# Difficulty staying on toeside turns (calves really tired)



## hellside (Dec 28, 2008)

My calves felt the same way when I was first ride Mountain Run. The run will kind of force you on toe side if you are regular.

I can't help you with technique but I think you can make that run more enjoyable by not staying on the groom trails. Next time you go there, try some of the following side hits:


Ride uphill againt Headwall, KT. Make up-side-downn turns if you can.
There is a Y-junction after pass the High Camp chair. I guess you always take right. Try take left next time. 
If you stay on groomed, it is not steep but you can always ride towerd right side and get steeper non-groomed slope, you will eventually end up on the right side of Y. These are short and with flat run out.
You will come across a feature right under the lift where you will find some lip you can hop off to get some air if you keep staying left. There are quite a few like these.
Anyway, on your left is Broken Arrow. You can always ride some of it from Mountain Run and get back to Mountain Run.

I will just spin or ride switch down if I am tired


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## fayewolf (Jan 3, 2011)

Hahha, yes! Mountain run keeps me on my heel side because I ride goofy! But this is not squaw, I just rode in north star. I went onto the Vista lift and just go down from there all the way down through village run to the village.

The word KT scares the crap out of me and I do not want any air at this point yet!! I do like squaw a bit better than northstar, there are just way too many people in the groomed area of northstar, and the lift line... omg.


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Make sure your binding has your boot centered on the board. Try to have the boot toe and heel the same distance from the edges.

As you said try some forward lean.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Pushing your shins forward helps some when going toeside, but snowboarding boots aren't rigid like ski boots, so there will be some flex. If you just expect the equipment to give you the toeside edge, you'll probably always be flatter than you expect to. When I want a good edge on a turn I consciously give it some toe pressure too -- effectively 'standing on my toes' just a bit.

On the other hand, if you're doing this _too_ much, you could be burning out your calves from constantly pushing against your highbacks. You'll have to pay attention to exactly what you're doing when you do a toeside turn to determine where the issue is. You could just have weak calves and now you're paying for it.


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## hellside (Dec 28, 2008)

fayewolf said:


> Hahha, yes! Mountain run keeps me on my heel side because I ride goofy! But this is not squaw, I just rode in north star. I went onto the Vista lift and just go down from there all the way down through village run to the village.
> 
> The word KT scares the crap out of me and I do not want any air at this point yet!! I do like squaw a bit better than northstar, there are just way too many people in the groomed area of northstar, and the lift line... omg.


I made a mistake. I don't remember Vista being that long.


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## fayewolf (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm going to take a picture of my board with binding later... I think my binding is hanging a tad more on my heel side, could this be the problem? Yeah, basically i've never really do any workout that involves my calf muscle so much so I'm definately paying for it.


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

fayewolf said:


> I think my binding is hanging a tad more on my heel side, could this be the problem?


Possibly. Like I said above, make sure your boot is centered.


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## NickCap (Feb 21, 2011)

fayewolf said:


> With all the help here, I'm finally fairly comfortable linking my turns all the way down long a$$ green runs. Even with slightly steeper areas, I learned that by leaning on my front foot, initiating the toeside turn isn't that scary anymore, in fact it is ALOT less scary than compared weighing on the rear foot where it makes turning next to impossible.
> 
> So, I am not sure if this is user issue or my binding setup issue or my boots. I'm finding that holding the toe side edge is a bit difficult for me. I know I am suppose to rest my shin against the boots, but I felt like i can't really hold this position. When I do shallow turns, this is not a problem obviosuly. But when I try to do large S turns, I'm just scared that my toe edge won't hold and will catch the heel edge.
> Now,this could be that in the past, I wasn't very good at linking turns, so i might not be on my toeside all that much, but now i'm linking turns consistently, this problem is surfacing. My calves are also very sore today, never happened before.
> ...



half way down the mountain my calves get tired... but i deal with it or ride switch haha! youll get used to it bro or just break your boots in!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## hhaidar (Feb 1, 2011)

to the original poster,
Consider your "posture" when you're on your toe edge or making a toeside turn. Many beginners/intermediates have a "break" or bend at the waist on their toeside. This leads to having to tip the board more to keep from catching the heel edge. This can lead to....you guessed it, calf pain.
Practice standing "tall" on your snowboard. Keep your back straight, and your hips forward (towards the toe edge...not towards the nose!). Now squeeze your knees down towards your toes. This movement closes the ankle joint and puts pressure on the toe edge of your board.
Now the cool part. By having your body in good alignment with your hips forward, all of your body weight is over your toe edge...so its working for you! You wont need to tip the board as much, because you're getting a lot more pressure down on the edge.
Sorry for the long/techy explanation.
cliff notes. 1. check your posture. are you bending at waist? If yes, stand up taller and push hips forward towards toe edge. 2. use pressure rather than excessive tipping to turn the board toeside and to traverse on the toe edge. 3. more efficient=less sore.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Boots and bindings centered on the board, good posture (straight back and no bending at the waist) with thrusting/humping the pelvis...and bend your knees MOAR. You might ber doing tippy toes...thus burning your calves (ankles and calves); instead use your bigger muscles and joints of the knees and quads...just sink in...bend the knees and feel the shin press in to the ankle strap of your binding.

Also having a bit of speed so that you can lean in to toeside (centrifugal force).


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