# I freaking SUCK at jumps



## drblast (Feb 28, 2017)

1. Get body armor so you're not as scared. Breaking your tailbone or the potential of that will cause you to tense up and jumps will never work.
2. If you can't jump on flat ground, you're riding off-balance. It's all about balance. Start with small hops as you're riding and if you're not landing perfectly smooth even after a 1-inch jump, it's because you started off unbalanced to begin with. It's not the jump, it's the setup.
3. Once you can hop on flat ground without falling, start with the smallest jump in the park. They're built for success. Don't do anything. Get low, relax, ride straight, don't think. Just go over it with a little bit of speed. Start small, go slow, and hike that feature. I can't stress that enough. If you can do it 100 times in a day because you hiked it instead of riding the lift up every time, you'll get better at it way faster.

But balance. Muuust learrrn balaaance Daniel-san.

Also, if you want to come ride the PNW and need a place to stay, I have a spare room and a lot of extra boards.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

drblast said:


> 1. Get body armor so you're not as scared. Breaking your tailbone or the potential of that will cause you to tense up and jumps will never work.
> 2. If you can't jump on flat ground, you're riding off-balance. It's all about balance. Start with small hops as you're riding and if you're not landing perfectly smooth even after a 1-inch jump, it's because you started off unbalanced to begin with. It's not the jump, it's the setup.
> 3. Once you can hop on flat ground without falling, start with the smallest jump in the park. They're built for success. Don't do anything. Get low, relax, ride straight, don't think. Just go over it with a little bit of speed. Start small, go slow, and hike that feature. I can't stress that enough. If you can do it 100 times in a day because you hiked it instead of riding the lift up every time, you'll get better at it way faster.
> 
> ...


This is the exact response I was looking for.
1) anything you recommend? I was looking at somehting like these

2) should I be starting with jumping both feet at the same time, or ollie where I lift the front first then follow with the back leg?

3) I never thought of just unstrapping and walking back up, the mountain was empty it would have been ideal, I'll do that next time

PNW huh, do you live near either of the Ikon mountains? I may take you up on this offer


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## drblast (Feb 28, 2017)

woodhouse said:


> This is the exact response I was looking for.
> 1) anything you recommend? I was looking at somehting like these
> 
> 2) should I be starting with jumping both feet at the same time, or ollie where I lift the front first then follow with the back leg?
> ...


Yeah check out Crystal mountain on the Ikon pass. 1:45 minutes away from me. They'll have a decent small park setup probably after the next snowfall. Right now they've got some small jumps and rails going.


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## kieloa (Sep 20, 2019)

woodhouse said:


> 2) should I be starting with jumping both feet at the same time, or ollie where I lift the front first then follow with the back leg?


Ollie all the way!


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## lbs123 (Jan 24, 2017)

In addition to what being said - you need to apply very light pressure on one of your edges (typically toe edge) when approaching kicker even on straight airs. 

As for the progression on jumps it should be coast off > pop off > ollie - 




Also if you have access to trampoline, you can practice air awareness in it.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Practice and build confidence. Without a video my guess is that you are afraid in the air and instinctively putting the brakes on because you'd rather fall on your butt and lack the confidence to ride through it sideways. All of this is subliminal and you don't realize it. This is what holds me back and I will say that at almost 49 it's not an easy thing to over come. Anything more than a small jump and I have to fight the urge to brake in midair. It's 100% mental.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

f00bar said:


> Practice and build confidence. Without a video my guess is that you are afraid in the air and instinctively putting the brakes on because you'd rather fall on your butt and lack the confidence to ride through it sideways. All of this is subliminal and you don't realize it. This is what holds me back and I will say that at almost 49 it's not an easy thing to over come. Anything more than a small jump and I have to fight the urge to brake in midair. It's 100% mental.


Totally agree. If I’m blasting down the hill and hit an unexpected side hit I’m fine. Jump, land, continue blasting. If I approach a jump in the park it’s like I’m a deer in headlights. Jump, soar awkwardly, eat shit. Only difference is too much thinking.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Scalpelman said:


> Totally agree. *If I’m blasting down the hill and hit an unexpected side hit I’m fine. Jump, land, continue blasting.* If I approach a jump in the park it’s like I’m a deer in headlights. Jump, soar awkwardly, eat shit. Only difference is too much thinking.


