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Ever wondered how to do a 360 on a snowboard? By following a few simple tips you can take your snowboard skills to the next level. This article will show you 5 simple and effective tips that you can take up to the hill.

Consistent 360’s can only be done when you have the proper building blocks in place. Successful 3’s are a byproduct of being able to stick your edges, timing the wind up, releasing off the lip and spotting your landings.

1. In order to learn how to do a 360 on a snowboard you need to have mastered backside, frontside and cab (fakie) 180’s. Don’t even bother trying the 360 until you have these tricks down. Practice spinning 360’s on flat land without your board on to really get the feel down.

2. A key component of a 360 is being able to stick to your edges. Your edge will allow you to start your spin from a solid position. Try to master the feeling of using both heel and toe edges. Find a small slope or jump that you can spin off and won’t cause you to slam hard. You want to get the feeling of spinning down and you can do this while gaining confidence.

3. The wind up is a key component of the spin and also makes you look stylish. As you hit the bottom of the transition, start your wind up and not sooner. You should be turning in the opposite direction you want to be spinning. Unload this built up momentum to initiate your spin. Your shoulders, torso, and legs must all work together. Wind up big for small jumps and small for big ones.

4. Releasing off the lip of the jump occurs at the last second. You want the board facing straight down the hill when you pop off the jump and not pointed to the side. Simply push your knees down through the base of the jump as you wind up to really pop off the top lip.

5. After rotating some 270 degrees, you should be able to spot your landing. It is much easier to learn this by doing back side 360’s. You will open up to your landing this way. Stomp the landing by absorbing with your legs. Throw in another backside 180 on the end to start 540’s.

These tips will give you a head start on learning how to do a 360 on a snowboard. Remember that you need to have 180’s down first. Next you can start learning how to stick edges, wind up, release and finally, spot landings.

Imagine learning how to do a 360 on a snowboard without the fear of falling. Imagine landing 360’s in front of your friends and the looks on their faces. With these 5 tips you will be able to increase your confidence and show your friends who the best rider really is.

In order to start hitting 3’s consistently you have to master some building blocks. You also need to learn to stick your edges, the wind up, the release off the lip and be able to spot your landings.

1. Do you have front side, back side, and cab (fakie) 180’s down? You need to master these beginner tricks before you can learn how to do a 360 on a snowboard. Check your ego now because you will experience pain and frustration if you are not ready. To get used to the feeling of the spin, practice doing 360’s on flat land with and without your board on.

2. Learn how to stick your edge so that you can spin a 360 properly. The goal is to create a strong base for you to jump. You should practice carving on both your heel and toe side edges. Look for small jumps that you can start to spin off. Once you have the feel down, start looking for larger and larger hits to build your confidence.

3. The wind up not only helps you to spin but also makes your spins look stylish. As you hit the base of the jump, wind up in the opposite direction you want to spin and not sooner. Release your momentum to start your spin. You want to use your arms, shoulders, hips and knees to spin your body around. You will need more wind up for smaller jumps and less for bigger ones.

4. Popping off should happen at the very end of the lip. Your board should be pointed straight down the hill and not to the side. Pump your knees into the base of the jump as you do your wind up to get a larger pop.

5. You should be able to see your landing area as you rotate past 270 degrees. If you start be doing backside 360’s, you can really get the feel of your shoulders turning to open as you spot your landing. Your legs should touch down smoothly to absorb the landing. After you have successfully learned how to do a 360 on a snowboard, add another backside 180 to start your mastery of 540’s.

These tips will give you a head start on learning how to do a 360 on a snowboard. Remember that you need to have 180’s down first. Next you can start learning how to stick edges, wind up, release and finally, spot landings.

While mixed martial arts fighting has only recently become popular in the United States, contests between fighters of different martial arts disciplines have taken place in Japan for many years. They weren’t called “mixed martial arts” until recently, but they were definitely an embryonic form of the now booming sport. Many of the most famous events of this type took place in Japan during the 1970’s involving pro wrestling legend Antonio Inoki.

Inoki would often face other martial artists in fights that are widely accepted to have been “worked” (having a predetermined outcome) in the same manner as professional wrestling matches. While Inoki faced a number of karate, judo and boxing champions his most famous match was certainly his fight against world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

There’s still much speculation about how Muhammad Ali came to fight Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, and even more uncertainty about what happened immediately before and during the fight. Ali took the booking because he thought it was to be a big paycheck for little work. Most accounts suggest that his handlers agreed to the ‘worked’ finish without his knowledge, and once he found out that he was to ‘take a dive’ he refused.

