# Looking for advice to improve my turn



## Snowyy (Jan 17, 2020)

Hi, I just learned how to do basic turns: I start from heelside traverse (not carving), then slightly twist the board by pressing down the front toe and leave back foot where it was. When the board points downhill, I change to the toe edge and start a toeside traverse (still no carving). 

The problem is when I try to increase my speed, I found myself doing sort of toe-side sideslip after changing edges instead of making a nice round turn. Do I need to add more body lean to better steer the board to its trajectory rather than sideslipping?

Also, I have a hard time learning how to carve. I fall every time I tried to lift my toe-edge to make the board stands solely on the heel edge. Do I need to increase the speed and how much speed is needed to avoid falling down?


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

I suggest watching this 









Round Smooth Turns


The shape of an ideal snowboard turn is round, smooth, and consistent. In this tutorial we're going to take you through exercises and techniques to get your turns smoother than glass. Want to learn other ways to round out your riding skills? Check out the full Intermediate Riding Series...




snowboardaddiction.com


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

For carving, you can start traversing on edge from side to side over the piste. Slowly moving to arcing turns along the side cut. Before linking the carves.


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## Snowyy (Jan 17, 2020)

Snowdaddy said:


> I suggest watching this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hey thanks for the link. It seems it has something to do with too much weight on the front foot. I do intentionally put a lot weight on my front foot as it could avoid leaning back and help me avoid catching edges. I would try the bouncing technique to see if I can get it fixed next time.
Apart from overweighting the front foot, does it has anything to do with speed and body lean?

For carving, I even had a hard time traversing on edges. It is quite hard to find the correct edge angle while avoid falling. I suspect it is because I was traversing too slowly. Does increasing the speed help?


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

Snowyy said:


> Hey thanks for the link. It seems it has something to do with too much weight on the front foot. I do intentionally put a lot weight on my front foot as it could avoid leaning back and help me avoid catching edges. I would try the bouncing technique to see if I can get it fixed next time.
> Apart from overweighting the front foot, does it has anything to do with speed and body lean?
> 
> For carving, I even had a hard time traversing on edges. It is quite hard to find the correct edge angle while avoid falling. I suspect it is because I was traversing too slowly. Does increasing the speed help?


Falling how? You only fall if you lean over too much in low speed carves. You don't use your upper body to tilt the board. And you only need to tilt the board enough to ride the edge.

Depending on how stiff your board is you need different amount of speed to get it to bend into the turning radius so the sidecut engages properly. It should however be quite possible to carve at any speed. Don't do it on to steep slopes and only put the board on edge enough to get it to travel along the edge properly. No need to lean over that much in the beginning.

Once you ge the pressure through turns down, riding the sidecut isn't that hard. Even though it's bad riding in the "backseat", meaning too much weight on your back foot, it's important to be able to distribute weight along the edge and not just stay on your front foot during the turn. If you start to spin out when you put more even weight over the sidecut you are probably not getting the edge to bite enough.

The transition technique is basically the same as in a normal sliding turn, but in the transition you need to keep a bit of speed up when you switch edge.

A bit of speed is needed when carving, but you don't adjust the speed to your lean, you adjust your lean to the speed and centripetal force.

Form an intermediate riders perspective, meaning me, learning the carve is a lot of attitude. Carve a traverse into a stop. When you can do that you need to just turn the edge the other way and commit to the turn. Just don't ride crazy fast and do it on an easy slope and don't overdo your body lean so you fall over. Personally I find it easier going from toe side to heel side turn.









How To Carve On A Snowboard


Everyone loves carving like a madman and destroying the perfectly groomed corduroy. Now you can too! Check out this tutorial and improve your carving on a snowboard today! Remember, get even more tutorials with the Snowboard Addiction Snowboard Tutorial Membership! (Rider/Narrating: Nev Lapwood)...




snowboardaddiction.com


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)




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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

First thing I'd check is if you're bending your knees enough. If you're keeping your legs straight and bending at the waist as most beginners tend to do, it's more difficult to get the board up on an edge (either edge). A good rule of thumb is: you're not bending your knees nearly as much as you think you are.


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## Snowyy (Jan 17, 2020)

Thank you guys for all the tips. Can't wait to try them out. Would get back if I have further problems.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

see creepy basement vid


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## Snowyy (Jan 17, 2020)

wrathfuldeity said:


> see creepy basement vid


wat is dat?


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

Snowyy said:


> wat is dat?


A creepy guy standing half naked on a snowboard while wiggling his butt. Very informative...


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

I would worry less about carving and more about proper stance and proper turning technique. Carving is an advanced technique, and I think you may do yourself a disservice jumping right into it. Learn how to ride around comfortably, steer your board with confidence, and don't worry about being Ryan Knapton for at least a few more days.


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## Snowyy (Jan 17, 2020)

WigMar said:


> I would worry less about carving and more about proper stance and proper turning technique. Carving is an advanced technique, and I think you may do yourself a disservice jumping right into it. Learn how to ride around comfortably, steer your board with confidence, and don't worry about being Ryan Knapton for at least a few more days.


Lol, Ryan is awesome. yeah, you are right, but at least I wanna learn how to ride on edges. I feel like always "flat basing" is not that cool.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Snowyy said:


> Hi, I just learned how to do basic turns: I start from heelside traverse (not carving), then slightly twist the board by pressing down the front toe and leave back foot where it was. When the board points downhill, I change to the toe edge and start a toeside traverse (still no carving).
> 
> The problem is when I try to increase my speed, I found myself doing sort of toe-side sideslip after changing edges instead of making a nice round turn. Do I need to add more body lean to better steer the board to its trajectory rather than sideslipping?
> 
> Also, I have a hard time learning how to carve. I fall every time I tried to lift my toe-edge to make the board stands solely on the heel edge. Do I need to increase the speed and how much speed is needed to avoid falling down?


