The 360, a Hydrofoil Tutorial

The 360

A Hydrofoil Tutorial by

Justin Dietrich

It has a few names including Heli’s, spins, and 3’s. The trick we are working with is a Frontside Handle Pass 360. These are typically executed out in the flats on the side of the boat but the trick can be done at the wake as well. In this tutorial, we will be focusing on an approach to learn the “Air Frontside Handle Pass 360”.

Most important points of this tutorial.

• Follow the steps in this tutorial to reduce the risk of injury
• Use the line tension to spin rather than twisting the head, shoulders, and body.

Fundamental Steps to Learn.

• Jumping with line
• Delay during the drift
• Climbing the line
• Passing the handle close and low on your back

First, let’s start with a little background about me and the 360. I landed my first one back in 2009. After I landed one, I was “fly swatted” a few times trying to land another one. I gave up on the trick. It’s been stated by many people that their worst crashes have occurred from spins. After a five year break, I decided to revisit the spin. I’ve used the same learning technique that I’m going to teach in this tutorial. It is based off Bryan Steele’s method of progression.

Preparing for success.

First, let’s start by preparing your gear. Nothing really needs to be changed with your ski but I would recommend a couple other changes. The goal is to reduce the risk of injury. 

1. Slow the boat down to 18-20 MPH.
2. Remove from or shorten your rope by about 20 feet.
3. Use manual release with a confident “pin puller”
4. If you don’t have a “pin puller” use an automatic release
5. Wear a US Coast Guard Approved Vest
6. Wear a helmet or earplugs
7. Wear a mouthguard
8. Wear a knee pad
9. Take video if possible

I have been 50 frames at 18mph, so don’t argue about 18mph being too slow. The goal is to reduce the risk of injury. Shortening your rope will make it so you don’t have to use as much energy getting out into the area where you will initiate your spin. Hydrofoiling is an extreme sport and carries the risk of serious injury or even death. Please take the necessary precautions. Using a manual release, with a trained and confident person is a huge advantage. At a bare minimum, use an automatic release; such as a Comptech Release by Sky Ski, a Bullet Release by Samson, or a Cinch Release by Cinch Hydrofoils, at all times. This trick has been known to damage foils and people. There is no reason not to use the safety equipment listed above. Trust me, you will probably thank me later. Spins can and do come with side splats. Side splats are good for blowing out eardrums, knocking knees together, and can even injure shoulder joints. It is also a good idea to learn how to crash. In other words, never put your hands out to catch yourself. Our instincts tell us to catch our falls so we have to learn to get into the fetal position. Arms and hands should be in close to your body. Even better, wrap your arms around your head! One, you can’t put your head or arms through the handle when wrapped up like this, and two, it will reduce the risk of whiplash, eardrum ruptures, and concussions.

Learn the LINGO

There will be a few times when you might question the terms used during the tutorial. I’ll take this moment to brief you on a few.

• Line- Line is commonly used to describe line tension. Line tension is the force of the handle being towed across the water as felt by the rider. Line tension is at its peak directly behind the boat.  Line tension at its lowest wide in the arc.
• Rope- The rope is most commonly used to describe the actual ski rope. With a boat on one end and handle on the other.
• Inside- This is used to describe any part of the body/ski that is facing towards the boat at the beginning of a trick. If you are on the right side of the boat everything on the LEFT side of you and your ski is on the inside.
• Outside- This is the opposite of inside. Literally.
• Pendulum Arc- The area of travel the rider has available while being towed. 
• On Cut- Leaning against the rope hard enough to accelerate along the pendulum arc and building speed. 
• On Edge- When being towed by the boat and the foil is in the water, you are “on edge” when you are leaning against the rope but not leaning so hard that you are building speed. You will know when you have switched from one edge to the other because the rope will switch from one side of the ski to the other.
• The Switch- The point where the rider can switch from one edge to the other. At this point the riders speed matches the boat speed. If you try to switch edges while moving faster than the boat you will end up riding up the rope, creating slack in the rope. The switch can be found anywhere along the pendulum arc.  
• Pothole- When a rider jumps or does a trick and lands just before or right at the Switch. When out wide in the Pendulum Arc the line tension from the boat is at its lowest. A slow rider and low line tension equals a sinking ski.