Good topic! I'm no better on the side hits either. In fact, If I do get Surprised by some bump, roller or feature in flat light, I'm damn near guaranteed to eat shit.

I developed a serious mental block about getting air my first season & haven't been able to overcome it.
(...of course having a couple of riding buddies take me to the park jumps SPECIFICALLY to teach me jumps and having one of them *Break His Back* casing the landing didn't help my fear none!!!) :O  LoL


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## tonymontana (Dec 10, 2016)

Take an easy ride through the run and check landings. 

I found once I was confident enough and had the skill to snowboard relaxed that really helped. Loosening up helped dealing with the unexpected airs etc. Don’t be so stiff and try not to fight the mountain. 

Ride until you’re confident with speed and control then jump. You want to jump through the air not fall through the air. More forward than down. Speed also helps with impact compression. Bending your knees helps with this too.

For park sometimes the jumps are not built to w.e your preference may be. So it’s not always you but learn to tell the difference.

You’re most likely going to land with more speed than you took off with so be ready for that. Make sure you have proper space to slow down for w.e your skill level is. Know where you’re going to turn when you land before you jump and be aware of any possible obstacles trees logs w.e 

Visualize, head repetition helps.

Jumping in deeper pow requires some different techniques as well.


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## bazman (Jan 15, 2017)

kieloa said:


> Ollie all the way!


When first learning jumps you should pop or even just coast over. Ollie is more advanced and should be learnt after you are competent at popping


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## bazman (Jan 15, 2017)

drblast said:


> 2. If you can't jump on flat ground, you're riding off-balance. It's all about balance. Start with small hops as you're riding and if you're not landing perfectly smooth even after a 1-inch jump, it's because you started off unbalanced to begin with. It's not the jump, it's the setup.


^^ this ^^

Don't go hitting jumps if you can't land a pop from the flat. Start small and work your way up slowly and only when you are comfortable and landing most of them. This is how you avoid injury and improve confidence

Some possible reasons have already been discussed, but others might be setup of your bindings, eg what angles do you ride, and are your boots centered on the board?

Outside of jumping, how competent are you just riding around? Can you ride at speed and in control? Can you ride flat based straight down the fall line?

Ideally if you can post a video it's easier to help


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

My biggest fail when learning jumps was a tendency to go into a heelside brake in mid-air. Or maybe when I landed. It's hard to tell when you're in the middle of it. I fixed it though by consciously hitting the jump with my shoulders aligned to the board and slight toeside pressure.

Also, in terms of technique, you might not be ollying or popping evenly when launching, which will impart a rotation. Instead of trying to do everything at the lip, do this: make sure you are at maximum squat when you hit the transition (the lowest point in the approach). As you approach the lip, stand up smoothly, so that you are almost fully extended just as you launch. This will A) give you more control over your liftoff, since it's less rushed, and B) put your upper body (where most of your mass is) into a higher trajectory than you'd get if you just coasted off, thereby giving you more loft, and C) be less work.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

these are all great responses, this is what makes this forum awesome

@bazman boots are as centered as they can be with my burton cartels, slightly toe heavy, but not much. I was riding 12/12,I did change the next day to 15/9
I consider myself an intermediate rider, never really feel out of place on blues, feel confident really anywhere except super steep runs or mogul runs which I avoid both because I dont find either of them fun. I feel most at home at wide open blue trails.

@Donutz I will try all of this
When I was there one of the guys maintaining the park told me to bend me knees real low when going off, and keep them bent the entire way, I listened and it worked on 2 jumps perfectly, but then I started screwing them up again. I definitely have a problem with over thinking it all


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Donutz said:


> My biggest fail when learning jumps was a tendency to go into a heelside brake in mid-air.


Oh yeah... the "flying squirrel" mid air bail out air brake.  I remember that time. Always ended in exactly the same outcome: off balance landing and a Neni-sized hole in the landing.

Sucking up knees and staying well compressed made the difference to me. I got continuously more confident as in that position, it's not possible to get into the "omg, I need to be a human size parachute with my arms" backseat and inevitably fail and fall, but viola, smooth balanced landing. Been quite chickenshit with jumps quite for a long time. It's all mental. Stying in a compressed position made the difference for me.


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