How To Tweak Your Grabs
Style points, that’s what it’s all about in freestyle skiing! There's no better way to have awesome style than by grabbing your skis and pulling them in different directions.
In this tutorial, we'll be explaining the difference between Tweaks and Pokes in grabs, then showing you how to style out some of your favourite grabs.
(Narrating/Skiing: Dean Bercovitch. Film/Edit: Adison MacDonald. Filmed At: Whistler Water Ramps)
The Difference
Grabs pulled so hard that it feels like you’re breaking your own body are what we call tweaks.
Grabs that you poke out a part of your body during the grab are called pokes or bones. Every grab has a few different tweaks and pokes that make that grab look and feel different.
Tweaked Mute Grab
With the skis on, play with some 180 Mute Grabs as this gives you the feeling of a tweak before having to commit to it. For a side tweak, make everything about your Mute Grab the same until you’re at your highest point. With your firm grip pull your ski to the side towards your hip making the ski cross bigger.
Extend your opposite hand to maintain balance.
Extend your opposite hand to maintain balance.Tweaked Tail Grab
The other way to tweak a grab is by doing a Shifty and then grabbing in a secondary movement. This is most commonly done in a Tail Grab.
Notice how Dean is using a touch of Shifty in this Tail Grab.
Notice how Dean is using a touch of Shifty in this Tail Grab.Poking To Make New Grabs
Between tweaking and poking there are all kinds of different grabs. If you do a Safety Grab and extend the opposite leg it’s call a Louie King. If you grab Double Safety and tweak both legs then slide your hands up it's called a Truck Driver.
Look how straight Dean's legs are for this grab, that's what makes this a Truck Driver.
Look how straight Dean's legs are for this grab, that's what makes this a Truck Driver.If you go up and past Truck Driver to the tips, it’s called a Rocket Air. While these are just a few tweaked grabs, there is a whole world of new grabs out there. Head to our grabs section to learn more grabs, then experiment with them by tweaking and poking them to find what you like:
Alex McCann
Ski Addiction
Helping You Ski Better