OK, so now that I have your attention, let’s get down to the fun stuff. This trick has 4 basic parts. The Jump. The Drift. The Climb. The Pass. We will work on each part in a progressive manner with the end goal of landing a 360 without serious injury. Let’s talk about line tension briefly. When in the air during a trick we only have 100% line tension to work with. Once it’s all used up, that’s it, you end up with a slack rope. If you use some of your line tension during the take off by jumping in towards the boat you have even less to start with. Hopefully you will be able to execute the trick and have just enough line tension at the end to ride away from the trick. 

When you have some time, I suggest using a spinning stool of any kind for dry land practice. Tie a rope with handle to a door knob or anything stable and practice using the handle to turn yourself on the seat. You will notice how easy it is to spin. It’s even easier in the air on a hydrofoil. Keep your handle low. Think about the handle being a belt you are feeding through a pair of pants.

The Jump

Sounds easy enough. Everyone can jump right? We are going to put your jumping to the test right now. The jump is very important because the take off is where the “spin torque” is generated. Spin Torque is the result of jumping with line and handle position in a way that a spin rotation is started. There are ways to land a spin using a jump that is not line loaded, but learning to load the line will increase consistency dramatically. What is loading the line? In basic terms, it means to take off in a direction away from the boat. There are a couple different jumps that will work with spins. Typically, when learning we want to see a longer, lower jump, and not quite as steep. 

1. Start out behind the boat somewhere and aggressively cut out to your strong side. Why aggressive? Because the cut is used to build speed. If the jump is initiated while traveling faster than the boat, the landing will be easier to control. 

2. Cut out wide, building speed, then lift on your cut. But stay on edge. Have you ever heard someone say “cut then 10%”? What that means is cut out and build speed. Next, decrease your cut so you are maintaining the speed you just reached. That is the 10% we are referring to. After reaching the desired speed, stay on edge, (10%), to maintain speed and initiate the jump.

3. Practice jumping and landing with line tension. You want to learn this trick wide, along the pendulum arc. There is a window of opportunity when initiating the jump wide. If you jump too late, the result will be potholes from landing at the switch and low line tension. Initiating the jump wide will reduce the force of the line tension but increase the effect the line tension has on spin torque. If you initiate the jump too early, the line might pull you forward and the leverage to produce spin torque will be reduced.

If you find yourself landing with a bunch of slack in the rope, or you had to bring the handle all the way into your body, your jump was pointed ever so slightly towards of the boat. You want the exact opposite. Work on jumping away from the boat, ever so slightly or even just on edge. When done correctly, you might find the nose of your board turning slowly in towards the boat. If you find the wings moving away from the boat or your body falling towards the boat, you probably jumped away from the boat too much.  Either that, or your handle was too high.

Jumping Tips:

• Initiating the jump wide will reduce the chance of being pulled forward when climbing the line. 
• Jumping wide will reduce the chances of getting your rope tangled in your ski when you start passing the handle. 
• Don’t wait too long to initiate the jump after lifting on your cut. That’s how the pothole happens.
• Try to think about going for distance instead of height with your jump.
• Keep your outside arm just slightly bent.
• Keep the handle low

Troubleshooting: 

• Landing with a bunch of slack in the rope.

          FIX- Concentrate on keeping on edge through the jump. Jump in the direction you are                                                         traveling along the pendulum arc.

• Potholes or sinking at landing.

          FIX- Initiate the jump earlier along the pendulum arc or build more cut speed.

• The rope is pulling you in towards the boat.

           FIX- Keep the handle low during the jump. Jump in the direction you are traveling along the                               pendulum arc.

STEEP JUMPS- If you have a steep jump angle you have an additional step to take into consideration. To get the jump to level off (flatten out), you have to crunch forward extra far to combat landing too tail heavy or on your back. The steeper your jump the more you have to crunch forward with your shoulders. In some cases, you might have to use some line tension. Bringing your handle up (head height) can help pull you forward leveling the jump off. A high handle usually means the jump was too steep in relation to how far forward your shoulders are. With a steep jump the goal is the same, jump ever so slightly away from the boat.

The Drift - Absolutely the hardest part of a 360. 

The Drift is a delay during the trick that allows the line tension and handle position to generate the spin and flatten out the jump. 

