How-To Skateboarding: McTwist with Braden Stelma

What this video teaches

Braden Stelma teaches the McTwist at Tony Hawk's ramp and treats the backside mute grab as the prerequisite, with the front hand grabbing between the foot and the knee. He starts the progression by spinning it below coping, and recommends a foam pit first if one is available. His core technical cue is that the flip lives in the shoulders and head: once you are above coping you duck the head and spin the shoulders. He also suggests scraping the tail on the way up early on to help the flip and avoid clipping, then switching to a clean pop once you start going higher, and spotting the landing as the height increases.

Key tips

• 1Learn the backside mute grab first, front hand grabbing between your foot and your knee
• 2Wear pads before you start trying this
• 3Start by spinning it below coping, and use a foam pit for the first attempts if you can
• 4Always grab mute, because the grab goes with the direction of rotation and makes the trick easier
• 5Scrape the tail a little on the way up while learning; it helps the flip and stops you clipping, then switch to popping once you are getting high
• 6The flip comes from ducking your head and spinning your shoulders once you are above coping
• 7As you get higher above the coping, spot your landing

Summarized from the video transcript.