# how do i hit the big jumps? i really hurt my self today trying them..



## eschen515 (Aug 30, 2009)

so today out on the hill i was trying to hit some bigger jumps. i went off one and ended up going and did a super man type thing and landed on my belly and it really hurt then the next jump i tried i went off and flew up in the air and came down on my back really bad and now it hurts to move...what do i do..help!:dunno:


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## zk0ot (Nov 9, 2009)

land on your feet. 

start out with smaller jumps... dont actually jump off as if you were jumping on a tampoline. just ride fast enough so that the ground just drops from under you.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

zk0ot said:


> land on your feet.
> 
> start out with smaller jumps... dont actually jump off as if you were jumping on a tampoline. just ride fast enough so that the ground just drops from under you.


For sure. Start with what zk0ot says. Just get good speed and straighten out before you approach the ramp. Just ride over it. But start doing this work on a small & medium jump, otherwise you'll knuckle for sure. Get used to the way you ride off of it and the ground disappears from under you. When you get accustomed to that, then you can work on actually jumping/ollie-ing off the lip of the jump. But againyou should start on smaller jumps first. Get comfortable _jumping_ off the small ones and then move up to medium, and finally to large ones.


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## xxfinnellxx (Aug 30, 2009)

just get used to moderate sized jumps. then try landing further down the landing if you can. Just make those butterflies lift in your stomach off the smaller kickers, because it will be more realistic to the larger ones


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Google *smart style *and *ATML*. Put them together and you should rock. 

Plus the obligatory "take a freestyle lesson" if you need help connecting the dots.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

xxfinnellxx said:


> just get used to moderate sized jumps. then try landing further down the landing if you can. Just make those butterflies lift in your stomach off the smaller kickers, because it will be more realistic to the larger ones


yeah, i still get the occasional butterfly. It lasts until I hit the first jump of the day, and then I remember, "I've done this shit 100 times before" and I'musuallly good after that.


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## alecdude88 (Dec 13, 2009)

try straight airing jumps tell you can ollie at the lip

straight air is just like what it sounds go straight don't jump and don't forget to bring your legs up while your in the air or prepare for an awkward landing


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## SnowProRick (Jan 13, 2009)

alecdude88 said:


> try straight airing jumps tell you can ollie at the lip
> 
> straight air is just like what it sounds go straight don't jump and don't forget to bring your legs up while your in the air or prepare for an awkward landing


If you don't pop or ollie (even just a little bit), you are out of control and will land on your head/back/butt/etc... ALWAYS put yourself in the air.

To the OP, it sounds like you need to work on being smooth and in control on much smaller jumps first. Practice and time are what you need.

Getting good takes years.

--rick


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## SnowProRick (Jan 13, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> While I understand your point here, I actually discourage the actual Ollie off a jump for very new park riders. Instead I have the student pop off by rapidly up unweighting at the end of their gradual extension up the ramp. I have found that often, the Ollie becomes a distraction to the student maintaining a stable take off and can get them into a backwards rotation resulting in landing on their backs.
> 
> Definitely though, I agree for an more experienced rider, the Ollie at the lip gives better air and levels the board in flight, I just don`t tend to like using it for beginners who I am trying to just get stable in the air.


That's why I said pop or ollie. What I usually tell people is to do a 2 footed pop. Ollies are for getting onto or over something. But ollies do help people to bring their knees and board up in the air. We have a video on first jumps with no mention of an ollie.

--rick


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## SchultzLS2 (Jan 10, 2010)

I just started jumping not too long ago and it def adds a little difficulty to try and ollie on the lip instead of just jumping.

My best advice as a noob to jumping is to start on smaller jumps and perfect it before you move up. I didn't attempt a medium jump until I could go full speed, jump, and land 10/10 times on the smaller jumps.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

SnowProRick said:


> If you don't pop or ollie (even just a little bit), you are out of control and will land on your head/back/butt/etc... ALWAYS put yourself in the air.
> 
> To the OP, it sounds like you need to work on being smooth and in control on much smaller jumps first. Practice and time are what you need.
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting that! I totally agree with doing a pop at the lip of a jump. I am still working on my t park jumps and I find that I have much more style and stability if I pop lightly. By the way Rick, I have watched your Snow Professor Videos and they are great! I tried that "experiment with your knees" tut and I didn't know you could manipulate your board by bringing your knees together! :thumbsup:


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## Graphic Nature (Jan 2, 2010)

I hit a jump a couple years ago and it was too big....I came down wrond and ended up with a compound fracture on my left leg! Last run of the 1st day! shitty! The resort was nice enough to refund my entire season pass.

