When learning to spin, I would imagine wiping mud off my shoes one ride, pulling up on the next ride, kicking forward on the next ride, rarely would i work on pushing down on the pedal.

It takes a few months of practice before a strong spin becomes natural. Turbonium, are you using clipless? Once you get good at pushing, think about upgrading your pedal system, clipless gives you the ability to power around the whole cycle, not just the 40% were you can push down.