# How can I get my gf to lean more forward



## BigmountainVMD (Oct 9, 2011)

First, if she is already a beginner, and only riding beginner trails, it may be hard to get her to do this since there is no "easier" trail to have her attempt it on.

I usually have people strap in on the flats, and say "put 50% of your weight on each foot... okay now put 75% on the back and 25% on the front... now put 75% on the front and 25% on the back." Then I take them on to the hill and I'll unstrap, have them point their board downhill and hold their board still. I go through the same process, because it feels way different to shift the weight forward on a hill. When you think you are 50/50, you are actually in the backseat. What FEELS like 75% on the front foot, is actually 50/50. This feeling is increased on the steeps. Even today, when I'm riding the steeps, I have to keep telling myself that even though I feel centered, I'm probably in the backseat. Once I shift I can usually hold an edge better.

As for your first question, yes, you have the right idea, however if you are carving at high speeds, especially on steeper trails, you will notice that if you have too much weight on your front foot, your tail will wash out a bit and your carve will turn into a skid. It is important to change your weight balance a bit as you go through the turn. So to initiate the turn, you have more weight on the front foot w/ your knees bent, as you get through the halfway point of the turn (the apex) you want to be more centered w/ your knees extended, and as you exit the turn, you want to have a little more weight on the back foot (knees bent again) to really dig that edge in. This keeps you carving while traversing instead of skidding. I'm not talking about being all the way in the back seat, but a little more weight in the back foot will help. If you keep all your weight forward, you will notice that as you complete your turns, you will skid a little bit as said previously.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

video tape her to show her that she is actually leaning back. Visual proof is worth more than your words.
also is she trying to get better or are you trying to make her better. I only ask cuz if she isn't into it as much as you she may not care to get better. 
as for exercises/advice I will let the more advanced chime in.


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## LuckyRVA (Jan 18, 2011)

mastershake said:


> First question am I on the right track?
> Second question, what are some good exercises can i make her do so that she naturally leans a little bit more forward when going down a hill. I truly feel this is the only thing that's keeping her from progressing further in her riding (and mine too actually)



Someone here posted a good trick a few years ago that has stuck in my head. Have her ride while holding her lead pant leg right above her knee. This will cause her to lean forward and put more weight on the front foot.

edit: it also has the added benefit of keeping your upper body quiet (ie not swinging arms, etc)


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

Get her a lesson. It wouldn't hurt to get one yourself, too.


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## Kauila (Jan 7, 2011)

Are you teaching her to snowboard? Is she asking you for advice about her riding?

You could always point out your "discovery" that has made a difference in improving your own riding and see if she applies it to her own situation, but a bf giving his gf unsolicited advice about her riding rarely ends well...

As david_z said, better for her to take lessons, or for the two of you to take a lesson together.


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## mastershake (Jan 9, 2012)

Kauila said:


> Are you teaching her to snowboard? Is she asking you for advice about her riding?
> 
> You could always point out your "discovery" that has made a difference in improving your own riding and see if she applies it to her own situation, but a bf giving his gf unsolicited advice about her riding rarely ends well...
> 
> As david_z said, better for her to take lessons, or for the two of you to take a lesson together.


thanks for all the responses. 

to make something clear. my gf REALLY wanted to learn, she asked me to teach her last year. this season she is having a lot of fun because she is falling less and hence enjoying riding a lot more.

she constantly asks me for advice on how to improve, every time we go she wants to get better. i just tell her "its all about practice" and to just keep riding and having fun and not to worry about it too much. on the other hand one obvious advice i can give her (since she asks) is to lean forward more, i don't force her, i remind her when we strap in and then we go riding. usually she ends up falling atleast once every few runs because the board flies out from under her and i tell her to just keep practicing leaning forward and she'll have more control of the board.

i was just simply wondering if there are some simple exercises one can do to get your body used to doing that, because we naturally tend to lean back when we go fast. that's all. i'm not forcing her to do anything she isn't comfortable doing and I spend the whole day on the greens with her if i have to, all of the riding slowly with her has helped me get better at my own riding, sometimes i ride the whole trail in switch to remind myself how she must be feeling just learning haha


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## Soggysnow (Sep 11, 2012)

I have been thinking ALOT lately as everyone progresses around me and I still ride slower.

I don't so much have a busy back hand but maybe I drop my back shoulder leaving my hand sometimes close to the ground (trying to bend knees, stay low).
I know I have my weight on front foot (can feel it) this would likely counter affect my balance, weight on front of board??

A little bumps, or fog and others seem to do ok, I seem to somehow always bail, usually in a turn, not if I ride flat.

I will add I am in the 4th season, intermediate rider so I can go relatively fast, just not as fast as others who zoom. I think I am doing something which is holding me back.


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## zeeden (Sep 29, 2008)

What helps me to lean forward is twisting my upper body so that I'm facing downhill. Picture a skier going down. 

