# Back knee collapsing in



## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

narrow your stance. how tall are you?


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

The remedy is make sure your pelvis is parallel with the board instead of tilting forward.
Also bend your front knee and keep your upper body inline with the board.
Honestly, it doesn't really matter as long as you can ride.
People get too carried away with proper stance yet all the pros have a bent back knees.


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## Fewdfreak (May 13, 2013)

Stay in line with the board and remember to hump and dump.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

speedjason said:


> The remedy is make sure your pelvis is parallel with the board instead of tilting forward.
> Also bend your front knee and keep your upper body inline with the board.
> Honestly, it doesn't really matter as long as you can ride.
> People get too carried away with proper stance yet all the pros have a bent back knees.


I agree with this. I couldn't see the picture before. Seems fine...

I guarantee my stance is sloppy, I have never really looked at it to try and fix it to make it look perfect, I feel fine though. When I am on choppy snow I ride heavy on my back leg with a loose knee, I am guessing it looks like your picture.


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## Allza (Jan 2, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I thought it was due to my hips/shoulders being slightly open. Will work on trying to keep them more inline with the board. Are there any other drills for staying parallel? I've tried holding my rear pocket with my back hand but still end up in the same position. Would evening up the stance help? Another picture of it here. I'm 6ft1.


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## PorkCereal (Dec 28, 2013)

Pulling your arms inside your knees would help square that up. Stop riding with the invisible girlfriend, she's a bitch


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## htfu (Mar 18, 2015)

maybe try going completely duck with the rear foot ... even a bit more?

i suffered from the same problem for a while, the one trick that an instructor tried with me worked quite well : imagine you have a huge beachball between your legs at all times.

this became part of my "scan" that i run through continuously when i ride :

- are my knees bent?
- are my knees pushed out to the tips of the board ... where's the beachball?
- is my back straight?
- is my core engaged?
- are my hands loosely by my sides/not flailing around?
- are my shoulders in line with the board?
- is my neck the only thing that is twisted to allow my head to face in the correct direction?


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## mosf88 (Mar 1, 2013)

htfu said:


> maybe try going completely duck with the rear foot ... even a bit more?
> 
> i suffered from the same problem for a while, the one trick that an instructor tried with me worked quite well : imagine you have a huge beachball between your legs at all times.
> 
> ...


Agreed....


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

I've been reading more and more about "proper form." I do the same thing as OP with my back knee. I typically set my rear binding with a flat or just a little bit off of flat (in either direction) depending on what board I'm riding and what conditions I'm riding in. I typically set my front with toes forward by about 21 degrees. Personally, I like the way the tilted-forward back knee feels and looks. I like being able to focus my center of gravity in a very narrow spot on the board by tilting in. Is this a terrible thing to do? I ask because I've been riding for more than a decade. I recognize that I may be wrong. I have never had any lessons or training. Can someone tell me why this form is (apparently) discouraged? I feel like a lot of pros used to ride like this maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I'm not sure if they still do or not because I don't watch snowboarding vids anymore.

While I'm at it, I also like to rotate my shoulders into the invisible girlfriend position sometimes --usually as I am coming out of a big turn. I guess this means that I like to rotate my waist. I don't do it all the time. But I do it sometimes and I like how it feels to get my shoulders well away from parallel with my board. Feel like I should add that I'm an old guy and I never ride in the park. I can handle hardpacked diamonds with decent lines and without skidding. 

Any insight y'all can provide would be much appreciated.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

I agree with SpeedJason & Argo. As long as your comfortable those angles should be fine. Have you tried +15 -15 not much of a change but have you tried it?
My only thoughts are look at your body. I know these 2 pics are a single snap shot in time but they both show technique errors. 

1st pic: it almost looks like your lifting your back heel with your knee bent like that. You seem to be gliding down a mellow indoor, not sure if your lining up to hit a box/rail like I said it's a snap shot with no reference other than what we see your form at that moment so it DOES NOT tell the whole story I understand that. Your shoulders are open, front hand pulling back back hand pulling forward your hips then rotate forward pulling your knee into that position. 

2nd pic: You have your hips shifted almost straight over the rear binding, riding in the back seat as you know. Your knee has no other option but to bend. Try it just standing up where ever you are now. It will do the same thing.
In this case and the reference of going over the roller. Is there a little fear or hesitation. Is the park your normal play ground. Looks like a killer park in the pic btw :happy:

I don't have any drills like the others, other than staying centered over your board. Everyones stance and width are different. You really need to take time to play with these settings give each an honest effort to see what works for you. 
Again if you can ride, are doing well, maybe some small adjustments in gear, or just more concentration on form. I wouldn't sweat this unless it is truly affecting your progression.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Hmmm... I do have a collapsed hind knee pretty often, actually almost always. It's a matter of how I at that very moment distribute my weight/pressure over the edge. If cruising (doing turns more by the hip) or when doing jumps, weight is centered, then the knees are parallel. But if I ride more with knees/shins for carving, riding fast, to ride very low to pick up speed, weight is shiftet to the front, i.e. pressure shifts to the inner part of the hind foot, the knee inevitably collapses.

Might be a relict from many years of fwd angles (still big tendency to turn upper body into riding direction) tho... not sure if it's disadvantage :dunno:


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