# short radius turns



## SnowAngel (Oct 18, 2013)

I'm really struggling to do short radius turns on a board. I can do large wide turns with ease, but as soon as i try and do short ones, i find i'm always catching my edge (mainly my heel edge) and falling over. I don't know if this is just a lack in my confidence and commitment to do each turn, as i'm now really cautious as i hurt myself quite a bit when i do fall, OR if it's to do with my overall position on the board not being correct. I am also one of those riders that gets a little scared when i go too fast, so i do end up slowing myself down a little when attempting short radius turns... 
I've been having lessons on an indoor slope and have a fantastic instructor, but i find i get really frustrated with myself (esp as everyone else on the lesson can do it with ease) and that also tends to put me off more when trying the turns. 

Just wondering if you guys had any advice or tips  
Hope this post made sense!


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Are you catching your outside edge when turning? If so, you may not be going up on edge enough. One of the more common problems with beginners is thinking they're up at a huge angle on their board when they're really like a half-inch up on one side. It takes a real conscious effort to actually get a good edge going.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

Donutz said:


> It takes a real conscious effort to actually get a good edge going.


....and some speed.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

CassMT said:


> ....and some speed.


Yeah, well, that too. 

Like the OP, I don't really groove on high speed. I'm gradually desensitizing myself to it.

Some people just don't give a shit and they'll straight-line a vertical cliff their first day out. Other people (like me) have to work up to it.

Here's a video I did a year ago, while playing with my Contour camera. It's nothing special, but what I really noticed watching it afterwards is that I didn't go very much on edge. After that I started working on getting my edge way up, trying for eurocarves, etc.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

speed might not be such an issue if you lay off the mushrooms when you ride


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

It's hard to give any advise without a video or see it in person. But a common problem with most girls I have taught was the butt pushed out. It's important to keep your butt/hips in and over the board and your torso with good posture. If your butt is pushed out then your heel edge lift will really suffer. When you are transferring to your toe edge it's extremely important to keep your hips and butt in towards your toe edge. 

What binding do you use? If your bindings have slop and you are learning your edge control that will also make it more difficult.


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## BigmountainVMD (Oct 9, 2011)

This is a good video demonstrating large radius "crossover" turns and short radius "crossunder turns." Is this what you are talking about?

The key with the short radius cross-under turns is extension and flexion of your legs. You can't ride with a stiff body like you can with large radius carved cross over turns. Your legs are constantly pumping, puling the board back underneath you and then extending out to the side, all while letting the board carve the short line. 

It IS more difficult to do properly than crossover turns, so don't beat yourself up too much.


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Most likely issue is your alignment is off (part of your body isn't turning enough while the rest of turning - or your whole body isn't turning enough) and that's causing your edge not to lift up enough or causing you to be thrown off balance easily while trying to turn and catching an edge.

This is all pure guessing though, since honestly we really need video to figure this sort of thing out since there are a hundred things that could be going wrong that are causing you to fail on short radius turns.

If you can get video, I'm sure some of us can give you a better answer, but just from experience, alignment and lack of commitment is the cause of 99% of all beginner turning problems.


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## SnowAngel (Oct 18, 2013)

Thanks for your replies and videos, the video that BigmountainVMD posted is what i'm trying to learn at the moment. Watching that, i think what i'm having trouble with is pumping my legs back and forth and keeping my upper body in the middle. I've tried counting in my head to time each turn (eg 1,2 turn, 1,2 turn..) but i find i'm thinking about too much like how i'm turning, my body position etc that my brain just doesn't connect with my legs! haha

Donutz - yea it's mostly my outside edge that keeps catching. 

Mystery2many - thanks for that tip, i will try and make sure my bum isn't pushed out! as for bindings, i'm still using a rental board (saving up at the mo to buy my own stick!) but they are just your standard basic bindings. 

I will try and get a video of me doing the turns, but it's a bit hard as i go to the indoor slope on my own, so if i can drag someone along with me i'll get them to film me.


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## sb60 (Oct 5, 2010)

One thing I found about bending your knees is that guys are different (I'm not a guy) when they bend their knees. I ride with a friend who always had trouble bending her knees. I told her to think of it as dropping her knees and keeping them soft. That way the rest of her isn't bent at the waist. Falling and fear of falling again makes it harder. Just keep making the turns your comfortable doing until you feel more relaxed about trying the small ones. You'll get faster naturally.


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## RiderWise (Dec 4, 2013)

SnowAngel said:


> i find i'm always catching my edge (mainly my heel edge) and falling over.


Catching an edge is always due to your weight being too far downhill. It can feel quite natural to lean over and dip your shoulders to counter this which can work but is much less stable. Try keeping your hips forward more over the toe edge for a much stronger toe-side turn which will also help with your confidence. It will feel strange at first but start slow and build up from there. A good way to tell if you have your hips forward on your toes is by feeling your shins pressing into the front of your boots.

With your weight more stacked over the edges you should also find it a bit easier to manoeuvre the board faster for those short turns.


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