How to Big Spin (on a skateboard)

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The big spin is just a type of shove-it where you spin the board 360° and execute a body varial at the same time (a body varial is when you jump and rotate 180° thereby landing on the board facing the opposite direction). Just spin the board 360° whilst jumping up in the air and turning to face the other direction, that’s it basically (I’ll break this down so

it’s a lot easier to understand in a minute, I promise–this is actually a pretty simple trick). Now, I’m going to explain, one move at a time, what to do and how to do it, then I’m going to show you TWO different (short) videos, both done by pros, demonstrating step-by-step how to do it. By the time we’re done, I promise you

that you’ll have this down pat (well, you’ll have to go out and actually do it, but that’s a given). Here we go:

  1. First, you do a shove-it by standing on your board, hopping up a bit, and then pushing the tail piece down and to its side.
  2. Now, the tail shouldn’t be touching the ground at any point and the board shouldn’t be lifting off the ground any more than about an inch or so, but the board should spin around 180° very rapidly.
  3. You then catch the board with your feet after it’s completed the 180° rotation and land on it. What you just did is a 360° shove-it in combination with a body varial in the same direction, and that’s called a big spin 😀 .

There you go, that’s it, that’s a big spin. Now, I’ve got two excellent videos here for you to watch (won’t take long, one’s a minute long and the other one’s a minute and a half, no biggie), check out this demo/tutorial with Josh Hawkins:

And now Ryan Smith:

Additional Resources and Further Reading

If you liked this then you really ought to check out my other article on: How to Backside Flip (360° with kickflip).

If you haven’t picked up The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself by Rodney Mullen (inventor of the ollie and holder of 35 world titles), then you HAVE to get it, it’s awesome, filled with information, inspirational, sad, and hilarious all at the same time; it’s THE legend’s story of how he became the best, gave it all up because of his father’s disapproval, and then got it back again. Also, depending on what skill level you’re at, you might want to have a look at Skateboarding Explained: The Instructional DVD, it really is top-notch instruction by one of the best.

Check out The Berrics’ Trickipedia section, they’ve got a BUNCH of tricks on there with videos for each one.