Trick tips weren't always around. During snowboarding's rise to fame there were only a few videos available that up and coming riders were able to use as study material, so they would watch said movies over and over for hours upon hours soaking in everything they could about the style and technique of the latest and greatest tricks. My method for digesting trick tips is derived from how those guys did it back then, and here is the philosophy: The only person that needs to understand how to do the trick is you, therefore you need to find a way to put the trick tip into your own words. How do you do that? All you need to do is use your eyes.
Studying a trick has never been easier than it is now; one thing that modern day trick tips have done is isolate footage to one single trick shot from several angles. This means there is very little work for you to do except watch the trick over and over. You can listen to the instructions explained once or twice but the biggest "trick" to trick tips that I use is to mute the demonstrator's instructions altogether as 80% of the time the pro explaining doesn't really know how to explain the trick or doesn't really care. One thing I like to stress is if there aren't any official trick tips for something you are trying to learn, that doesn't mean you are S.O.L. Odds are you are trying the trick because it caught your attention in a video, so figure a way to isolate that footage and you are good to go.
Now that you have your footage, you want to establish the segments of the trick that create the finished product. For example, when reviewing a trick off of a kicker you will want to take a look at the setup (Setup turns and established line into the transition), position through the transition (what edge to be on, when and how much to prewind, etc.), pop (the timing, the amount--note this can change depending on the shape of the kicker), the aerial itself (releasing the prewind, grabbing the board, etc.) and of course the landing (when you spot it, what edge let's you ride away clean, etc.). This might seem simple and a matter of common sense, but it can get fairly complicated fairly quickly. Here is an example to demonstrate:
First, I need to find a good video of my set trick. I chose Eddie Wall's cab switch tailslide 270 trick tip on DC's dragonbox.
This is a box trick, so I'm going to take a look at...
1. The Setup - Right off the bat, this is a switch trick. If I'm not comfortable doing switch 50-50s and switch boardslides on the feature than those would be my first goal in order to avoid almost certain injury. Eddie is approaching from the side pretty much completely parallel to the box; this is what keeps his board traveling straight down the box.
2. Position Through the Ramp - Popping from the tail with the board slightly on its heel edge, he opens his shoulder to rotate 90° into the tailslide and slightly closes it to counter his rotation and maintain the tailslide. Eddie's head focuses straight ahead as he initiates the trick.
3. The Trick Dynamics and Technique - Once the tailslide is established, Eddie opens his shoulder again to allow the board to continue to rotate with its initial momentum. Technically, this trick becomes a slightly tweaked noseslide in your regular stance as it reaches the end, so being comfortable with that trick would be useful here. Because this is a dragon box, there are subtle weight changes happening to adjust as the box angles downward and upward; you don't have to try this trick on a dragon box, but you should always be aware of weight distribution depending on the angle of your chosen feature. Note that Eddie's head remains focused straight ahead through almost the entire length of the box.
4. The Landing - This landing, like all landings, involves mainly the head and shoulders (where the head looks, the body will follow). As Eddie approaches the end of box, he shifts his head back looking at the tail of the board and quickly counters his shoulders in the opposite direction to snap through the final rotation. Essentially the landing is a backside 180, meaning it's blind--you won't turn to see where you are going until after you've landed--and you will also be landing switch. If you are not comfortable with a 50-50, or better yet a noselide, to 180-out than you will probably have some difficulty bringing around the landing to this trick.
So you can see how I've taken the material in the video, pulled apart what I perceived to have the greatest impact on the success of the trick, and put the process into my own words. I had to watch the video above, about 20 times to see all of that stuff. They say visualization is key to success when learning a trick, and by the time you are able to extrapolate all of the information from a trick tip the image is usually burned into your brain.
What to do now? Well, there are two ways you can go: take your knew knowledge of the trick, man up and give it a go, or you can go even further and practice any individual parts you might be unfamiliar with. Let's say, in the example above, you are relatively sketchy on rotating while on a box. The safest bet would be to practice manipulating your balance while spinning in some capacity, either on hill using a wide dance floor box or on a balance board, before you take it to the hill. No trick tip will magically grant you the ability to land a trick, and you are inevitably going to have to try the trick before your learn the trick, but if you take the time to really understand the dynamics of a trick you will be set up for the safest first attempt you could ask for and be able to incorporate these things into other tricks you learn down the road.
Learning a trick doesn't stop when you land it though; what makes the DesertsDontSnow trick tips a little different is that while I include only the best videos, both footage and explanation wise, I also try to include examples of some of the more inventive variations for the tricks that are featured so readers have inspiration to take a new trick and really expand on it rather than just moving on to the next trick, checking them off without putting any personal style into the thing. Snowboarding is supposed to be fun, so once you get the basics down for a new trick you've gotta have a little bit of fun with it; call it mandatory fun?
Remember that it's all about step-by-step progression. Don't take on a trick that's far beyond your ability level as you are sure to mess yourself up something fierce. If you can't land 180s but you are going for 540s, than you can't land switch and that's a disaster waiting to happen. Be smart, stay safe, and most importantly have fun with it!
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