# Hump/Dump form



## Nefarious (Dec 26, 2010)

Steeper hills will be more ideal for hump'n'dumpin'. The speed and velocity help hold you on the edge of your board while carving. 

At slower speeds, I would recommend a more finessed version of the same. The concept is similar, but without nearly the follow through. Calculated and cautionary shifts of your weight. Dropping your front shoulder in the direction of the turn may also help you feel the proper momentum. 

As you get more comfortable and start going faster, you just up the amount of follow through. 

I'm no Snowolf but that's my 2 cents.


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## bigbadwanger (Feb 8, 2012)

Nefarious said:


> Steeper hills will be more ideal for hump'n'dumpin'. The speed and velocity help hold you on the edge of your board while carving.
> 
> At slower speeds, I would recommend a more finessed version of the same. The concept is similar, but without nearly the follow through. Calculated and cautionary shifts of your weight. Dropping your front shoulder in the direction of the turn may also help you feel the proper momentum.
> 
> ...


so is hump/dump more suited for carving as opposed to skidded turns?


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

bigbadwanger said:


> so is hump/dump more suited for carving as opposed to skidded turns?


no...hump and dump...big hump and dumps...needs speed or some steepness of a black or double black. On greens ya probably not getting enough speed unless you point it for 50-100 yards...bombing and then turn.


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## Nefarious (Dec 26, 2010)

bigbadwanger said:


> so is hump/dump more suited for carving as opposed to skidded turns?


Yes. H&D utilizes the board's side cut. You're basically throwing your body around to make your edge to edge more efficient and allows your board cut deeper without having to lean as far.


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## designfemme (Mar 12, 2010)

Nefarious said:


> At slower speeds, I would recommend a more finessed version of the same. The concept is similar, but without nearly the follow through. Calculated and cautionary shifts of your weight. Dropping your front shoulder in the direction of the turn may also help you feel the proper momentum.



Beginner here too. I think this is what I have been doing, what Nefarious just described here. I found that it automatically helps me flex my ankles more.


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## Nefarious (Dec 26, 2010)

designfemme said:


> Beginner here too. I think this is what I have been doing, what Nefarious just described here. I found that it automatically helps me flex my ankles more.


The one thing I will caution is to not "open up" your stance. In other words, ensure that your shoulders are parallel to the board. It will feel unnatural at first, but it's proper form and allows for more concise control and a better ability to shift your weight.

With an open stance, toe side turns can be a nightmare. You'll end up rotating your upper body 180 degrees to look downhill, and by doing it will make it harder to center your balance and keep a firm edge hold on your turns. 

What I used to explain to my wife was this,


> "Bend where your legs meet your pelvis, not at your waist. You don't want to be bending over the board, but rather to shift your center of gravity lower. Follow through with your knees and ankles. One specific region should not be more flexed than the rest. If you use your muscles together, it can lower your center of gravity a ton. The benefit is more leverage on your board."


I also, throughout the day, say "3C" to her. Cool, calm, and collected. Keep your muscles loose and absorb impact. If you tighten up when things don't' go as expected, it often makes the situation worse and turns a minor setback into a full yard sale. Look ahead of you, not down. I often scan the terrain at about the 10 foot mark when possible (when there isn't a roller ahead of me).

It's even more important for bean stalks like myself to stay low. The taller you are, the harder it is to compact your center of gravity. I've grown enough comfort that I don't have to bend nearly as much...but it's better to start lower, in any case. 

Best of luck to both of you. Snowboarding has a bit of a learning curve, but the payoff is incredible.


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## bigbadwanger (Feb 8, 2012)

Nefarious said:


> The one thing I will caution is to not "open up" your stance. In other words, ensure that your shoulders are parallel to the board. It will feel unnatural at first, but it's proper form and allows for more concise control and a better ability to shift your weight.
> 
> With an open stance, toe side turns can be a nightmare. You'll end up rotating your upper body 180 degrees to look downhill, and by doing it will make it harder to center your balance and keep a firm edge hold on your turns.
> 
> ...


i find myself having my shoulders more squared toward downhill, and i assume that is what you mean by being opened up. it seems unnatural to not have my shoulders pointed to the direction i'm heading to, but i will try to have my shoulders being parallel to the board and only have my leader shoulder be the steer rather than both my shoulders at a slant.

i'm still a little bit confused at the bend, during a heel side my butt should be doing a barbell squat or sitting type motion, while in a toe side it's a pelvic thrust right with a small bow or arch of my back?


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

bigbadwanger said:


> i find myself having my shoulders more squared toward downhill, and i assume that is what you mean by being opened up. it seems unnatural to not have my shoulders pointed to the direction i'm heading to, but i will try to have my shoulders being parallel to the board and only have my leader shoulder be the steer rather than both my shoulders at a slant.
> 
> i'm still a little bit confused at the bend, during a heel side my butt should be doing a barbell squat or sitting type motion, while in a toe side it's a pelvic thrust right with a small bow or arch of my back?


For shoulders, think of your snowboard being the bottom of a cereal box you generally want to keep your body parts inside of the box...even when you tilt the board/cereal box on edge...your body will also be leaning. As for pelvic thrust..."small bow or arch of my back?" is too high of center of gravity and on the backside of your body, you want the hump on the frontside. For humping...pelvic thrust also involves a pelvic tilt; isolate these muscles and do them at the same time...sink in your knees, tighten your butt cheeks and tighten you lower abs...your pelvis should then hump....got it...now stand up from the computer and give it a try.


