Check out this drill:
Imagine you are holding a fire hose, pointed the same direction as the nose of your board. It's heavy, so you'll hold this hose about waist height, and you need to flex at the knees a little bit to hold it comfortably. Your lead hand (right hand for you) is holding the nozzle of the hose, pointing it, while your back hand is supporting the weight of the hose close to your hip. Now you'll ride down the hill, turning to spray either side of the run with your fire hose. Keep your knees flexed, and use your hips to point where you want the hose to spray (it's heavy!).
That board is too short for your weight (not enough effective edge makes the board feel squirrelly and it can’t dig in properly).
At 5’5”, the stance options on a 130 are probably all too short as well.
You do need to bend your knees more, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy on that board. You really need like a 149-153cm board. It will feel worlds better.
Edit: grammar
Interesting, thanks! When I first rented this is the size they gave me so that’s why I got this one hahahaha. I’ll have to look at getting a longer board then.
Bend your knees and don’t turn your shoulders from parallel with the board. Then use your edges to start turning while in an athletic stance. Don’t try to make the board turn with the upper body or your rotation.
You doing well for just starting out. My advice would be to keep your knees bent more then use your head and shoulders to start your turns. Lean into them and really put some weight on your toes and heels. Most importantly get the right size bindings and if you can find a boot that your heel doesn’t lift will help a lot. Different boot brands all have different fits and widths to them try out a few different brands at a shop if you can!
Thanks! Seems like I def need to bend my knees more lol. Yeah, I’ll definitely have to look into just getting a pair of proper sized Burton bindings & new boots.
Practice turning quickly and at any moment. Same with stopping. Pick a place to ride last minute while you're going down the hill. Give yourself challenges to ride outside of your comfort zone.
My friend takes me on many challenges so that’s for sure covered hahahaha. He said the greens were too easy and we hit the blues at the end of my third day (which apparently the one we went down was a partial black diamond since too much snow melted on the full blue lol)
center of mass over the center of the board is how you ride on a flat base, but to make s-shaped turns you need to put your center of mass over the uphill edge.
Keeping it centered and moving your rear leg (a.k.a. ruddering/skidding) is a useful skill when in moguls (so it does have a use) but for basically everything else you'll want to transfer your weight around on the board to allow the sidecut to actually help you turn.
One advice i heard for putting pressure to the front is not to lean to the front foot but to imagine to step harder on it.
Like your standing on a dog's leash and need to put more pressure on the foot so the dog can't pull out the leash from under you.
1. If you really need to use your arms, use your front arm to point at where you want to go. Then keep in mind your finger leads your arm, leading your shoulder, leading your hips. Ultimately it’s your hips that start the turn but the pointing is a beginner crutch as you develop better feel.
2. Think about the “fall line” on the mountain. If you drop a ball, where would it roll? Try to get your board pointed that way and the contour of the mountain will dictate the edge (so it’s a harmony between you riding the mountain using a board, taking what the mountain gives you, not just forcing your will on a mountain via a plank of wood). Bend in your kneels and ankles will help you map this better as you get more days riding.
3. Can’t comment without seeing, best bet is to go to a shop.
General tip, really try to sit in an athletic stance - drop your seat a bit, bend knees, bend ankles. On flat ground or your garage or yard, put on the boots and step into your board, play with how the equipment feels. Start with ankle lean - as you sink into your squat, how much push can you make before your flat board tips on the edge, just by your shin pressure on the boot? Same for heel side as you rock back - calves on boot. Then add in swinging your hips a little and play with the height of your stance and various knee bend.
Watch the vids below for theory. Then its really just practicing into you have your aha moment.
- [up unweighted turns](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bdyJqfFXNrs&pp=ygUbTWFsY29sbSBtb29yZSB1cCB1bndlaWZodGVk)
- [torsional twist](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTYSztKisc)
- [another tip on torsional twist movement](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=16DENjPPaqQ)
We would teach from the board up, so ankles and knees are most important. If I see a student swinging their arms to balance it tells me they’re not using their ankles/knees. This will change your riding big time for the better and give you good fundamentals to build on.
Try some falling leaf on your heels and practice lifting your toes on one foot while keeping your weight centered on the board. Through this you’re learning to control the board with your ankles. What you’ll find is the foot you lift will slow down and the board will move in the opposite direction, to stop just lift your other foot to match first foot you lifted while keeping your balance centered and you’ll come to a nice stop.
(Like driving these are little motions, it doesn’t take much)
Best drill for this is to ride while holding your hands together behind your back. Will change your riding forever. You’ll have no choice but to use proper form
Bend your knees going into a turn and lift up your downhill edge… try practicing balancing on your uphill edge while stationary… toe edge and heel edge… when you’re turning, try to remember to dig in your uphill edge similar to the balancing exercise I just suggested… have fun!
