# Groundtricks



## Guest (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi guys, I've been boarding for about one season and I'm starting to want to get into doing some groundtricks, as seen here: YouTube - SNOW BOARD 08-09 MOVIE TRUST6 MEDIA【master of ground 】

Are there any exercises or activities I can do before the season to get good at these? Or do I need to just get out there and try them?


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2008)

I was gonna make a new thread but I might as well add to his question because it's the same category.
I've seen a lot of people at the mountains doing these weird walks on flat ground with the two tips of the board, its like a *waddle walk* but pretty fast. Sometimes they do it if they strapped up and they're a little far from the slope, *how do you do these?*

And those guys in that video must have a really flexible board and really strong legs.


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## Snowjoe (Jul 3, 2007)

Ah the classic army man walk. Very useful when your stuck on the flats. Theres not alot to say about it, just run! Its kinda like a series of ollies alternating between your feet. Add in a little pivot and your away. Its mostly just a matter of practice.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2008)

Its all in the hips


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> Oh, board walking! The best way to figure out how to do this is to break it down into basically two maneuvers. Fist, when you are in the flats and stationary, start shifting your weight back and forth tip to tail. do this for a few minutes increasing the speed and trying to get one end of the board to lift off the snow as you shift in the opposite direction. Just like doing an Ollie, flex the leg you are shifting towards, then spring up off of it to rapidly shift the other direction. Work on your timing and develop a rhythm.
> 
> Now, once your kind of used to this movement, start rotating your shoulders and hips in time with this weight shift. The end of the board that become unweighted, is the side you want to "throw" your hips and shoulder forward to create some pivot. As you land and throw your weight the other way, you will rotate the opposite direction to cause that end of the board to move forward. Just keep repeating and try to stay with a rhythm to move forward.
> 
> A softer board makes this a little easier, but it is really about the weight shift. It just takes a lot of practice and coordination.


thx for explanation , i really wanted to do this .
everytime i tried i did a huge faceplant , funny for my friends, cold for me


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## Phenom (Dec 15, 2007)

Holy butters batman


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2008)

Do you have to have a freestyle board in order to do ground tricks and butters? Or will an average freeride/all-mountain be all right? I'm hoping I can learn how to butter this season, but I don't wanna have to buy a new board.


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## PaoloSmythe (Aug 19, 2007)

Hey sockhead.... tis a cool video you linked to. lots of fun. don't get psyched out tho, fast editing makes it look more impressive than it probably is, plus of course, they aren't gonna show you the many times they hooked and edge.

as with everything, people get props for stuff like this, due to the sheer mass of practice they must have invested in what they do.

and so you need to practice. for sure there is a skill in getting to the balancing point to sustain the tweak and there is a ratio of weight distribution and brute strength which combine with the flex of the board.

frankly, asking how to do this, or how to prepare for this, would be like asking to how to throw a ball to your mate. it all depends on your strength and the thing you are flinging.

you just gotta get out there and practice. and land on your elbows unless you like sprined wrists!


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## Perpetual3am (Nov 19, 2007)

Core Exercises. Having a strong core will influence your riding in so many positive ways and it will help with spinning. Not to mention that having a strong core will help in any other sports you may be doing.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2008)

sockhead said:


> Hi guys, I've been boarding for about one season and I'm starting to want to get into doing some groundtricks, as seen here: YouTube - SNOW BOARD 08-09 MOVIE TRUST6 MEDIA【master of ground 】
> 
> Are there any exercises or activities I can do before the season to get good at these? Or do I need to just get out there and try them?


I watch the first two minutes of that video once a day LOL. More ground vids!


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## sedition (Feb 8, 2007)

(1) Learn to ride switch. It will help when you are going back wards, land 180, pop off he nose, etc.

Start small.

(2) Learn 180's (ollie and nollie). Learn them frontside and backside. Learn them normal and switch.

(3) Learn nose and tail presses. normal and switch.

(4) Learn shifties. ollie and nollie. frontside and back side. normal and switch.

(5) Learn 360 tricks. Nollie. ollie. 180 to nose/trail drive. normal and switch. 

(6) start combining everything above in different ways and you'll be doing everything in that video. 

Yes, snowboarding is just that simple.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2008)

what do you mean with 180 to *nose/trail drive* ? 
Something like doing a 180 and land on nose/tail. Or is it doing a 180 and roll the last 180 out with nose/tail?


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## sedition (Feb 8, 2007)

tonysimoni said:


> what do you mean with 180 to *nose/trail drive* ?
> Something like doing a 180 and land on nose/tail. Or is it doing a 180 and roll the last 180 out with nose/tail?


Sorry. I always use skateboard terms and the dont always translate. My bad. What I mean is like when you basically pivot 180 (or less) on the nose or tail to complete a (larger) turn. These are essential to learn because almost no pulls perfect 360 when doing flatland butters; they sort of force the last 180 or 90 part of the turn. You want to be able to do this on the nose and tail without catching and edge.


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## Guest (Dec 6, 2008)

dekciw said:


> Do you have to have a freestyle board in order to do ground tricks and butters? Or will an average freeride/all-mountain be all right? I'm hoping I can learn how to butter this season, but I don't wanna have to buy a new board.


Be careful doing this on long soft boards. I cracked a brand new Burton 163cm powder board doing butters a few years back. If you learn to board walk and ride switch before you jump into butters you will get them down much quicker.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2008)

to start out find a run thats quite flat. just a nice easy run thats not steep so no matter how long you straight line it for you dont pick up too much speed. (notice all the runs with ground tricks in the vid were quite flat)
for a tail butter you will need to shift your weight from the center of your board over your back binding and push that knee out. dont try to pull up with your leading foot. you should find that your leading foot is weightless. play around with different body positions and see what works and what doesnt. and make sure you are keeping your base flat to avoid turning. if you do start turning you need to make sure your weight is centerd over your board and not on your toe or heelside edge
it will take a while to get used to the feeling and you might struggle to hold a butter for longer than a few seconds to start. soon you will be buttering entier runs, but that gets boring quite fast. once you have learnt a few ground tricks try to link them together, but always start out on easy terrain.
once you can butter you should be able to 5-0 (tail press) a box, and do that walk thing


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## Rocan (Dec 3, 2008)

i wonder how many boards these guys cracked doing butters XD

anyone think a 154 is going to crack because its to long?


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2008)

wouldnt it depend on the weight of the rider more than the length of the board? i thought longer boards were designed to support heavier riders, so shouldnt it not matter what sort of riding your doing as long as you are the right weight for your board?


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## Rocan (Dec 3, 2008)

finn said:


> wouldnt it depend on the weight of the rider more than the length of the board? i thought longer boards were designed to support heavier riders, so shouldnt it not matter what sort of riding your doing as long as you are the right weight for your board?


if you try and land a big trick on a board without much flex and you land wrong, you might snap it

if you have flex, the board will flex out of it. 

with a long board, landing awkwardly puts even more pressure on the tail/nose... its like trying to break a long stick vs a short stick


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## Guest (Dec 24, 2008)

good point, but you would think longer boards would be constructed differently to accommodate for that, wouldnt you? a 154 should be sweet though, i ride a 157 quite a lot and give it a decent beating too and it hasnt snapped yet


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## Guest (Dec 24, 2008)

im all was doing butters on my 156 Burton dominant and its holding up good.

im going to get a ride DH 157 some time in the next week or so i cant want to do some butters on that.


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