Tony,

If the spin is unintentional, you may not have the presence of mind to
recall, at the moment of recognition, which way you were turning. The
brain is very efficient at dumping extraneous information to focus
entirely on the situation at hand. Unfortunately, this isn't always a
good thing. The whole spin training regimen is flawed, since it
presumes that you know you are entering a spin. It teaches you the
muscle memory to enter a spin, and a reflexive response once you've
entered, based almost entirely on the process of entry. As we become
more aware of the necessary steps to recognize and properly react to a
surprise spin, I think we're likely to become more interested in
improving our skill at avoiding them altogether.

Consider panic stops in an automobile as an anology. If you are on a
test track, you know exactly when you must apply the brakes on a
measured course to determine brake efficiency. A stopping distance of
100 to 140 feet from 60 mph is typical. But on the road we don't know
when we'll need to react. Response time must be added. This increases
stopping distance to over 300 feet.

In the glider we need to recognize that something is wrong, establish
what the problem is, then react properly. Intentionally entering the
spin is like taking a test with a textbook at your side, conveniently
opened to the appropriate page. But a surprise departure and
autorotation is going to require some flipping through the pages. And
getting it wrong could be devastating.