# How to do a perfect toe turn?



## SlvrDragon50 (Mar 25, 2017)

Hannahbanana said:


> I'm a beginner and this is my first year riding. I can do pretty well and am confident on my heel turns, but I just can't get the rhythm of toe turns.
> Every time I try to do a toe turn I either get caught on the edge or I can't commit to let my board go straight for a second, which I know is really important. And 8/10 times the nose of my board get stuck in the snow when I'm trying to do the turn. Thats the most frustrating thing to me. am I doing something wrong or is there something I should pay attention to? Should I try to lift my nose a little? Ive been watching a lot of videos and no one seems to have the same problem with me so I'd really appreciate it if anyone can help me out here.


Are you in deep powder? Unsure why you would get the nose stuck in the snow if it's a groomer.

For me, the biggest thing was exaggerating my movements to turn on my toe edge. Bad technique, but I am slowly calming down my body movements over time. 

Are you catching your toe edge or heel edge? Are you able to just do a toe turn from a stopped position or just unable to link turns?


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

It’s very hard to give written advice that is going to mean anything given the situation that you describe. You’re asking about how to do something that’s very basic. It happens almost at the level of pure instinct for anyone who has been riding for more than hey dozen outings. Wait for a day when there is good, soft snow. Slush will do. Try to avoid hard tack. Take a lesson. A private one hour lesson Will save you a lot of time and grief. It might even save you injury. Perhaps you want to wait until the beginning of next season in order to do this if your local season is on the verge of ending. 

The heel side feels comfortable to beginners. That’s because it’s scary to turn your back to the bottom of the mountain. It’s also scary to point that nose straight to the bottom of the mountain because you start getting speed that you really cannot control with anything other than your heel rail. That’s why a lot of brand new riders end up doing a heel side falling leaf pattern down the mountain anytime the incline becomes more than just a little bit gradual. Without instruction or without painful experimentation it’s quite possible to become stuck riding like this for quite a long time. Don’t do it. 

Make sure that your board is set up properly. There may be a mechanical set up reason why toe turns don’t feel right. Make sure that your boots sit centered on the board while they are strapped to your bindings. I’m talking about being centered with respect to the heel and toe edges of the board. If your boots do not fit properly, or are not attached firmly to your feet with laces or whatever you’ve got, then achieving control over the board becomes extremely difficult. get those boots on tight. If they do not fit correctly then you will waste a lot of time learning to try to control a snowboard with them. Read the boot sizing threads here on this forum. In short, your boot size should be about one full size smaller than your street shoe size. Yes. It’s true! 

Assuming that you have the right gear, and you put it on correctly, and assuming that the snow is reasonably soft, I encourage you to get out there and spend some time on your toe rail only. Work it from front to back, then from back to front. Do some toe side falling leaf. Get used to the feeling of having your back to the bottom of the mountain. Get used to keeping your weight on your front foot and stay squarely over your board, not leaning back up the mountain like your safety instinct tells you to Do. Make sure that your knees are not locked out in a stiff leg position. Stay loose. 

Remember: it’s really hard to turn a snowboard when you’re going slow. You’re gonna have to hold some speed if you’re gonna link some turns.


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## charlotteturnip (Feb 24, 2018)

The only thing I can think of is going to a real mellow, wide green/blue and practising really wide turns, once you've got that, it's just a matter of confidence and trying to get those turns tighter


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Why do you want perfect toeside turns?
'not too bad' will do for now.


Here's more or less... kind of what you need to do:
1. Bend your knees
2. Keep your shoulders and hip aligned with the board 
3. Drive the start of your turn with your leading shoulder; you can do this somewhat gently for long mellow sweeping turns and more aggressively managing your weight and everything as you progress...
4. Once your board is somewhat tilted, drop your weight on the shin of your boots without leaning your body too far away from the board (ie drop your body weight over the board - without leaning out too far)
5. Your board will now be riding the arc of the snowboard until it's time to switch to the other edge.

1 and 2 are VITAL. For the others you will start with some degree of "that'll do" and improve little by little... 

This is assuming you can already link turns.... which I think is where your problem lies. So for that, take a lesson because this is almost ground 0 and everyone starts at a somewhat different zero; but an instructor will be able to quickly determine where you are and what you need to work on.

Try and find some online tutorials, because even though you may think those do not relate to you... they do.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

If you are catching edge on your toe side turn, you are not pressuring that toe edge.
Bend knees and really drive that shins into the front of the boots.


