# Help me teach my gf...



## NSXRguy (Jan 17, 2011)

What is the proper order of teaching my gf how to board? Recently went to killington and i was stuck on the blue bunnny hill all day... 2hrs down each time... This isnt her first time boarding either... Maybe im teaching her in the wrong order?

First i took her to the green bunny hill on camelback in pa, which is a nice slope to learn how to brake, steep enough to get going and a decent distance. I picked camel over the mountain creek bunny hill because i felt the creek hill is a bit too steep an icy for beginners. I taught her how to get up by facing up the mtn and pushing off while shes on her knees. Shes decent with it. Ive been teaching her how to heel side brake going straight down the mountain. Shes having trouble feathering side to side, not sure exactly why. I havent had her try going down straight yet and then brake until im comfy that she can brake properly.

Now, on out killington trip, i was getting pissed off because i know she can heel side brake down the blue bunny trail, but she kept sitting down and falling... She says her legs are tired... So i told her to not squat as much so not to burn her thighs too much. I watch her and her balance is fine, until she decides to stop fully and falls down and sits again.

Shes already gone like 4 times, 2 this season... She has all the protection (head, wrists, butt, knees) because shes a bit "fragile"

Am i approaching this the wrong way? I was a late bloomer myself because i didnt have anybody teaching me while i was learning.

How should i go about teaching her and what skills order should i do?


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## Shazkar (Dec 14, 2011)

Maybe she should take a lesson if she's gone 4 times and still can't get down the bunny slope... (and then at least during that time you can go get some riding in)?


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## Smokehaus (Nov 2, 2010)

Get her some lessons. She will learn the basics and you all won't kill each other in the process. Once that is established you can take over.


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## shinjisan (Jan 12, 2012)

I have the same problem teaching my girl as well. This is her 2nd year and she hasn't improved at all! Her problem isn't the techniques; it's her fear of falling and I don't know how to help her conquer her fear


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## aloutris (Dec 20, 2011)

I know the cause of the whole getting tired thing  I'm a girl and I've been boarding four times. My first two days I sideslipped entire intermediate hills (I live in the northeast and my bunny hills take less than a minute, intermediate hills less than five) and it's REALLY tiring which caused me to sit down every so often. You absolutely have to push her to make turns and finally link them. Linking turns is a ton less tiring. But I don't know anything much about snowboarding because I've never taken lessons. I just winged it and now I can link turns on the black diamond (kind of) without killing myself (still... kind of xD)


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## NSXRguy (Jan 17, 2011)

Shes nowhere near turning right now... I want her to be good at braking first before i have her go down straight and then slow down heel brake... 

As far as the thighs burning... I understand that... But not squating so much and stand up straight does help with the fatigue.

I ask her to heel down the slope just enough that shes slowly descending down but not completely stop and she cant even do it... Like wtf man

On the bright side... She can get off the lift fine... Makes no sense


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Lessons!!!!!


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## Boomer (Oct 25, 2011)

Maybe she doesn't like it? Or she's embarrassed to fall or mess up in front of you? Idk, talk to her about lessons!


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## stealthyc (Oct 27, 2011)

Like someone else asked, does she want to snowboard? Assuming the answer to that is "yes" - get her lessons. It will truly be the best thing for both of you. Everyone learns differently and good teachers can recognize this and accommodate it. Your approach may not be suited for her style of learning and some of your suggestions, though I'm sure well intentioned, may not be helping her at all. As frustrated as you are, you can be pretty sure that she is at least as frustrated. Have patience. And whatever you do, don't say to her "it's easy. You just do this" she might scratch your eyes out...just saying.


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## mjd (Mar 13, 2009)

_I have been teaching for 7 years and I have seen so many fights between couples on the hill._

it is truly pure hell. let someone else deal with it.


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## Shazkar (Dec 14, 2011)

Snowwolf's videos are good, and so is the Snowboard Addiction LTR video... but honestly, yeah, put her in a lesson.


