The roll in is a simple trick which allows you to enter a bowl or pool faster in the sense that you don't have to stop and set your board up, and it also gives you more speed to ride around with compared to just dropping in.
The roll in is essentially a drop in while riding. It is the same motion, only you must time it properly to avoid hanging up or sliding out.
Other Skills:
The ability to pump on transition is helpful since it will make you more comfortable while riding tranny, and you will also need to bend your knees much like you do when pumping, on the way down from a roll in.
What You May Find Useful:
If you feel nervous about attempting this trick on a ramp with coping, try to go out and find a steep bank, or even better a steep pyramid or launch ramp that will require you to lift your front trucks up to avoid scraping it on the way down. Then practice the motions on this, since you won't be as afraid since it doesn't have coping. If you can't find any obstacles such as these, try to find a mellow ramp that is small and doesn't have much transition, it will be much easier on this.
Doing The Trick
Positioning:
To do this trick you are going to want your feet in pretty much the same spots as you would for dropping in, only you may want to tweak it a bit so that you can balance better while riding. Basically you are going to want your front foot somewhere near the front bolts, and your back foot on the concave or tail.
Motion:
Begin by pushing to a comfortable speed and begin to approach the ramp
Once you find the right speed that you feel good with, start to set your feet up to the comfortable roll in position
As you begin to get near the coping, lift your front wheels up into a manual just enough so that they don't hit the coping
You will now be committed to the trick so don't try to bail out
After a second you will feel your back wheels hit the coping and begin to roll over it. It is at this time that you want to basically just drop into the ramp. Set your front wheels down into the ramp, and lean forward
Once you have all four wheels on the ramp bend your knees and roll away
Video Trick Tips:
Troubleshooting
I can't get the courage to try the trick
Your only choice is to go for it. Whether it is on a small ramp or a big one it is all the same. If you feel the need to practice on something small, try to find an obstacle as described above. Don't think about the trick too much, once you commit to the trick and are on top of the ramp about to go over the coping, you will have a natural reaction to try to ride away from it. All you have to do is get yourself that far.
I tried to roll in but I slid out and fell backwards
The mistake you made was not committing to it. You simply rode over the coping and then fear got the best of you and you panicked and froze. Just get up, try it again, and this time remember to do it right.
I see some people rolling up to a ramp sideways and then rolling into it
A lot of people tend to do this on bigger ramps or when there isn't a lot of room to gain speed. It is the same trick, only you have to turn into the ramp at the start. If you give it a go you will most likely get it just as easy as going straight at it.
Where Do I Go From Here?
After you get the roll in down, go ahead and try it on some bigger ramps. Or you can start using the speed you are gaining from rolling in to carve around some bowls and get air, or you could just roll in and then do a trick out of another ramp. It is really up to you on how you want to use this trick.