The objective here is to jump using the line tension to drift the tip of the board in towards the boat and flatten out the jump. This delays the next step while doing so. 

It’s very hard to have trust that the line tension alone will do the spin for you. The handle pass does not generate the spin rotation. The handle pass can generate spin, but riding away from a spin, like that, will be far less consistent and is usually off axis. The handle pass is just necessary to keep the handle between you and the boat during the spin.

1. Practice the Drift by jumping with line tension and moving the handle over your inside knee. The goal is for the the whole ski, with rider’s frontside, to spin in towards the boat. I tend to spot the boat during my drift. Spotting the boat can help with the delay. I would recommend letting your head turn with your body. In other words, don’t twist your neck to spot the boat. When done correctly the nose of the ski and the rider’s body/head will “drift” towards the boat, so the nose of the ski, knees, handle, chest and head are all inline with the rope.
2. Practice the Drift by jumping with line and moving the handle slowly over you outside knee. At this point I’m going to tell you not to do a Shifty. A Shifty is when the rider does a jump and they twist at the waist to turn the ski backwards, then bring it back forward. Shifty’s can be a great tool for practicing how to use the line to generate spin and even reverse it.  However, you want your entire body and ski to turn towards the boat during the Drift, not just the ski. You can land a jump when facing the boat, so don’t worry about taking a hand off the handle at all.. Jump Drifts should become easier with practice. 

VIDEO: Step 1 and 2

Climbing the Line

Climbing the line is when the rider brings the handle slowly into the body, so the handle is close and low just before the handle pass.

Now that you can cut out wide, jump with line, and you can drift the tip of the board/body in towards the boat, the next step is bringing the handle from your knee area to your outside hip. The Drift and the Climb need to be mended together into one slow motion. 

It’s during the Climb that all the bad things happen. Climb too soon or too fast and your axis will be thrown off resulting in side splats and/or being pulled out the front/forward. By keeping your inside hand on the handle, it’s very hard to pull your outside hand out wide during the climb. You will find if you jump, drift and two-handed climb the line to your outside hip, you will easily and most importantly, safely rotate to 180 degrees. 

1. Practice climbing the line by drifting the handle to over your knees and continuing towards your outside hip. Instead of stopping at the knee, like you did practicing the drift, just keep the handle moving towards your outside hip. It is best to keep both hands on the handle during this step. You are learning to climb the line with two hands to help keep from leading the spin with your shoulders. In addition, this helps get the handle tight to your body in preparation for the handle pass. In many cases, simply moving the handle across your knees to the outside of your lap will induce a 180 degree spin.
2. Practice climbing the line, doing a 180 degree spin and crashing. 180 crashes are easy, soft and painless, if you follow the steps. But landing backwards is scary, so it is important to keep your head up. Your instinct is to look where you are going to crash. To help battle this instinct, spot the bubbles where your foil exited the water. Stay crunched forward. There is no reason to push on your feet. Practice the Climb to 180 until you are comfortable landing backwards with the tip of the board down.

Safety Tip: 

Do not have a death grip on the handle. Let the boat take the handle from you.

Do not drop the handle or toss the handle away when crashing! 

Dropping/tossing the handle could result with you falling onto the rope or handle and becoming seriously injured.  You should release the handle when you feel a tug from the boat.

VIDEO: Step 3

The Handle Pass

The Handle Pass is just a necessary step to keep the handle between the rider and the boat. All of the prep work in the world will not prepare you for this last step. It’s the scariest step, and because it is scary, you will be mentally challenged not to throw all the hard work you just did out the window.

1. Practice climbing the line with two hands on the handle. Release your inside hand from the handle at your outside hip and crash at 180 degrees. Stick to your steps. Jump, drift, climb, release the inside hand, crash at 180 degrees. Be sure to get two hands towards the outside hip before releasing the inside hand off the handle.
2. Practice placing the handle in the middle of your lower back. At this point you should be able to do a 180 degree crash in your sleep. When you practice this step, try to spot the bubbles where your foil exited the water. Avoid twisting your body or neck in an effort to spot the bubbles.
3. Practice getting the inside hand back on the handle behind your back. There is no reason to rush this step. Climb the line with two hands and then release and re-grab behind your back. Keep the handle low and close to your belt-line. Let the boat take the handle out of your hands. At this point, the spin might actually go further and even hit 270 or near 360 degrees. By keeping your head up and your core tight crashes with a rotation past 180 degrees are safe.
4. Practice passing the handle behind your back and spot the landing.  If you’re are getting your inside hand on the handle, you can start spotting your landing. The handle should be between you and the boat, the landing should be a bit more than 90 degrees away. Practice until you are comfortable. At this point you just need to spot the landing and hang on with that inside hand. Getting your outside hand back on the handle certainly won’t hurt. In some cases, if you are a bit short on the spin, it can help finish it off.

