I'm not an ambiturner

Does anyone else have difficulty spinning both ways? I can go to my left, but every time I try to go to my right (say, for a wrapped heel frontside 3) I get totally disorientated and land on my back. Just wondering if anyone else feels much more "natural" going one way or the other.

I think everyone has a more natural way to spin. I'm like you where to the left feels way more natural than to the right, and I'm more likely to lose my axis to the right.

By right and left do you mean frontside and backside? Or switch vs. regular? I would say most people have a harder time doing backside spins. For me personally spinning up to a 360 is not harder either way, but once you start doing 5's backside is definitely harder.

Originally Posted by seth

By right and left do you mean frontside and backside? Or switch vs. regular? I would say most people have a harder time doing backside spins. For me personally spinning up to a 360 is not harder either way, but once you start doing 5's backside is definitely harder.

Except switch backside is the same rotation as regular frontside. Get comfortable rotating a direction by working on hip and handle control, one is more natural than the other but everyone's is different.

Time to get on a tramp and work out the spin devils.

Backside spins are harder usually. People have a tenancy to start the spin early or rush the trick, miss the pop, and end up off axis. Which is probably why you're landing on your back.

Is anyone else thinking of Zoolander now?

I spin better counter clockwise. It doesn't matter if it is switch or reg, Frontside or Backside.

Andy, is right. Tramp work is the best thing for handle passes.

Originally Posted by markj

Is anyone else thinking of Zoolander now?

Ha! I actually googled Zoolander to make sure I spelled "ambiturner" correctly. If you're curious, it's not in the dictionary.

A trampoline is a great idea. I live in a city, but a Sky Zone just opened up nearby, so maybe I can get some practice in this off season. My problem is totally directional. I feel comfortable spinning to my left, counterclockwise, but I'm a total mess spinning to my right, clockwise. I guess I should've been a NASCAR driver . . . .

Eric

Another good idea is just working on the handle pass by doing surface 360's. Doing it on the surface you can quickly learn if the off axis motion is from your head, Body follow head always, so if you are looking down it will get you off axis. I have used a handle pass trainer for your, I got the idea from Kyle Schmidt (he's an old school pro and now owner of Humaniod) here's a link to the concept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43B3V7PqYYA

This will help with the handle pass, in wakeboarding so much of it relies on muscle memory. But your still going to need to jump on a tramp to get the body position down. Like J-Rod said most people have a tendency to spin early on backside spins causing them to get off axis the wrong way.