Backside 360 Spin

The Backside 360 Spin is one of the flagship tricks of wing foiling. It consists of jumping and doing a full turn on yourself under the wing. The rotation of this trick goes leeward. The advantage of this maneuver is that it leads to a multitude of variations. On the other hand, this trick is quite hard to achieve. It is therefore necessary to have an advanced level to start trying this trick.

   

Now that you know what it is, let’s tackle the theory.

Before anything else, you must send this trick with your front hand in a supine position. By positioning your hand this way, you won’t completely twist your arm as you will already have done half a turn. .

Prepare your impulse

You are now sailing with the front hand in the correct direction and you feel ready to send this trick. Start by picking up speed. Once you go fast enough, choose a section to send it on. Indeed, it is better to try this trick when facing a wave, a bump or a big chop. The pop will be much easier. As soon as you approach your section, prepare your impulse and then pop once you’re on it.

The rotation

After that, you’re supposed to be in the air. This is where the going gets tough. You will need to send your rotation at the right time. If you send it off too early, your upper body will get too far ahead of the board and the landing will be almost unmanageable. But if you send it too late, you will have a hard time turning and you surely won’t finish your rotation. Your best bet is to send your upper body very lightly as soon as you take off. Then send the head up once you’ve gotten a little higher. The time between these two actions is very short (not even a second), but it is necessary to break it down well.

So you have sent your upper body and then the head with which you will look for your point of reception. As you throw your head up, you’ll need to let go of your back hand to release your upper body and allow yourself to continue the rotation. You can use this free arm by throwing your elbow behind you. This may allow you to speed up the rotation a bit. When you let go of your back hand, you can bring the wing in an umbrella position above and leeward of your head. If all went well, you are normally finishing your 360, so you will need to cushion the landing. Cushioning this maneuver is important because you are not supported by the wing. So you are going to fall with all your weight on the water. Plus, cushioning well and staying flexed will help you keep your balance.  

 

Changing hands

Now the question of changing hands arises. You will have to do it quickly or you will lose your balance. You will therefore grab the rear handle with the hand you let go. To make it easier to change hands, you can put the wing in front of you. The problem that arises at this point is that you are going to end up with the back hand the right way round, but the front hand is completely twisted and therefore very uncomfortable. So to finish your change of hand, you will open the front hand and rotate it around the handle until it arrives in the correct direction. You can also let go of the handle completely and catch it in the correct direction. But honestly this technique is riskier because you can very easily lose the wing. Third solution if you are really not comfortable with the last two: you can directly grab the front handle with the hand you released, let go of the front hand to take the handle in the right direction and then catch the rear handle with the hand you let go. This technique works well but it is really not effective and you may lose your balance because the process will take too long. Once your hands are changed, all you have to do is start pumping a little.

This trick is really not easy to do. It’s perfectly normal if you don’t make it within an hour. You will surely need several sessions to nail it. The most important thing for this kind of maneuver is to ride smart. Find your mistakes and don’t repeat them every time. If you follow this How To, you should nail this trick within 4 or 5 sessions. All you have to do is grab your gear and go train!  

Malo Guénolé