# Tips for me to get better



## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

What I see is that back leg is always straight and stiff. You don't use your knees in your turns. 

Not once did you initiate a turn with the tip of your board. They are all skidded or mostly skidded turns. 
You can tell some of this as your board edge really is never off the ground. Hence all skidded turns and you bleeding off speed. Not being able to keep going faster. 

You really need to start your turns with that front foot. You can tell when your carving you will see that very thin hard groove behind you after your turns. 

Hope this was the type of info you were looking for.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

Feel like that is part of my issue. I am ok on my heels and toe side. I just feel odd when I bend my knees it almost feels un natural. Not sure how to get more on that front foot.. Do I point it out more? Do I pull it in? 

and thanks for the reply.


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## readimag (Aug 10, 2011)

You need to sit more like doing a squat it will help with the kicking of your foot. Also you seem to be sitting back on your board and that will lead to a loose feeling when you get to speed. Just have someone film you or watch you and they can tell and show you want you need to change. There is also nothing wrong with getting a lesson and telling them I just want to work on carving with my edges.

Edit: You can also try 18/15 that might help you also


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

Thanks again for the quick responses.. Some times i feel ok squating more and it shows I am much quicker and comfy on the mountain then the next run stiff and legs are just not bending. Maybe thought I was missing something...


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## knoxious (Feb 16, 2012)

I reckon take some angle off your back foot - it'll give you a more one directional stance (ie you won;t be able to ride switch so well), but as you're doing 1 directional riding it won't matter. What I feel is that it might help you bend your (back) knees a little more naturally.

To engage the front foot more just lean a bit forward and put some more weight into it. It'll feel funny at first - really daring! - but it's the way! It'll help keep your shoulder line parallel to the ground (which you want in all situations).


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

LMAO... Darling.. Ok.. going to back the rear foot off a bit.. Just making all these changes all the time its hard to know whats working and whats not working. It feels all like a fail.. LOL


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## knoxious (Feb 16, 2012)

I said "daring", darling! 

1 change at a time, do a couple of runs. Then next change... 

You didn't look bad, you just didn't look totally awesome ...darling x


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

What others have said covers the main points -- straight legs, not turning with the nose of the board, etc. Another common issue with noobs is not using much edge. Slyder mentioned it but it bears repeating. You may feel like you've got your board up on a 45 degree angle but the edge is actually maybe an inch off the snow. To correct this, find a spot on the hill with some space and start working on _really purposely_ getting up on your edges. Do some deep S-carves heel and toe. You'll get a feel for what real edging feels like and you'll be less likely to just slide back and forth.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Ur fairly darn stiff and static...shoulders rotated open and with the invisible girlfriend...loose the GF, grab your rear pant leg with trailing hand and hold it there. 

Try riding the whole run with your elbow/forearms resting on your knees and clasp your hands/fingers together, keep your back straight, shoulders closed/parallel with the board...from this deep squat position feel the pressure on the ball of your leading/front foot to turn toeside and feel the pressure on your little toe to turn heelside (swing your leading knee forward toward the nose). Keep your weight forward on the nose. You will be also very static...but in a crouched position and you will notice that it takes very little leading knee movement to link turns....and you will feel very stable and be flying low...but still keep your knees and ankles loose to just bump and absorb inperfections on the trail/run.

Next do the run standing up and dropping down in the leading knee...bend both knees but pay attention to the leading knee....squat...don't bend over at the waist...(so low that your leading/front hand is with in 4-6" from the snow and reaching for (about 4-6" away/outside/beyond the nose toeside contact point when you turn toeside...then stand up (to a neutral closed position with weight fore/aft at 50-50) followed by dropping down in the knees and squatting and reaching for (again reaching about 4-6" away/outside/beyond) the nose heelside contact point when you turn heelside...then stand up followed by again reaching for the toeside contact point....really exaggerate the up and down)...and repeat...btw pay attention to the front foot/hand/shoulder and only let the trailing/rear foot/shoulder/hand float or follow along....don't kick your rear foot out nor your shoulder/arm/hand should just hang over the center line. NOTE that ur squating and not bending over at the waist to touch the snow. Do 3 or 4 runs squatting/standing and trying to touch the snow toeside/heelside...then go back and try to do the run stiff stiff leg and static.