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## Hannahbanana (Mar 26, 2018)

Fielding said:


> It’s very hard to give written advice that is going to mean anything given the situation that you describe. You’re asking about how to do something that’s very basic. It happens almost at the level of pure instinct for anyone who has been riding for more than hey dozen outings. Wait for a day when there is good, soft snow. Slush will do. Try to avoid hard tack. Take a lesson. A private one hour lesson Will save you a lot of time and grief. It might even save you injury. Perhaps you want to wait until the beginning of next season in order to do this if your local season is on the verge of ending.
> 
> The heel side feels comfortable to beginners. That’s because it’s scary to turn your back to the bottom of the mountain. It’s also scary to point that nose straight to the bottom of the mountain because you start getting speed that you really cannot control with anything other than your heel rail. That’s why a lot of brand new riders end up doing a heel side falling leaf pattern down the mountain anytime the incline becomes more than just a little bit gradual. Without instruction or without painful experimentation it’s quite possible to become stuck riding like this for quite a long time. Don’t do it.
> 
> ...



Thanks for all the suggestions! I never really thought about the setup of my board and the fact that it could be a problem, always just thought I shouldn't focus too much on that as I'm just a beginner. Definitely will pay attention on that next time I go snowboarding!


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## Hannahbanana (Mar 26, 2018)

SlvrDragon50 said:


> Are you in deep powder? Unsure why you would get the nose stuck in the snow if it's a groomer.
> 
> For me, the biggest thing was exaggerating my movements to turn on my toe edge. Bad technique, but I am slowly calming down my body movements over time.
> 
> Are you catching your toe edge or heel edge? Are you able to just do a toe turn from a stopped position or just unable to link turns?




Yeah the snow was not groomed but it wasn't deep powder either so I really don't know why. I think I might have pressed a little too hard on my toes(but just the nose part) 

I catch on both my heel and toe edge... I have a hard time linking turns. I'd say 7/10 success rate.
Also I started spinning 360s(out of control) when I just wanna do a toe turn and stop on my toe edge....


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## Hannahbanana (Mar 26, 2018)

F1EA said:


> Why do you want perfect toeside turns?
> 'not too bad' will do for now.
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the suggestions will definitely try them next time I go snowboarding. Ive watched like a thousand youtube videos about beginner snowboarding but its hard to remember all of them and put them to use. 
I never had a proper lesson before, just learned some basic stuff from my friends who can ride like a pro. Guess I'll have to take a lesson next time.


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## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

This is my opportunity to stop just lurking on the forum & make a contribution instead. I'm also a beginner but have been fortunate enough to have private lessons with the top female snowboard instructor in Europe (Renelle Mortimer at Fresh Snowboarding). I just got back a couple of days ago so it's all still fresh in my head (no pun intended).

There's no substitute for lessons with a good instructor as even subtle incorrect movements can cause problems at our level; things you won't even realise you're doing. But the basic steps for beginner toeside turns are:

1. Whilst traversing heelside, slow right down, & move most of your weight to the outside edge of your front heel, keeping the board at the same angle (so still traversing the hill).

2. Push your front toes down, whilst keeping your rear toes pulling up hard so you're twisting the board. The front will start to point down hill. Keep your weight over the front of the board.

3. As the nose of the board turns through the fall-line, keep pressing down with your front toes & bend your knees to drop your weight down. The nose of the board will continue to turn.

4. Finally stop pulling up with your rear toes, which lets the rear edge engage to finish the turn.

The two key points are getting enough weight over the front of the board before starting to turn, & not dropping your rear toes too soon (which is how you catch an edge). If you follow this technique you can make your turns really slowly, which helps alleviate the fear of pointing downhill as you can just drop to your knees. 

It might help to use a wider stance than recommended to begin with, to help get your weight over the board's contact points.


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## Hannahbanana (Mar 26, 2018)

Radialhead said:


> This is my opportunity to stop just lurking on the forum & make a contribution instead. I'm also a beginner but have been fortunate enough to have private lessons with the top female snowboard instructor in Europe (Renelle Mortimer at Fresh Snowboarding). I just got back a couple of days ago so it's all still fresh in my head (no pun intended).
> 
> There's no substitute for lessons with a good instructor as even subtle incorrect movements can cause problems at our level; things you won't even realise you're doing. But the basic steps for beginner toeside turns are:
> 
> ...



Thanks for the tips I really didn't know it's that important to have a lesson, just thought I can get away with lots of practice and video tutorials 
Will definitely have a proper lesson next time I go riding!


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Hey HB,

Lots of good info...but a vid might be worth thousands of words...:surprise:


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