540 Gyro
540 Gyro
Optional
Any Cheat Kick
A Gyro is a vertical spin that is executed after a trick but before you land. So a 540 Gyro is a 540 Kick followed by a 360 degree spin before you land. It is quite advanced but very rewarding as you can apply it’s technique to many other tricks (Snapu, Fullsnapu, Cheat 900 Double etc.)
01 540
You will need a solid 540 Kick before you attempt this trick. Drill it a lot and get it as clean possible. You should be able to bust out a 540 at any time with ease.
02 Facing forward
Next try to kick through all the way until you land facing your target again. If you can kick your 540 around that much, there won’t be as much rotation needed to turn that into a gyro. The key here is to spot your target as you kick through and then turn around quick to spot it again. If you focus on that, you should be able to make it around. It’s also a great way to prepare for the Jackknife.
03 Land both feet
Next up try to add a bit more rotation to your 540 by landing on both feet at roughly the same time. You should kick through your target and then bring it downwards to your other leg. At the same time you will want to bring your arms closer to your body and initiate the spin. Try to spin just about 90 degrees more, so you face the direction of momentum (left if you’re kicking to the left).
04 540 Gyro
Now you need to add just a bit more rotation. There are a few key things to remember:
1. Try to keep your 540 Gyro as upright as possible, as it will be way easier to add the full gyro to the trick. If you are more off axis or even horizontal, you may end up underrotating (if you actually land it this way, you’ll land a Snapu, which is awesome!)
2. Enter the 540 with wide open arms! You can generate a ton of spinning momentum this way when you bring them into your body for the gyro. Twist in right after the kick travels through the target.
3. Swing your arms not just around in a circular motion, but more around and UP! Imagine trying to do a 540 Kick over an obstacle!
4. Spot in front of you right as you kick through. This will help you to stay more upright and to get a feel of where you are in the air.
Tips
The exact time when you start to twist, will determine how you will land. If you treat this more like a Tornado Kick Gyro, you will land earlier of course but it’ll be still be a full 360 spin after the Kick. But you may end up landing in frontside, with your chest facing the direction of travel. If you start the gyro AFTER the kick, so a ‘real’ 540 Gyro, you should ideally land in backside with your back facing the direction of travel. In my opinion it counts if it has a 360 degree spin after the round kick hits the target. Your window of acceptance may vary.
You can also try to spot the ground instead of the target. This will make your 540 gyro slightly off axis and move it into Snapu territory. It’s sometimes easier for those that have better sideswipes then 540 Kicks. You basically spot the ground as you kick through and then try to complete a full twist before spot the ground again.