# Tips on Carving



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Lose the hand held gopro, instead have some one follow and film or someone that is stationary and way downhill, and film as you approach them. From holding yer sticky thang, it forces you to be rotated open, it appears that you are rather static, not pumping and riding the back seat...lol.

Also have the person filming, follow you for an entire run...on the steeps, mellow and flats.


----------



## Elie Chahine (Feb 9, 2018)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Lose the hand held gopro, instead have some one follow and film or someone that is stationary and way downhill, and film as you approach them. From holding yer sticky thang, it forces you to be rotated open, it appears that you are rather static, not pumping and riding the back seat...lol.
> 
> Also have the person filming, follow you for an entire run...on the steeps, mellow and flats.


hello

i don’t really know that many people who ski/snowboard so i’m limited to this kind of footage


----------



## Aracan (Nov 24, 2017)

It's very hard to judge your riding from a video that's rotated 45 degrees and doesn't show your riding. You have to be pretty accomplished carver to carve as well as you can while holding a camera stick.


----------



## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

The good: for 2nd season, you seem to have good edge control. You're not sliding through curves but actually letting the edge grip. That's good. 

But you're still very passive. Look at your knees. They have the same angle all the time. You're passively following the curve of the boar/carve. That's ok at that stage, but the next stage will be to play with the radius, play with the bend of the board by increasing pressure at certain points of the carve, by lowering knee bent/vs rising and increasing tilt of board. 

Take out some speed and exercise to vary the radius. Exersise to be loose in knees, not only be bent low all the time. It's good that you do know to bend, but being bent in a static way isn't helping. Exersise increasing the tilt of the board by leaning into carves. That'll keep you busy some more seasons 

Have fun.

Btw: I'm in my 18th season and still learning how to really carve


----------



## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

I think you can use some forward lean on the highbacks.


----------



## bazman (Jan 15, 2017)

Hard to tell if it due to angle of slope or direction you are going, but your heel side turns are shorter than toe side

This is a common issue as heel side carves are harder, but you should aim to make them the same length.

To make it easier you can carve longer on both edges, so that each carve finishes across the fall line or even uphill if you need to scrub speed

Agree with other tips as well such as knees and trying to get the board on edge more.

Good luck! ?


----------



## Elie Chahine (Feb 9, 2018)

neni said:


> The good: for 2nd season, you seem to have good edge control. You're not sliding through curves but actually letting the edge grip. That's good.
> 
> But you're still very passive. Look at your knees. They have the same angle all the time. You're passively following the curve of the boar/carve. That's ok at that stage, but the next stage will be to play with the radius, play with the bend of the board by increasing pressure at certain points of the carve, by lowering knee bent/vs rising and increasing tilt of board.
> 
> ...


when i try to lean in i always find myself faceplating i don’t know why.. that’s the only way it has worked for me 


speedjason said:


> I think you can use some forward lean on the highbacks.


they are almost maxed



bazman said:


> Hard to tell if it due to angle of slope or direction you are going, but your heel side turns are shorter than toe side
> 
> This is a common issue as heel side carves are harder, but you should aim to make them the same length.
> 
> ...


you’re right i’m working on my heelside.. maybe next season!


----------



## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Agree with @neni, Here's a tut for ya. 





Hope it helps.


----------



## Kevington (Feb 8, 2018)

If you are faceplanting it probably because you are leaning over too much. This moves your centre of gravity (somewhere between your groin and your stomach) away from the edge and reduces grip. To get the edge to hold and really rail one its better to get as low as you can and tilt the board using your knees and ankles (as Neni explains) while keeping your torso more stable. This keeps your weight over the engaged edge more. The closer your knees are to your toe edge or your butt is to your heel edge the stronger the grip will be. Try to get your back knee to touch the snow on a toeside carve rather than your hand. Really drop it by tilting the board and not by leaning over and you will get a taste of the potential power of your sidecut and gravity. The real lifelong study is how to get your heelside turns to feel like that :nerd: 

To have the board way over on edge doesn't mean you need to be laying on the snow. The pretend 'Eurocarve' is popular at the moment but real power looks graceful and effortless. 

Some good tips from someone who knows how to turn:


----------



## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Kevington said:


> If you are faceplanting it probably because you are leaning over too much. This moves your centre of gravity (somewhere between your groin and your stomach) away from the edge and reduces grip. To get the edge to hold and really rail one its better to get as low as you can and tilt the board using your knees and ankles (as Neni explains) while keeping your torso more stable. This keeps your weight over the engaged edge more. The closer your knees are to your toe edge or your butt is to your heel edge the stronger the grip will be. Try to get your back knee to touch the snow on a toeside carve rather than your hand. Really drop it by tilting the board and not by leaning over and you will get a taste of the potential power of your sidecut and gravity. The real lifelong study is how to get your heelside turns to feel like that :nerd:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Awesome concise videos. Especially enjoyed the heelside video. Losing the trailing arm helped me immensely l last season. Now if I could only stop freaking out when I hit 50mph. Need to channel my inner Xavier.