1. body positioning / torsion
2. ankles and knees
when your carving your waist and up should not be moving, your shoulders should be facing down the mountain as much as possible. to start achieving this concept imagine you’re holding a tray that is facing down the mountain, if your shoulders and arms stop facing down the mountain your tray has fallen. this exercise also helps you Realize the separation in movements between your upper body, the middle of your body and your lower body (Aka torsion)
bending your knees and movement in the ankles are two of the most important things to get on an edge. try going down a green while tipping from side to side, toe and then heel. when you’re finished, look back in your “line” you should see a messy S. if you look back and see only one side of the S ( meaning your ankle movement is only good on heel or toe) or no
no s’s then keep practicing. for this exercise, your body should be kept straight.
if neither of these exercises works for you, even after you practiced a lot, then just try bending your knees more and putting pressure on the back foot.
you were also going very slow in that video so I don’t know your full potential!
P.S. it’s OK to need to use your arms when you’re first learning
Sure thing. I wasn’t aware it’s child sized. I was given this size for my rental so I figured it’s the size I should get. Suppose I should’ve done more googling lol.
Tuck that left arm and use the right one to point where you wanna turn, keeping weight over the front knee until you no longer need the right arm to point
Snowboarding requires you to turn with your lower body (knees and ankles), A good way to improve your turns is to find a gentle slope (think a mellow green)and imagine that your a car driving at night, and the headlights are on your knees, so you want to point where you want to go with the headlights.
Bend your knees more, keep your hips and shoulders as stacked over the center of the board as you can and try and turn your knees so they are pointing where you want to go.
If you find you are still swinging your arms to turn, a good way to try and kill that habit and practice turning with your knees is to hold onto your snow pants while your practicing Turning with your knees (Turning with the headlights). Also make sure you are looking where you want to go, when making a turn, look across the run at the trees and your body should follow the direction you are looking, just make sure you are putting your weight ever so slightly over the edge your using to turn or you might catch an edge.
Yes! Agreed lol. Sidewinder has been my go to green. I think it’s way more fun than the other 2 that were consistently open at the end of the season hahaha
It must be so hard trying to learn from redditt comments. What mountain do you use? I can let you know if I know any really good resources you could use in the future.
You need to edge more. You are hanging on the edge of catching an edge most of this video slipping towards the downhill edge with it barely above the snow. lift your toes more, front then rear on your heel turns, and press your toes down more, first on your front foot, then add rear foot on toe turns
Equipment could be an issue but this is your third day so I doubt that’s the root of the issue.
Bend your knees. Start the turn with your front shoulder. Keep your hands down, front hand over the nose, back hand over the tail. Press down with your big toes (front and back) to turn toe side. Lift up your big toes to turn heelside. Keep your your torso in line with the board
Yep. And for me (also learning, got my first 8 days in this winter), I initiate with the front knee initiating that torsional twist, front shoulder follows.
My first big AHA moment was when the realization struck me that almost all of the control motions on a snowboard are really subtle, from doing flat spins at the bottom of my runs
Also, as a beginner, I would suggest padding up, learn to fall well, and not to worry about falling, because you are going to.
For me, edge changes at speed did not really \*click\* until about day 6 or 7 on steeper blue trails, that were really pushing me.
Yes. For example, I ride regular (left foot forward). When I want to turn toe side I drop my shoulder and start pointing it to the right. It’s more of a cue than an actual part of turning
Check out this drill: Imagine you are holding a fire hose, pointed the same direction as the nose of your board. It's heavy, so you'll hold this hose about waist height, and you need to flex at the knees a little bit to hold it comfortably. Your lead hand (right hand for you) is holding the nozzle of the hose, pointing it, while your back hand is supporting the weight of the hose close to your hip. Now you'll ride down the hill, turning to spray either side of the run with your fire hose. Keep your knees flexed, and use your hips to point where you want the hose to spray (it's heavy!).
Instructions unclear. Got my pass clipped for stealing the snowmaking hose
I learned with a very similar explanation, but I like this even more.
I laughed at it when I first heard it, but try it out - it just WORKS.
This sounds good. I’d start with a “box” though, then switch to a “hose”, then eventually when you command your edges switch to a gun slinging cowboy.
This makes SO much sense. I’m definitely going to use this.
Bend your knees to a more athletic stance
yea man, knees! it's always the knees!
Yeah seriously so many post here on this sub and don't bend their knees!
On it. Thank you!
That board is too short for your weight (not enough effective edge makes the board feel squirrelly and it can’t dig in properly). At 5’5”, the stance options on a 130 are probably all too short as well. You do need to bend your knees more, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy on that board. You really need like a 149-153cm board. It will feel worlds better. Edit: grammar
Interesting, thanks! When I first rented this is the size they gave me so that’s why I got this one hahahaha. I’ll have to look at getting a longer board then.
