STALLED INVERTS by Danny Wall. Photos: Alex Williams The original invert was dubbed the ‘ear scratcher invert’ where the rider’s board is inverted but their body isn’t. With the development of the move by the young Aussie crew and Tamega the move soon progressed to back breaking inverts pulled anywhere on the wave and on any sized wave. More recently, the move that I’ve seen pulled more and more on videos isn’t the fast twisted inverts but a more modern, slower, stalled invert by the likes of Rawlins and Skipper. The following steps describe how I do them. Step 1 For any sort of aerial manoeuvre speed is of the essence. So be sure to put in a solid bottom turn and angle your board flat on to the oncoming section. The most crucial part of this step is making sure that your timing is perfect to allow you to get slingshot outwards rather than being too late and getting an embarrassing lip to the bonce. Step 2 You should now be airborne and twisting your body in to the invert. Your head should be completely upside down and your arms should be twisting your board inverted. You should try to remember that the slower you get into this position, the more stylish it will look. Step 3 The next step is the hardest as you should now be in the invert position where your natural reaction is to pull your board back around for landing. Instead of this you should try and pause your body for a fraction of a second. This will allow you to keep getting more flight as your body is still pointing upwards. Step 4 As you feel your legs leave the wave you should begin to slowly bring your board back around yourself. If you have timed it right the lip should impact the flats just before you do so, breaking your fall. Step 5 Through out the landing it’s essential to hold on tight, brace your body so that you don’t head butt your board, then regain trim position as soon as possible. This will help you ride out of the move and ideally straight in to the next.   REVERSE AIRS how to complete the rotation before impact Photos: Alex Williams Like so many of today’s moves its pioneer was Mike Stewart, but more recently it’s been taken to the next level by that aerial freak Jeff Hubbard. The first man to consistently pull the whole spin in the air demonstrates his freakish ability in this sick sequence. Speed is more important to this move, if it is to be completed successfully, than almost any other. Look for a steep, wedging wave, preferably with a horse-shoeing air-section, which will give you the best possible chance at launching, and landing one. Shot 1 Hubb has already gone through about 50% of the fundamentals needed for the move; he’s bottom-turned, milking the wave for every ounce of speed, he’s eyed the spot that he wants to hit, and with impeccable timing he’s initiated the first part of the move. At this point Hubb is 100% committed to the move; his back is fully arched, and he is looking in the direction he wishes to spin. Shot 2 Due to his momentum and timing, Hubb’s been catapulted up and out of the lip. Many people in the same situation would end up doing an off-the-lip reverse, but it’s Hubb’s ability to ‘pop it’ and put vast amounts of air between him and the wave, that differentiates him from many of his peers. You’ll notice that his legs are crossed – making the move look more refined – and he is, after having completed 40% of the rotation, again looking in the direction in which he is spinning – keeping that momentum going. Shot 3 Whereas many air reverses are half completed in the air and half completed battling with the white-water, in this particular case Hubb’s determination has seen him complete 100% of the rotation in the air. It is almost as if he’s actively wrenched his board around mid-air to do this; the down side being the landing, check how heavy it is! It is worth noting that in the third shot Hubb’s legs are now uncrossed, helping him to stabilise his flight, and prepare for the landing by moving further down the board and eyeing-up a landing spot. Shot 4 It is difficult to see because of the white-water, but in the final shot you can just see how both his elbows and his body are positioned further down the board. By doing this Hubb is maximising his body’s ability to absorb the impact of the landing.