# Getting Better? Sucking Less?



## cargo2k (Feb 26, 2010)

CodeMonkey said:


> Cat Tracks with Dropoffs - Whenever I'm on a skinny-ish trail with a drop, I always tend to favor whichever edge keeps me away from the drop. I'm conscious of the fact that I'm being a chicken, but I can't seem to put down the other edge, without REALLY slowing down. Any suggestions?


sounds a bit vague to really help you are you trying to used skidded type turns (leaving a wide track ing the snow)?



CodeMonkey said:


> I think I'm finally bending my knees enough. When I do it right, my toe edge seems to use no calf muscle, I just lean into it. But, after long stretches of semi-flat, where I have to stay on one edge to do the traverse w/o slowing down / stalling, my front leg thigh is screaming. Do I just need to get over it and wait for the muscle to catch up, or is there a better way? Say, for example, I'm having trouble staying on the cat track, on a semi flat area, where if I go flat I'll have steering issues . . . I can only assume I'm doing something wrong here.


if one leg is getting tired quicker then the other i would bet that you are resting more weight on the one foot, look at how your legs are flexed, i bet the lead is more so then the rear. Unless the rear leg is just in better shape. also think about pushing your hips forward on a toe side traverse/carve hip movements counter knee movements to an extent.



CodeMonkey said:


> I've hit a couple of ramps with mixed success. . . . any advice on starting jumps? Should I be working on anything in particular? Sometimes I land them, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I can't get lined up right / get speed right.


Center of Balance - make sure you are landing on both feet evenly shoulders matching the pitch of the landing. try to keep the board pointed in the direction of travel with light pressure on the trailing edge if things rotate a bit.

Trajectory - your are going to fly the same direction you leave the ground at, practice alignment at take off and through the air.

Speed (Velocity) - stick to low risk jumps stay away from gaps till you start to figure it out. also count out the pace other people use to hit jumps, and watching similar sized people approach jumps should help give an idea.



CodeMonkey said:


> Moguls -- I can side slip them fine . . . but, whenever I do them "right", I end up going too fast, and having a hard time keeping up with the steering, then I'm sideways again . . . what's the best way to do them, without cheating and going sideways?


learn to absorb the bumps one leg at a time, think about your head traveling straight while the feet move up and down. once you get that in a traverse, then mix in a comfortable radius turn absorbing the bumps.


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

cargo2k said:


> sounds a bit vague to really help you are you trying to used skidded type turns (leaving a wide track ing the snow)?


I'm trying to leave a narrow track . . just skid enough to slow down. But, I get all paranoid, and end up going way more horizontal, and leave a huge skid -- still going straight down hill -- basically side slipping. 

When I try to leave a narrow track, just a little slip in either direction, on a narrow-ish cat track, I get paranoid, and start favoring only one edge. i.e. Heel edge (sometimes a LOT), straight down hill, heel edge, downhill. Instead of heel edge, downhill, toe edge, downhill.

I'm thinking I just need to "get over it"


Thanks for all your other answers -- I can't wait to try it out tonight.


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## cargo2k (Feb 26, 2010)

well, try practicing a few carved turns and stop. As you get more comfortable link a few more in there. Make sure you turn the board all the way across the down pitch of the track to help maintain a constant speed, even if you have to skid it at first then add more edging again as you get more comfortable.

imo symmetrical carved turns are not the end-all be-all of snowboarding.


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

cargo2k said:


> well, try practicing a few carved turns and stop. As you get more comfortable link a few more in there. Make sure you turn the board all the way across the down pitch of the track to help maintain a constant speed, even if you have to skid it at first then add more edging again as you get more comfortable.
> 
> imo symmetrical carved turns are not the end-all be-all of snowboarding.