Watch this:





Addresses the most common issues and how to improve them.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Here's a tip from another thread




> muzzyahoy said:
> 
> 
> A good trick I was taught years ago when you feel like you are bending at the waist too much is to ride holding your belt buckle, or what would be your belt buckle, with both hands. This is near-on impossible to do if you are bending at the waist, and as you build up more speed or feel like you are losing control, forces you to bend your knees and lower your center of gravity to maintain edge control and in turn your balance and speed. I normally will do this drill for at least half of my first warm up run of the day to refocus where I want my riding stance to be for the rest of my day


Really great tip! Super efficient, stable and great form in the cereal box. Made it super simple to rail the board up on its edges No flying appendages while mach'n around. This past Saturday was doing it while bombing 50+mph, cruising, moguls and chop...it was actually kind of relaxing. It was probably the best form I evar had. Thanks!!!


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## Bob F (Feb 8, 2020)

Snowyy said:


> Hi, I just learned how to do basic turns: I start from heelside traverse (not carving), then slightly twist the board by pressing down the front toe and leave back foot where it was. When the board points downhill, I change to the toe edge and start a toeside traverse (still no carving).
> 
> The problem is when I try to increase my speed, I found myself doing sort of toe-side sideslip after changing edges instead of making a nice round turn. Do I need to add more body lean to better steer the board to its trajectory rather than sideslipping?
> 
> Also, I have a hard time learning how to carve. I fall every time I tried to lift my toe-edge to make the board stands solely on the heel edge. Do I need to increase the speed and how much speed is needed to avoid falling down?


When you twist the front of the board to release the front edge to start the turn, do you also twist the foot clockwise or counterclockwise in the direction of the turn? That will make the turn quicker and rounder. Follow that with the same motion for the rear foot, twist it when you edge it into the turn.


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## Bob F (Feb 8, 2020)

Bob F said:


> When you twist the front of the board to release the front edge to start the turn, do you also twist the foot clockwise or counterclockwise in the direction of the turn? That will make the turn quicker and rounder. Follow that with the same motion for the rear foot, twist it when you edge it into the turn.


As far as avoiding falling over on a carve, that requires practice till your muscles know to increase the edge to bring the board back under you, or decrease it to lean further to balance yourself. Just don't push the limits to where the edge will break loose if you increase the edge for balance. It is easiest to keep the carves to just a little turn at first. You can just ride straight and tip the board right and left on an easy slope, being careful not to let the board skid at all. Play with where your weight is back or forward as you turn if it starts to skid. For carving, you need to carefully shift your weight back on the board as you complete the turn, then shift forward to start the next turn. If the back of the board starts to break loose, shifting your weight slightly back, or increasing the back foot edging can stop the skidding.


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## Funks (Dec 28, 2015)

I know these Japanese guys do it slightly differently but when you get advanced enough - you'll have to ride dynamically (cross overs, and cross unders). Ryan Knapton says the same thing on his how to truly carve videos. Xavier De Le Rue hints of it as well.

The snowboard addiction video is basically the "zombie" method Knapton talks about and you'll run into a "progression" wall with it (as I've had).

If you haven't noticed, they ride slightly open, back knee bent quite a bit more than the front, torso angled forwards, keeping their upper body still down the fall line, while the lower body does the work. If you are unable to do this, then it may be a good idea to start to re-evaluate your progression plan.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Funks said:


> I know these Japanese guys do it slightly differently but when you get advanced enough - you'll have to ride dynamically (cross overs, and cross unders). Ryan Knapton says the same thing on his how to truly carve videos. Xavier De Le Rue hints of it as well.
> 
> The snowboard addiction video is basically the "zombie" method Knapton talks about and you'll run into a "progression" wall with it (as I've had).
> 
> If you haven't noticed, they ride slightly open, back knee bent quite a bit more than the front, torso angled forwards, keeping their upper body still down the fall line, while the lower body does the work. If you are unable to do this, then it may be a good idea to start to re-evaluate your progression plan.


Yea that's all a good plan. As you said, for when you get 'advanced enough'.

But this thread starts with:



Snowyy said:


> Hi, I just learned how to do basic turns: I start from heelside traverse (not carving), then slightly twist the board by pressing down the front toe and leave back foot where it was. When the board points downhill, I change to the toe edge and start a toeside traverse (still no carving).
> 
> The problem is when I try to increase my speed, I found myself doing sort of toe-side sideslip after changing edges instead of making a nice round turn. Do I need to add more body lean to better steer the board to its trajectory rather than sideslipping?
> 
> Also, I have a hard time learning how to carve. I fall every time I tried to lift my toe-edge to make the board stands solely on the heel edge. Do I need to increase the speed and how much speed is needed to avoid falling down?


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## Funks (Dec 28, 2015)

F1EA said:


> Yea that's all a good plan. As you said, for when you get 'advanced enough'.
> 
> But this thread starts with:





F1EA said:


> Yea that's all a good plan. As you said, for when you get 'advanced enough'.
> 
> But this thread starts with:


Hopefully he's progressed a bit, but my point is that he shouldn't spend too much time with the "corpse" or "zombie" method. I know some people talk about not doing the "Invisible GF" here but most advanced rider keep their arm and elbow like that - as long as the upper body is still and the lower body is doing the work - proper technique.


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