Skimboarding Tricks: Backside (BS) shuvit

How To Do A Backside Shuvit Trick Tips

A Backside shuvit is probably one of the first really cool tricks that you are going to learn. A Shuvit is where you jump into the air without spinning, and the skimboard rotates 180 degrees underneath you. Backside in this case means that the back of the board is going to rotate towards your back.

 To do a backside shuvit, bend your knees slightly and then jump into the air. As you jump, start to rotate the board in a backside rotation with your back foot. Keep an eye on the board while it spins around, and you are in the air. When you see that it has completed 180 degrees, catch it with your feet. This means put your feet down on the board, with your front foot near the middle of the board, and your back foot near the tail. Bend your knees when you land to absorb the shock. Keep your balance and ride away.

Tips

Be smooth
You don’t have to shove the board very hard to get it around 180 degrees. Stay over the board Make sure to stay over the top of the board. You need to keep your center of gravity right over the top of the board. Don’t shove the board out from under you, just spin it.

Foot Placement
Put your back foot as far back on the board as you can. This will make it easier to spin the board. Your back foot will be doing all the work.

Bend your knees
Bending your knees will help you keep your center of gravity lower and make it easier to keep your balance. It will also make for better smoother landings.

Getting Pop
Once you get the shuvit down, you can start to pop it. You should probably have your ollies down, however, popping a shuvit seems to be a bit easier than a straight ollie. You can also pop a shuvit in much shallower water than you can do a straight ollie in. To get more pop, make sure that you really bend your knees and also jump. To get some pop in your 360 shuvit, you are going to need to push down on the back of the board while simultaneously "shuving" it. Here is the deal though, while learning to get some pop, don't focus much on "popping" the board. Focus on bending your knees and then exploding into the air. What you will find is the board will naturally follow you into the air. As you get a feel for this, you can then begin to focus on getting more pop by "popping" that back foot harder. (See the ollie tutorial for more discussion on "popping" the board.)