Many conspiracy theorists have noted that these rules were never announced to the crowd on fight night, leaving many with the impression that they were being made up as they went along. Action in the fight would further validate this view, but there actually were rules that both camps agreed to heading into the fight. Not surprisingly, most of these were designed to protect Ali. In fact, they were so one-sided that if Inoki hadn’t been so concerned about preserving his big payday he would have been justified in not fighting. Inoki was prohibited from punching with a closed fist or striking Ali in the head (ostensibly since he wasn’t wearing gloves). Inoki was prohibited from using any sort of submission maneuver. The most absurd limitation was that Inoki was prohibited from “grappling or trying to take Ali to the ground”. A few observers noted that this was like not letting Ali throw a jab.

The painfully boring event that ensued was, despite many suggestions to the contrary, an actual fight. Inoki spent most of the match on the ground, unsuccessfully imploring Ali to join him and throwing kicks at his opponent’s legs. Ali did even less throughout the match, throwing a few jabs and trying to protect his knees and legs. The fight was scored on a 5 point system, and ended up in a 74-74 draw. It’s worth noting that Inoki had three points deducted for very dubious infractions: the first for throwing (and missing) with a drop kick, the second for throwing an elbow to Ali’s head and the third for a swift kick to Ali’s ribs. Had these deductions not occurred, Inoki would have won by decision. From a strict standpoint of scoring boxing, he probably deserved to win since he at least tried to execute a fight plan despite the restrictions he faced. For all practical purposes, however, a draw was the proper outcome. Both guys got paid and no one won, least of all the fans.

Some interesting trivia about the fight–the referee was former pro wrestler “Judo” Gene Labell, who is considered by many ‘the baddest man on the planet’ even in his 80’s. He could have very likely beaten up both men at the same time–a spectacle that might have been welcomed by the live crowd and closed circuit audience worldwide.

In the aftermath of the fight, Inoki’s popularity was greater than ever–in a perverse way he was something of a hero due to his trying to fight despite the rules being stacked so soundly against him. He remained one of the country’s most popular professional wrestlers and even enjoyed a career in Japan’s parliament. Without missing a beat, he quickly resumed his series of fights against other martial artists who were apparently all more comfortable with the “worked” environment of pro wrestling. Among his “victims” was none other than Leon Spinks, presumably serving as some sort of vindication for his draw with Ali. The popularity of these matches led to a number of promotions that were essentially hybrids of martial arts and pro wrestling, and these led to the big Japanese MMA promotions of today.

One of the greatest players to ever walk onto the court, “Magic” Johnson was born Earvin Johnson in Lansing, MI in 1959. Born into a large family of a GM worker, a school custodian and nine other children, Johnson discovered basketball early. Johnson has said that he used to walk to the store dribbling with one hand and dribbling with the other as he walked back.

He got his nickname as the star of Everett High School. A local sportswriter, who had watch the amazing 15-year-old play and scoring 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists, felt no other word would describe Earvin other than “Magic!” After excelling at Everett High School, Magic wanted to stay close to home for college, so Michigan State was the obvious choice. Even as a freshman, he was impressive with numbers like 17 points per game and led his college teammates, The Spartans, to a 25.5 record and The Big Ten Conference title. As a sophomore, Johnson and his teammates won the national title in 1979 and beat out Larry Birds’ Indiana State in what is thought of as one of the most watched NCAA Championship Game-ever.

Deciding to go professional, Johnson decided to declare his eligibility for the draft in 1979, where he was snapped up by the Lakers. Lakers fans were incredibly excited to see one of the nations’ best college players on their team. Larry Byrd ended up winning the NBA Rookie of the year award, the Lakers did capture the NBA championship in Johnson’s first year on the team with a 60-22 record. The next year, Johnson and the Lakers performed even better, with Johnson matching his college records – he was the first rookie to start in an all star game since 1969.

In the 1980 NBA finals, Johnson scored an incredible 42 points, 15 board, 7 assists and three steals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnson was the first rookie to win the MVP award in the NBA finals. Magic Johnson is a modest sort, saying only of his achievement: “I just wanted to do whatever the (Lakers) needed to do to win. I was having fun.” Sadly, torn cartilage in his knee would keep him on the sidelines for 45 games in the following season.

