Replying to Backies

alright, backflips are probably the most requested trick tip on the site, but even after reading all the threads, i still think i need some help. I've worked this summer on gainers and backs off of the cliffs by my house, and on my friend's diving board, and i've got it kinda halfway. when i'm standing backwards (ass towards pool/ocean), i can throw pretty decent, layed out backflips, but when i go for the running gainer/ doing a normal backflip on the divingboard, it's like 4/5 time i end up stopping my rotation straight into a like dive, so i don't get my feet back around underneath me. so, if i want to take this thing onto snow, i kinda want to be able to not land on my teeth...
any tips?
should i try learning backflips in the halfpipe before taking them to a kicker?