# How to 360 properly?



## maxv8989 (Jun 17, 2011)

For the past 2 seasons I have been snowboarding, I have been doing decent on the rails, grabs and most all tricks, but one thing that has been holding me back in my inability to spin. Technically, I can land a 360 off a jump, but the problem is, the technique that I use to get a 360 will pretty much only allow me to do 360s, and maybe possibly a 540 but that's pretty much it. In probably way too much detail im going to explain what I do. 

First I'm building up speed on the area to the jump, what you normally do.

Then I setup for the spin off the jump.

I pop off the jump, my upper body goes into the spin but my legs stay straight for 2 seconds.

I counter rotate my upper body to get my legs to spin, here I can try to kick my legs in a wheel direction to force them to spin.

My legs move forward and can go up to a 360 spin.

My body is counter rotated to the point where if I spin my legs forward more, or move my arms back more, it would probably injure my stomach.


I probably don't need to explain why this is a problem, but this technique looks bad and limits my spinning ability, and also makes it impossible to do a grab when spinning. So if anybody knows anything about this problem and why my 360's arn't working out, please help out. 
Also I have seen most of the videos on how to 360 and 540, but if anybody knows any lesser known but equally important tips, those would be incredibly helpful too.


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## Streloma (Feb 16, 2011)

Yeah i pretty much have the same problem please help 
I have done a few 540s on smaller jumps but without grabs and was very lucky to land them. I doubt I would be able to spin further to be perfectly honest.


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## Cr0_Reps_Smit (Jun 27, 2009)

first let me know if you are trying to spin frontside or backside.


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## Streloma (Feb 16, 2011)

Well for me it is backside (and sw frontside)


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## maxv8989 (Jun 17, 2011)

I'm pretty sure I had the problem on both FS and BS, but not really sure.


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

Sure Cr0 has his own opinion but to me it sounds like:

1, are you are setting up too early and 2, not snapping off the lip so that your knees/board can follow your upper body smoothly.

When you set up, your upper body should still be winding in the direction you are going to spin as you pop off the lip. The pause you describe is what makes it hard to get your lower body to fluidly follow your shoulders/head/arms. The more tension you can create (by increasing the angle between lower and upper body as you pop), the faster you can spin but you should never pause the wind up motion. That is why the timing is so important. It has to occur early enough to get a lot of tension built but not so soon you pause your motion.

Secondly, if you don't pop off the lip and help put your board in motion, it will be hard to snap your board and knees around to follow your upper body. Some people suggest carving off the lip so you can come off your toes or heels. I prefer to always pop off my toes.


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## vwbrian (Apr 16, 2011)

What is "scissoring of the legs"?


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

It really just sounds like you're not getting enough total-body rotation before you leave the snow. Once you launch, the rotation you have is all you've got. You can screw around with rotating upper and lower body in different directions, but you can't really increase your rate of spin overall. You have to get your rotation going on launch. As snowolf says, have upper body pre-wound in the opposite direction, then just before you launch you whip your upper body around in the direction you want to go. Since the board is still on the snow providing a foundation, your lower body won't counter-rotate; instead you'll give yourself a net rotation. Once you launch, you'll just continue to rotate.


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## C.B. (Jan 18, 2011)

vwbrian said:


> What is "scissoring of the legs"?


moving one leg farther forward and the other farther back relative to your frontside and backside.

For me if im spinning frontside it kinda feels like i'm snapping off my back foot then kinda pulling it out to my backside until my leg rotation catches up with my torso, once I'm into the rotation it takes care of itself. 

Idk how else to explain it.:dunno:


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> At takeoff, you rapidly unwind from this position and remember to stay there, looking over your shoulder in the direction of the spin.


It sounds like you are not keeping you rotation going as others have mentioned. Which is not giving you enough time in the air to complete the rotation.

Are you leaving the lip off an edge or flat base?
Is the jump big enough?
are you starting your pre-wind to early or unloading to early ?
Just some thoughts on it...


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## Kwanzaa (Sep 4, 2011)

maxv8989 said:


> For the past 2 seasons I have been snowboarding, I have been doing decent on the rails, grabs and most all tricks, but one thing that has been holding me back in my inability to spin. Technically, I can land a 360 off a jump, but the problem is, the technique that I use to get a 360 will pretty much only allow me to do 360s, and maybe possibly a 540 but that's pretty much it. In probably way too much detail im going to explain what I do.
> 
> First I'm building up speed on the area to the jump, what you normally do.
> 
> ...


You need to rotate your body with your legs in one solid unit, everything should spin at the same time. you need to get comfertable spinning your lower body at the same rate as your upper body, as well as pre loading your spins. For a smooth 360 your board should already be at a 25 degree angle as the tail of your board is leaving the jump, not straight. My friend was learning 360's last year and he did them the exact same way, by the end of the season he had figured it out and was able to land 360's with an ollie, all it took him was getting familiar with body positioning. Watch a few instructional video's on how to perform them and you will pick out the differences between what your doing right and wrong.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

maxv8989,
have you ever thought to video tape your 360s to better analyze and give others the chance to analyze your movements. Seeing yourself in action could be all you need and if you still can't pinpoint it. I'm sure several members here would nail it.


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## dreampow (Sep 26, 2011)

Backside 360 (goofy riders), Snowboard trick tip - YouTube

this is for goofy but they have a regular version too as well as frontside.

I found this very very helpful.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

as a newbie I bought and am a subscriber to their videos, they have helped me emensely !!!!!!


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## whistlerboarder (Sep 21, 2011)

It sound like you need to keep your core stiff and bring your legs with you. When your spinning off the lip next time, keep you core stiff and think of bringing the tail of your board around. I just made a video on how to spin 360's. Snowboard Pro Camp – How to Spin Frontside 360 | www.SnowboardProCamp.com


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