lemon or Lime when the board is vertical. Pros will sometimes add a backflip to this move to make it even more impressive.
Taipan
When performing a Taipan, your front hand grabs the toe edge between the bindings while reaching between your legs.
Mindy
Grab the toe edge between the bindings with your knees bent forward for a Mindy Grab.
Rocket Air
Grab the board's nose with both hands and get ready for blastoff during a Rocket Air Grab. For this move, pull up your front leg and bone your rear leg.
Cross Rocket
Spice up the Rocket Air a bit by grabbing the nose with both hands while your arms are crossed.
Super Mindy
Is the Mindy not cutting it for you? Grab the toe edge outside of the bindings with both hands for a Super Mindy.
Squirrel
To perform a Squirrel Grab, both hands grab the heel edge outside of the bindings while bending back. When you do this correctly, your arms should be spread out. This is probably why the grab is sometimes called the Flying Squirrel.
Bloody Dracula
In a Bloody Dracula Grab, point the board's nose down and grab the tail with both hands. You should do a tail grab with your rear hand and reach behind your back with your front hand. Try to land it well so that you don't actually end up bloody.
The pros make snowboarding grabs look super easy, but if you haven't taken the time to train and get your body ready for these movements, you're going to get a face full of icy powder. Training right from the start could land you in a sweet amateur competition someday. Take the time to master the basics, and then build your way up to pro status and shock your friends.