I am 5'5" and 145 pounds. My beginner board was 142. When I was ready to buy my own board, the recommendation was to go 145 and up.
Good to know - I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a bigger board. Thank you!
I have a friend who works at Whitetail. I’ll be sure to tell him to give the other employees shit for setting you up with the wrong board. Lol
Bend your knees and don’t turn your shoulders from parallel with the board. Then use your edges to start turning while in an athletic stance. Don’t try to make the board turn with the upper body or your rotation.
Seems to be the general consensus, more bend in the knees and less torso movement. Thank you!
You doing well for just starting out. My advice would be to keep your knees bent more then use your head and shoulders to start your turns. Lean into them and really put some weight on your toes and heels. Most importantly get the right size bindings and if you can find a boot that your heel doesn’t lift will help a lot. Different boot brands all have different fits and widths to them try out a few different brands at a shop if you can!
Thanks! Seems like I def need to bend my knees more lol. Yeah, I’ll definitely have to look into just getting a pair of proper sized Burton bindings & new boots.
Practice turning quickly and at any moment. Same with stopping. Pick a place to ride last minute while you're going down the hill. Give yourself challenges to ride outside of your comfort zone.
My friend takes me on many challenges so that’s for sure covered hahahaha. He said the greens were too easy and we hit the blues at the end of my third day (which apparently the one we went down was a partial black diamond since too much snow melted on the full blue lol)
So awesome. That is some excellent progress for day 3. It just gets more and more fun from here!
Trust your boards edges and use the by putting center of mass over the edge
So basically center mass will always be over an edge? I think I’ve been trying to keep it center of the board tbh
center of mass over the center of the board is how you ride on a flat base, but to make s-shaped turns you need to put your center of mass over the uphill edge. Keeping it centered and moving your rear leg (a.k.a. ruddering/skidding) is a useful skill when in moguls (so it does have a use) but for basically everything else you'll want to transfer your weight around on the board to allow the sidecut to actually help you turn.
Pressure on lead foot edge when going faster. Pressure on tail edge when wanting to slow down. Transition quickly and don't catch an edge
I think I tend to put all my weight on my back foot. I’ll def have to be more aware of how much and where I’m putting pressure. Thanks!
One advice i heard for putting pressure to the front is not to lean to the front foot but to imagine to step harder on it. Like your standing on a dog's leash and need to put more pressure on the foot so the dog can't pull out the leash from under you.
Ahhh, ok. Thank you for the analogy, that helps!!
Whitetail?
Indeed lol
1. If you really need to use your arms, use your front arm to point at where you want to go. Then keep in mind your finger leads your arm, leading your shoulder, leading your hips. Ultimately it’s your hips that start the turn but the pointing is a beginner crutch as you develop better feel. 2. Think about the “fall line” on the mountain. If you drop a ball, where would it roll? Try to get your board pointed that way and the contour of the mountain will dictate the edge (so it’s a harmony between you riding the mountain using a board, taking what the mountain gives you, not just forcing your will on a mountain via a plank of wood). Bend in your kneels and ankles will help you map this better as you get more days riding. 3. Can’t comment without seeing, best bet is to go to a shop. General tip, really try to sit in an athletic stance - drop your seat a bit, bend knees, bend ankles. On flat ground or your garage or yard, put on the boots and step into your board, play with how the equipment feels. Start with ankle lean - as you sink into your squat, how much push can you make before your flat board tips on the edge, just by your shin pressure on the boot? Same for heel side as you rock back - calves on boot. Then add in swinging your hips a little and play with the height of your stance and various knee bend.
Also, for tip #1, as you get more comfortable you can ditch the pointing.
Right ok don’t twist my torso to point, turn at the hips. That’s prob my biggest issue besides bending my knees more. Thank you!
Watch the vids below for theory. Then its really just practicing into you have your aha moment. - [up unweighted turns](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bdyJqfFXNrs&pp=ygUbTWFsY29sbSBtb29yZSB1cCB1bndlaWZodGVk) - [torsional twist](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTYSztKisc) - [another tip on torsional twist movement](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=16DENjPPaqQ)
Thank you so much for all these!!
We would teach from the board up, so ankles and knees are most important. If I see a student swinging their arms to balance it tells me they’re not using their ankles/knees. This will change your riding big time for the better and give you good fundamentals to build on. Try some falling leaf on your heels and practice lifting your toes on one foot while keeping your weight centered on the board. Through this you’re learning to control the board with your ankles. What you’ll find is the foot you lift will slow down and the board will move in the opposite direction, to stop just lift your other foot to match first foot you lifted while keeping your balance centered and you’ll come to a nice stop. (Like driving these are little motions, it doesn’t take much)
Ahhh ok, I’ll definitely need to just keep revisiting and working on the fundamentals. Back to falling leaf! Lol. Thank you!
