Recreation
Body varial
Jumping and spinning your body 180 degrees while the board stays pointing in the same direction.
Body varial is a term from limnology — the scientific study of inland waters. The detailed explanation below covers the definition, why the concept matters to lake water-quality interpretation, and how it intersects with the LakeGrade rubric. Reading Body varial alongside the LakeGrade rubric helps make the rubric's structure intuitive — each grading parameter maps directly onto an established limnological concept.
The per-lake pages on LakeQuality always show the specific Body varial value for that lake, so you can move from the general concept to the specific lake without leaving the site.
What It Means for Your Lake
A body varial is the inverse of a shuv-it: the rider jumps and rotates their body 180 degrees while the board keeps facing the same way, landing in a switch stance. It teaches the rider to separate body rotation from board rotation, a skill that underpins more advanced spin combinations. Combining a body varial with a shuv-it in the same direction produces a big spin, and stacking these elements is how riders build toward full-rotation freestyle tricks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is body varial?
Jumping and spinning your body 180 degrees while the board stays pointing in the same direction.
Why does body varial matter for lake health?
A body varial is the inverse of a shuv-it: the rider jumps and rotates their body 180 degrees while the board keeps facing the same way, landing in a switch stance. It teaches the rider to separate body rotation from board rotation, a skill that underpins more advanced spin combinations. Combining a...
Related Terms
Spinning only the board 180 (or 360) degrees beneath the feet while the rider's body stays facing the same direction.
A combination trick pairing a 360-degree shuv-it of the board with a 180-degree body varial in the same direction.
Riding with the opposite foot forward from your natural stance.
A full 360-degree rotation of board and rider, most commonly performed flat on the water's surface in skim style.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.