# What do you think guys?



## virtu (Jan 22, 2016)

And remember that I came here to ask for help to ride straight????

I am almost there... at 57s on the video is the place that 2 times out of 5 I will catch my heel edge (today happened twice), and it always happens when I am not on an edge (on this case normally toes).

The good thing is that I am not hurting myself anymore when falling


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## vodkaboarder (Feb 9, 2013)

You need to straighten your back out and lower your hips.


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## muzzyahoy (Nov 19, 2016)

vodkaboarder said:


> You need to straighten your back out and lower your hips.


Here's a quik tip. Get your buddy to take video of you jumping just standing on the ground in plain clothes. then get him to take video of you trying to jump in this position that you spend most of your time riding in. The reason I say this is because it is really hard to jump in anything but a balanced position. I tell people the same thing when they ride too staright legged. You need to remain in a balanced position so that you can react. So when someone tells you that you need to straighten your back, that's what they actually mean. On your board, something you can try is little jumps continually while going down a gradually pitch, not something steep or you'll gain too much speed. Even try it on flat land. Part of the reason you may be bending so much is that you are trying to have toeside balance while being on your heels(if that makes sense). In essence you should only be on your heels when you are heelside turning (just think of how difficult it is to balance walking on your heels as opposed to your toes). 
Tell yourself this... ASA... Athletic Stance Always

Hope this helps


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Ur riding stinky...rotate/tilt your pelvis and sink in your knees....maybe widen your stance to get there. This will help you to straighten you back and to squat instead of bending at the waist. Squeeze your ass and tighten your abs. Ride like a porn star...but not the one that is bent over :hairy:


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## virtu (Jan 22, 2016)

Thanks guys, I need to correct this position, I had no idea that I was riding like that before watching the video.
Besides that, the turns seems ok, just need little improvements and practice.

And at least, no invisible girlfriend


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

Maybe turn up the forward lean a bit to see if it'll encourage more bendy knees. Sometimes your knees look locked out.


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## jae (Nov 27, 2015)

a couple of tips other people didn't point out:

wait for your friend before you go, especially if they're going to film you.

look forward and look less at your board. 

engage your edges more. less flat basing.


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## virtu (Jan 22, 2016)

Thanks Fielding.

My stance today was almost on the widest position, normally I was riding on widest, but today I decided to give a try just one settings shorter and it was good. Angles, +18 and -11 and worked fine, with no problem on balance.

Also guys check 1:58/59 on the video, what do you think about the line on the snow???


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## Khalil Tran (Feb 6, 2017)

:snowboard4:


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

You are riding stiff.
You body is locked in a fixed position. There is no hip movement when switching edges.
Also, the bindings are very close together for your height.


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

speedjason said:


> You are riding stiff.
> You body is locked in a fixed position. There is no hip movement when switching edges.
> Also, the bindings are very close together for your height.


Ya stiff/uncomfortable is what came to my mind. Just keep riding you are very close to breaking thru to carving. You look good though don't get discouraged from the constructive criticism you almost have it figured out. Good news is that looked like excellent snow to learn on, the snow here sucks right now, been too warm. 

Like others said try not to bend at waist so much. Sink into your stance. My wife rides very similar to you, we took a couples lesson a couple of weeks ago (I rode switch hehe) anyhow that is what the instructor told her, bent over too much. I hate to say it but watch Wrath's creepy video again. haha He explains the hips very well.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Uhmm... Sorry to be the stoke killer, but SLOW DOWN! You're the guy on the slope I'd be afraid of... fearlessly going straight but no clue how to do a quick controlled turn or even stop; you'd have no chance to avoid other ppl on the slope if they'd do a sudden unexpected turn or fall infront of you. 

First edge control, then go straight. That's the correct order of progression, not the other way around. Right now, you have zero edge control yet, you're not yet _riding_, you're just uncontrolled randomly heading downhill, and thus shouldn't waste thoughts about going straight. 

So use those great long wide groomers to develop a feel for your body and board,and learn to _use_ your body and edges to do turns where you _intend_ to do them and not sliding stiff legged somehow through them where ever the board happens to turn. 
Get those limbs loose. Shake your arms, hop, bend the knees, stay straight, bend, hop, rinse repeat, turn ur upper body fore and after and keep on riding in the same direction. That'll teach you to use your limbs independently.

Do exercise S turns with dynamic, point out a spot on the groomer where _you_ want to turn and achieve to turn exactly there. Then make them S turns tighter and quicker, you'll learn to use your knees - bend those knees, don't hunch over with the upper body; the tiniest bump will throw you off balance in this hunched stiff leg position.