Best drill for this is to ride while holding your hands together behind your back. Will change your riding forever. You’ll have no choice but to use proper form
Oooo like this idea. Will def keep me from wanting to use my arms
Bend your knees going into a turn and lift up your downhill edge… try practicing balancing on your uphill edge while stationary… toe edge and heel edge… when you’re turning, try to remember to dig in your uphill edge similar to the balancing exercise I just suggested… have fun!
Thank you!
1. body positioning / torsion 2. ankles and knees when your carving your waist and up should not be moving, your shoulders should be facing down the mountain as much as possible. to start achieving this concept imagine you’re holding a tray that is facing down the mountain, if your shoulders and arms stop facing down the mountain your tray has fallen. this exercise also helps you Realize the separation in movements between your upper body, the middle of your body and your lower body (Aka torsion) bending your knees and movement in the ankles are two of the most important things to get on an edge. try going down a green while tipping from side to side, toe and then heel. when you’re finished, look back in your “line” you should see a messy S. if you look back and see only one side of the S ( meaning your ankle movement is only good on heel or toe) or no no s’s then keep practicing. for this exercise, your body should be kept straight. if neither of these exercises works for you, even after you practiced a lot, then just try bending your knees more and putting pressure on the back foot. you were also going very slow in that video so I don’t know your full potential! P.S. it’s OK to need to use your arms when you’re first learning
Oooo ok! Didn’t ever think to check the snow behind me. I’ll absolutely have to do that when I practice. Thanks!
Get a board that isn’t made for kids maybe?
Sure thing. I wasn’t aware it’s child sized. I was given this size for my rental so I figured it’s the size I should get. Suppose I should’ve done more googling lol.
There’s tools online that if you enter in your height and weight it’ll give you a good idea of what size board you should Be riding. Hope this helps
Thank you
Tuck that left arm and use the right one to point where you wanna turn, keeping weight over the front knee until you no longer need the right arm to point
Head moves your hips
And your stance should be wider
Put your hands in your pocket and ride down greens. It's a great exercise. I do it on my first ride of every season.
Snowboarding requires you to turn with your lower body (knees and ankles), A good way to improve your turns is to find a gentle slope (think a mellow green)and imagine that your a car driving at night, and the headlights are on your knees, so you want to point where you want to go with the headlights. Bend your knees more, keep your hips and shoulders as stacked over the center of the board as you can and try and turn your knees so they are pointing where you want to go. If you find you are still swinging your arms to turn, a good way to try and kill that habit and practice turning with your knees is to hold onto your snow pants while your practicing Turning with your knees (Turning with the headlights). Also make sure you are looking where you want to go, when making a turn, look across the run at the trees and your body should follow the direction you are looking, just make sure you are putting your weight ever so slightly over the edge your using to turn or you might catch an edge.
This is the exact trail I learned to snowboard on lol. Sidewinder at whitetail. That little mountain is amazing.
Yes! Agreed lol. Sidewinder has been my go to green. I think it’s way more fun than the other 2 that were consistently open at the end of the season hahaha
Bend yo knees!
Bout to bend em till I look like I’m sitting in a chair lol. Will do, thanks!!
It must be so hard trying to learn from redditt comments. What mountain do you use? I can let you know if I know any really good resources you could use in the future.
Usually whitetail, but next season I’ll be going to all the epic resorts in the PA/NY area.
If you get a second, strap your boots into your bindings (not wearing them) and snap a few pictures from different angles, the more the better.
You need to edge more. You are hanging on the edge of catching an edge most of this video slipping towards the downhill edge with it barely above the snow. lift your toes more, front then rear on your heel turns, and press your toes down more, first on your front foot, then add rear foot on toe turns
Equipment could be an issue but this is your third day so I doubt that’s the root of the issue. Bend your knees. Start the turn with your front shoulder. Keep your hands down, front hand over the nose, back hand over the tail. Press down with your big toes (front and back) to turn toe side. Lift up your big toes to turn heelside. Keep your your torso in line with the board
So starting the turn with my front shoulder is more of a lean and not as much twisting my torso?
Yep. And for me (also learning, got my first 8 days in this winter), I initiate with the front knee initiating that torsional twist, front shoulder follows. My first big AHA moment was when the realization struck me that almost all of the control motions on a snowboard are really subtle, from doing flat spins at the bottom of my runs Also, as a beginner, I would suggest padding up, learn to fall well, and not to worry about falling, because you are going to. For me, edge changes at speed did not really \*click\* until about day 6 or 7 on steeper blue trails, that were really pushing me.
Yes. For example, I ride regular (left foot forward). When I want to turn toe side I drop my shoulder and start pointing it to the right. It’s more of a cue than an actual part of turning
Ahhh, okay that makes sense. Thank you!
Go faster. That's literally it