Comments on: How to 360 Air on a Snowboard

on 8/8/2006 A lot of people, that are of perfect ability of doing a 360, simply do not attempt it because they are too scared and don't want to get hurt. The truth is the 360 is not a hard trick, you just have to be willing to give the trick full commitment. If you are one of the people that are just to scared to try the trick, just give it one shot and go for it, your gonna be surprised how easy it is.

There are still things you need to know before you attempt this trick, here are some of them:

1) Approach the jump with a little more speed then needed to clear the jump or deck.

2) While approaching the jump wind up your upper body in the opposite direction you plan to spin.

3) When you reach the lip of the jump, turn into the spin and unwind your upper body in the direction you wish to spin.

4) Turn you head in the direction you are planning to spin and your body will follow.

5) Finally, watch and reach for the landing and ride away smooth.


I know that sounds like a lot, but just try it. I'm sure you will do fine, you may get lucky and nail it the first time.

on 3/16/2006 You can't just give a quick little turn and get all the way around like you can with a 180. You need to put your whole body into it and wind-up.

on 1/23/2006 I just did my first successful and smooth 360 yesterday. I've landed a few very sketchy ones two days ago, but usually I landed on my butt or ended up landing somewhere on the deck of the jump.

Visualizing helps, but sometimes you end up turning your head and your body stays put. Definitely turn into it to get rid of that. The reason you get stuck at 90 or 180 is because you had no momentum with the spin. I found this out yesterday.

If you think you're going too fast, go faster, otherwise, when you turn into the spin, you will lose essential speed, and end up landing on the deck at 270. Commit to speed.

Never lean back when doing a 360. I did. I landed on my face, literally, and I have a black eye now. Make sure your spinning is on-axis.

When you first try it, find the smaller jump in the park on a non-icy day. Then, once you've managed to land it a few times, take it to a bigger jump. Ironically, when you go bigger, it's easier because your not worried about hucking the spin around before you land. You just let it flow and it's usually a much smoother landing.

However, I suggest never doing jumps on icy days.

on 11/22/2005 The 360 is an intermediate trick. If you don't fully commit to it, you will never land it. The 360 trick is 85 percent commitment. The tip I will give below is to help with the lack of commitment problem.

The main problem for people in a 360 is that they freeze at 270, or even 180 (rarely 90). To help with this, I have noticed that visualizing the points in the 360 (when you're looking back up the hill for front side, or facing down the hill for backside) helped me. If you can't visualize it, try going on the jump. Stop right after the lip, before the knuckle of the tabletop (if you're using a tabletop), and stand at the point of 270. Remember how this looks. Think about getting to that point as your main goal in your 360. Doing this and getting to the point of 270 with enough momentum will minimize the chance of you freezing at 270. I think the main reason people freeze at 270 is that they are actually freezing around 180, and then forcing the 270 (after which they are unable to force another 90).

Another thing that helps with getting momentum for the front side 360 (other than visualizing the 270) is to have a planned run-up and one toe-side turned toward the tabletop. Once on the kicker (or a little before, depending on its size) do a heel side turn (if you're regular), and then spin on that edge frontside. For back side, it would be the opposite. This made 360's so much easier for me. It was almost effortless. Another thing to try is actually spinning 90 degrees on the lip, to get extra momentum. I did this the first couple of times, and it really helped to get the feel of doing a 360.

Front side 360:

1) Toe side turn coming down, then switch to heel side turn coming up the kicker, spinning around 45 degrees on the lip for extra momentum.

2) Visualize reaching the 270 point, looking back up the hill (after which the last 90 is very easy).

3) Don't even think about doing the first 180. Visualize the 270, and make that your goal. You will be less likely to turn your head back and freeze your rotation at 270. The added momentum from the smooth 270 will keep you going, as opposed to a forced 270 from a 180 position (which will never get you to 360, as the spin is completely dead).

Using this, I went in one day from barely being able to land an extremely sketchy 180 (usually freezing at 90) to being able to do 360's extremely easily and adding a melon grab. I ended up getting 6 feet of air and easily landing my 360. On the last run of the day I tried (and landed) a 540.

on 11/22/2005 spinning is real easy. simply crouch down like you would for any jump, then when you hit the lip (top of jump) huck (jump) as hard as you can and simply twist at the waist so your looking at your ass. dont actually look at it, you need to spot your landing. just keep looking around your shoulders and you'll keep rotating. for style, tuck your knees to your chest while you spin and then extend them to absorb the landing. DO NOT use your kickstand (trailing arm) to help you land. you'll look like a damn fool, and none of the lady rippers will think your pro at all. PS- dont listen to the dumbass who said dont go on difficult runs, thats how you prgress, stay on the easy runs and you will always suck.

on 11/22/2005 You'll never be able to throw a clean 360 or any spin unless you "wind up" before you hit the lip of the jump. Twist your upper body frontwards for a frontside spin or backwards for a backside spin. When you hit the lip of the jump, unwind fast and spot your landing.

on 11/22/2005 Find a jump with a good lip so you can get a lot of air. If you don't have enough air, you'll end up spinning too fast and wipe out.

on 11/22/2005 Always spot your landing. This keeps you from over-rotating and catching an edge when you land.

on 11/22/2005 When you're in the air, try to look ahead of where you're spinning. This will help get your upper body in place to swing your lower body around the full 360.