For Beginners Who Want to Do Tricks on a Snowboard | How to Make It Look Like You’re Doing a 360 Spin Ground Trick

For beginners in snowboarding who want to perform tricks, here’s a method to make it look like you’re doing a flashy 360 spin.

360 Spin

First, the official name for this trick is the Frontside 360 Spin Ground Trick.

The above video shows the official version.

You often see people doing this on the slopes.

Some people are good at spinning the other way, which is the Backside 360.

For those in a regular stance with the left foot forward, do it with the left foot still forward. If you do it with your right foot forward, it’s called a Switch Frontside 360 or Cab 360.

 

 

The Proper Way to Learn the Trick: Start with the 180 Spin

Yes, let’s start with the proper way to learn and master the trick. Naturally, the theory is to first master the 180 spin. The opinion of advanced riders is that if you can’t do a 180, don’t attempt a 360. If you can’t do a 180, you can’t master the 540 either. Ideally, you should master all directions of the 180 (frontside, backside, cab, switch backside) before moving on to the 360.

However, the 180 spin is surprisingly difficult because you land with your opposite foot forward. While you might be told to practice riding switch (opposite stance), for those who only snowboard a few times a year, there often isn’t enough time for such practice.

So, the purpose here is to learn a flashy-looking 360 spin in one preferred direction, skipping over the 180 spin. This may upset some advanced riders, so please continue reading only if you’re willing to learn this shortcut method.

How to Make It Look Like You’re Doing a 360 Spin Trick

Now, onto the main topic.

1. First, practice spinning 360 degrees on the ground without jumping. If you can turn normally, you’ll probably master this after a few tries.
2. Practice the ollie. An ollie is when a regular stance rider (left foot forward) jumps left foot first, then right foot. If you can ride normally, you’ll find this relatively easy. It’s okay if it doesn’t look as clean as in the videos.
3. Next, add an ollie to the latter part of the 360-degree ground spin you practiced in step 1. Jump for the last 90 degrees of the 360. At this point, it should already look quite like a trick. Just increase the portion of the rotation you complete with the jump.
4. Once you’re comfortable with step 3, start by spinning the first 180 degrees on the ground, then finish the remaining 180 degrees with a jump (ollie). With the momentum from the ground spin, you should naturally spin around 180 degrees and land back in your original stance (left foot forward).
5. Finally, just adjust the timing of your jump earlier. Aim to start with a 90-degree ground spin and complete the remaining 270 degrees with a jump. This way, it will look like you’re doing a 360 spin trick.

Many people doing 360 spins on the slopes start by spinning the first 90 degrees on the ground before jumping. Few people can perform a perfectly clean spin like in the videos.

How does that sound? By following these steps, even if you can’t do a 180 spin trick, you can still perform a 360-like spin trick. This method uses the principle of early take-off, often seen in kicker tricks.

 

This Method Is Not Recommended for Those Who Want to Properly Learn Snowboarding

As the title suggests, this is a shortcut method. It’s for beginners who snowboard only a few times a year and don’t have time for proper step-by-step practice but want to look like they can do a 360 spin trick.

If you want to properly learn snowboarding and eventually do other tricks, kickers, jibs, or half-pipes, don’t use this method.

This method uses the principle of early take-off, which can be dangerous if attempted on kickers using this technique. Please remember that this is a shortcut method for ground tricks and not suitable for proper progression in snowboarding.