...Start small


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

One thing i havent read yet that i think needs to be added is to be smooth. No sudden movements. I feel that if you just pretend your riding through the air and straight air it you should be fine. But as many have said, start smaller.


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## binarypie (Nov 29, 2009)

Graphic Nature said:


> I hit a jump a couple years ago and it was too big....I came down wrond and ended up with a compound fracture on my left leg! Last run of the 1st day! shitty! The resort was nice enough to refund my entire season pass.
> 
> ...Start small


The end of the day is always a scary time since your body is tried even if you don't feel it. You just wont react in the same way.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I think it is a good idea to let you know why you landed on your belly/back. If you flew and went over your toe edge to land on your belly, this means you put too much weight on your toe edge off of the jump. Your weight should be squared over the board, but instead you leaned toeside.

Exactly the opposite for the back. You favored the heelside too much. You probably overcompensated after falling on your belly. When you start getting into spins, going off the lip on one of your edges is a good technique. However, for straight jumps, you should be popping off of the lip flat based. Well, at least while you are still learning.

Also, make sure not to lean forward or backwards taking off or landing. Square your shoulders over the board and have your knees slightly bent before take off and bring the board up to your body after take off. Before you land, lower your legs a little with your knees slightly bent to absorb the landing. If you are landing on an inclination, your tail should touch ground first. Basically, your upper body should remain static throughout the jump with only your legs bringing the board up to your body. It's the same concept as shocks on a car. The wheels bounce up and down while the body of the car remains static.


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## IanG224 (Jan 2, 2010)

Can anybody give me any tips on getting stable in the air? I'm starting to try moderate sized jumps, so i get enough speed to make the landing and then sort of just ride off of the lip, when i try to land i am never quite stable and usually fall on my ass how can i stick the landing?


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

Just riding off the lip will make you unstable in the air. You need to jump a little so the board leaves the snow in a controlled motion. When landing you have to see how and where you are going to land so you can put your board onto the snow in a controlled motion.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Leo said:


> I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I think it is a good idea to let you know why you landed on your belly/back. If you flew and went over your toe edge to land on your belly, this means you put too much weight on your toe edge off of the jump. Your weight should be squared over the board, but instead you leaned toeside.
> 
> Exactly the opposite for the back. You favored the heelside too much. You probably overcompensated after falling on your belly. When you start getting into spins, going off the lip on one of your edges is a good technique. However, for straight jumps, you should be popping off of the lip flat based. Well, at least while you are still learning.
> 
> Also, make sure not to lean forward or backwards taking off or landing. Square your shoulders over the board and have your knees slightly bent before take off and bring the board up to your body after take off. Before you land, lower your legs a little with your knees slightly bent to absorb the landing. If you are landing on an inclination, your tail should touch ground first. Basically, your upper body should remain static throughout the jump with only your legs bringing the board up to your body. It's the same concept as shocks on a car. The wheels bounce up and down while the body of the car remains static.


+1

I agree with this dude who says to find the source of your problem first rather than do this and that. I think that maybe you are not ready for jumping. For straight airs, you often need to ride straight and flat. 

Believe it or not, flat riding is usually hard for beginers. It means NO EDGING. You have to be able to balance yourself in motion (like a skateboard, which is much harder than snowboarding). You also have to be able to natually compensate for instabilities when the snow kicks your flat board arround side to side. Having an base edge bevel tune helps, which is something I always have at 3 degrees. Then it's like a "boat" in the snow sort of and will be easier for it to just go straight when flat. Detuning the tip and tail also helps prevent wobbling and unintentional hooking.

You also should land pretty much flat based or at least not land with a "skid turn". The board will likely slip out under you and make you fall. Landing is harder than launching off the lip directly (aka coasting) or hopping (aka poping) or one foot hopping (aka ollieing).

As for jumping before the lip...if the lip is not in good condition, it will control your launch. If you pop or ollie, YOU control your launch. Poping is easier than Ollying and if you want to practice this, don't do it off a 40 foot jump! Do it in the greens off the regular slope and work up. All this while, you will be practicing your landing as well. That's the part that can hurt!


