Seems like you need to work on your ollies. Getting down ollies will train your body to shifting your weight back and forward to get into the air and level off. If you can ollie good at speed off flat ground and little rollers, then you will be used to leveling off in the air.

You shouldn't necessarily be doing huge ollies off of large kickers, but off the lip of the jump your body should be acting like you have ollied.

 

U have to really commit to the jump in order to stay level in the air. Take off with a flat base and once your in the air suck up your knees and push your front foot down slightly and this should help.

 

*I'm no pro...

You don't have to ollie off the lip. The only time I ever do is if it's a little jump in a flattish park and I don't have enough speed. I usually just pop off of both feet if anything.

As for landing on your tail... are you spotting your landings? If you are and you're still landing on your tail, then try gradually (GRADUALLY!) leaning forward more and more each time you come off the lip. Don't overdo it - finding yourself in a nosedive you can't get out of when you're 10 ft. in the air is a BAD feeling!

 

What you described is common for people who are not keeping their body in line with the jump. By that I mean centered. More than likely you are leaning back. This will cause you to launch in the manner you described. Try putting the weight forward a bit. Make it feel like you're leaning uphill. You don't actually want to be leaning uphill but this will correct your rear lean and actually balance you out.

After that suck those knees up and reach down. You may not get the solid grab but even touching the board will keep you balanced. Spot your landing and line you shoulders up with the transition. You'll land flat and ride out every time.

 

Really work on spotting your landing. I made it a point last weekend and outside of overshooting a 10 footer by 15 feet, it was a much more sucessful day in the park.

 

At take off, don't jump straight up. Try to project your body and board in the direction the jump is sending you.

An easy way to feel this.... standing still on the flats try to hop the board forward a few inches. Your hips and center of mass will move towards the nose of the board to make this happen. This is the same thing you want as you go off a ramp.

Now take it to a slow traverse and try to make the same hop forward as you are moving.

Ramp it up a notch and try to ollie but still project yourself and the board forward.

Increase the speed and try it some more. Then think about trying it off little bumps and then small jumps.

 

I think you need to grab. It helps you stay flat based when you land and keeps you stable in the air. Start small with just an indy grab, and then you can work your way up later.

 

A grab will help keep your momentum along the projected path. It will also allow you to bring the board under you and set it to land flatly on the landing.

In the jumps you are describing, kickers with an increasingly steep lip, should not be ollied off. If the lip is steep enough, this will work like a halfpipe- you don't ollie off of a half pipe. The energy of the "pop" will be up and slightly backwards. This will dampen the energy with which you leave the lip, and can cause you to hve the sensation of rotating backwards in the air.

 

based on his description of slamming on his upper back, I don't think it's a lack of grab or centering mid air that's hurting him. It's his lack of being centered at take off.

 

A bad takeoff won't be saved by a grab. I guess it could, but I wouldn't expect miracles from it.

Good approach and balanced takeoff is important. Ollieing should come in later, as it requires a little more balance practice.

 

Having a bomber basic straight air in your repatoir should occur before a grab.

If you want to have a stable air it all starts with the approach and take off. If either of these go schizo your chances of make a grab and landing clean are extremely low.

The OP is getting tossed at take off. Work on that and things will fall into place.

 

Just to clarify on my original post i never told the OP to ollie off the lip of the kickers. I told him to work on ollies on flat ground and off rollers to get his body used to that motion. Then when he goes off the kicker his body should "act" like he ollied. Not that he should ollie.

As in going off the lip and shifting your body while tucking up your legs like you would in the air after you ollie.

But you guys seem a little better at explaining than me . I guess i haven't analyzed my self enough to tell someone else how to hit kickers. Just to used to skate boarding, biking, snowboarding, etc. so i'm just always launching myself off something lol.

 

Become one with the tranny... Like these smart folks have said, you have to get used to airtime off rollers while going at a speed relative to what you'd have going off a jump. And transitions are key, look for places around the hill to ollie that do not have flat landings, rather sloped ones like that of a park jump. It's all about catchin that tranny at that perfect angle and your knees will love you more