# Need advise - new and can't figure it out!



## Guest (Feb 11, 2010)

Hello, I'm new here and I came to get some great advise! I've been reading through some threads and watching some you tube videos as well. But there just seems to be something I'm not entirely grasping. I'll see if I can explain it well enough for you. Keep in mind, I'm a fairly timid girl, but I'm attempting to gain some confidence! Sorry for the length!

This past weekend I spent a few days at Blue Mountain. This will be my 3rd winter attempting to snowboard, but each winter I only get out 2, maybe 3 times total. I *can* link together my turns if I really think about it. It usually looks something like this... I'm going down on my heel edge, see the trees getting closer and closer so I count 1... 2... 3... TURN! and I pretty much have to throw myself so that I get on my toe edge quickly enough to not catch snow with the back and wipe out. Once I'm on my toes, I'm *trying* to be conscious of keeping the heel edge up so that I don't catch snow. But I feel that if I put pressure on my toes, it feels like I'm tip toeing around and I get all wobble-y. I've tried sinking my weight down into my knees and heels while keeping that toe edge into the hill (if that makes sense), but even though I feel less wobble-y I will end up catching snow at the back and wiping out. 

There is the odd time that I can get going continuously maybe 5 or 6 turns without hesitating. Just when I think I'm doing awesome, I wipe out. 

Here are some pictures that were taken this week. It's clear I don't know what I'm doing. Is there anything that you can tell me, based on these pictures, of what I should focus on first and foremost? 

Can someone also explain weight distribution in your feet? Like, do you feel like you're standing on your toes or is the weight distributed throughout your foot but the angle of the board is determined by legs/hip?? 






























Thanks for any help you can give me. To clarify, I did take one lesson 3 years ago. But I found it frustrating.... I was taught by a high school student who told me to turn my hips and the board will follow... well, I'm not sure if I was doing it wrong, but it sure didn't work for me. So i'm reluctant to go back and get another lesson. 

Hope this makes sense!


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## dharmashred (Apr 16, 2009)

Oh, the dreaded heel to toe!!! I struggled with this very same thing for a while, but it does improve, I assure you. First off, you'll want to get your arms at your side, they are going to throw your balance off. Also, it looks like you are bending to far over your board with your butt out. Your weight should be evenly distributed on the board, and your shoulders should be parallel to the board at all times. Applying the pressure to your front foot will engage the turn. Stand on your board when your at home and just practice your stance. Bend those knees, look at your shoulders and slightly point front hip forward in the direction you would be traveling. Then you can practice your heel and toe balancing (on carpet clear of all obstacles of course.) When you want to go for that toe edge you'll want to sit down as much as possible, like you're taking a dump! You'll engage the turn with your ankle flexion, kind of like calve lifts. You'll want to rise on to the ball of your foot, not really your toes. Start from the ankles, lift up and get on the ball of your foot. I'll let others chime in for more technical explanations.

Keep it up, I *know* that shit is frustrating, but as you improve it will be so rewarding! As you progress more and more there will be new challenges and new rewards, this pain and frustration now is just your rite of passage! :thumbsup:


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## Irish2685 (Dec 27, 2009)

I'm new to this myself, so I can't offer tons of help, but one thing I notice in the first picture is that your shoulders are not parallel with the board. I did that at first too, and once I figured that out, it became much easier.


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## Guest (Feb 11, 2010)

I have an issue with this as well. The advice that really helped me was keeping some weight on my front foot. I was leaning back and just like you had to force the rear end of the board to go to tail with my back foot. I've found I had to find a rhythm and more or less pump ie bend the knees to make the transition smoothly and not forced. You'll get it.


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## Guest (Feb 11, 2010)

this is great, thanks everyone for the encouragement! It's definitely frustrating at first. My bf kept telling me how awesome I was doing and I eventually lost it on him after a particularly bad fall! haha Something along the lines of, although perhaps a bit more colourful, "Stop saying I'm doing great when clearly I'm sucking it up!" 

So, keep shoulders aligned with the board, don't stick my bum out, dont lean back, quit flapping my arms, and ignore all self preservation instincts by putting my weight on my FRONT foot?? Gotcha! 

Anything else??

I'll be going back out on Monday night to try this all out. In the mean time, I'll put on my board in the living room to figure a few things out. I'll try to get pictures too, maybe even a video. 

Thanks!


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## stillz (Jan 5, 2010)

From your explanation, it seems like you might be rushing it by changing edges with both feet at the same time. If that's correct, just slow the process down a little. Use your front foot to initiate the turn, then follow through with the rear foot. Just remember front, then back.

So when you're in a heelside traverse, gradually transfer the heelside pressure in your front foot to the toeside, twisting the board. The nose of your board should start to point downhill. At this point, the turn has been initiated and you can follow through with the rear foot by applying pressure to the toe edge. Maintain toeside pressure through your toeside traverse until you want to turn back to your heelside.

