Krug

First a little background... so I read all of the posts to alecdude88's post and got soem good info. I also bought and watched Snowboard Addictions video for 180s and 360s as well as watched sierrasnowboards You Tube vid on 360s countless times and no matter what, the best I can get when I ollie up in the air off a slight roller is a 270. I feel like my spin stops dead in the air. Also, when I watch the you tube video or the Snowboard Addiction video, they show a guy in both videos going across a run regular foot, popping up off his heels and completing a FS 360 smmooth as silk off of flat ground.
When I try to go off my heels like this, while going across the slope, I can barely get 6 inches of air and it takes all I have to even throw a 180. I'll admit, I am 37 and not in the shape I was 10 years ago, but still, I can hold my own. Yesterday, when I tried a FS 360 off a roller (basically flat ground), I was going slightly off my toe edge, not heels and I was going straight down the hill...I was able to get much closer-essential a 270 with the rest of the spin completed sliding on the ground. I'm starting to get really discouraged with this. Anyone out there have any additional pointers not addressed in the other post? I'm locking the core, doing the set-up turn, throwing my weight, etc. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Andy

alecdude88

I'm going to guess your having the same problem I have which is continuing to turn your head. Also make sure you don't open up before the jump make sure your shoulders are parallel with your bored before you pop.

Krug

Maybe...I can't for the life of me get it around. I'm curious, when you say that my shoulders should be parallel to my board before the pop then how do I begin my wind-up? Just to elaborate, before I pop up in the air, I am winding up and locking my core, then I try to time my pop as I am releasing my windup.

I'm kinda thinking if I don't get it around this year to throw in the towel and be happy with 180s.

Thanks,

Andy

alecdude88

this is for if your regular

With the 3s I didn't land I realized that I was opening up too early. Like in this video at 0:52 you can see when he begins to turn his shoulders.
YouTube - Frontside 360 Snowboard Trick Tip with Will Jackways
And a little tip that snow wolf gave me that could deff help you out is keep your head plastered to your right shoulder.

Enigmatic

i dk if this has already been mentioned but if all else fails:

- if you are riding a wide stance, try narrowing it (should be easier to spin with your feet closer together)

- use a board with different flex (I can spin my noodle easier than my burton custom)

- use lighter boots/bindings/board setup so it will be easier to spin (ideally)


these thoughts could be totally superfluous but might be worth trying if you just can't get past your current 270 plateau

Krug

Thanks for the tips...I went down in the basement, strapped on the NS Revolver and was able to fairly easily get a 3 around basically by keeping my arms close into my body and doing just as you advised...keeping my chin against my shoulder. I'll give it a whirl this weekend and see if I can pull it off on the snow...I might try going backside as well...thanks again!

Andy

Krug

Thanks for the pointers. I may change my stance...right now it is at 23", but feels really good for carving, etc. I might bring it in a bit though. My setup is a NS Revolver with K2 CTCs. Probably a little on the heavier side as it is also a 163.

Andy

keyaspectsoach

Hi Andy, It sounds like (from reading this post) that you issue lies with the take off. you can spin, rotate, throw, pre-wind etc all you like but if you don't have a good solid platform to push off you'll be struggling.

I take it that it's frontside 360's you're struggling with so will address that trick here.

In your above comment, you found it easy to get the board around in the basement. Why? Simple reason is the basement floor is solid and you are not moving. The basement floor is giving you a good solid platform to push off and you are well balance as you go through all the motions. In the above case the board does not slide out and you are therefore able to get the air time and rotation needed.

So, we now need to get the same happening on snow. A solid platform, and something to keep us well balanced as we are now going to be moving.

Have a read, if you haven't already the Frontside 180 off the heel edge post.

This highlights heel edge grip as we prepare and pop off the heels. Similar to a frontside 360.



1. Like with your FS360 ensure you have good grip on your heel edge as you traverse across the slope or approach the kicker. Practice getting low as you traverse across the slope while at the same time pulling your toes up in your boots. (feel that good old shin muscle "Tibialis anterior" burn) Hold this edge (feeling the toes in the tops of your boots) all the way until you leave the ground.


2. Watch out for the following when you go to spin: Rotating with your hips or being lazy with them will cause the back knee to fold in and the toes to go down - this leads to a lack of grip on take off. (read the following)

Balance up against a pillar or wall at home, with your shoulder blades resting against the wall. Feet shoulder width apart balancing on your heels in your socks. Imagine your in a nice gentle heel edge carve. Next, rotate the upper body back and forth turning to face the front of your board, then back inline again. Did the toes on your back foot touch the floor? Well, they shouldn't have. The only way they would have is if you twisted at your waist.

Imagine that nice gentle heel edge carve again, body inline with board leaving a pencil line in the snow. Imagine what would happen to that nice pencil line if you dropped your back toe. You would lose that edge and lose the grip - the board would start to slip/slide out and once you lose that edge it is far more difficult to get it back again. The difference between a nice pencil line carve and a skidded turn is the edge hold.

We want edge hold on take off, as it gives us a solid platform to push off and keeps us balance.


3. Practice being able to twist and rotate the upper body while not disturbing the edge hold (this is the upper and lower body separation that you question in your PM). Once you get this you should find rotations happening a lot easier. Practice leaving the upper body 'twist/separation' latter and latter with every frontside rotation, just try out some small heel edge 180's, see how long you can wait until letting the lower body follow the upper.

Hope this has helped.

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elstinky

whow, outstanding post from keyaspectsoach! Just like Krug I've been reading up on 360s a lot and I always felt like something was missing in all explanations. This however seems to complete it, especially the stuff regarding how to work with the edges.

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NYCboarder

i ride regular and only can spin off heel edge right now. What do you all find easier. FS or BS 360