Frontside off the Toes!!

For all the instructors on the site and all the people busting frontside off your toes, fill me in on how YOU do it. I can do them but would really like to hear how other people are teaching it and how they break it down?

you got that nine down off your toes yet shane?  I can’t do them for shit but i’d be keen on any tips that come my way.

I have seen Shane throw front nines off his toes (clean, corked, grabbed the whole way) - it’s inspiring to watch. He is the reason I started spinning frontside off my toes. I will definately be participating in this discussion. Good to see you on Boardworld shaner!

I think it has to do with ‘prewinding”
for bigger spins usually the rider pre-winds in the opposite direction to help get the momentum in the direction of the desired spin before leaving the lip.
to spin FS, you might pre-wind in a BS direction, this could initiate some toe edge pressure, and seemingly make the rider jump off the toes.
I think the toe edge pressure may not be the preferred area to jump from, but a result of pre-winding.
Some call it pre-spinning.
Just a thought.
I dont claim to be able to ride at this level.

If i’m trying to spin frontside off my toes off a park jump, can someone tell me whether i’m looking to sping off my front foot, back foot or both at the same time?

The way I have been taught, I would say equal on both feet. I haven’t started spinning FS off my toes on kickers, but I would think all the same principles apply. You have me thinking though… Shane is definately the man to answer this question.

I would think equal as well, unless you are really trying to pop off the lip for extra height or something.
Applying more weight to one foot or the other increases the potential of getting off axis.

sorry if i’m getting a bit too into this one and asking dumb question….you don’t have to be nice and say its not a dumb question, it very well might be. anyways without more nonsense talked i’ll ask it.  so i’m popping off both feet, got that….next question relates to timing.  say its off a park jump, so you throw the spin just as your front foot gets to the lip or a little bit later than that?  also how much do you pop forward (ie in the direction your boots face as apposed to your board) and how much up?  basically i always worry about catching my toe edge when i try and visualise this trick.  merci pour any help…

I’d like to hear Nev comment on this.
Have you seen the videos in the freestyle section yet?
Nevs videos are amazing, long repetitive and a great way to learn. after watching the video, I’ve processed it so many times in my head, I’m ready to go out and conquer it. His videos instill confidence, they are quite thorough.

for me , its ironic that jer is inspired by shane’s spins(although I am too), as I started spinning larger/cab because of watching Jeremy ride.. hilarious.

anyway yeah shane goes huge bs/fs/switch/whateverthehellhewants, and is a great instructor. although he or nev could trouble shoot the crap outta these questions, ill explain my own troubles w/ spinning frontside off the toes. first of all, ive only got to 3s on all my spins, 5s this year escaped me .. boohoo..

I spin naturally backside or cab. I was told this year by another freestyle coach(maybe shane actally) that EVERYONE has a natural ‘spin’ direction thats comfortable. again for me its clockwise or BS/cab. So right off the bat frontside is a difficult spin.

People here have highlighted pre winding, to me thats the most important part of the FS off toes, second to equal pressure when taking off a ramp. My problems included not enough pop, unequal pressure on either front or back leg, and finally (and most chronically) , not enough spin (id hang up 120 on a 180, 270 on a 3 etc)

When I come into any hit, I’m always trying to visualize my spin like coaches have told me. When watching FS off the toes from others I’ve noticed the pre wind is VERY exaggerated and the ‘huck’ into the spin is faster and more dramatic. I’ve found this to be a great way to not only trouble shoot “not enough spin”, but to throw you out of your comfort zone as well. When learning 5s I was told “go bigger, huck harder, grab longer”. Basicaly- youre doing a new spin off the toes, if youre comfy wit hthe jump, huck harder if it wont come around! It helped me, although my style probably decreased dramatically…

Second bigg problem I had was unequal pressure distro. I have a big habit of reallllly buttering take-offs, putting wayy too much pressure before taking off, resulting in ‘cheating’ the spin (taking 90 before you take off). With FS off the toes, its almost impossible to have this habit because youre already turning against the rotation (toeside turn setup). To trouble shoot this, id suggest as many flat land/cattrack FS180s off teh toes / BS180s off the heels as possible. This will get you comfortable with your timing in the pop, allowing you to focus on exactly how much pressure is being exherted on what foot and when.

Hope this helps, this was one of my biggest challenges this year, and it was super rewarding to even stop a TG 3 off the toes (infact im prettty sure I didnt huck anything bigger than TG off my toes due to fraidycat-ism).

Well I would say my pop starts from both feet but finishes from my front foot. You want to make sure you wont catch your edge so the back foot needs to be lifted, especially on a steep lip. You need to be able to carve strong before you do this trick and there is one particular thing I like to do to warm up. When carving down the hill set in a hard toe side carve. as you extend at the end of the turn pop frontside 180 off your toe edge. when you land fall directly into the next (switch) toeside carve and repeat. Do this until you feel comfortable then go for some rollers and start catching some air. Practice very light take offs at fast speed and more aggressive pops a a slower speed. You really need to be able to suck up the lip with your lower body. As far as the comment about spinning before you leave the jump not happening off the toes, it should.. Its all in the upper body… I guess starting with a pre-wind isnt how I do it, its how I started but not anymore. I find I turn my body front 90 before im off the lip and sucking my legs up off of the lip to catch up to my upper body. This sends me into a very tight spin and applies to me on any level of rotation. Then I find I would just keep tucked in and grabbing if possible, the easiest grab for this is back hand to behind back binding, sorry im not sure but i think its a stailfish. That makes it easy to keep your front shoulder open for furthering rotation. When you want to stop rotating i like to close my shoulders so my shoulders and knees are in line again landing on the toe edge if possible. I hope this makes sense for yall. Keep in mind its just how I figured out the math on this trick off the top of my head. Please get more in depth with the questions, I as well am still not 100% on the mechanics so talking this out is great help.

Maybe a silly question/comment, but why frontside spin off toes, it seems easier off heels? Does it look radder off toes or is it easier once youve learnt it? I have to say I find backside off my toes easier than frontside off heels…

Frontside off the toes is harder, but it forces you to leave the jump straight off the lip. It gives you additional skills, makes you a better rider, gives you more versitility, and generally looks a lot better if performed well.

I dont spin more than a 3, myself, and I dont spin off the toes when spinning FS.
I would like to try spinning FS off the toes and learn more about my own riding, and awareness of my board and body, but other than that, I find myself more natural spinning FS from my heels and even starting into a HS turn. I ride for fun, so I dont push myself incredibly hard in the park. The older one gets the greater the consequences are!
Take me to the hill, surround me with good friends that are all pushing each other, I’ll do a lot of things, though.

i like shaner’s warm up excersize, the one about carving on your toes, popping the 180, and switch on your toes again.  that really helped me when i was learning how to spin this way.  try going heel carve bs 180 to switch heel carve, that one is super scary, as the potential to catch your edge is a lot higher coming around the 180 blind.  but if you can spin that way (bs off of your heels) then you win at life.
i found when going fs off of my toes, hips were a good thing to try spinning off of.  it takes the pressure away of having to get a full 180 or 360 down…

Carving helps so much, you need to be very solid on your toe edge. Toeside carve into switch toeside carve is where it all begins. I’ve started going backside off my heels on small rollers (and I did catch my heel edge once). The key to backside off heels is upper and lower body separation (hard counter rotation). Jose explained it really well on session one mornign and it just clicked for me. I don’t know if I will ever try it off a park jump.