That's just it -- my turns are normally fine. But, they get all messed up when it's a cat track with a drop off. I must just be getting all scared or something. I think I just need to find a pair, and suck it up


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

im not a pro . neither im really good . after 151 days which 80 something days were done last season . i think your body will get use to riding after a certain time and you bend the right amount to minimize your calf muscle . eventually you're just gonna use your body weight to ride and maybe 10% or less legs .

jumps . i ate it a few times hard and finally hitting it over & over . kinda got used to being in the air . try 5 to 10 feet jumps . right now i can hit about 30-40 feet . but just doing my 'safety' grab . and has start spinnin back1s on 15 feet ish jumps . 

i still feel i suck . but i guess all comes with time . just keep riding and work on switch whatever chance you get


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

jitpunkia said:


> im not a pro . neither im really good . after 151 days which 80 something days were done last season . i think your body will get use to riding after a certain time and you bend the right amount to minimize your calf muscle . eventually you're just gonna use your body weight to ride and maybe 10% or less legs .
> 
> jumps . i ate it a few times hard and finally hitting it over & over . kinda got used to being in the air . try 5 to 10 feet jumps . right now i can hit about 30-40 feet . but just doing my 'safety' grab . and has start spinnin back1s on 15 feet ish jumps .
> 
> i still feel i suck . but i guess all comes with time . just keep riding and work on switch whatever chance you get


Start with 5 to 10 feet . .hehe . . . I don't think you understand my suck-ta-tude. I'm busting on little 2-3' ramps. I think I'm being too stiff, not jumping on my own enough . . . I'm working on just jumping now, without a ramp, to try to get used to jumping . . . hope it helps.


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

i suck real bad too . dont worry about . if thats the case . i suggest just keep riding more and get more comfortable on the board . cause once u ride a certain amount . you will feel the board becomes part of your body . and work on ollies . i still need to work on mine . and on jumps with lips aka kickers . you wanna bend your knees going off the lips . bend at the lips, suck your knees in the air, release an get ready for the landing


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

All right -- did much better tonight.

I was having a hard time trying to do ollies, so I moved over to the bunny slopes, and did much better. I was having trouble worrying about how to slow down -- it was much easier to practice on the relatively flat bunny slope. I spent about 1/3 of my time there, then moved back to the blues.

I then practiced a bit on some of the flat areas of the blues / greens. Every once in a while I'd do it right, and get about a foot of air. Most of the time, It wasn't as nice, and I only got about 3-6". But, they were jumps. It might have been credit-card air, but I'll take it.

I started to try butters and wheelies some, but I couldn't seem to make my board flex much. I have a Ride Crush 159w. It should be pretty flexy . . . So, it's gotta be operator error . . . 

Oh well . . . tomorrow night I'm going to buy a lesson . . . see what else I'm doing wrong .. . . thanks again for all the advice.


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## cargo2k (Feb 26, 2010)

olies are more about timing and lift then force, with a reverse camber board you are going to have to do a little more work to get that tail to load up for a nice poppy olie.

manules/wheelies are all about getting your hips out past the binder to lever the board up, then add in the rotation to get some buttery goodness.

both involve the same foot to foot type motion as absorbing while riding the bumps, just minor redirection of your mass.


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

Did much better with lessons . . . I was just plain attempting butters wrong . . . I can't say I got much buttery goodness, but, I did complete several butters w/o busting.

I still suck at ollies -- need lots of practice.

BUT - I did start hitting jumps much better, and got much more comfortable with hitting them a lot faster than I was . . . all good.

Now if I can only start bending my knees!


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## boardaddict (Mar 4, 2009)

How long, how many times, have you been boarding code? To be honest I think you are trying to do too much too soon. You're trying to learn butters, ollies, jumps, moguls all when you can't even properly carve and link turns. Snowboarding is like any other sport. You start with the basics and then put your attention to a couple of things you'd like to focus on. Once you get good at those you can put more focus on other things and so on.


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

i kinda agree . maybe you are trying to do a lot too soon . or in other ways . i suck . but i spent a season or two of total of maybe 38 days just carving and trying to get good at it . and still i wasnt even trying anything too big . but last season i lived up in the mountains for 6months in mammoth . had a good near a 100 days of riding . early in the season i could only hit 5foot jumps and by mid season i was hitting 40 foot jumps . and after all that this season iv only started to learn how to spin back1s on 15-25foot jumps and just grabs on 30-40footers . still stay away from rails, but every other jibs iv been hitting and learnin how to spin on em ..

bottomline . i think it takes a while .. if not .. i just suck


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

I don't think the issue is me moving too fast. I've been boarding since about 2001. But, I live in the south, so, I only get to go 2-3 days a year or so . . . with a week thrown in every once in a while. So, I'm a very "intermediate" boarder.

