Half-Cab (Transition)

also known as: Halfcab

air parkvertstreet difficulty 3/10

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roll yaw pitch body
surface

Shown for a regular-footed rider riding fakie. Teal ring + arrow = the rider's facing direction; teal band = the tail; a dot is where a hand holds the board - bright yellow for the front hand, amber for the back one, which is the whole difference between a mute and an indy. Board and rider rotate independently - each follows its own component. Drag to orbit.

How it works

Half of a caballerial: from fakie, the rider floats a backside 180 above the lip and comes back down the wall - landing fakie relative to the takeoff's fakie, i.e. rolling down the transition in their natural stance direction reversed once. On transition the half-cab is the connective tissue of lip trick lines: it converts fakie approaches (after rock to fakies and tail stalls) back into forward-riding tricks, and it is the rotational seed of the disaster and the cab family above it.

Step by step

  1. Roll up the transition fakie at moderate speed, shoulders slightly wound backside.
  2. As you reach the lip, pop lightly (or let the transition float you) and release the shoulders.
  3. Rotate a compact backside 180, head turning to spot down the wall immediately.
  4. Keep the board sucked up under you through the turn above the coping.
  5. Set the wheels down pointing into the ramp and ride down forward.

Body mechanics

Front footSteers the nose through the 180 and absorbs first on touchdown.
Back footDelivers the small fakie pop and trails the rotation on the tail.
ShouldersA modest backside wind and release - the trick needs restraint, not power.
ArmsLow and swinging naturally with the turn, closing when the rotation should stop.
GazeOver the leading shoulder, spotting the transition landing before the board is halfway around.