Touchdown Raiz
Touchdown Raiz
Optional
Gumbi
The Touchdown Raiz is one of the most popular setup tricks. It’s a low and fast Raiz where you touchdown with your hand, similar to a scoot, before your legs come down. It can also be viewed as a Gumbi with only the second hand instead of two hands.
This Trick is usually referred to as TDR or TD-Raiz.
Learn Raiz first
There is only one real prerequisite for this trick and it’s the Raiz. Most people will learn the high and floaty Raiz first, as it is easily progressed into from a Tornado Kick. But for the Touchdown Raiz you’ll need to relearn it, because you need a low and inverted Raiz. Kind of like an Aerial on your bad side.
To achieve this you’ll need to change the way you setup into the trick.
Instead ofjumping with your upper body high and horizontal to the ground, you want to bring your upper body low to the ground before you take off. Similar to an Aerial.
Spot the floor even before you takeoff and keep your gaze fixed at this point.
Swing your backleg right behind you, above your head to achieve as much flip as possible (again similar to an Aerial).
Push your hips up so your legs have more room in the air to come around.
Swing your arms wide into the trick. This will make the transition to the Touchdown Raiz easier.
Turning it into a Touchdown Raiz
All you need to do is keep your Raiz low enough, so you can reach for the ground as soon as you feet leave the floor. You want to to have little to no airtime. As you might guess, this is easier said than done. So let’s walk it through step by step and then we’ll go trough some common mistakes and how to fix them.
-Again you’ll want to do a cheat setup with your upper body low to the ground.
-Swing your arms wide and keep them wide throughout the whole trick. Imagine being fixed in a constant T-Pose.
-Spot the floor right from the beginning. As you swing your arms around, you’ll want to reach for this spot with your arm as soon as you can.
-Arch your back and push up with your hips as you reach around.
Your hand should touch the ground before your legs.
-Keep your arm straight and push off as your feet are coming down.
CommonMistakes
Your hand comes down AFTER your feet.
That means you’re still taking off with your upper body too high. You are still using a little bit of the normal high Raiz technique. Focus on taking off low to the ground. Drill those low Raizes until they feel safe and controlled. You actually don’t have to jump at all in a Touchdown Raiz. The motion is initiated through the torque of your upper body and the swing from your backleg. The “jumping leg” is literally just leaving the floor to follow the momentum.
Your hand needs to touchdown FIRST!
Reaching over to the side instead of over your head.
This is technically wrong but can be used as a prerequisite to learn the Touchdown Raiz. You can go over the side first and then gradually work your way up to a fully inverted one. Think about your Raiz like if it was a Gainer from a Cheat Setup.
Not being able to swing out of it or trouble getting back up after trick.
This can have many causes, so I recommend you to film yourself and then analyze yourself what may be the reason. You could be traveling too much or reaching with your hand too far away. Maybe you’re not pushing off with your hand when your feet come down. Or maybe your swinging leg is coming around from the side instead of from the top.
Landing in a hunched in position
You need to drill more Raiz then. A touchdown Raiz should have an arched back throughout the whole trick. Push out your chest and hips. Spot the floor and keep your chest out the whole time. Imagine doing almost a bridge from a Cheat setup (this is actually how Gumbis are performed).
Tips
Swing your backleg up straight just like you would for the Raiz. Don’t bend it, as that will make it harder to swing around.
Keep your arms straight throughout the trick. Remember the T-Pose.
Some trickers don’t spot the floor but actually fix their spot onto the leading hand. Similar to a Valdez or Macaco. This can also work and you’ll need to try for yourself if it works for you.