# Need help diagnosing bad habit when jumping in the Park



## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

How ya doing? Ok, I need some help. I've been hitting park jumps fine for a while now. Unfortunately, I must have picked up a bad habit recently, because things are now going wrong. Another bummer is that I have no video of myself, as I don't have any friends who snowboard (in my area).

For whatever reason, when I'm doing grabs or a basic air (no spins involved), I tend to spin a bit sideways in the air, causing an ass first landing with my board slightly uphill from my arse. So I hit the lip, pop, fly upward/forward, but rotate maybe 45 degrees counter clockwise (I'm goofy). Knees are bent and the side of my ass (right cheek) hits first. It's just a little shift, but it fucks me every time. This is particularly problematic with large jumps. I'd like to know what different things could cause this. 

I'm aware of all the 'steps' for jumping and such. As I said, I've hit these jumps fine a lot in the past. Right now I'm doing something wrong, but I'm unaware of it. So, I think I'm doing the right thing, but the results say otherwise. I can hit smaller jumps fine with proper technique, but for whatever reason, it's not translating to larger ones.

Suggestions? Advice? Looking for specific technique that could cause such movement. I'm essentially trying to diagnose the issue by myself. I plan to try different ideas out and see if I can work out the issue by trial and error.
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Full disclosure: I posted this on another forum as well.
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## cadencesdad (Nov 18, 2008)

How are you coming off the lip? toeside, heelside, flat based?


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## pencap75 (Dec 10, 2008)

Common beginner problem. The natural tendency when you go air born is to face your body fowards, which will cause you to turn in the air and land on your ass. Keep your shoulder parallel to the board. A simple grab will force you keep your shoulders properly aligned.


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## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

I'm attempting to come off flat based, and I was for a while. It 'feels' like I am now, but given the result, maybe not.


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## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

pencap75 said:


> Common beginner problem. The natural tendency when you go air born is to face your body fowards, which will cause you to turn in the air and land on your ass. Keep your shoulder parallel to the board. A simple grab will force you keep your shoulders properly aligned.


I'm comfortable enough to do a grab, I just thought I should sort out my basic air issue first. Though maybe not.

I will say that it does happen occasionally with a grab as well.

It's sort of become a mental issue now that is screwing with me on approach. It's hard to get comfortable.


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## cadencesdad (Nov 18, 2008)

pencap75 said:


> Common beginner problem. The natural tendency when you go air born is to face your body fowards, which will cause you to turn in the air and land on your ass. Keep your shoulder parallel to the board. A simple grab will force you keep your shoulders properly aligned.


I would agree but he said he rotates couterclockwise (goofy). If he were to do the natural reaction, he would be facing downhill with his board in
front of him which would be a clockwise rotation.

From the sounds of it, you are leaving the lip maybe with a bit of a toeside edge causing a slight spin???


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## ohsleeper (Oct 12, 2010)

i think most of your problem is mental. however some tips would be try toe edge pressure off the lip, not enough to turn the board, just to be on the balls of your feet and in an athletic stance. next grabs really help with staying balanced in the air. also gives your brain something to think about besides an arse first landing. and last i would drop down to a smaller jump to get the confidence up. a straight air is a straight air is a straight air. good form on a small jump will translate to bigger features.

good luck


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## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

ohsleeper said:


> i think most of your problem is mental.* however some tips would be try toe edge pressure off the lip, not enough to turn the board, just to be on the balls of your feet and in an athletic stance.* next grabs really help with staying balanced in the air. also gives your brain something to think about besides an arse first landing. and last i would drop down to a smaller jump to get the confidence up. a straight air is a straight air is a straight air. good form on a small jump will translate to bigger features.
> 
> good luck





cadencesdad said:


> I would agree but he said he rotates couterclockwise (goofy). If he were to do the natural reaction, he would be facing downhill with his board in
> front of him which would be a clockwise rotation.
> 
> *From the sounds of it, you are leaving the lip maybe with a bit of a toeside edge causing a slight spin*???



Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm a bit confused between the last two messages. The two statements in bold contradict each other, no? 

cadencesdad, you are correct about the goofy/counterclockwise thing. I'm kind of flying slightly 'backwards'.


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## cadencesdad (Nov 18, 2008)

bamfb2 said:


> Thanks for the replies guys.
> 
> I'm a bit confused between the last two messages. The two statements in bold contradict each other, no?
> 
> cadencesdad, you are correct about the goofy/counterclockwise thing. I'm kind of flying slightly 'backwards'.


Ya, I would say you may already be a bit to much toe-edge.I would start off by making sure you are coming off flat based. If you are confident you are coming off flat based already, perhaps a slight heelside may help counter your slight spin. Like mentioned earlier...Throw in a grab to help keep things straight. Also, some grabs will help initiate a spin. But you said it happens during straight airs too so.... Indy grab would probably work best in diagnosing the problem.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Hm. People really aren't listening are they? Not a confidence problem, he's been doing this for a while. Not a "rotating to face the jump", he's rotating backside, and a toe-edge launch will just make it worse. Sorry guys, I'm not trying to be a PITA, but that's what the electrons say.

Bamfb2, your problem is likely either going off the jump slightly toeside, or cranking your upper body as you launch, or hitting the lip with a bit of a lean. Seems to me that A or B would give you a clean rotation, not the board-up-the-hill-fell-on-my-ass landing. Without any video evidence, I'd bet you've started leaning slightly forward and heelside as you launch. Dunno why -- maybe the jump is no longer level and you're compensating, maybe because of your approach you're initiating a slight heelside turn as you hit the lip. But it _would_ cause the landing you describe. Fair warning, I'm basing this on physics, not experience. I'm no old pro by any means (old, yes. pro, no)


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## ohsleeper (Oct 12, 2010)

i very much doubt the problem is occurring on take off, i think its much more likely that hes turning himself in the air. i could be wrong but theres no way to tell without video. riding on your heeledge to straight air is not a good way to practice good form. flat based is also dumb in my opinion. keep you shoulders straight and weight on the balls of your feet.

and fear isnt why i suggested stepping down jump size. it gives you less time to screw up in the air. get comfortable. and move up.
:dunno:


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## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

*Cheers.*

Thanks for all your input guys.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

bamfb2 said:


> So I hit the lip, pop, fly upward/forward, but rotate maybe 45 degrees counter clockwise (I'm goofy). Knees are bent and the side of my ass (right cheek) hits first.


This confused me:
If you are goofy and your board is going counter-clockwise how are you hitting your rigth side 1st???
Your board is pointing left'ish and your body is pointing right'ish to allow you to hit your right cheek first???


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## eddiethebus (Mar 16, 2011)

as mentioned already its hard without a vid, but just go through a check list and correct anything that wrong.

Pick a drop in spot and drop into the kicker with no speed checks

Make sure your riding into the kicker with your body parrallel to the board (your standing sideways, not skiing )

Make sure your on a flat base and weight centred over the board, low centre of gravity...

Jobs a goodun


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## bamfb2 (Mar 16, 2011)

slyder said:


> This confused me:
> If you are goofy and your board is going counter-clockwise how are you hitting your rigth side 1st???
> Your board is pointing left'ish and your body is pointing right'ish to allow you to hit your right cheek first???



Aha. Nice catch. I'm landing more on my left cheek, or even dead center. Here's a better description.

My board is pointing leftish/back. So let's say the jump is a clock, with the downhill being 12 o'clock. my board is pointing at about 8 o'clock (so I guess more than 45 degrees).

My body is pretty much square with the board, but it rotates towards the downhill a bit. So I'm almost going head first, upside down into the landing. And my butt sticks out and hits on the left side (or center of the lower back) first.


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