I compared two scenarios that are getting common for reverse spins (RS).
I set up a course to play with this concept some and then watched the video. Most times I learn way more from the video then I do from actually running a sequence.
Here is the video of my session:
#1 with Tangle, he had a nice turn and understood where he needed to go. I want a tight turn and I want to take off in the direction I am facing. Standing still, and with my position into my dog tells them to collect.
#2 - The distance between the jumps is about 18 feet, standard for a trial. I don't want a tight turn, just a turn and I certainly don't want any collection since it isn't needed and I want a fast time. In this situation I got a tighter turn than what is required and I felt like I was behind.
Here is a Coach's Eye comparison. The RS is slower than the forward motion.
Split #2 - Split demonstrated nicely that he thought a tight turn was coming and to get the correct jump I had to correct his path. He was correct, the RS for him is asking for a tighter turn. Also, it is not giving any indication that we are going to continue motion forward, it told him a very opposite story. If I continue to do RS's in this situation I believe that I would dilute my turning cues with Split. Something I have fought hard to get :)
When I am walking a course I look at the course as a series of (dog's) lines. I want to cue as much of a line as possible and give the dog as much advanced information about where we are going. In the case of using a reverse spin to go out to the far jump I am not giving them much information. I believe there are better handling choices.
