Why some people have a problem with which direction they should be facing is a lack of understanding of how to move from the end of side 1 ( the long side ) to the beginning of side 2. ( the short side ). Lets suppose that the Stage takes up the whole of side 2. At the end of side 1 after the first three steps of a Natural Turn we have our back square to the Stage. On our next three step we do not have the 3/8 of a turn because we need to finish facing diagonal to the center on step 6 of the Natural Turn .We do Not have our back square to the stage we should be facing diagonal to the center on side 2 ready for our Change Step which has no turn. and continue into our Reverse Turn.
There was a Lecture I attended . The Lecturer asked all the ladies only to take to the floor.She said I want you all to dance a Basic Waltz including a whisk and Chasse into a Natural Spin Turn to music. These ladies were competition dancers. It was a total mess. Without a partner they were lost. She proved her point that the ladies must know their steps better than they know the back of their hand. On came the men. No problem. She even had us doing the same steps with our eyes closed.