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## Dano (Sep 16, 2009)

Take off is huge. Be centered over your board (not leaning forward or back), bend your knees a bit so you have good control and a low center of gravity, and have equal weight on both your legs. Also, don't ollie/nollie/pop or jump at the top of your feature. For the first little bit, just use the speed you have coming in to give you a little hang time and concentrate on stomping your landing. Coming into your jump, have slight pressure on the edge you are most comfortable with and try to land with pressure on this edge. This way you won't catch and ragdoll on landing. Also, land with knees bent like when you took off. This will absorb the shock and again, keep your center of gravity lower so you don't wash out. I ride Regular so for me it's toe edge for straight airs and heel edge on rotations. But stick to straight airs before you start trying 1's, 3's, or coming off handrails or boxes. Once you get that down try popping off rollers and natural features. 

Good luck and remember, landing on powder is nicer than landing on hard pack or ice. It's good practice to see what the dropzone looks like before hitting your jump.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Dano said:


> Take off is huge. Be centered over your board (not leaning forward or back), bend your knees a bit so you have good control and a low center of gravity, and have equal weight on both your legs. Also, don't ollie/nollie/pop or jump at the top of your feature. For the first little bit, just use the speed you have coming in to give you a little hang time and concentrate on stomping your landing. Coming into your jump, have slight pressure on the edge you are most comfortable with and try to land with pressure on this edge. This way you won't catch and ragdoll on landing. Also, land with knees bent like when you took off. This will absorb the shock and again, keep your center of gravity lower so you don't wash out. I ride Regular so for me it's toe edge for straight airs and heel edge on rotations. But stick to straight airs before you start trying 1's, 3's, or coming off handrails or boxes. Once you get that down try popping off rollers and natural features.
> 
> Good luck and remember, landing on powder is nicer than landing on hard pack or ice. It's good practice to see what the dropzone looks like before hitting your jump.


I don’t agree with the slight pressure on edge part. If he puts too much pressure on his toe edge, it will just start a toe-side turn and impart a slight spin. If he puts too light…well, what’s the point of that? He’ll just be less stable while trying to balance on a slight tip-toe. And his weight will be shifted toward the toe side rather than centered along the board axis (which is what everyone has been trying to say).

When you are doing a spin, I would agree that leaving and landing on edge is proper because you have to push off it a little to pop and help make a rotation and then land on it a bit to stop your rotation.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

IanG224 said:


> Can anybody give me any tips on getting stable in the air? I'm starting to try moderate sized jumps, so i get enough speed to make the landing and then sort of just ride off of the lip, when i try to land i am never quite stable and usually fall on my ass how can i stick the landing?


You can try jumping while entering a descent. Like right before you reach a dip, try jumping such that you will clear the bump/curve and land on the steep part. This way, you get used to landing on a downhill slope. Don't go too fast on a major dip, otherwise you will land too far out making you hit the ground really fast!

Most jumps are like a hill without the the peak part. If you launch off the lip at a particular speed such that you will land right after the knuckle...it's the same as if there was always invisible snow on the ground below your feet but you are just shy of touching it. So in a sense it's pscyological and if you can jump over a real hill, you should be able to jump over an invisible one too!


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## JohnBron65 (Jan 19, 2009)

If your having trouble keeping in control in the air try to do a grab or something. It helps to keep your arms from flailing around. Also dont try to push yourself near the end of the day. I tried that today and cased the biggest jump in the Whistler park and did a frontflip and landed on my head. Heres a good pic my friends dad got


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

JohnBron65 said:


> If your having trouble keeping in control in the air try to do a grab or something. It helps to keep your arms from flailing around. Also dont try to push yourself near the end of the day. I tried that today and cased the biggest jump in the Whistler park and did a frontflip and landed on my head. Heres a good pic my friends dad got


phht...next time get a video. It would be funnier. :laugh:


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## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

That's actually a good pic of what can happen when casing the knuckle, in fact you can kinda see the trail of snow from the spot you hit.

In terms of air stability, grabbing the board as mentioned above really helps, another is keeping your knees up (which obviously is where they'd be if you grabbed the board) I see alot of beginners going off jumps locking their legs from being scared. Try to keep a quiet upper body as well.


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## tottelias (Feb 1, 2010)

I agree with snowprorick.
If you just run out of the lip, it´s a big risk that you land on your back or ass.
Just pop a little, just so you make a pressure on the take off to straighten your air out.
If you just run out of the lip its also a risk you won´t make it to the landing. And it always best to learning the right way straight away, cause bad habits on snowboard can be hard to get rid off later once you learned one thing.


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## eschen515 (Aug 30, 2009)

hey every one thanks for all the advice. i cant wait to try again..ill proably avoid tht jump a few more days out on the slopes so i dont hurt my self again


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