# Looking to advance my Riding



## nodaysoff (Dec 4, 2008)

*Some Progress Made in looking to advance my Riding*

So sunday I had a pretty good day. I finally found a sweet spot for my stance setup (15,-6, 23.5"), conditions was mint, had the ipod cranked, and was goin in! Definitly felt like my riding has stepped up a level so far this season. But now I want more. I guess I can say I'm an advance beginner to intermediate rider. I can link turns, can carve on the less agressive runs (i notice that i make a more skidded turn on blacks, swinging the tail a lot more) still working on cleaning that up....gotta commit to leaning downhill more and charging.

I ride alone about 98% of the time. And what I'm struggling with is:

1. Riding onto park features. For some reason I'm having a hard time with this, I usually bail, guess I'm being a puss about it:laugh:. I've been doing alot of reading on similar post and watching a lot of videos aside from Wolfs intro to small jumps and boxes vids. I'm aware of ATML, and know that it would be wise to start small. 

So what i would like to know is..... what did it take mentally to start hitting kickers, 
boxes, rails, etc? How did everyone start riding Park? Did you learn on your own? Should i take a Park lesson? (Im thinking maybe just having someone there to kinda guide/push me thru would be helpful):dunno:.


2. Being a more agressivly freestylish while freeriding ie. Hittin natural jumps, buttering(which I think is more based on practice once I get the mechanics down).


```
http://www.snowboardingforum.com/snowboarding-general-chat/24142-butter-tips-please-my-1st-post.html
```
Thx to chilly's post and others response I now have some kind of insight on buttering. Any more tips available? Usually when i try to intiate rotation on a tailpress its either the board slips out from underneath or i dont get a full rotation. Am i leaning back to far? Should i be using my foward leg to pull/flex the board rather then leaning back?

All input is appreciated. Thx in advance, Sorry for the long post...lol


----------



## seant46 (Dec 8, 2009)

I learned park with friends. I don't think i would have become as good as i am if i didn't ride with them. You should try and find some friends to get into riding, and if not crank some intense music to get you pumped. If your worried about hitting jumps just start really small and work your way up in a couple years if you stick with it you will be amazed at how far you came.:thumbsup:

EDIT: and make sire you learn how to fall properly in the park. Knowing when you have to give up on a trick and protect your body and stuff like that. everything comes with time keep it up.


----------



## Guest (Feb 3, 2010)

i posted this elsewhere:


me in another thread here said:


> there are 4 stages to successfully mastering any snowboard feature: approach; take-off; maneuver; landing. they progress from each other so if you have a problem with your take off, the maneuver and the landing will suffer. problems with approach will generally affect all stages of the feature.
> 
> try deconstructing what you are doing. assuming we're talking straight air, for take off try finding a reasonable slope and practice riding on a flat board (i.e not on any edge an all). practice short hops from a flat board, landing back on a flat board. try rolling over features with no air at all and be aware of your approach. instead of speed checking (which will get you on an edge, albeit temporarily) start your approach further down the hill from a fixed point with no speed check, etc.
> 
> ...


alasdair


----------



## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

We have small hills here compared to a lot of you,so.

*Quetion:*
I see in some of the videos I see people hitting the feature, removing their board and walking back up to try it again. Is this ok to do in the parks or is this for video purposes only?​
Being able to walk back up and keep hitting the feature a few repeated times, rather than riding back up would help.
This is in the *beginner's* part of the park and always yielding the guys coming down the hill of course.

I don't want to be rude and I'm new so I don't know the rule on this, but I think this would be a great way to get some good repetitions.
-Slyder


----------



## seant46 (Dec 8, 2009)

They hike up because they don't want to have to wait for the long chair ride up if they are trying to get some tricks down on the feature.


