What’s up! This is Tim with Tactics Boardshop
and today I’m going to teach you how to do shuvits and pop shuvits.
A shuvit is a trick in which the board rotates 180 degrees and you land back on it.
It’s one of the most fundamental and versatile tricks tricks
and it’s usually the first trick that most beginners learn.
Hopefully by the end of this video you’ll be equipped to go out and learn them quickly.
I’d say the only prerequisite would be to have some level of comfort riding and maneuvering on your board.
You don’t NEED to have consistent ollies to do shuvits,
but it is useful if you have some experience with the popping motion of the ankle.
You can learn them either rolling or stationary,
but I would recommend trying to learn them rolling as soon as you’re comfortable enough.
The primary difference between a shuvit and a pop shuvit is, as the name implies, the pop of the tail.
Since shuvits don’t utilize the pop you can’t get much height out of it and it kind of just hovers over the ground.
But pop shuvits can get a good amount of height depending on how hard you can smack down the tail.
Even though the two tricks are similar, the execution is a bit different.
Let’s go over shuvits first, and then we’ll hit pop shuvits after.
The foot placement for shuvits is pretty simple.
Keep your weight on the balls of your feet and evenly distributed.
The ball of your back foot should be on the edge of the tail with your toes slightly hanging off the side of the deck.
This placement makes it easier to get some leverage on the side of the deck with your toes to get a good scoop.
Anywhere in this region will work fine.
The positioning of your front foot isn’t as critical,
but I’d recommend having it closer to the opposite edge of the deck to counterbalance the board so you can roll straight.
There’s only 3 main events for the shuvit:
There’s the jump, the scoop, and the landing.
So let’s break down each individual foot motion.
Like any other trick, we start the shuvit with a jump,
but since shuvits don’t really come off the ground,
you don’t need to put a huge emphasis on the jump like you would an ollie.
A slight hop should be all you need to give the board enough time to rotate.
When you jump you may need to jump forward just slightly because the board has a tendency to travel in front of you.
The back foot is responsible for the scoop.
Scoop is a term used to describe the motion of the ankle
as it curls around the side of the tail and pushes it downward and behind you.
This scooping motion is used for various backside rotational tricks such as shuvits,
backside bigspins, 360 flips, and so on.
It kind of mimics the motion of someone scooping ice cream, if that helps you visualize.
The scoop motion is done with your ankle. You don’t need to throw your entire leg behind you to scoop the tail.
Just a flick of the ankle is enough to push the tail back and initiate the rotation.
Don’t rotate your upper body during the scoop.
Many times beginners will try and compensate for a lack of scoop by rotating their upper body opposite of the board.
But this is going to make it very hard to land on.
Just keep your shoulders steady and parallel with the board on the take off and landing.
As soon as you finish the scoop, bring your foot back under your torso to get ready to land on the board.
It might take a little bit to figure out the right amount of pressure for the scoop,
but you can practice by standing on your front foot and scooping the board with your back foot.
All the front foot does is get out of the way, and wait to land back on the board.
Don’t try using it to help rotate the board, because that will end up making your shoulders rotate.
Leave all the rotation to your back foot.
Real quick, let’s go over some rotational physics.
When the skateboard is rotating in midair, it’s going to spin around its center of gravity.
However, that’s only if the board is in the air.
If your back wheels are still on the ground, the axis of rotation will be on your back truck.
So when that happens, the front end of your board has a lot more mass,
and when you try the shuvit, the front end will carry the board out away from you and you won’t be able to land on it.
So in order to keep the board under your torso when doing a shuvit,
you're going to have to scoop the board hard enough to break the traction of the wheels .
When the traction breaks, the wheels will slide out,
allowing the board to rotate on its center axis and keep it directly under your torso.
This is why it’s so much harder to do shuvits with soft wheels than hard wheels.
The soft wheels will grip much harder meaning you’ll have to scoop a lot more to break the traction.
Ok, let’s recap and put it all together.
With your shoulders parallel with the board, feet in position,
and weight on the balls of your feet and evenly distributed between each foot, initiate the jump.