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Besides what's been suggested by others, I'd also focus a lot on improving your alignment because right now I think that will have the most effect on your turning.

Right now when you turn you'll notice a lot of times when your lower body is turning one way, but your upper body is swinging the opposite way or twisted up. What you want to aim for is your whole body working together when you turn.

So this means when you turn toeside, you want your head, shoulder, hip, knees and ankles all turning toeside (whereas right now you sometimes turn toeside while having your upper body twisted the opposite way). The same goes for heelside.

Work on initiating, then following through with your whole body. So for a toeside turn you'd be doing something like this:

1) Head looks toeside where you want to go
2) Shoulders and upper body turn that way
3) Hips follow shoulders/upper body
4) Knees follow hips
5) Ankles follow knees

So you can see if you're doing this your whole body is turning together instead of being split into two directions and swinging your upper body the opposite way to turn or leaving it behind as your lower body turns. This way you aren't fighting your own turn.

If you have trouble with getting your upper body to stay in line as you turn, try pointing where you want to turn. This forces you to make sure your upper body is turning in that direction as well instead of being left behind.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

Great input from everyone. Is there anything I can do to work on this motion at home as well? I have a vewdo balance board but doesn't do much for toe and heel balance.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

thedru13 said:


> Great input from everyone. Is there anything I can do to work on this motion at home as well? I have a vewdo balance board but doesn't do much for toe and heel balance.


one thing I find very useful is grab your hands by the front bottom of your jacket. this way it limits unnecessary upperbody movement and you drive your hip out more on your toe carve. it also makes you focus on your leg movements.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

You're snowboarding, try to look less like this guy:










And more like this guy:










In other words, bend those knees and get more athletic about it.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

speedjason said:


> one thing I find very useful is grab your hands by the front bottom of your jacket. this way it limits unnecessary upperbody movement and you drive your hip out more on your toe carve. it also makes you focus on your leg movements.


What do you mean by grab your hands? Like cup your hands together in front? 



poutanen said:


> You're snowboarding, try to look less like this guy:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

thedru13 said:


> What do you mean by grab your hands? Like cup your hands together in front?


cup your junk or you could hold your hands together behind your back like prince Charles...the point is to close your shoulders and quiet your upper body. You got to learn and isolate and quiet your upper body which forces your lower body to work the board. And it starts you to get your upper and lower body to work together. Once you really accomplish that, then you can bring your upper body back into the game for more aggressive riding....its a progression thing.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

ok that makes sense. I am going to try and get back up to the mountain this week for a few hours and work on this.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

thedru13 said:


> What do you mean by grab your hands? Like cup your hands together in front?
> 
> 
> 
> LOL


yea just grab the bottom of your jacket in the front. unless you are doing some counter rotating trying to get the board in the direction you want such as in tight spaces, you mostly dont need too much movement on your upper body. its all lower back down. I just start doing this trick after I saw the snowboard trainer was doing it. it really made me work on how to apply pressure on my feet. before my transition was pretty stiff and not smooth. now the board is like dancing. front of the board to initiate the turn and back of the board follows. applying torsional forces.
it also made me notice when I shift my weight back noticeably.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

So haven't been out yet to work on any of this but have been doing some carpet boarding. 

I did notice that i was not moving my hips at all. I started to square my hips with my shoulder over my front foot (if that makes sense) felt much more stable and natural not fighting my body to move. Now just need to do this slope side. shooting for some ride time this weekend.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

So hit the mountain this weekend. Only could get out for one day. Mountain was crazy crowded and terrain was super lumpy... So made my first set of adjustments. I widened my stance and pushed my front foot out to 25 and back foot at 9. Stance was at 23.5. I also put my highbacks straight with the board. 