----------



## nodaysoff (Dec 4, 2008)

Thanx for the response fellas, very imformative as usual:thumbsup:



seant46 said:


> I learned park with friends. I don't think i would have become as good as i am if i didn't ride with them. You should try and find some friends to get into riding, and if not crank some intense music to get you pumped. If your worried about hitting jumps just start really small and work your way up in a couple years if you stick with it you will be amazed at how far you came.:thumbsup:
> 
> EDIT: and make sire you learn how to fall properly in the park. Knowing when you have to give up on a trick and protect your body and stuff like that. everything comes with time keep it up.


This was actually my first time blasting tunes while riding and it definitly got me in the zone. Usually i have it low so i can hear oncoming riders, etc.





Snowolf said:


> Butters require dialing in your balance. It really is a combination of balancing on the tail or nose and pulling the other end of the board off the snow. When learning to butter, just expect to fall a lot; it is part of it.


lol Yeah the falling alot part i discovered over the weekend. I always made an attempt to butter when i got to the "catwalk" sections. Just couldnt get the spins going off the press.




> alasdairm i posted this elsewhere:
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by me in another thread here
> try deconstructing what you are doing. assuming we're talking straight air, for take off try finding a reasonable slope and practice riding on a flat board (i.e not on any edge an all). practice short hops from a flat board, landing back on a flat board. *try rolling over features with no air at all and be aware of your approach.* instead of speed checking (which will get you on an edge, albeit temporarily) start your approach further down the hill from a fixed point with no speed check, etc.


I always see riders waiting in like before approaching jumps, if i want to rollover aside of the actual lip must i wait too? i really dont wanna knock anyones focus by just riding aside of em.:dunno:

thx again


----------



## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

Unless you need the extra speed bypassing the waiting area is extremely rude. The rule is first on, first off. You can also bypass if you are trying to do a complete line but that can still be rude. You just have to hang out in the park and learn the correct behavior.

Getting into the right spot for a feature at a terrain park can be hard. Even for very epirienced riders. In the park you have to have your board, weight, and angle with in a very narrow target. There is alot of flat or near flat riding at speed and that is just something not practiced on the side of a hill.

Hiking the park can be alot of fun and really good for progression. It is hard to keep your head in to learning the trick if you have 10 or more minutes between hits. It is also painful waiting that long when you have the fustration of barely missing the trick looming in your head. When you're hiking always watch where you are to be sure you are out of the way of other features.


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

I just learned how to hit my first large rail last time out. The biggest stop sign was definitely mental. My friend brought me over to this rail here.

http://i47.tinypic.com/152zwo4.jpg

I'd probably learn on a level rail, but my friend wanted to get me on something intimidating, but do-able. It being a ride-on really helped.

He had never done it before ethier, but hes a lot better in park so he nailed it first try. On my first run, I looked down at my feet when I was on the rail and I slide off and nailed my shins on the rail leaving some pretty nasty bruises. 

If I was by myself, I prolly would of quit...but my bud kept bustin my ass to take for hits at it. After about 4 or 5 more tries, the mental factor was gone, and I was riding it out perfect everytime. I think we ended up taking ~20 laps on that rail.


----------



## Guest (Feb 4, 2010)

nodaysoff said:


> I always see riders waiting in like before approaching jumps, if i want to rollover aside of the actual lip must i wait too? i really dont wanna knock anyones focus by just riding aside of em.:dunno:


waiting your turn and calling your drop in are common courtesy in the park.

alasdair


----------



## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Presses are harder than they look. I think one of those soft boards or reverse camber might help. But ultimately I have found that balancing on that one foot while riding is not that easy considering you have to shift it around when spinning. Also, it makes the falls harder too because for me at least, it gets my leg tired fast so it’s not as easy to brace myself I guess. It may be just a matter of figuring out the perfect poses and training the legs.

If your resort has a baby park, definitely start there. I think it’s better to just learn to pop (2 foot jump) and land on a regular slope rather than a park feature first. You can also ollie (one foot jump - harder). And when you go over a “descent”, pop into it rather than just ride it. This helps you get better at landing on a steeper slope. The take-off is relatively easy compared to the landing. Unless you are trying to execute an aerial maneuver of some sort, you can basically just ride off the lip with maybe a small pop.