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## bigbadwanger (Feb 8, 2012)

got it thanks, 

couple other questions: i read that my toe and heel turns should be initiated and done with a twist like a swivel of the knee and and foot-so heel it would be twist out, toe i assume it's a twist inward, rather than simply rocking from heel to toe, is that correct?

secondly, should i be extending my legs to pop out of turns to relieve the pressure on the board during the middle and end of my turn? before initiating the next turn, i think i do it anyway, but i never really consciously thought about it. 

much appreciated guys


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

bigbadwanger said:


> got it thanks,
> 
> couple other questions: i read that my toe and heel turns should be initiated and done with a twist like a swivel of the knee and and foot-so heel it would be twist out, toe i assume it's a twist inward, rather than simply rocking from heel to toe, is that correct?
> 
> ...


yes...heelside swing the leading knee toward the nose and for toeside bend or point/drive the leading knee toward the imaginary center of the turn.

Secondly, you are transitioning between turns...its not really popping out of turns (yes you do this at a more advance level of riding) but you are merely lowering/sinking in your knees to initiate the turn, you are at the lowest at the middle of the turn and then you rise up to complete the turn...(thus you are standing tall, with weight on the nose to get the nose of the board to drop back in to the fall line) and then you drop/lower down to initiate for the next turn.


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## bigbadwanger (Feb 8, 2012)

wrathfuldeity said:


> yes...heelside swing the leading knee toward the nose and for toeside bend or point/drive the leading knee toward the imaginary center of the turn.
> 
> Secondly, you are transitioning between turns...its not really popping out of turns (yes you do this at a more advance level of riding) but you are merely lowering/sinking in your knees to initiate the turn, you are at the lowest at the middle of the turn and then you rise up to complete the turn...(thus you are standing tall, with weight on the nose to get the nose of the board to drop back in to the fall line) and then you drop/lower down to initiate for the next turn.


thanks a lot! appreciate the info


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Also besides rising and lowering, you are moving weight, i.e., shifting your hips sidways...fore and aft...nose to tail. Beginning/initiating the turn you are on the nose, middle of the turn you are at the middle of the board and lowered and at the compleation of the turn you are on the tail...abit in the back seat. 

So the at the end of the turn, you shift your hips sidways to the nose...to weight the nose to get the nose to drop into the fall line....gain some speed... then initiate the turn.


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## designfemme (Mar 12, 2010)

(@wrath and nefarious: not the OP here, but I also thank you!)


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Just one more piece: As you are going heelside, raise and open your leading shoulder...and going toeside, drop and close your leading shoulder...the leading shoulder is going the same direction as your leading knee. This helps to keep your body stacked and aligned, i.e., the leading ankle, knee, hip and shoulder going in the same direction.

BTW nobody has mentioned arms and hands...so what to do? Ya don't need them and if they are waving around they can be a hindrance. So either keep them dropped and relaxed by your thighs, or keep them gently clasped in front or back, or hold them like a little bunny rabbit standing on its hind legs or like a tyrannosaurus rex up by your chest but keep the elbows glued to your ribs.

So all the little things; first isolate and practice each movement (ya don't even need to be on the board...just get your body familiar with the movement). Then its putting it all together with coordination, timing and rhythm. Once you get that done you can vary the intensity and degree to make any number of tight or loose/big turns and they will be smooth, efficient, subtle, quick and powerful.


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## designfemme (Mar 12, 2010)

wrathfuldeity said:


> BTW nobody has mentioned arms and hands...so what to do? Ya don't need them and if they are waving around they can be a hindrance. So either keep them dropped and relaxed by your thighs, or keep them gently clasped in front or back, or hold them like a little bunny rabbit standing on its hind legs or like a tyrannosaurus rex up by your chest but keep the elbows glued to your ribs.


I also found that grabbing the edge of my jacket helped me resist the temptation to float out my trailing arm. (But I admit, you gotta watch out and make sure that the elbow doesn't end up sticking out instead.)

Was it here that I heard about the "tuck a snowball between your arms at your side and your hips" trick? I told our friend's 10 year-old to try that. If he makes it to the end of the run with the snowball, he rewards himself by chucking it at us or his sister


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## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Just one more piece: As you are going heelside, raise and open your leading shoulder...and going heelside, drop and close your leading shoulder...the leading shoulder is going the same direction as your leading knee. This helps to keep your body stacked and aligned, i.e., the leading ankle, knee, hip and shoulder going in the same direction.
> /QUOTE]
> 
> I'm confused...How does raising and lowering your shoulder help with keeping your body stacked and aligned?


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Its raising and lowering your shoulder with abit of twist of the leading shoulder for anticipatory rotation...idk if that is a correct by Snowolf's opinion...but in my feeble mind that's how it works.


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## bigbadwanger (Feb 8, 2012)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Its raising and lowering your shoulder with abit of twist of the leading shoulder for anticipatory rotation...idk if that is a correct by Snowolf's opinion...but in my feeble mind that's how it works.


Thanks again for the info, I went boarding yesterday, and hit a learning curve, I was able to easily do skidded turns down all the blues without problem. I started trying to work on my dynamic skidded turns and also go down the hill with faster speed and very narrow heel toe transition but sometimes i find myself catching an edge while going down at the faster speed, overall a really great day of clean runs.


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