# Learning Spins?



## Guest (Jan 17, 2010)

Hey guys/girls im really new to the world of snowboarding considering this last friday was only my fourth time going. However i feel extremely comfortable on one not to brag or anything but carving down advanced to some black diamond runs dont seem to be any problems with me. I can hit up and land all of the boxes in the beginner terrain park and easily land all of the jumps performing grabs and what not. when i move into the intermediate terrain park i can do some straight airs on some of the jumps and i can do some of the boxes. 

Bottom line though.... Im having a whole lot of trouble trying to learn spins. i can do them all day long on the flat grounds but when i try doing them off of a jump i tend to get off axis and at some point say im trying a bs 180 (regular footed) my tail end will dip down catch the ground and will send me into some kind of flip which i always end up landing......on my very red black and blue bruised ass. 

Can anyone give me some suggestions on how i can keep myself on axis or keeping my board up until i complete my rotation and reach the landing zone?
-thanks for any help i really appreciate it


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2010)

cfleish09 said:


> Hey guys/girls im really new to the world of snowboarding considering this last friday was only my fourth time going. However i feel extremely comfortable on one not to brag or anything but carving down advanced to some black diamond runs dont seem to be any problems with me. I can hit up and land all of the boxes in the beginner terrain park and easily land all of the jumps performing grabs and what not. when i move into the intermediate terrain park i can do some straight airs on some of the jumps and i can do some of the boxes.
> 
> Bottom line though.... Im having a whole lot of trouble trying to learn spins. i can do them all day long on the flat grounds but when i try doing them off of a jump i tend to get off axis and at some point say im trying a bs 180 (regular footed) my tail end will dip down catch the ground and will send me into some kind of flip which i always end up landing......on my very red black and blue bruised ass.
> 
> ...




im in the same boat. im trying to learn 3's this year and im a little lost


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## Korey (Oct 30, 2009)

only the first part of this lesson is free, but its enough to maybe help you out. i can't do spins yet either, but i figured i'd share this video i was watching the other day. 

http://vimeo.com/8320867


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2010)

yea i can only try the trick like two or three times when i go too cause im from so cal and the mountains here are soooooooooooo icy so i feel like i can only fall so hard on my ass a small number of times before fracturing my tail bone cause the falls im taking are pretty brutal


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2010)

@snowolf: 

so when you say not to look at the board ( i realize this is why i keep having the same problem with my back 1's that cfleish09 is having) but to look in the direction of the spin, does that mean that on a back 1 i should look directly over my shoulder until i'm ready to spot the landing? 

could the looking-at-the-board problem also be the reason why i can do back 3s WAY better than back 1s?


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## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

I have to agree with what Snowolf is saying here, one thing...well a couple things I'd like to add are if the rider is scared going off the jump, he or she will probably lean back. It's like when you see someone going down the hill the first time on a snowboard they tend to lean back, it may not be noticeable to the rider, but the direction amplifies while in the air (no solid object for the board to press against when your weight goes off-centered)

Also, people have a habit to throw their arms DOWN instead of a level upper body rotation, obviously you're on an incline when going off the jump, if your arms spin down, so will your shoulders and so will your head. I had this issue way back in the day when I learned back 3s, I wasn't spinning my shoulders level, my shoulders were rotating at the same angle of the lip of the jump. Once I learned to spin my upper body on a level plane, things came much quicker. Last thing, if you're learning spins don't try it on tired legs, if you're tired you'll have to throw harder to get it around which can knock you off balance.

Not sure if this will help people any but I'm just speaking from past experience.


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## Fizzlicious (May 12, 2009)

thatparkrat said:


> @snowolf:
> 
> so when you say not to look at the board ( i realize this is why i keep having the same problem with my back 1's that cfleish09 is having) but to look in the direction of the spin, does that mean that on a back 1 i should look directly over my shoulder until i'm ready to spot the landing?
> 
> could the looking-at-the-board problem also be the reason why i can do back 3s WAY better than back 1s?


From my experience, looking down causes off-axis rotations. As for spinning back 3s better than front 3s is possibly because you generate more torsional force spinning backside than frontside.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

*That's not bad for a fourth day noob*

First off, I’ve never seen anyone progress that far on the “forth time” and if you are still young, I would suggest you consider getting a coach and think about being an Olympian or something and see how that works out.