----------



## boardaddicktd (Dec 31, 2009)

Also just starting rails-the mental block is the biggest thing holding me back but i kno it'll go away if i stick with it. i gotta concentrate on looking down to the end of the rail. im constently looking down at my feet or right in front of the board. from what ive read, this is everyone's mistake when they start riding rail! bend the knees so you can abort fast if you start sliding off.


----------



## nodaysoff (Dec 4, 2008)

I want to start off by saying thanx to all who donated some food for thought to my progression on this thread and any other thread I posted from day 1. Gotta love this site.:thumbsup:

So this weekend we(eastern PA) were blessed with 17" of powder, so I thought... what better time to introduce my self to jumps then now. And since I wasnt able to get to my local resort this weekend I got home Sunday and built a small jump on my front lawn. The lip measured to be about 19" off the ground.

























After shavin, and packing it to my best ability:dunno: I gave it a go. And to my suprise, it wasnt that bad at all (mentally). I actually liked it.......alot, so I went at it repeatedly...like a fiend. The first few times I rode off of it and landed fine. Approach was good, i leaned into the jump, etc. When i started trying to jump off the lip....egh not so fine. Jumping off part just threw me off..:laugh:... at one point i landed on my back and felt like i got the wind knocked out of me, but still kept going. The snow was real soft, which is why i think my confidence was so high. 

So i have some more questions:
I tried jumping off center(lifting both feet) but it didnt feel right, it almost felt like i was jumping too early. Is it just practice?

If im looking to get more air, should i ollie off the lip or jump off with both feet? Does it matter? 

When spinning off the lip, it look like most riders are coming to a heelside/toeside stop just as they launch off. At this point is there a jump or ollie involved or are they just riding off with that rotation?

Overall, i had a blast on such a small feature. Im looking to build more, bigger jumps soon, since we're supppose to get 12-18" more within the next two days. Im a mess so ill probly get real crazy with this:laugh:, probly wont be any snow left on the ground when im done.

Working on another take off spot, its about 4 feet now










I think this will help me gain some more confidence along with technique for when i get to the resorts later this week and hit some real features.


----------



## Guest (Feb 9, 2010)

links don't work.


----------



## nodaysoff (Dec 4, 2008)

Bummer..i thought i did it right:dunno:...Try these
All in the same order


----------



## Guest (Feb 9, 2010)

nodaysoff said:


> Bummer..i thought i did it right:dunno:...Try these
> All in the same order


Those work :thumbsup:


----------



## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

nodaysoff said:


> Bummer..i thought i did it right:dunno:...Try these
> All in the same order


Can't really tell how big that kicker is but if it throws you too high, you should also make a descending landing so you don't land that hard.

Spinning:
Advanced Spinning Lesson Part 1
Advanced Spinning Lesson Part 2


----------



## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

nodaysoff said:


> I want to start off by saying thanx to all who donated some food for thought to my progression on this thread and any other thread I posted from day 1. Gotta love this site.:thumbsup:
> 
> So this weekend we(eastern PA) were blessed with 17" of powder, so I thought... what better time to introduce my self to jumps then now. And since I wasnt able to get to my local resort this weekend I got home Sunday and built a small jump on my front lawn. The lip measured to be about 19" off the ground.
> 
> ...


I always pop off both feet at the same time unless im getting on a rail or a box. In terms of spinning I'm not quite sure what you mean by stopping heelside or toeside. In general, popping (both feet) off your toeside edge is easier for backside spins, heel edge for frontside spins. The links posted for snowboard addictions tutorials are excellent.


----------



## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

BurtonX8 said:


> I always pop off both feet at the same time unless im getting on a rail or a box. In terms of spinning I'm not quite sure what you mean by stopping heelside or toeside. In general, popping (both feet) off your toeside edge is easier for backside spins, heel edge for frontside spins. The links posted for snowboard addictions tutorials are excellent.


By "stopping" he means a skid turn right before poping.
...as when you are carving up toward the lip, the end of your arc seems like a small skid rotation as you come off the snow.


----------

