One of the techniques that most snowboarders have a desire to learn is the art of spinning and turning. When learning about spinning and turning on the snowboard, the most basic place to start is learning about the art of spinning 360’s, 540’s, and 720’s. Some of the aspects that snowboarders need to learn include:
- Platform
A platform is a fundamental approach to spinning for beginners because it allows them to use their edges and the art of carving to help their spin look easy. The carving technique will put them on their feet at an even angle, allowing them to spin without difficulties. Snowboarders need to learn that they should always spin-off an edge rather than from a flat base. The edge gives them a gripping ground and allows them to push off the snow when needed. Those practicing frontside spins can spin either from the toe or from the heel edge, but the heel edge gives them a much better starting point.
- Setup
The setup gives learners an idea of how they are supposed to spin and how they need to position their bodies as they perform the spin. The frontside spin gives them the perfect ground for setting up, where they need to perform a toeside setup turn and then move to the heelside platform as they jump. They should ensure that the board faces a straight direction anytime they try to leave the board’s lip.
- Release
This art gives learners a perspective of when and how they will fly into the air, and the exact time they should leave the lip. They will need to create more tension; for example, spinning a 360-degree on a small park jump will need a bit of tension. The direction of release is crucial because it allows learners to remain balanced. They can release in either a diagonally down direction, a horizontal direction around the body, or a diagonally up direction.
- Landing
This gives snowboarders an idea of where the landing spot is and how they can spot it. They also need to learn how to stop rotating and prepare for that perfect landing. Some important considerations they should learn are that a backside 360 has an open landing, while a 540 has a blind landing, and the 720 have an open landing. For the frontside landing; the 360 and 720 have blindside landing, while the 540 has an open landing.
- Speed
This is another critical aspect when learning how to turn and spin on snowboards. To get a perfect speed, learners need to do a few straight ups in the air. They can learn how to maintain speed by checking other snowboarders and taking note of the number of speed checks they are making. They can start practicing Straight Air speeds, which will give them an idea of the speed they need to use for the spins.
When they learn these basics, they can do several spins and turns, such as the nose and tailspin, with ease.
