The BEST way to practice the barrel without killing yourself on the mountain first is to practice on a trampoline. Practice your rotation only with yourself and your body. Make sure that when you are midway in the air (upside down) you are looking at the ground to position your landing, make sure that when you are midway in the air. This is crucial for detecting where it will land by looking at the middle of its rotation.

Do not hold the board at your feet and get on the trampoline. Your goal is to get high enough to flip, rotate, and generally land in the same position. On the mountain you don’t want to turn around and move 5 feet to the left or right. You want to stay focused and maintain as much balance as possible outside of the throw. Once the rotation is down, the rest will be smooth.

Now, on the mountain, obviously, this is MUCH different than jumping on a trampoline. This move is more aimed at advanced snowboarders who have very good handling of their riding. If you are just starting out I would NOT suggest this trick, if done incorrectly it can be very risky and maybe fatal. I’ve fallen MANY times perfecting the barrel roll and I’m telling you, it doesn’t tickle! The snow is soft but it won’t hit it from 12 feet in the air!

Once you’ve flipped down on the ground or the diving board … you’re ready to kill the barrel. Here’s the breakdown … Approach your kicker with a little more speed than usual to completely CLEAN the plane from your space. You do NOT want to land in the middle of the jump you want to get away by landing softly on the landing. I suggest you hover over your desired kicker a couple of times to get good judgment and an idea of ​​speed. THEN …..

Approach the jump with enough speed to clear the landing, when you get close to the lip … keep your knees bent and the moment your nose breaks your lip jump into the air and push as hard as you can from the kicker. The KEY is right here … PLACE YOUR KNEES on your chest for a GOOD rotation. Now you have a board tied to your feet PLUS all your clothes and boots and it adds weight and takes a bit of rotational speed on your flip.

So make sure you SNAP the rotation quickly while at the same time … in the middle of the rotation look at the ground and find your place. ONLY Unfold when you have completed approximately 270 rotations. If you do it earlier, you could be rolling in your stomach … not good. So LIP JUMP … TUCK Knees to Chest … Turn Halfway and Look Down to Land … Unhook about 270 rotations and land BOTH feet at once. Don’t land on a manual, sometimes that is hard to handle.