But, I'm not trying anything very hard. When I say jump, I mean getting about 12-24 INCHES, not feet, of air. I'm just adding in more fun stuff to do, while I'm going down the hill. And, I'm LOVING it! 

So, too early, too late . . really doesn't matter . . . I'm enjoying the crap out of it!

Alas, I think I'm done for the season. I've been abusing my work trips, and boarding at night . . but . . next week is the last week the Brighton is offering night boarding, and I likely won't be back in Utah till the end of April


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## cargo2k (Feb 26, 2010)

from what dude is talking about he is working on fore aft movement, minor direction difrences. Same skill diffrent aplications, small ish scale. it may take some time but he can do it. only suggestion is that he gets manules locked down before working on butters, no need to add a second move in yet.


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

how i learned my butters . tailpress, then learn switch tailpress, then nosepress . once those 3 is down . ride switch .. do a switch tailpress get into nosepress by turnin .. butters


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## PaulH (Jan 20, 2010)

I had issues with cat tracks for a long time as well. I found that I was sideslipping more than turning because I didn't have enough room to bleed off speed in the narrow cat tracks. Since my turns were so wide, I also had the fear of the drop off if I didn't turn to the other edge fast enough. I believe this really just comes with learning to link turns at a faster rate and even a bit of being able to ride the board flat when needed. To practice, I suggest going down a very easy run, listen to some music and try to learn to link your turns in tune with the music. That helped me tremendously. Once you have the rhythm of linking your turns at a decent rate, then try it on the cat walk.


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

jitpunkia said:


> how i learned my butters . tailpress, then learn switch tailpress, then nosepress . once those 3 is down . ride switch .. do a switch tailpress get into nosepress by turnin .. butters


I think you're dead on . . . I suck bad at all forms of picking up a foot . . . and it's also why my ollies suck so much. That's definitely where I need work.


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## CodeMonkey (Feb 25, 2010)

PaulH said:


> I had issues with cat tracks for a long time as well. I found that I was sideslipping more than turning because I didn't have enough room to bleed off speed in the narrow cat tracks. Since my turns were so wide, I also had the fear of the drop off if I didn't turn to the other edge fast enough. I believe this really just comes with learning to link turns at a faster rate and even a bit of being able to ride the board flat when needed. To practice, I suggest going down a very easy run, listen to some music and try to learn to link your turns in tune with the music. That helped me tremendously. Once you have the rhythm of linking your turns at a decent rate, then try it on the cat walk.


That sounds like me too . . . the particular cat track I was on is a little too fast for just flat . . so, I go from flat to tons-o-edge (side slipping), back to flat . . always the same edge -- the one away from the drop. The thing that sucks is that I can link turns fast enough to do it . . the drop just freaks me off, and I end up sticking to one edge. It's more mental than anything else. I just need to grow a pair, and stop whining about it.


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

CodeMonkey said:


> I think you're dead on . . . I suck bad at all forms of picking up a foot . . . and it's also why my ollies suck so much. That's definitely where I need work.


i ride a skate banana .. reverse camber . if you havent . try it . it will change your life .. literally


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2010)

CodeMonkey said:


> I think you're dead on . . . I suck bad at all forms of picking up a foot . . . and it's also why my ollies suck so much. That's definitely where I need work.


I am also having this same problem as the OP. I can't seem to pick up my front foot when trying ollies / manuals. I ride regular, and it seems like whenever i attempt to pick up my front foot, my back foot naturally tries to stand on the toe edge (i don't think it's supposed to be like this, correct? From my understanding the back foot should be flat on the ground). I also feel like my back foot don't have a lot of strength in holding the weight of my body when trying to pick up my front foot (I can feel my quads burning up when doing this). I am about 6 feet tall, 160 pounds.


should i work on my balance , or leg strength more? i have seen others crank their front foot up with ease but i just can't seem to do it... i tried with both narrow and wide stance and also angles (tried 15,-15 and also 9,-9). I ride a k2 WWW weapon rocker, which should be a super soft board.

any tips is appreciated...and sorry to the OP for thread jacking


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## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

These videos by Snowolf are what helped me a ton to get over the issues you are having.

Jumps
YouTube - Introduction to Jumps

cat tracks
YouTube - Riding On Cat Tracks

Lots of other goodness on his channel check it out.


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