The Tail grab is the mirror of the Nose grab: back hand, tip of the tail. Learn it on a small jump once your straight air is solid, and make sure you actually get some air. With no hang time there is nothing to grab.
The whole trick is extend and retract. Pop off the lip in a stacked position, then extend your front leg and pull your back knee up. That brings the tail straight to your back hand, so you never have to lean for it. Reaching for the grab off the takeoff throws your feet above you, so pop first, grab second. Practice the leg movement sitting in the snow at the top of the jump: legs out, extend, retract, extend, retract.
Keep your head up and look where you are going. Your body follows your eyes, so looking down at the tail means you fall.
Learn more here:
Video by Johnathan Buckhouse
Key tips
- Pop first, grab second. Don't reach for the tail off the lip
- Extend the front leg, retract the back knee. The legs bring the tail to your hand
- Keep your head up and look forward, not at the board
- On bigger jumps you have time. Get comfortable in the air, then grab
- Once it's easy, add it to a frontside 180 or 360
See a map of all grabs here.