There are several other threads on this topic, and helpful video lessons in one of the stickied threads. I basically learned from Snowolf's and SnowProRick's videos.


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

yeah you can do it! And to be clear when "they" say put weight on your front foot what you really end up doing is compensating for your natural want to lean back and you end up with your weight even as it should be.... good luck!


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2010)

being timid leads to leaning back. leaning back is a no-no. its not a skate board, stay off the tail. you should really be driving off of your front foot. when you look down the slope and see the fall line human nature says lean back when you get uncomfortable. you got to break out of that. try really focusing on your arm and torso movements. your holding them up anyway... lol. try drawing out your turns leading with your arms and torso, then apply power with your hips, your board should follow.

skip the bunny hill. you need speed to really get up on edge. dont push beyond your limits provided, but get to the tip of your comfort zone. and stillz said everything else i would have. you got to give the board time to transition. its not an immediate thing. hold your edge, point to the fall line, engage the other edge... walla, that easy. lol. jk.

maybe find a reputable instructor?


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

VAhasnoWAVES is right. Your biggest problem is you're fighting the hill  When people say put your weight on your front foot, it doesn't mean the majority of it, just that you need a little more weight on your front foot than on your back. Ideally you want to be perpendicular with the angle of the hill. If you're straight up and down on anything more than a subtle decline, you're leaning back (you're making an obtuse rather than a 90 degree angle). Leaning down the hill will give you more speed, and this is probably what you're scared of, hence why you're incorrectly leaning away from the decline. If you know how to slow yourself down or stop, then you shouldn't be afraid to be perpendicular with the angle of the hill, since you can always slow yourself down.

I really think you need an instructor. Just be sure to express your concerns before you get a lesson so you don't feel like you're being paired with a bad instructor.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> This is part of the problem. Any turn needs to progress at the appropriate rate and rushing it like this will lead to disaster because any abrupt moves on a board will cause the edge to break free in a turn and start an uncontrolled skid. The reason you feel like you are throwing you body around is because you have to as a result of not enough going on with your feet; we`ll get into that in a bit. Turns needs to be done a little more patiently, allowing twsit and tilt to control your turn rate, not pivot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



All I can say is... Wow. Thank you for that in depth explanation! I had viewed your videos and read the other sticky threads before posting, but I didn't find a concrete answer to some of my problems. In this one post alone, I'm pretty sure you cleared up all of my confusion! Now I just have to apply it on the hill. I will be printing this and bringing it with me to the hill!


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> I tend to agree with most of your post, but be kind of careful about giving this advice. You don`t always know what kind of terrain the person on the other end may be dealing with. Where I work, our bunny hill is as steep as many blue runs on the east coast and midwest.
> 
> Other than that word of caution, I don`t disagree in principle with what you have sadi...:thumbsup:


are you guys hiring? will work for room and board... lol. jk.

its all relative. different people have different mind sets. someone may bomb down a black their first run, while another person may be a bit more conservative. what works for one isnt going to work for all. but i find in general a slope helps. great pointers BTW.

and one thing that you hit on that i did when i first started was side slipping. i found it to be a great way to learn a bit of edge control and weight distribution. say start out side slipping heel side, then traverse a ways, the rotate a small turn and toe slip heel side. from here as you get comfortable with speed and edge work all you need it to draw out the turns more until you learn the feel of carving. if you can pull into a side slip, you can slow down and ultimately stop. i think that should be one of the first things learned.



sqshers said:


> All I can say is... Wow. Thank you for that in depth explanation! I had viewed your videos and read the other sticky threads before posting, but I didn't find a concrete answer to some of my problems. In this one post alone, I'm pretty sure you cleared up all of my confusion! Now I just have to apply it on the hill. I will be printing this and bringing it with me to the hill!


let us know how it goes.


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## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

*Be the banana!*



Snowolf said:


> You need to take a slight step back and do some toe side traversing and side slipping to gain some precise control of your board while it is on it`s toe edge. The resting of the shins on the tongues of the boots is good; keep that up. The wobbly feeling is a result of under developed calf muscles for toe side riding. This is why I am suggesting you do more toe side traversing to build up those muscles.


Look at the first and second picture. On both heelside and toeside your weight is over the heelside edge. This is a good thing for heelside, not so good for toeside. The wobble your getting is due to you pressing on your toes with your ankle while keeping your weight over the heelside. This is "confusing" the board. As your transitioning to your toeside edge, move your weight over it. This will mean that both your weight and your feet will be pressing on the same edge. 
To do this arch your back slightly to move your hips over your toeside edge. I like to think of getting my body into the shape of a banana with your hips being the middle of it. So be the banana on toeside!!!!
The exercises Snowolf recommends above are perfect for learning this position. 
Good luck!


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