From your description of your BS 180, I would guess that maybe you are “corking” your rotation when you initiate it, or that you are not popping before the exit (aka lip). Popping (or simply jumping a little) lets you control your launch vs. letting the lip (in whatever condition and shape it may be in) control your launch.

Try these.

Advanced Spinning Lesson Part 1

Advanced Spinning Lesson Part 2

The other videos you have to pay for and if you are serious, maybe you can buy them.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

thatparkrat said:


> @snowolf:
> 
> so when you say not to look at the board ( i realize this is why i keep having the same problem with my back 1's that cfleish09 is having) but to look in the direction of the spin, does that mean that on a back 1 i should look directly over my shoulder until i'm ready to spot the landing?
> 
> could the looking-at-the-board problem also be the reason why i can do back 3s WAY better than back 1s?


Some people believe that a BS 180 is best landed "blind".

That means that you look uphill as you land. I've also heard that you should look between your bindings to spot the landing. But in my experience, I find the blind landing is more stable but a bit scarier.  Maybe you can mix both during phases of air?

Same goes with a FS 360, and a BS 540, and so on...because you are doing a BS landing in each of those cases. I'm guessing that spinning your head too much gets you disoriented, which is why you just look uphill rather than over your shoulder. This is unlike a FS landing where you can constantly look forward (hence not blind).


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## extra0 (Jan 16, 2010)

damn, those advanced spinning links are good stuff...everything you need to know


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## laviers13 (Jan 13, 2010)

those videos are really nice. they do an excellent explaination. ive been working on 3's this season and i wasnt doing some of the things he said and now i know why i was falling


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

laviers13 said:


> those videos are really nice. they do an excellent explaination. ive been working on 3's this season and i wasnt doing some of the things he said and now i know why i was falling


It took be a while to figure out the "blind" trick on my own. And all the while I thought I was just crazy to do that and there must be a better way. But after I saw that video, I thought...ahhh...so I'm not the only one with the madness!


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## Cool_As_Cakes (Sep 23, 2009)

i learned my 3's better by also practicing in my living room. stand in a safe place and jump 360 both front and backside. its not totally similar to spinning on snow but it will at least teach you to properly load your spin as well as get you familiar with spotting your landings


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## laviers13 (Jan 13, 2010)

oh yeah definitely i got that down i got it down to the landing in which i wasn't 100% comfortable i was about a 50% chance of landing now after i went up today and tried for awhile i was gettin about a 70-80% success rating. i think i might try it off a bigger jump this weekend.


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## xxfinnellxx (Aug 30, 2009)

not to demote you dude, but theres no way in hell you will land a clean 3 with a grab off a 10ft table in the next 10 days of going up. just keep getin comfortable with everything, i know that some things still intimidate you...


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## SnowProRick (Jan 13, 2009)

I'm all for progressing, but learning 3s after only 4 or 5 days riding is just silly. Get your turns down pat. Learn to actually carve, not just skid (most people say they carve when they are actually skidding, carving means turning now days). 

This is a theme to my responses today, but it takes time and practice to get good.

--rick


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

:laugh: thats me skidding not carving. Working on it though.

I have tons of video experience but no real world experience
" your doing it wrong " :laugh:

-Slyder


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

slyder said:


> :laugh: thats me skidding not carving. Working on it though.
> 
> I have tons of video experience but no real world experience
> " your doing it wrong " :laugh:
> ...


Skidding is not “wrong” because eventually you have to skid to speed check. But when you’re a beginner, carving is usually near impossible to do because you need to be able to balance your board on edge and also adjust your lean precisely to hold that edge. It takes practice. Not to mention that true carving can only be done in higher speeds. Just traversing across the slope in that snowprofessor video is not considered carving. It’s more like learning to carve by drills. 

If you REALLY like to carve, you need a hard boot alpine board setup and there you will experience the greatest G’s (short of slamming into trees) and ride a rollercoaster on the snow.
YouTube - Carving Snowboard Extremecarving

If you look behind the rider, you can notice that his tracks are like a thin line even though he’s kissing the snow.


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