# Turning onto heel edge



## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Hi,

I've been snowboarding a little bit, can quite happily do linked turns. I'm regular footed and when I do turns onto my heel edge, my right foot (back foot) comes forward as if I was going to lead with that foot, this is slowing down my transition to toe edge turn. From toe edge to heel edge is quite smooth, however this way kinda disrupts my flow.

Any ideas on why this is happening or exercises to try and stop it?

Thanks for any help in advance!


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

Easier with a video.. 

Bend your knees! Stop using your upper body to turn. You're probably "ruddering" to complete your turns and you don't have as much control on your heels. 

I'm sure some guys who can explain stuff better than me will chime in, but that's what I suspect..


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Do you mean that the tail end of the board slides out on the heel turn?


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## francium (Jan 12, 2013)

Sounds like your using your back leg to turn instead of foot steering the board. Best bet is to get a lesson with a qualified instructor, all too easy to get into bad habits which are a pain in the ass to get rid of later on.


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## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Donutz said:


> Do you mean that the tail end of the board slides out on the heel turn?


Yes that's exactly what I mean.
I have had some lessons with an instructor for the basics, however this seems to be a bad habit I've picked up since then!


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Are you sure you're doing the turn motion? I've had a problem with asymmetrical turns where my heelside was much tighter and more like a braking maneuver. By concentrating on the motions of the toeside and heelside turns, I realized that I was actually doing them differently. You're probably doing some combination of not using enough edge and having your weight shifted tailside.


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## Mizu Kuma (Apr 13, 2014)

^^^^^ Yeah, I reckon it sounds like uneven weight, predominantly on the back foot!!!!! As suggested, video would help!!!!!

Do you feel like your going too fast into the transition when it happens?????

Also, is your board a Rockered Profile?????


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## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Actually now you mention it, it is more like braking than turning.
So your suggesting I tilt my board more and shit my weight onto my front leg more to stop this happening?


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## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Mizu Kuma said:


> ^^^^^ Yeah, I reckon it sounds like uneven weight, predominantly on the back foot!!!!! As suggested, video would help!!!!!
> 
> Do you feel like your going too fast into the transition when it happens?????
> 
> Also, is your board a Rockered Profile?????



I'll try and get a video next time I go, I often go on my own which doesn't help!
I've had this on two rental board (unsure of profile) and current board which is a cam rocker.


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## Mizu Kuma (Apr 13, 2014)

So by cam rocker you're saying that its predominantly camber in the middle?????

I only asked because while some predominantly Rockered boards can be great to learn on, and less "catchier", they can be harder to apply an even edge pressure when trying to hold turns properly!!!!! (Carving) 

Like what's been suggested with too much pressure on the back foot, try and keep your body centered over the board, with if anything a slight added pressure toward the front foot when initiating the turn!!!!!

The idea is to use the whole effective edge of the board to turn by making it engage with the surface of the snow entirely!!!!!


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## Mizu Kuma (Apr 13, 2014)

Ohhh, and draw your turns out as much as you can at first!!!!!

As you control your turns more fluently, slowly bring those arcs in tighter!!!!!


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

bend your knees and put more weight on your front foot.
make sure your board is set up properly also.
transit smoother helps as well.'
use your front foot to initiate turning not kicking the back(tho its not a bad thing if used correctly).


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## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice, I'll try in the next week or so and see how it goes


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

minime said:


> Thanks for all the advice, I'll try in the next week or so and see how it goes


man, winter stopped 1 month ago over here. it's killing me.:blowup:


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## minime (Apr 27, 2014)

Bonus of having an indoor slope nearby


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## andrewdod (Mar 24, 2013)

sounds like youre ruddering to me. try to put more weight on that front foot and use that to initiate the turns.


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## td.1000 (Mar 26, 2014)

one trick that I remember practicing was trying to turn without moving my legs at all. just leaning forwards and backwards and letting the sidecut do the turning.


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## 24WERD (May 9, 2012)

rocker board?

what's the angle on the back foot? -15?

I find when the back foot has a larger angle people tend to swing it out more.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

minime said:


> Actually now you mention it, it is more like braking than turning.
> So your suggesting I tilt my board more and shit my weight onto my front leg more to stop this happening?


No one is ever edging as hard as they think they are. Get yourself videoed and you'll probably find your outside edge is barely an inch up.

As far as weight distribution, the instruction for beginner to low intermediate is to get your weight forward so that the front of the board is controlling where you go. The intermediate to advanced instruction is that you start the turn with weight forward, and as you go into the turn you shift your weight back to engage the rest of the edge. This will become more important as your turns become more aggressive.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Donutz said:


> No one is ever edging as hard as they think they are. Get yourself videoed and you'll probably find your outside edge is barely an inch up.
> 
> As far as weight distribution, the instruction for beginner to low intermediate is to get your weight forward so that the front of the board is controlling where you go. The intermediate to advanced instruction is that you start the turn with weight forward, and as you go into the turn you shift your weight back to engage the rest of the edge. This will become more important as your turns become more aggressive.


This is what you said to me when I posted a similar and I think it's spot on, at least for me. Forward momentum from your weight forward carries through and washes out the tail. At least that's how I interpreted what you are saying. The lack of a firm surface the last 2 times I went out didn't really let me test this out much.


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