Now string it all together and ride away your first 360!

VIDEO: Step 4

Troubleshooting the most common mistakes

• Twisting the shoulders and head to spin during the Drift/Climb. 

          FIX- Spot the bubbles where your foil exited the water. Keep two hands on the handle during the climb.

• Starting to “huck” or “throw” the spin too early. 

          FIX- Spot the boat driver and not just the boat. Focus on the boat driver to help delay during the Drift.

• Trying to pass the handle too quickly during the climb. 

          FIX- Try spotting the bubbles. Say the word “Bubbles” when you see them then pass the handle.

• Pulling the handle wide during the Climb.

           FIX- Keep two handles on the handle to your outside hip.

VIDEO: Common Mistakes

Quotes from the Pro’s

“Get confident with your air jump. Be able to an Undertaker and Shifty, which will assure you have a big jump that is flat enough to gain the 180, then the 360.”

Alison Goin

“Practice crashing and learn the safety zones to keep from getting injured.”

 Mark “Master Lee” Kaup

“When taking off wait for the apex then spot the take off bubbles. As you spin keep the handle close to your back.” 

Mike Murphy

“Spin late. Don’t twist or lead with the shoulders.” 

MJ Buckley

“Key to this trick is progression. What I mean here is taking the trick in steps to minimize injury. Gradual steps are required to learn how the line tension can work for and against you. There is a window of opportunity (just like most tricks) where you want to learn and get comfortable performing the trick. With spins you have to learn where the window of opportunity is. Cut, cut, cut… 10%…go! Jump, shoulders forward, eyes up, two-handed drift, two hands to the outside hip, eyes still up. 180 initially with handle release, 270 pre-pass, then 360. Take the prescribed steps and this trick will be attainable. If you don’t take the steps you could find yourself in an unwanted position very quickly resulting in never wanting to learn and do this trick ever again.” 

Jake Bradley

“Do a front flip instead! Get forward during the jump.”

 Kevin Thayer

“Keep your head up.” 

Torey Narans

“Master the drift first. Think about pulling your butt up to the handle. This helps keeping from passing at the shoulder or mid-back level, which tends to nose over.” 

Al Lewin

“Knees up when you jump so the board is tilted and it doesn’t hurt. Do them parallel to the boat, also doesn’t hurt.” 

Leah Stilwell

“Get leveled off before you pull the trigger. Briefly look at the bubbles from where you took off from.” 

Adam Dietrich

“A patient but aggressive take off with the handle very low to the hip. Pass at the last moment.” 

Shannon Pope

“Keeping the board flat is the hardest part for me. Shoulders forward is key.” 

Andy Jorgenson

“Patience after the jump. When I was first learning it was hard to trust the boat is going to pull you around. Also learning to jump and flatten out just enough so it’s not a gainer but flat enough to initiate a spin. Hard to convey that to people.” 

Rob Reid

“Head up, late pass.” 

Mark Robbo

“Cut outside, away from the boat and do not let off your edge. Do a nice clean jump and stay on your edge all the way through said jump. Wait till you get to the top your jump before you spin. Most new Spinners will spin too early and it turns the foil sideways throwing you out the front. So it is best to wait too long than it is to spin too soon. When you start your turn pull your hand low into your back and grab with the other hand. Spot the boat and ride it away!” 

Geno Yauchler

“It helps to look at the boat as I drift towards it before the spin.” 

Andrew Pilkinton

“1. Jump, then initiate the spin.  2. Pull knees up with a ‘stomach crunch’ to keep the tip up (pushing on feet is a common mistake).  3. Spot the horizon at 180 to help maintain axis.  4. Control the line tension, so it doesn’t control you.” 

Tony Klarich

“Learn to crash 180, then you can usually save yourself if something goes wrong.”

Amy Devening