CJ2478 said..
Looking at the videos of the pros it seems they just wait until theyre about 2 thirds of the way up and then throw the head over the front shoulder to initiate the roll.
I've been doing powered backrolls for a bit, just really building more and more send into the trick. What I did find that you rely far less on the rotation from the water and more initiating rotation (& stopping rotation) by twisting your body. I don't recall any "AHA" moment, just more and more spatial awareness and comfort in the trick to keep experimenting.
Does this require any more skills than what I have already developed or is it just a question of having the balls to do it? I think the biggest risk is over rotating in this scenario.
STOPPING rotation is the best thing to work on. Try sending a little bit more, then once the rotation is complete try twisting your board back the other way.
Here's one of my fave vids of Ewan not only stopping rotation but completely reversing it mid jump:
www.facebook.com/ewanjaspankite/videos/1234886213203021/