Frontside 180

The frontside 180 is often the first spin people learn in the air: you rotate 180° frontside (your body opens toward the nose side) and land fakie. It’s a clean, satisfying trick, and once you’ve got it down it becomes the base for bigger spins.

How to Do It

1. Ride into the jump with enough speed, shoulders lined up with the board and eyes on the lip of the kicker.
2. Just before the lip, start winding up the frontside rotation: turn your shoulders slightly, opening toward the nose side (your chest starts to face downhill).
3. As you leave the lip, ollie and use the pop as your launch while your upper body keeps turning.
4. In the air, lead the rotation with your shoulders. Your eyes go first: spot the landing before you touch down.
5. Land fakie with soft knees and your weight centered over both feet. Use your edge to control whatever speed you have left.

Common Mistakes

• Starting the rotation too early: wind up before the lip, but only release the rotation when you pop off the lip.
• Arms pulling too hard: throwing your arms open too far makes you spin past 180° (over-rotation). Keep the movement controlled and smooth.
• Weight on the nose when you land: in fakie your weight tends to go forward. Keep it centered so you don’t nosedive.

Progression

Once the frontside 180 is solid on kickers of different sizes, the next step is the Frontside 360: same direction, twice the rotation. You can also add a grab like the Melon to give the trick more style.