Just before your feet leave the board,
that’s when you do the scooping motion with your back foot to break the traction of the wheels and rotate the board.
As your back foot is doing the scoop, your front foot is lifting up and getting out of the way.
When you’ve finished the scoop with your back foot, bring it back under your torso to get ready to land.
Some skaters will land with their front foot first, but landing with both feet at the same time is fine.
And try to land on the hardware bolts.
Now that we’ve gone over the shuvit, let’s look at the pop shuvit.
The main difference is that there is less of an emphasis on the scoop, and much more on the pop.
The foot placement is going to be similar to the shuvit, but since the scoop is less important,
you don't need to have your toes hanging off.
I like to have my back foot almost in the center of the tail. The front foot can be wherever is comfortable.
With pop-shuvits, since the board comes up off the ground,
you’ll need to put more effort into jumping and tucking your feet up than with a shuvit.
Jump off the balls of your feet to get a good spring upwards.
The power for the pop is going to come from your calf muscles and ankle.
The ankle motion will feel similar to popping an ollie but it's going to be slightly angled.
Since the board bounces up when you pop, it’s going to rotate from it’s center of gravity right away.
So you don’t have to worry about scooping the tail so hard to break the traction of the wheels.
When doing this trick, there’s a chance that the board will start to flip and you might land in primo.
So you’ll need to experiment with different pressure points with your pop till you’re able to keep the board level during the trick.
This is why I have my back foot more centered on the tail.
If I try to do a pop shuvit with my foot in the shuvit position, it has a tendency to do a pressure flip.
The front foot doesn’t do anything different for pop shuvits.
It still mainly just gets out of the way.
Since the board is in the air you’re going to have to catch it to stop it from over-rotating.
Catching the board is a gentle and deliberate action, it’s not stomping your feet to pin down the board.
When you spot it finishing the rotation.
extend your feet down just enough to touch the top of the board to halt the rotation and let gravity do the rest.
Learning to gently catch the board will enable you to do pop shove its down gaps
or do them in and out of grinds and manuals.
Many skaters use their front foot to catch the board,
but it’s completely fine to use your back foot or both feet to catch it.
Alright, let's put the pop shuvit together.
The set up is similar to a regular shuvit, but your back foot is more on the tail.
Initiate the jump, but this time put a little more effort into it
because you’ll need more air time for the board to pop up and finish rotating.
The instant before your feet leave the deck, that’s when you pop down the tail with a slight angle.
As your back foot is doing the pop, your front foot is just lifting up and getting out of the way.
Immediately after popping the tail, lift your back foot up and bring it under your torso to get ready for the catch.
When you see the board come around,
place your feet on the board and land on the hardware bolts with your weight evenly distributed.
The hardest part is probably going to be committing to landing back on the board.
Commitment takes confidence, and in order to build that confidence,
you're going to have to try it enough to where you can consistently rotate the board under your feet.
Once you’ve figured out that rotation, you’re ready to commit to the landing.
The tip I give anyone learning new tricks is to visualize it.
Visualization is when you mentally rehearse the trick,
and it can give you the boost of confidence you need to commit to the trick.
And once you get in that commitment mind set, you’ll have this trick in the bag.
Although, with commitment comes the risk of falling, but that’s just part of the game in skateboarding.
If you’re nervous about trying on concrete, you can try on some carpet or dry grass.
But the pop isn’t going to be as crisp or responsive.
You can also try holding onto something like a bike rack or a fence so you can prop yourself up while the board is rotating.
This will help boost your confidence for when you try it without any crutches.
It’s worth practicing shuvs and pop shuvs a lot to get them consistent,
because they are the gateway to a lot of other rotational tricks.
Don’t stress if it takes a little while to learn it. Just remember that skateboarding is about having fun,
and there’s no rush or set timeline for progression.
If you get frustrated, take a break and come back to it when you’re ready.
With a little determination, you’ll be able to land your first shuvit, and we’ll all celebrate with you.
If you got any comments or questions leave them in the box below,
now let’s go learn some shuvits!