# Why can't I spin 360?



## synthetic (Dec 10, 2009)

man up!



no but seriously, just practice on the bunny hill jumping 180s while carving, it sounds like you are either trying to initiate your spin once you are already in the air or are trying to spin off a flat base, practice really getting your edge set to make a platform to spin off of before you hop.


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## CMSbored (Apr 2, 2009)

I just kinda figured out how to do it so ill throw in some input. What i figured out while attempting it the first few times was to over exaggerate your wind up, not just because it helps you throw yourself into a spin but it also consciously prepares you. 

The other thing that got me going in the right direction is TURN YOUR HEAD. I read it on here so many times but never took much of it. After failing a few times i started to turn my head and it helped bring the shoulders around which helps bring the hips and legs around. Just a little incite from someone who just figured it out a little bit.


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## theusername (Dec 15, 2010)

After reading this question I wondered if I can spin 360 without my board on, on a regular floor. So I got up and tried it. Then I landed, lost my balance, fell backwards, and hit my head on my chair. I'm thinking trying this on a snowboard is going to be a disaster...


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

theusername said:


> After reading this question I wondered if I can spin 360 without my board on, on a regular floor. So I got up and tried it. Then I landed, lost my balance, fell backwards, and hit my head on my chair. I'm thinking trying this on a snowboard is going to be a disaster...


:laugh: only because I too have lost my balance but with the board on in the back yard this fall practicing in the yard before the snow hit.


Walk through a 360 w/o your board, slowly go through the motion, everything arms head shoulders moving in a circle
then try it faster, IE: jumping it and landing it correctly still no board
Then strap on board and try it on dry land, its harder with board on to bring it around
NOW muscle memory is there try it on a gentle slope flat ground 360
then build up to small jumps and side hits etc

-Slyder


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## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

thevonst21 said:


> I want to learn how to spin 360, the problem is I can't on a snowboard. When I'm not attached to a snowboard I can spin almost a 720 on flat ground, but for some reason it doesn't transfer to a snowboard. It feels like my upper body is doing a spin but, I actually noticed that my legs arn't spinning with me, like they sort of are spinning, but really slowly and not the same as the rest of my body, like my legs arn't powerful enough to keep the board spinning at the right speed. So what I want to know is how can I fix this, or if anybody has any ideas on what to do?


As Snowolf said, it's hard to tell without actually seeing you try it, but there's a few common errors that it could be (as said above, I'm just rehashing)

1. You are trying to jump off a flat base, anytime you're doing a spin you want to leave the jump off your edge: See snowolfs post for more info.

2. You're not pulling your legs up under you.

3. You're opening up the second you leave the lip of the jump and then trying to fight the spin around.

Personally, it sounds like you aren't getting the right pop off the jump and aren't developing rotational force before you leave the jump. You don't need a lot of leg strength to throw a 360, so that isn't an issue, it just feels like it due to improper technique at this point. Check out the Snowboard Addiction 360 videos for a really good explanation of setting up for a spin too.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

There are a lot of reasons that will hold you back from spinning. It could be one, or it could be many. And honestly it's hard to teach one by text. Watch some Snowboard Addiction videos, they cover most everything you need to know.

One thing you should really pay attention to though is not opening up too early. I notice when people transition to their heel edge they do it by opening up and you don't want to do that. Stay closed so you have a good wind up to release off the lip. Hope this helps


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## alecdude88 (Dec 13, 2009)

Extremo said:


> One thing you should really pay attention to though is not opening up too early. I notice when people transition to their heel edge they do it by opening up and you don't want to do that. Stay closed so you have a good wind up to release off the lip. Hope this helps


this is the part I still have trouble doing this is what separates my good 3s from my bad 3s


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## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

I want to pick up on that... a big problem for me personally I think is the lack of head turning.. I can pop 180s precisely.... 3's meh... I get skurred... and I don't feel very comfortable jumping out of a carve until I'm literally traveling back up the hill on the carve... yeah I hold it that long to try haha:dunno:


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## elstinky (Jan 24, 2010)

BliND KiNK said:


> and I don't feel very comfortable jumping out of a carve until I'm literally traveling back up the hill on the carve... yeah I hold it that long to try haha:dunno:


exact same problem here.. I started learning flatground 180s out of a carve and after 5 tries or so I was doing a crippled carve into skid into 90. Took me some time to get rid of that bad habit.


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## elstinky (Jan 24, 2010)

hmm, I wast just watching the ideo posted here; in some 360s shown there you can clearly see the guy has carved/skidded to 90 already before even leaving the lip, is this the proper technique?


