Snowboard trick progression

The short answer to how to do tricks on a snowboard: learn them in a fixed order, from the ground up. Ride switch, pop ollies and butter on easy groomed terrain first. Then try the smallest jumps and boxes in the park, and only add spins and grabs once your straight airs and slides are calm and repeatable. A qualified freestyle coach speeds up every stage.

The order matters because each skill feeds the next. A 180 lands switch, so it needs switch riding. A 360 needs clean 180s and straight airs. Rails need the flat, centered stance you learn from presses. We suggest this sequence:

Grabs and shifties slot in once straight airs feel routine (see below). Throughout the whole sequence, it helps to film your runs so you can review them with a friend or coach.

If you want to know how to ride park on a snowboard, start with the signs. NSAA’s ski safety site explains that US terrain parks are marked with an orange oval and that features are labeled by size: XS (extra small), S (small), M (medium), L (large) and XL (extra large). It adds that “XS parks are a great place to start” and that most ski areas have a small, entry-level progression area. Other countries and resorts can use different systems, so read the signs wherever you ride.

NSAA and Colorado Ski Country USA both teach the Park Smart messages:

• Start small: work your way up and build your skills.
• Make a plan: every feature, every time.
• Always look: before you drop.
• Respect: the features and other users.
• Take it easy: know your limits and land on your feet.

NSAA also advises riding through a park slowly first while you watch experienced riders, notes that most features can be ridden around, and asks riders to clear the landing quickly after a jump. A snug helmet with the strap done up belongs on every park lap, though NSAA is careful to say helmets can’t stop every injury.

Flatland tricks are the answer to how to start doing tricks on a snowboard without going near a jump. PSIA-AASI’s Freestyle Specialist Performance Guide, which sets out what freestyle instructors must demonstrate, lists ollies and nollies, butters and nose or tail presses among the entry-level snowboard tasks, alongside switch riding. That is a useful hint about where to begin.

• Switch riding. Riding with your other foot forward is the base for landing 180s and for riding away from many tricks. Our step-by-step switch guide starts on the gentlest slope you can find.
• Ollies and nollies. Popping off the tail or nose teaches you to create your own lift. See how to pop a snowboard off the tail.
• Butters and presses. Flexing and pivoting the board on the snow builds board feel and the start of rotation. The butter guide covers nose presses, tail presses and tripods.

Pick a quiet edge of the run for these drills. Riders coming down need to see you in time, which is why NSAA’s Responsibility Code tells everyone not to stop where they block traffic or can’t be seen from uphill.

Your first park session should be about control, not height. On a small jump, the aim is a straight air with enough pop to reach the landing and ride away on your feet. PSIA-AASI’s guide describes a good straight air as one with a clean trajectory from lip to landing. Our guide to approaching, hitting and landing small jumps explains each part of a jump and how to inspect it first.

Boxes and rails are a separate branch. Start with 50-50s on low, wide ride-on boxes, where the PSIA-AASI guide’s standard is a board that stays flat and centered for the whole feature. Boardslides come after. See how to hit boxes and rails for choosing features and getting off cleanly.

Change one thing at a time: a new feature, a bigger size or a new trick, never all three at once.

Spins are named by how far you rotate (180, 360, 540 and so on) and by direction. On a frontside spin your chest leads toward the direction of travel; on a backside spin your back leads. Which one is clockwise depends on whether you ride regular or goofy, which is why riders use frontside and backside instead of left and right.

PSIA-AASI’s guide sums up the air 180 as “set speed, then pop and spin,” and lists starting the spin before the pop as a fault. For a 360 it describes rotation that happens mostly in the air, a pop at the lip while the upper body turns, and spotting the landing before touching down. A sensible route:

1. Ground 180s and butters on an easy slope, in both directions.
2. Small ollie 180s on the flat. See our 180 guide.
3. 180s off the smallest jumps, once straight airs are routine and a coach agrees.
4. 360s on small jumps, only when 180s are consistent both ways. See how a 360 is built.

A grab means holding part of the board in the air. PSIA-AASI’s guide describes a basic grab as “bringing the equipment to the hand, and the hand to the equipment,” held for a clear moment, then released in time to land in the right part of the landing. In practice: lift your knees to bring the board up, rather than folding at the waist to reach down.

Common grabs, as riders generally describe them:

• Indy: back hand on the toe edge, between your feet.
• Mute: front hand on the toe edge, between your feet.
• Method: front hand on the heel edge, with the board pulled up behind you and knees bent.
• Nose grab / tail grab: front hand on the nose, or back hand on the tail.
• Japan: a front-hand toe-edge grab with the board tweaked behind you, a more advanced variation.

A shifty isn’t a grab. You twist the board a little under you in the air while your upper body stays steady, then straighten it before landing. It’s good practice for the upper and lower body separation that spins need.

Build grabs in stages: the grab position standing still, then with small ollies on a groomed run, then on small straight airs. Named advanced tricks, such as the Cloud 9, inverted tricks and bigger spins, sit well beyond this progression and should only be learned in person with a coach.

NSAA recommends a park-specific lesson for newcomers, and Colorado Ski Country USA notes that many ski areas have instructors certified in freestyle terrain instruction. In the US, PSIA-AASI’s Freestyle Specialist certificate has three levels: FS 1 covers extra small to small park features, FS 2 extra small to medium, and FS 3 extra small to large. Other countries have their own instructor bodies, so ask your resort’s snowsports school what freestyle coaching it offers. Our guide to finding the right snowboard lesson can help.

Video is a useful companion to coaching. PSIA-AASI lists video analysis among the activities used to assess freestyle instructors, and a short clip of your own riding often shows what you can’t feel, such as leaning back or spinning before you pop. Only film from safe spots away from landings and in-runs.

This page explains the order, but reading it doesn’t make you ready for any particular feature. Progress when your current step feels routine and a coach agrees.