This is not meant to sound mean... we all have been there, we all had to go through these learning steps. Get the basics _before_ you point it :dunno:


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

To follow up on Neni, if you can execute a good turn/carve at slow speed you'll nail it with more speed (for the most part).

You definitely have the sasquatch stance going. More knees, less hunch to keep over your board. I think widening the stance a bit may help with that naturally.


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

neni said:


> Uhmm... Sorry to be the stoke killer, but SLOW DOWN! You're the guy on the slope I'd be afraid of... fearlessly going straight but no clue how to do a quick controlled turn or even stop; you'd have no chance to avoid other ppl on the slope if they'd do a sudden unexpected turn or fall infront of you.
> 
> First edge control, then go straight. That's the correct order of progression, not the other way around. Right now, you have zero edge control yet, you're not yet _riding_, you're just uncontrolled randomly heading downhill, and thus shouldn't waste thoughts about going straight.
> 
> ...


He's got the classic gorilla pose that I watch out for when I'm on the lift. I can usually tell that they're about to eat shit within the next 50 meters or so when they get real hunched over.

Keep working on the advice here man. It'll come.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

sabatoa said:


> He's got the classic gorilla pose that I watch out for when I'm on the lift. I can usually tell that they're about to eat shit within the next 50 meters or so when they get real hunched over.
> 
> Keep working on the advice here man. It'll come.


Not long ago, I had that hunched posture when I first had to ride with a heavy backpack. Wasn't used to keep balance with that swining weight and intuitively - wrongly - tried to compensate by leaning fwd. Lol, I ate snow several times when a bump trew my out of balance :laugh: It's such an instable posture, one simply collapses fwd when hitting something unexpected. 

OP, imagine a rope is pulling your head upwards. Your head, hip and mid foot build a straight line over the center of the board. Now bend your knees and monitor what happens. If the butt gets out and upper body moves fwd, it's wrong. Keep the hip/pelvis centered over the board, oelvis rotated, you should feel your cheek muscles, head being pulled upwards by the imaginative rope. This needs a bit of core muscle... you can exercise that position at home to build up the muscles. If you feel your belly n lower back muscles are working, you're getting it.


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## virtu (Jan 22, 2016)

Hey... 

Thanks guys, I just uploaded another video, this one happened after the first one. It's not the best one recorded, because I was holding the camera with my hands =/






Below follow some Trace Snow tracking, normally I am not so fast like yesterday:
Trace
Trace
Trace
Trace

Now, I am going to do my laundry =P

Thanks guys and I don't mind to received a lot of constructive feedback, thanks.

Edit: just adjust my bindings to the maximum stance (I am used to ride in this setting) and the angles +18/-15, because it seems that I can do what neni said better (I feel the muscles of my butt compressing), so head, waist/hips, butt, all over the center of my stance and over the board.


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## Alonzo (Dec 30, 2015)

You look like you're having a good time, so you're already on the right track.

You should really focus on getting low. Your body should be mobile while you're riding, bend your knees, drop your hips, link your turns by pumping. Once you get a feel for it, get even lower and pump even harder. Zone in. Get even lower and run your hand along the snow on deep toeside carves. Smoke weed and listen to Sabbath. Win.


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## virtu (Jan 22, 2016)

Today I went snowboard again and this time follow the tips from all users here.

First, most of the times I was trying to fix my posture, not lowering my back, but bending the knees more, and I believe around 40% to 50% of the time I was snowboarding with my posture more closer to a better one compared to last Sunday.

Also, on a few moments, I felt loose and my hips and pelvis was playing with the board, it was a nice sensation, because I could felt that I was relaxed and changing edges smoothly going down. Another thing that demonstrate that I was riding on a better position was my muscles from my legs, my quads were burning after a couple of rides using the creepy basement video technique:



No invisible girlfriend. Body was inside the cereal box. Knees bent. Back straight. But I didn't rode all time like this  but it is a beginning to fix my posture.
Going up and down while traversing, on heel and toe edges.

Bellow a few videos with my training and enjoying the day, and this time I put the camera on my helmet and on a 45 degrees to the ground, where my intention was to show the nose of my board and my shadow (where you can see sometimes my back bent).


Practicing New Posture:





Switch + Spinning: today I decide to practice riding swift (I am regular) to improve my balance, fix my posture, and start learning how to control edges.

Part 01:





Part 02:





Trying to Jump: also, today was the day to move the base from the ground, just starting, but I tried a few 180 and felt like crazy 





Trace Session: Trace


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