I am working on my front and back planes at the moment. My side planes are fine but I'm really feeling held back by the fact I can't spin comfortably behind me, especially near the hip. Is there anything you can recommend other than practice, practice and practice some more. I just got some flag poi and I've finding they're much easier spin front and back but I still feel like I'm struggling.
Have you ever heard of PlayPoi? They have a really good video made by Nick Woosley called The Scales of Poi, helped me out a lot with all my planes. You should check it out, it really helped me improve my skills quickly.