----------



## taco tuesday (Jul 26, 2014)

Slow down a touch and turn across the fall line. Play around with your body positioning and pressure the board at different areas of the board and different points of the turn to see how things feel, what works and what doesn't. As far as faceplanting and having a harder time on heelside turns, any chance your bindings are set up so you have more toe overhang than heel? Just a thought.


----------



## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

Kevington said:


> If you are faceplanting it probably because you are leaning over too much. This moves your centre of gravity (somewhere between your groin and your stomach) away from the edge and reduces grip. To get the edge to hold and really rail one its better to get as low as you can and tilt the board using your knees and ankles (as Neni explains) while keeping your torso more stable. This keeps your weight over the engaged edge more. The closer your knees are to your toe edge or your butt is to your heel edge the stronger the grip will be. Try to get your back knee to touch the snow on a toeside carve rather than your hand. Really drop it by tilting the board and not by leaning over and you will get a taste of the potential power of your sidecut and gravity. The real lifelong study is how to get your heelside turns to feel like that :nerd:
> 
> To have the board way over on edge doesn't mean you need to be laying on the snow. The pretend 'Eurocarve' is popular at the moment but real power looks graceful and effortless.
> 
> ...


That guy doesn't turn for shit haha.

He goes straight fuckin' down everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING haha.

Oh sure, he knows how to turn.
He just chooses not to haha.


TT


----------



## Anais (Aug 14, 2016)

Elie Chahine said:


> when i try to lean in i always find myself faceplating i don’t know why.. that’s the only way it has worked for me


If you're face planting and you're not doing extreme carves that exhausted max tilt angle of the board, then it might mean you don't have enough angulation... 

2 movement to lead us towards the snow, inclination & angulation. 
Inclination, you can understand as your body like a stick, tilting the whole stick towards the direction, either toe/heel side. 
Angulation, again, similar to above, but now take all your joints into consideration. You flex them to create angles necessary to help the tilt, which improves balance, potential to absorb and manage pressure, in order to assist smooth transition.

You might have enough inclination, but not using angulation enough.

Or, you're just using it wrong, eg. bending your upper body towards the snow, while not utilising your lower body, it breaks the balance and make you fall.
Bend upper body first and most may create illusion that you're closer to the snow especially on toe edge, because that's what your eyes see and tell, but in fact, you lower body might still be quite tall and far out. Think more of bringing your knees down to touch the snow, and keep silent upper body to assist lower body.

Easier said than done, I know it full well, but still struggle really hard to get it right. lol~~ good luck and have fun!


----------



## Elie Chahine (Feb 9, 2018)

thanks guys!

i just rechecked my video and xaviers i believe my stance in somewhat similar .. or i may be mistaking ? i need to work more on my extensions though 

btw i ride a burton custom camber 151 i’m (145 lbs)



Kevington said:


> If you are faceplanting it probably because you are leaning over too much. This moves your centre of gravity (somewhere between your groin and your stomach) away from the edge and reduces grip. To get the edge to hold and really rail one its better to get as low as you can and tilt the board using your knees and ankles (as Neni explains) while keeping your torso more stable. This keeps your weight over the engaged edge more. The closer your knees are to your toe edge or your butt is to your heel edge the stronger the grip will be. Try to get your back knee to touch the snow on a toeside carve rather than your hand. Really drop it by tilting the board and not by leaning over and you will get a taste of the potential power of your sidecut and gravity. The real lifelong study is how to get your heelside turns to feel like that <img src="http://www.snowboardingforum.com/images/SnowboardingForum_2015/smilies/tango_face_glasses.png" border="0" alt="" title="Nerd" class="inlineimg" />
> 
> To have the board way over on edge doesn't mean you need to be laying on the snow. The pretend 'Eurocarve' is popular at the moment but real power looks graceful and effortless.
> 
> Some good tips from someone who knows how to turn:





taco tuesday said:


> Slow down a touch and turn across the fall line. Play around with your body positioning and pressure the board at different areas of the board and different points of the turn to see how things feel, what works and what doesn't. As far as faceplanting and having a harder time on heelside turns, any chance your bindings are set up so you have more toe overhang than heel? Just a thought.





Anais said:


> Elie Chahine said:
> 
> 
> > when i try to lean in i always find myself faceplating i don’t know why.. that’s the only way it has worked for me
> ...


----------

