| Mule Kick With Tail Grab | |
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By Ted Bevelaqua |
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| Here's The Twist | |
| Here's a twist on a common move, the mule kick. It's called the mule kick with a grab, and even though it looks more difficult, it's actually easier to master. Here's why. | |
| Standard Mule Kick | |
| For a standard mule kick, you come into the wake forward and let go with your outside hand, swinging and rotating to the outside, away from the handle. To bring your body back around to the front, it takes a tremendous pull with your shoulder and abdominal muscles. | |
| Grab Technique | |
| . With the grab technique, you start from the backward position and let go with your inside hand. In addition to giving you a hand to grab with, letting go with the inside arm forces your outside arm to be pulled toward the boat, thus aiding in your rotation back around to the front. Plus, coming in backward gives you more slack in the rope and lets you pull off the grab. | |
| How To Step By Step | |
| 1: Cut out wider than you would on a normal
wake-to-wake move. This is because you must have a transitional area
just outside the wake to change from front to back.
2: Let off your cut early to transfer from front to back. 3: Hit the wake backward in good body position, with a slight lean over the nose of the board. The handle should be tight against your hip. Imagine yourself as a spring about to unload. 4: As you're lifting off the wake, spring upward, pushing off with your knees. Pull the rope into your waist. As you rise, let go with your inside hand and keep your outside arm close to your body. 5: Grab the tail of the board and stall it out as long as you can. Definitely let go before landing. 6: Once you let go of the board, your outside arm will naturally pull you into the forward position.
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