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## stealthyc (Oct 27, 2011)

careful there mjd


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## forestfalcon (Jan 5, 2012)

shinjisan said:


> I have the same problem teaching my girl as well. This is her 2nd year and she hasn't improved at all! Her problem isn't the techniques; it's her fear of falling and I don't know how to help her conquer her fear


My solution to this in the past has been to put some sort of strong alcoholic beverage in a coffee cup and suck it down quickly on the way to the hill. Why a coffee cup? People don't seem to feel the need to "intervene" if they think you're having a warm caffeinated beverage instead.

Seriously though, she has to get over the fear and just go for it. She'll fall more the more she holds back.


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## gjsnowboarder (Sep 1, 2009)

Lessons. Friends don't let friends teach friends and that goes double for people in relationships.

Example: From the lift I watched this guy teaching his friend how to board from a pair of skis. He was telling his friend he had to commit to his toe-side. This is of course after catching his toeside. Seems to me the problem wasn't with committing to his toes. An instructor would be able to recognize what was actually happening and give "meaningful" feedback to this person. Instructor's don't go into lessons with preconceptions about how a person might process information and discover the best way to communicate. 

Do yourself a big favor and get her a lesson and go do some freeriding so you both are happy.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

You fucked up...you taught her to "BRAKE"...duh...you re-enforced her fear even though she has protection, you have set up the wrong expectations...no wonder she can't ride.

LESSONS give the poor girl a chance.


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## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

*Lessons*

Get her a lesson. Teaching your significant other is a challenge because it sets up a power struggle in the relationship. Doing that will ruin a good relationship and make a bad relationship worse. I've seen it wreck tons of relationships. Better to get her some lessons or split the cost on an all women's program. Long term, you'll both be happier. Short term, at the end of the day you'll be able to sleep in the same bed that night. 

I've been teaching snowboarding for 12 years, AASI Level III certified, and staff trainer at a mountain for 7years. Last season my gf wanted to learn how to snowboard and asked me to teach her and her friend and I refused. She was annoyed but got over it when she and her friend were in a lesson and saw a couple yelling at each other on the bunny slope. Now, the only teaching I give her are advice when she asks for it. 
She's improving, we have fun riding together all day, and can still stand to look at each other at the bar after a day of riding.


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## hhaidar (Feb 1, 2011)

I have to agree with what these guys are telling you. The lessons are SO worth it. SHe'll learn faster, and you'll both have way more fun. I'm a full time instructor and staff trainer and see the same thing all the time. Where are you located? I work at Sugarbush, (an hour from Killington). If you're ever going to be up this way let me know. The biggest thing to remember is that its supposed to be fun. If she's not having fun she won't learn anything nor will she want to try again. Best of luck to you guys!
-hanna


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## NSXRguy (Jan 17, 2011)

I will take one day and go back to the basics, starting from skating, gliding, and 1footed strapped in basic turns

Once i feel like shes progressing in these areas, well go a bit faster with gliding and strap the other foot on for 2 footed turns/stops and garlands

We plan on going again next tues... In the mean time ill have her do some exercised to strengthen her leg muscles some


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

NSXRguy said:


> I will take one day and go back to the basics, starting from skating, gliding, and 1footed strapped in basic turns
> 
> Once i feel like shes progressing in these areas, well go a bit faster with gliding and strap the other foot on for 2 footed turns/stops and garlands
> 
> We plan on going again next tues... In the mean time ill have her do some exercised to strengthen her leg muscles some


dude are you fucking clueless? you've got a whole page of people here telling you to get her in a real lesson and you're still intent on ruining both of your days floundering on the bunny hill trying to hammer on shit that she already can't pick up from *you* teaching it?

you're just going to waste another day on suck.

if you're that stubborn then you deserve what you get, and if you're so broke that you or her can't afford a lesson then you shouldn't really be snowboarding

get a grip kid


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## NSXRguy (Jan 17, 2011)

We will get lessons

I am taking everyting in this thread into consideration, but she wants me to teach her one last time. I dont plan on boarding that day, ill just stay on the buny


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## Efilnikufesin (Oct 8, 2011)

