While travelling the USA last year I was lucky enough to meet the inventor of this trick Kent Hartshorn. While chatting to Kent I asked him why he called it the Roadkill. He told me straight that that’s how he felt after crashing a couple of times learning this trick.
Now this trick is not an easy one and can take longer to get your head around how it works than it takes to learn.
For a start you want to be comfortable taking off the wake backwards and landing backwards, and be able to do a backroll and front roll as this trick is a bit of all of them.
If you have mastered how to do an invert this trick will be easy for you.
Begin with a hard cut at the wake. When you reach the trough just before the wake, spin around 180 degrees and tuck the handle into your hip. Turn clockwise if you’re cutting to the left and turn counter-clockwise if you’re cutting to the right. Ride up the wake to the top of the lip. After you launch from the wake, and not before, throw your head down at your outside knee.
When you are upside down, bring the handle to the front of you but keep it at your waist. Also, at this point, you are basically doing a regular backroll. So, remember to straighten your back up and don’t be bent over at the waist.As you begin to come around to the upright position again, let go of your outside hand and pull the handle to your inside hip. This motion will spin you around. The motions needs to be very precise and quick. Once you land you will be facing backwards so remember to keep your weight over the nose of the board to stop the back of the board from digging in to the water.
If you do muck up at this point you will know how this trick was named – you to will feel like roadkill.
TIPS
• If, when you hit the wake backwards the board keeps coming off, you’re either not rotating around fully backwards or your not putting enough weight forward as you hit the wake.
• If you get lost in this trick which most do while learning video it so you can watch it back in slow motion and see where you keep going wrong.
If you need help with this trick or any other send us an email to kneeboardvic@hotmail.com
