Backside 180s are one of the first spins that you’ll want to try after mastering the straight air. They’re an absolute classic – so much fun to do and they look great.

1. The Set-Up

Always make sure you’re comfortable with the jump that you’re hitting, making sure that you know the speed and distance to clear it. Approach it like you would a normal straight air, flat based but with a slight bit of pressure on your toe edge. As you ride up the transition, keep your weight nice and centered or you’ll find yourself heading for a good seat drop after you’ve taken off!

2. The Pop

On takeoff – just like a straight air – you want a bit of pressure on your toes as you leave the lip. At the same time, you want to be starting to turn your leading arm anti-clockwise (if you’re goofy like me) or clockwise (if you’re regular) and you will find your head and shoulders will follow. Don’t turn too hard, though – this is a very subtle rotation so on a biggish jump you barely have to move your shoulders. Think ‘smooth and slow’!

3. Initiating the Grab

Now you’ve left the lip, start to bring your knees up to your chest so you’re able to grab your board. For this one I’m grabbing mute (leading hand between the bindings on the toe edge) but that’s just my choice – other good grabs to learn this trick with are melon(leading hand behind the front binding) or stale fish (back hand behind the rear binding).Both help the rotation come round.

4. The Grab

Now you should be at the peak of your jump. Keep holding your grab as long as you can and start to think about your landing.

5. The Landing

As you come into land, look between your bindings at the fast-approaching ground and spot where you’re going to touch down. You want to plant both feet down at the same time, keep your weight centered and have a little pressure on your toe edge to kill the rotation and stop yourself sliding out. If you land on your heels (or even flat base)there’s a good chance you’ll wash out. Once you’ve landed, just keep it switch – no reverting – and point it straight to the bar for a well-deserved drink!