Johnson and his team came back in the 1981-82 season, easily winning their division and facing the 76ers once more for the NBA championship-a repeat win and a repeat MVP Award. Maybe due to some of Johnson’s comments after the 1982 season, or maybe it was just time or for whatever reason, Coach Westhead was replaced by Pat Riley-who would become a legend in coaching in his own right. While some fans weren’t happy at this decision or Magic’s comments to the press, Johnson was jeered this season, but still his averages never dipped below 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 10.5 assists throughout his career.

In 1984, Johnson signed a $25 million contract with the Lakers. It was a good investment for the team, which captured three of the next four NBA titles. Johnson would also score a stunning 38 points in a game against Houston and an even more incredible 46 in a match-up with Sacramento in the 1986-1987 season. This season also saw Johnson’s career-high scoring average of 23.9 points per game. Johnson would win the NBA’s MVP award this season; an honor he would also receive in 1989 and 1990.

Before the beginning of the 1991-1992 season, Johnson announced that he has been diagnosed with HIV and would retire from the game. He didn’t leave the game without making his exit in style, however – Johnson played in the 1991 All-Star game, winning the MVP award. However, he had found a new focus: outreach and educating the public about HIV/AIDS. Johnson received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award from the NBA for his work in this field. Johnson also played on the US Olympic Basketball team in the 1992 Olympics, wrote a book on safe sex and started up philanthropic foundations. He also was an NBC sports commentator and served as head coach of the Lakers for part of the 1993-1994 season. And all of this was before he returned to the Lakers in 1996 where he played 32 more games before retiring from the game for good – unless he elects to make another comeback.

In his 13 season NBA career, Magic Johnson achieved an astounding 17,707 points ( a 19.5 point per game average), 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists. This is in addition to his 1,724 steals (Johnson holds the record for ninth most steals in an NBA career). Johnson was also invited to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team in 1997 and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnson remains as modest as ever and continues to focus on his philanthropic work, but he is indisputably a living legend in the game of basket ball. As one of his fiercest rivals and greatest admirers, Larry Bird says of Johnson: Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I’ve never seen anybody as good as him.

Hockey was once one of the four major American sports. The big four were the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. But yet, even as some in those group dominate the others (the NFL dominates all sports in terms of popularity), the NHL has not been able to really keep up with the others.

In fact, hockey is not truly considered to be in that big four grouping any longer. Of course, a more accurate description of the sports climate might show that NASCAR and MMA have joined the NFL, NBA and MLB in that top tier. Hockey however is on the outside looking in, no longer enjoying the popularity it once did.

Why did the NHL suffer this rapid decline? Was it the lockout which caused there to be no 2004-2005 season? The lockout was only a symptom of a deeper problem; sadly, it all has to do with money rather than the merits of hockey as a sport. NHL franchises began finding themselves in a sticky situation; salaries for players continued to climb even as revenues declined for many teams. Other than hugely popular franchises like the Rangers and the Red Wings, teams found themselves simply unable to pay the salaries commanded by many NHL players.

As any fan who lives in a city with a NHL franchise knows, declining ticket sales aren’t the cause of NHL franchises’ slumping revenues; games continue to be well attended and eagerly looked forward to. The reason for the lower revenue has to do with broadcast rights, a significant source of income for the NHL. Hockey is simply less popular as a televised sport than it once was.

The lockout however certainly didn’t help the situation. When hockey returned the next season they made a deal with the network known as OLN – now Versus – to broadcast their weekly national games. However that cable station reaches only a small fraction of the homes that the major networks reach. This means that hockey simply isn’t viewable by a great deal of the population, leaving it in a spot where it can hardly increase its popularity.

There is also the problem that many fans think that hockey is a sport which doesn’t lend itself well to the medium of television. Fans prefer to watch hockey games in person; and NHL games are often sold out. However, hockey fans think that some of the speed and the finesse of the sport are lacking in televised games. Sadly, this has led to hockey being harder and harder to watch at all and there are a lot of people who may never know just what they’re missing.

Therefore the answer to the question is that no, hockey is no longer one of the major sports in this country. It has lost it’s place in that upper echelon, and is struggling for a strategy to get back. It needs to find a way to make its television games more exciting, while also getting those games aired in a spot where more people can view them. Until both of those happen it may be hard for the NHL to regain the spotlight it once had.

