# Private lessons?



## Guest (Jan 19, 2009)

I went snowboarding at Boreal a few weeks ago and hit some easy jumps and a small box. I was doing okay on the jumps but fell about half my tries on the box. Just yesterday I went up to Dodge Ridge and tried a few bigger jumps. I couldn't land right and kept falling. I'm able to ride all mountain but I'm new to the park. I was wondering if private lessons would be worth it or if I just needed to keep practicing. 

I was thinking about taking private lessons at Northstar or Dodge. What's the best place to get lessons in Tahoe?


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2009)

Lessons can help but I've never seen the need to spend the money. I've always studied other riders and learned that way..Just watch what the good ones do and you'll catch on.


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2009)

Theres some good videos for learning jumping and everything, I have the Jumping with jussi and jibbing with jeremy jones, there fairly helpful.


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## T.J. (Aug 28, 2007)

IMHO lessons are NEVER a bad idea.


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2009)

Lessons were never for me I preferred to learn from my own mistakes.


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2009)

Thanks. I know lessons are never a bad idea but they're expensive. I'm just not sure if it's worth the price. I'll look for some videos and see how those help. Thanks. ^^


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Darc510 said:


> Thanks. I know lessons are never a bad idea but they're expensive. I'm just not sure if it's worth the price. I'll look for some videos and see how those help. Thanks. ^^


One problem with only looking at videos is you don't receive any feedback on the movements *you* are making and how they compare to what you see in the vids. Sometimes what you feel yourself doing and what is actually happening are two different things. This is where taking a private can speed up your progression in snowboarding.

If you can only do the video route make sure you have a friend film yourself and then compare the movements the pros are making to what you are doing. Look at how specific body parts might be doing different things and the timing of when these movements happen.


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## Guest (Jan 22, 2009)

full disclosure: i work in a tahoe ski school (Heavenly) so, if you want, you can file this under "_well he would say that wouldn't he?_".

i would strongly recommend taking a lesson. at our resort, we recommend private instruction for park lessons but if somebody shows up at an appropriate level for a group level, we'll try to make a park lesson happen if we can. depending on what thet other guests want to work on, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.

i'll echo what griff said - a huge benefit of private instruction is that you have a certified instructor focusing 100% of his or her attention on what you are doing. they can analyse incorrect movement and supply a whole host of techniques to improve what you are doing right and correct what you are doing wrong.

when i did my aasi level 1, one of the first things i discovered was that i knew absolutely nothing about movement analysis. analysing movement in a snowboarder who is riding past you is hard enough if you don't know what you are looking for. analysing movement in yourself if you don't know what you're looking for is almost impossible.

inevitable plug: if you decide you want to go the private route, Heavenly has a promotion right now with 20% off all private lessons. we have a number of excellent, highly certified instructors who can get you rocking in the park. if you want to pick this up in a pm, drop me a line.

alasdair


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## HouseMuzik (Dec 22, 2008)

Take a lesson. I have progressed so much in three lessons with my ski club its not even funny. Now needless to say they aren't one on one. but its a instructor and apprentice for about 4-7 students...


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2009)

lessons will always help so if I were I would have a lesson. Northstar has an awesome park (I haven't been to heavenly yet) so that's what I would recommend. It has beginner and advanced stuff for you to mess around on. But yea, have lessons if you feel that's what you need.


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## RVM (Jan 31, 2007)

I took a 2 or 3 hour beginner lesson with my wife at NorthStar earlier this year ($25 for lesson, lift ticket and rentals - not bad eh?) and she learned a lot and fast. I was just a bit past the beginner level but I was still able to learn. My friend, who taught me to snowboard, despite his best efforts, just didn't know how to translate what he was doing to words. The New Zealander who taught our small group (maybe 8 people, including my wife and I) was AASI level 2 I think, and he was really good at seeing what you were doing wrong and helping you to improve it.

If I had the money I'd take a few more lessons. Not that you can't learn yourself, but I think the lessons could prove quite valuable.

Fortunately for everyone, we have some very generous people here on these forums (such as SnoWolf) who give freely of their knowledge. Peruse the wealth of information here and if you need something clarified or explained differently, ask, and I'm sure they'll provide the best information they can.


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## zakk (Apr 21, 2008)

Darc510 said:


> I went snowboarding at Boreal a few weeks ago and hit some easy jumps and a small box. I was doing okay on the jumps but fell about half my tries on the box. Just yesterday I went up to Dodge Ridge and tried a few bigger jumps. I couldn't land right and kept falling. I'm able to ride all mountain but I'm new to the park. I was wondering if private lessons would be worth it or if I just needed to keep practicing.
> 
> I was thinking about taking private lessons at Northstar or Dodge. What's the best place to get lessons in Tahoe?


I took lessons with Johnny Garcia over at Sierra which has a nice progression park and it was a huge help. I was hitting the little kickers OK, but just a few hours of "try doing a bit more of this" or "watch your balance" from a 2nd set of eyes was a huge help. He had me doing 180's (Ok, ok, 160's  ) by the end of the lesson.

Ski & Snow Report, Ski Deals, Skiing Reviews | OnTheSnow.com also has deals for Sierra lessons. check it out.


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