NSXRguy said:


> We will get lessons
> 
> I am taking everyting in this thread into consideration, but she wants me to teach her one last time. I dont plan on boarding that day, ill just stay on the buny


Personally I learned on my own, so I tend to get impatient and unsympathetic without meaning to until I step back and listen to myself. Plus my triggers or action I had to concentrate on to achieve my first edge changes and linked turns are not necessarily the same triggers or actions that work for them. I would say get her a lesson (most people will listen better to someone they don't know) or if she is someone who is good at figuring things out themselves, leave them to themselves on the hill or have them bring a friend who is new too if they want company and let them watch what the other newbs are doing on the bunny hill and work off that.

In the end it reminds me of when my father always forced baseball advice/practice down my throat. He was a knowledgeable person about it, I just didn't listen as well because I didn't feel like hearing it from him. It's not done consciously but it happens regardless.


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## dskache (Dec 13, 2011)

Dont got together untill you both can make it down the hill. See if she has a friend that wants to learn and have them do lessons together while you do your own thing(saves you from arguing about oh you left me on the hill i thought we were doing this together) Check up on them. You can sneak up the bunnies and spray the people with nice cold snow for the hell of it cause i find some kind of inner evil satisfaction from it too:\.


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## IdahoFreshies (Jul 9, 2011)

Snowolf said:


> Really, the most important thing about a lesson from a trained and certified instructor is they know what specific body movements to look for that are either not happening or are happening that is sabotaging the rider`s learning curve.


wolf, slightly unrelated to this thread, but after more than 5 years thinking i was just absolutely terrible at explaining the mechanics of snowboarding and teaching people how to ride, in 2 days up on the hill, with a moderate amount of time actually teaching (i had to ride too), i have taught my friend who started out catching every edge every 5 seconds down a bunny hill, to being able to link turns down semi powdery blues with a fairly decent amount of speed. i felt slightly accomplished, i no longer think i suck ass at teaching. and dam, the run when it finally "clicked" for him, he looked like he had just won the x games he seemed so stoked!


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## Ocho (Mar 13, 2011)

NSXRguy said:


> We will get lessons
> 
> I am taking everyting in this thread into consideration, but she wants me to teach her one last time. I dont plan on boarding that day, ill just stay on the buny


Check this out if you're planning on going by the end of the month (January) Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month

Resorts are offering deals for lessons, etc. Grab it while you can. That way you can ride while she lessons


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## ceridwen (Dec 14, 2011)

Snowolf said:


> Really, the most important thing about a lesson from a trained and certified instructor is they know what specific body movements to look for that are either not happening or are happening that is sabotaging the rider`s learning curve.
> 
> You are "self taught" so not only do you undoubtedly have some really bad habits that actually hinder good riding, but now you are passing those onto a person who is attempting to learn. You simply cannot do any kind of meaningful movement analysis that is actually going to identify where her problems are coming from.
> 
> This is not a slam against you; you simply do not have the training or even the riding experience to properly do the job. Just convince her to bypass another attempt and go straight for the lesson. The more you screw around with this the more frustrated she is going to become and the less likely she will ever become a snowboarder. Refuse to teach her for her own good. Hell, you might want to just take the lesson along with her because undoubtedly, you are going to pick up some tips and advice that will help you correct any bad habits you have developed and it will give her the moral support and make her feel good about herself if you say that you could do with a lesson too.


Definitely listen to this!

Also, a lot of people knock group lessons, but I actually really liked group lessons for the first few times I went out. It gave me a chance to watch what other people at my level were doing wrong and made me realize that I wasn't the only one out there who found it tough starting out. And the more frequent breaks meant I did not tire out as quickly. Now that I'm linking turns and tackling blue runs and need more one-on-one time from a lesson, I do private lessons but I still think the group lessons were the best thing for me starting out. And most places run really good deals on group lessons for getting started with boarding that might even save you money compared to getting just a lift ticket and rentals for you (especially this month, this is the last weekend you can get the "learn a snowsport" deals!).


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