I pulled the Fall 2012 cover of TransWorld WAKEBOARDING with a tuck knee grab off the kicker. I tweaked that move so hard that I almost got my knee to the board. Now, you may not go to that level on your lake, but you can have a lot of fun with tuck knee tricks, especially when you can work them into a spin or a flip. Follow these five tips and you’ll add this stylish option to your tricks in no time. — Trever Maur, Axis Boats team rider
Stay Grounded
Before I ever tried one on water, I first practiced tuck knees on the ground so I could get the movement down without the consequences. The key to mastering the tuck knee movement is to get your front knee bent out toward the nose of your board. That will create space to let your back knee tuck down into the middle of the board.
Take It To The Tramp
After you’ve worked out the movement on dry land, your next step is to take your tuck knee to the trampoline. That way, you can practice getting the grab time after time and save yourself a lot of crashes on the water. It’s best to use one of the trampoline boards with bindings so the movement is similar to what it will be on the water.
Focus On Your Front Foot
The secret to getting the tuck knee grab is to try and grab your front foot. I’ve found that if you try to reach for the middle of your board you’ll grab your back foot, which is terrible style. Instead, I always think about grabbing my front foot, which makes me grab between my boots.
Loosen up
When I’m doing tuck knee moves, I loosen my boots a ton. As a result, my whole foot can actually roll over like I’m on a skateboard where my feet are more free. You can do the tuck knee to whatever degree you want by loosening your boots as much as you feel comfortable.
Get Consistent
Start small then try to tweak your tuck knee a little more every time. In order to get consistent, you need wakes that are so predictable that you never have to think about them. My Axis A20’s wake is ridiculously consistent in any conditions, so I can practice the trick over and over again with the exact same kick and landing every time.
Cab it
Try you tuck knee as a regular heelside grab first, but then I would suggest trying it with a half cab. There’s something about a cab that makes the tuck knee a little easier to get off axis and keep the nose down, which looks a lot better.
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