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

BliND KiNK said:


> I want to pick up on that... a big problem for me personally I think is the lack of head turning.. I can pop 180s precisely.... 3's meh... I get skurred... and I don't feel very comfortable jumping out of a carve until I'm literally traveling back up the hill on the carve... yeah I hold it that long to try haha:dunno:


It's easy to cheat on 180s  but you need to work harder for 3's.

If you're comfortable popping out of a carve - even when traveling back up the hill - give that a shot. Eventually you'll get comfortable enough that you shouldn't have to carve all the way to a stop/uphill. The key point is to get the movement and the muscle memory down. If you have to do it "uphill" because you're going slow enough to feel safe, then that would be a good way to start. I started doing BS 360's running up a transition - not exactly carving "up hill" but kinda the same thing because by the time you reach the apex of the tranny you're going very slow. For some reason it just feels "safer" that way.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

elstinky said:


> hmm, I wast just watching the ideo posted here; in some 360s shown there you can clearly see the guy has carved/skidded to 90 already before even leaving the lip, is this the proper technique?


Yes you need to initiate the turn before you leave the lip of the jump. Otherwise you don't have a platform or base to twist from 

-Slyder


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## SAddiction (Feb 21, 2009)

Give this video a look, it will illustrate what everyone else is saying about carving (we call it creating a platform to spin on) while coming into/going up the jump

Snowboard Addiction

Good luck!


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## elstinky (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm well aware of the priciple of creating a platform, I understand you need to be wound up and on an edge before popping of the lip. What got me in doubt about proper technique is the difference between the Snowboard Addiction video and the Bear Creek edit. The first one shows, nicely in slow-motion, what I think is perfect: when the rider leaves the lip, he's on an edge and pretty much perpendicular to the lip. In the latter however it looks like the rider is on an edge but pretty much parallel to the lip already when popping. It looks like what I was doing when first learning 180s and to me it felt wrong.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

360 is really not that big of a spin. People do 360s on the flats I know they're not carving to a 90/perpendicular to fall-line in order to do that... 

Or, think about 270 on to rails when you see someone do something like that they don't need to be anywhere near perpendicular to get that rotation which is 75% of the rotation needed for 360. It's more important to wind up and get on the edge to pop the spin you don't need to cheat 90 degrees on the ground to get a 360...


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## Beatlesfan888 (Jul 8, 2010)

best place to learn spins is a natural area where 2 trais are merging you can often find a lip from the groomers. theryre great cuz you dont have to think about the carve into it its just atomatic so you can think about one step at a time.


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## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

On a happy note.. I did do about 7 backside 180's today... 2 off of kickers... and busted my ass on a frontside 180 and left that alone.. because falling is for people that like bloodstreaks on the ground on my hill  

 almost thought about a 3.... and then remembered that frontside 1 and said fuuuuuuuuck that.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

FS 180 is way easier (IMO) than backside 180. There is no upper-body rotation required for a FS 180, plus you don't land fakie which makes the landing easier


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

elstinky said:


> hmm, I wast just watching the ideo posted here; in some 360s shown there you can clearly see the guy has carved/skidded to 90 already before even leaving the lip, is this the proper technique?


You def do NOT want to be scrubbing like that...it's a bad habit and it'll hold you back from progressing to bigger jumps. Learn to hold your spin and edge so you're leaving straight off the lip. It's tricky to get the timing down but you def don't want to be scrubbing like that on a large jump because it'll throw off your spin and send you into the knuckle.


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## SAddiction (Feb 21, 2009)

BliND KiNK said:


> On a happy note.. I did do about 7 backside 180's today... 2 off of kickers... and busted my ass on a frontside 180 and left that alone.. because falling is for people that like bloodstreaks on the ground on my hill
> 
> almost thought about a 3.... and then remembered that frontside 1 and said fuuuuuuuuck that.


Good progression Blind. B sure to work on both front and back, though


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## SAddiction (Feb 21, 2009)

Extremo said:


> You def do NOT want to be scrubbing like that...it's a bad habit and it'll hold you back from progressing to bigger jumps. Learn to hold your spin and edge so you're leaving straight off the lip. It's tricky to get the timing down but you def don't want to be scrubbing like that on a large jump because it'll throw off your spin and send you into the knuckle.


This is probably one of the biggest errors/cheats that people do when spinning.

Extremo hit it perfectly how it will only hold you back in the long run.


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