Check this old post out Oliver. The vids are good and have really helped me. I try to practice the manouvre as much as possible and hope to master it soon.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41102&SearchTerms=around

Guys it is pretty much a standard kick tail turn before the wave, just takes practice. You just step back a half step and keep your back foot over the centre line of the board, keeping your foot on centre will help keep your balance. You just have to decide which way your going to turn, into the peak to claim inside position or away from the peak, away is best if it is going to be a late takeoff and puts you closer to the shoulder where it is not going to be so steep.

The other way is when you are paddling out to the wave and you do a kick tail turn but you are closer to the wave and the lip pushes you nose around ( more skillful and harder to do ) this called a paddle out re-entry, just watch out for the guys inside of you when you wipeout. The easiest way to perform this trick is to paddle at an angle to the on-coming wave from the shoulder to the peak but going forwards not sideways so much.

Also to initiate a kick tail turn I have found that you only need to get one forward stroke in from a parked position, this is enough to give you stability for the turn.

I have only recently mastered this turn after the water warmed up, up here. I was forced to and now wonder why I kept doing it with my old style. The left knee was really playing up due to the twisting action from front paddling all the time. There is no pain now. My current record is 4 x 360 spins using the kick tail method but doing it in choppy water not smooth easy water.

Rod

A blow to the head will not do it. From what I have read you need to be bitten by a radioactive fish/shark/jellyfish etc at the same time to make the transition effectively

Micky the Cat and Greg knoll used to do it in the old surf movies all the time as they knee paddled into a wave that was about to break they would stand up and get sucked up the face before letting the lip push th nose of the board around and riding away