Babe Ruth is a player who needs little if any introduction. People the world over know his name and the near-legendary achievements of this man, one of the best known players ever to pick up a bat or glove. You don’t need to have been around when Babe was on the Yankees to be familiar with his name and the House That Ruth Built. Even his superstitions are followed to this day. Ruth once said “Whenever I hit a home run, I always make sure that I touch all four bases”. Larger than life both in terms of his performance on the diamond as well as in his private life, Babe Ruth is still very much a part of the American psyche. There may never be another player like the Great Bambino in any sport.

George Herman Ruth, Jr. was born on February 6 in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland and was the son of Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Senior. Kate had eight children with George Sr. but only two would survive past infancy – a daughter Mamie and The Babe. Babe didn’t have the best of childhood memories, taking care of himself most of the time. At seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys-more of a reformatory and orphanage than a school. Without his parents, except some weekends and holidays, Babe was what the Nuns at St. Mary’s called “incorrigible.”

The Babe never like rules, especially regimented rules and was not good at adapting to what was correct-he had his own way, a uniqueness that would follow him to baseball. Perhaps the biggest thing Ruth learned to love at St. Mary’s would be his fondness for children; as an adult, he was charitably involved with them as much as he could be. George Jr. shined with talent at a young age and played numerous positions at St. Mary’s, often, however, he excelled in catching and pitching. When Babe reached nineteen, Jack Dunn, the manager and owner of the then Baltimore Orioles which was a Boston Red Sox minor league team, was awed at Babe’s talent and signed him right away. Once Jack signed him, he was dubbed by his teammates as “Jack’s newest babe.” From then on, he would be forever known as simply “Babe.”

After only five months, Ruth was signed to the Red Sox, where he spent six years playing the outfield and as a catcher. He rapidly gained popularity with fans for his performance on the field as well as his colorful nightlife off the diamond. Ruth played his first of many World Series games in 1916, where he set a record of fourteen innings pitching; a record which remains unbroken to this day. In World Series games alone, he achieved a record of 29 2/3 innings with no score as a pitcher – this record would stand for 43 years. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 1919; it wasn’t until 2004 that the Red Sox won the World Series again, a phenomena which became known as the “Curse of the Bambino”.

In 1920, he began his Major League career with the New York Yankees where Babe and his teammates would win 7 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Titles, a legacy called “The Curse of the Bambino.” Babe hit an amazing 54 home runs in 1920 and was both a fan and player favorite not just for his home run hitting skills, but also for his candor. In 1923, mostly due to the popularity of The Babe, the Yankees opened Yankee Stadium that would eventually be named, The House That Ruth Built-how appropriate that The Babe would hit a home run on opening day, along with yet another World Series Title. Married to Helen Woodford in October of 1914, by 1919, Babe had enough money to buy them a country house and adopt a daughter they named Dorothy. After a separation, but no divorce in 1925, Babe did not remain the good boy when it came to women and continued an affair with model Claire Hodgson. Upon Helen’s death by fire in 1929, Babe married Claire and hit her an out-of-the-park homerun in his first at bat in April of that same year.

Throughout his 22-year career in baseball, Babe will forever be remembered for his 60 home runs in 1927, a record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961. Sports fans everywhere argue to this day who actually holds this record since Babe hit his 60 in 154 games and Maris hit his in 162 games. No one, however, can deny The Babe’s impressive .690 lifetime batting percentage-something that may never be seen again. Along with The Babe, sports writers gave him nicknames like The Great Bambino and The Sultan of Swat.

Babe’s famous moment in baseball came in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series where the Yankees played the Chicago Cubs. In the 5th inning, after he already had one home run, Babe came to bat and was at a count of two balls and two strikes. Before the next pitch came his way, Babe pointed to the center of the field bleachers and slammed that puppy right where he pointed and some believe it is the longest home run ever hit out of Wrigley Field.

When Babe did not get his desired Yankee manager position in 1935, he left the Yankees and signed with the Brave’s as not only a player but also their first base coach accepting the promise of their manager position the following year. With his manager outlook grim, Babe hit three home runs in one of his final games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where only a meager 10,000 fans saw him tip his hat at that last home run-his 714th. Still, with Babe’s 8,399 at-bats, 2,211 RBI’s and a career 2.28 ERA as a lefty pitcher, The Babe remains a true hero in the hearts and fans of baseball everywhere.