This gives me better vision, control and speed.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

zeeden said:


> What helps me to lean forward is twisting my upper body so that I'm facing downhill. Picture a skier going down.
> 
> This gives me better vision, control and speed.


your not serious are you :huh:

if you are that is probably the worse advice you could put out there


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## ETM (Aug 11, 2009)

zeeden said:


> What helps me to lean forward is twisting my upper body so that I'm facing downhill. Picture a skier going down.
> 
> This gives me better vision, control and speed.


 spend much time heel side?


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## edlo (Jan 24, 2011)

*gaining the confidence*



LuckyRVA said:


> Someone here posted a good trick a few years ago that has stuck in my head. Have her ride while holding her lead pant leg right above her knee. This will cause her to lean forward and put more weight on the front foot.
> 
> edit: it also has the added benefit of keeping your upper body quiet (ie not swinging arms, etc)


+1

You and her are on the right track. My wife if very receptive, but not into the reading of forums, so I do the reading. The fact that you also understand that it is her fear that puts the weight on the rear foot is huge and it is not about technique but mental limitation and you have to address the confidence. 

This is how I taught my wife , some will disagree with my technique. She stared about 3 years ago and we only do about 10-15 days a year. 

Teach her to do one hard carve at a time on a steep blue. Draw a simile in the snow. The only way to do this is with proper balance. If you put too much weight on the back it become a skid. I had the luxury of doing this at an empty resort since we go from one side of the run to the the other side. You can do this on steeps since you are controlling your speed from the beginning. 

Aiming from the other side of the run is key in trying to prevent the board from skidding. 

Heel side - this is pretty much what I told her: You are going to end up of by that tree. Stand and aim the board straight down the mountain, you will gain speed, then start to sit in a controlled way, like if you forgot to check if the toilet seat is put down and you need to get back up. (Personally I don't understand why women don't alway check if it is down). In the process of sitting still aim at getting over there to that tree. By aiming for that tree, she will automatically keep weight on the downhill foot. Now to end the carve just gracefully sit down all the way and fall and admire the simile your drew in the snow. Using the curve to slow herself she will gain confidence. 

Toe side is a little harder to teach her but when I told her to initiate the turn from pointing the board straight down hill, it is the same subtle motion of a forward roll, you bend your knee waist, and drop shoulder your weight over your down hill foot. It is just the beginning motion, don't drop and attempt a roll. Just to the point where you fell weight on the ball of your down hill foot. All of this created an over exaggerated movement but it gets the job done. She pointed down hill, took an athletic stance bent over, dropped her left shoulder over her left knee , drove her left shin into the tongue of her boot , the weight went to the ball of her left foot , she held the position, made the board do a high speed carve and got the board to go back up the hill. She was so excited when she felt the g-force in the carve.

If you just sit without aiming for the other side of the run , you will just skid. If you aim for the other side of the run without point the board downhill first , you will hot have any speed to make the carve. It took me 20 minutes to type something that took an instructor 2 minutes to say. Maybe a joint lesson would be good.


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## zeeden (Sep 29, 2008)

ETM said:


> spend much time heel side?


OK my upper body is not totally facing downhill but I try as much as I can. Especially when I bomb he mountain. I carve pretty well both heel and toe side turns. 

Do you ever notice the those alpine snowboarders , they have their arms back and use their torso to turn and their upper body faces downhill.

Here's a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GchqL31i84&feature=youtube_gdata_player

But I guess this is more advance


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## Efilnikufesin (Oct 8, 2011)

zeeden said:


> OK my upper body is not totally facing downhill but I try as much as I can. Especially when I bomb he mountain. I carve pretty well both heel and toe side turns.
> 
> Do you ever notice the those alpine snowboarders , they have their arms back and use their torso to turn and their upper body faces downhill.
> 
> ...


They are also riding with an extreme forward stance, you most likely are not. If you are riding with a duck or nearly duck stance, those shoulders should be pretty parallel with the board, open shoulders are only ok with a forward stance. It's a bad habit.


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## edlo (Jan 24, 2011)

zeeden said:


> OK my upper body is not totally facing downhill but I try as much as I can. Especially when I bomb he mountain. I carve pretty well both heel and toe side turns.
> 
> Do you ever notice the those alpine snowboarders , they have their arms back and use their torso to turn and their upper body faces downhill.
> 
> ...


:thumbsup:I'm with you, but I don't recommend it for beginners, they will face plant. You'll see most people do it on a crowded narrow slow cat track. It is also harder to absorb the bumps when you twist in this way since your waist can't do any work. 

Alpine face downhill, but so do both of their feet, so their torso is actually facing the similar direction as their feet. 

Yes you technique will work and my wife calls me out for doing it while I tell her to do something else and you can carve hard but it is more advance. A beginners lower body will follow their upper body. When the upper torso faces straight down , they will twist their lower body and catch their toeside edge and face plant. Then they get into the habit of swinging their arms and rotating the board without using their edges to bleed off speed, then get into the habit of skidding to slow down.


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

How can I get my gf to lean more forward?

Push on the back of her head?:dunno::eusa_clap::yahoo::thumbsup:


TT


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