Snowboarding Tricks: Spins

Here's the technique you will use to perform a 360 spin for your snowboarding tricks. For 540 spins and greater, you will still use the same basic technique to complete the full rotations.

Frontside and Backside

First, a word about how to distinguish between a frontside and backside spin since there are usually some snowboard riders who get confused between the two.

Basically, if you ride natural a frontside spin will be counter-clockwise and a backside spin will be clockwise. If you ride goofy, then frontside spins will be clockwise and backside spins will be counter-clockwise.

Starting the Spin

To spin, you must initiate the motion of rotating otherwise you won't spin at all. This is easily done for 180s where you launch off the jump as you normally would when you go straight up into the air and just swing your board 180 degrees.

Things get a little more complicated for bigger spins though since airtime will be at a premium. You'll need to initiate the spin the moment you jump off by throwing your arms in the direction you intend to spin.

The proper technique to do this is as follows. Prewind your torso by turning your upperbody and arms in the opposite direction of the way you want to spin.

This will give you the leverage to throw your arms in the direction of the spin with the necessary force to allow you to spin extremely fast. Basically, the harder you throw your arms the faster you'll spin.

The Jump

You'll need to jump off while you're unwinding. Ideally, you would jump off at the precise moment when your body is centered over your board approximately halfway during the unwinding.

When executed properly, this will give you the stability you need while spinning. With enough practice, you'll be able to master the movement.

Riding Up The Launch

While prewinding, your board will naturally follow the movement of your body which could cause you to fall right in front of the jump.

To prevent this from happening, you'll need to adjust the placement of your weight across the board. Shift your weight to your heel-edge for a frontside spin and to your toe-edge for a backside spin.

Put just enough weight on the appropriate edge to compensate for the movement of the board. Any additional weight will make it easier for you spin but will reduce the amount of airtime you get compared to a well balanced jump.

Release the weight off the edge when you unwind and pop off your toes to get more airtime and power in your jump.

Keeping the Spin

To stay balanced and spinning at a fast speed, you need to keep looking over your shoulder in the direction that you are spinning.

You'll need to start looking in this direction immediately after you unwind. In addition, to minimize air resistance, keep your arms tucked in.

Landing

After much practice, you may find that it won't be necessary to slow your spin down as much before landing. This, however, will be close to impossible for beginners to execute.

Therefore, reduce the speed of your spin by looking at where you intend to land and spreading your arms out if necessary. Keep in mind that there will always be some residual spin even as you land.

When you land, stomp and absorb the impact and ride off nonchalantly just like the snowboarding pros do.