Fail this manoeuvring, causing skid (8)
I believe the answer is:
fishtail
'skid' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fail this manoeuvring' is the wordplay.
'manoeuvring' is an anagram indicator.
'fail'+'this'='failthis'
'failthis' is an anagram of 'FISHTAIL'.
'causing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for fishtail that I've seen before include "Merman's got one" , "swing the rear end" , "trailer may do" , "skid sideways" , "A skid from side to side" .)