Well I felt like i was bending more but also felt some stiffness in my back so must have just been hunching over and not squatting enough from what people were telling me. I have some more video its just not very good was snowing really hard and was foggy so the video didn't come out well at all. 

I have been watching every snowboarding video online I can find as well as strapping in on the carpet. 

I guess its just the indian and not the arrow in this case. I just cant seem to find the sweet spot where my knees want to bend and my spine stays straight. Very discouraging day.


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

thedru13 said:


> So hit the mountain this weekend. Only could get out for one day. Mountain was crazy crowded and terrain was super lumpy... So made my first set of adjustments. I widened my stance and pushed my front foot out to 25 and back foot at 9. Stance was at 23.5. I also put my highbacks straight with the board.
> 
> Well I felt like i was bending more but also felt some stiffness in my back so must have just been hunching over and not squatting enough from what people were telling me. I have some more video its just not very good was snowing really hard and was foggy so the video didn't come out well at all.
> 
> ...


I was going to suggest you widen your stance. 23" at 6'2" is very narrow. Even 23.5" may still be little narrow. That may have been one of the reasons you rode with a stiff leg. It's hard to bend (squat) very low with a narrow stance.

For reference I'm 5'10" and I ride 22.5" to 22".


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

I backed off a bit i was at 24.5 but felt a bit of pressure on the inside of my knees when I would stand up while strapped in. If i measure from my knee to my foot its about 19.5 inches.. Not sure that helps with anything. 



snowman55 said:


> I was going to suggest you widen your stance. 23" at 6'2" is very narrow. Even 23.5" may still be little narrow. That may have been one of the reasons you rode with a stiff leg. It's hard to bend (squat) very low with a narrow stance.
> 
> For reference I'm 5'10" and I ride 22.5" to 22".


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

thedru13 said:


> I backed off a bit i was at 24.5 but felt a bit of pressure on the inside of my knees when I would stand up while strapped in. If i measure from my knee to my foot its about 19.5 inches.. Not sure that helps with anything.


Knee to feet length is one of the ways some people suggest when it comes to stance width. But I think you'll always come up narrow using that method.

My measurements come out to be 18.25" and I ride at 22.5"-22".

What I found useful was to simulate a squat and find a position that you feel comfortable while someone measures the distance from middle of your two feet. That should be a good starting point. You can make adjustments from that point.


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## Magnum626 (Dec 31, 2009)

^Find a comfortable stance off the board. Once you've done that just set the width the same on the board. Don't forget you'll be bending at the knees and squatting. 

What's your inseam? Unless you're inseam is that short I expected you to be wider. It's definitely too wide though if you're having pain on the inside of your knees. That happens to me also with a stance too wide.

Why is your binding angle so high up front? Maybe try 18 and -15.

Check out videos on you tube and pay attention to the rider's body position, where they're head is facing during turns. 

Someone posted this in the video section. Watch how his body rises and lowers during his turns and how flexed his legs are.

high1 - YouTube


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## behi (Feb 27, 2013)

thedru13 said:


> I backed off a bit i was at 24.5 but felt a bit of pressure on the inside of my knees when I would stand up while strapped in.


That's normal with a wide stance. Bending your knees isn't optional. Adjusting the bindings with a fair amount of forward lean helps with that.

I'm 6'2" and mostly ride with a stance in the 25" - 27" range. Yes, with the 27", I have to bend my knees quite a bit. Straight legs don't work.


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## thedru13 (Jan 4, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. I pushed my front foot forward to force my hip to point forward. Trying to force proper riding. Thought was if I make my foot more forward will force my hip forward and then my shoulders. 

Good video I feel like I am doing some of that since the last trip out I was able to go through moguls with out falling and really was able to whip the board back and forth. Never caught an edge like i have in the past. 

My inseam is 32. Measurments are such.. 6'2 waist 32 inseam 32. weight is 203lbs.


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