Spinning in a hole is easiest when the hole you’re surfing has shoulder’s that feed water back into it. If the hole you’re surfing doesn’t have a good shoulder it’s also possible to flat spin in the trough.

Step one: To set up for the spin you want to get to the corner of the hole. To do this you’ll take powerful forward strokes on the down stream side to pull yourself the direction you want to travel.

Powerful strokes on the downstream side are the best way to get to the corner of a hole.

Step Two: Once you reach the shoulder your bow is going to want to spin down stream. The trick to this is pulling yourself far enough out of the hole so your stern doesn’t catch the green water but not so far that you get pulled completely out of the hole. With your eyes upstream you can help push your bow around with a back sweep until your pointing directly downstream.

Help push your bow downstream, with a back sweep on the downstream side, while keeping your eyes upstream.

Step Three: Once your pointing downstream you need to switch edges, turn your head to look over your leading shoulder, and plant a forward sweep on the opposite side that you took your back sweep on. By pulling on this forward sweep you can spin the boat around to point upstream once again.

Turn your head to look over your other shoulder and plant a forward sweep on the opposite side that you took your back sweep on.

Step Four: When you have no shoulder to work with you can use regular flat spin technique to spin in the trough of a hole. Holes are usually steeper than waves so you’ll have to be more aggressive with your forward and backward leans so you aren’t catching you bow and stern ends.

You should finish pointing upstream, prepared to slide back into a side surf and do it all over again.