# what is the trick to hitting a rail/box?



## bakesale (Nov 28, 2008)

wow that really sucks for your friend, tell him to get a damn brain bucket.

As for rails and boxes.

Practice your ollie to get onto the box cleanly. An ollie is not where you just jump and flail your arms, you need to have control and be centered over the board. Lean back slightly on your back foot and raise your front foot, bend your knees to wind up, push down on your back foot, raise your front foot up and you should feel a pop, suck your knees up and make sure they are even. This will help you to balance better once you are on the feature. Land with both feet even on the feature.

When you approach the feature do a run through first without hitting it so you know how it feels to ride up to the rail. Look at the feature, make sure its not in rough shape. While doing the run through get a feel for the speed of the hill. You will want to ride faster for bigger features or features with smaller hips that will get you on the rail. But start off slow, do a speed check on the approach and make sure your board is flat with the snow on the approach. Ollie on the hip before the rail, make sure you suck your legs up.

The rest is about holding your balance, keeping centered over the board and making sure the board is not going to slip off the rail or box. Lean slightly forward, don't lean back otherwise you will shift your balance back and slip out or even fall. 

Make sure your knees and slightly bent while riding off the feature, this is important if its high up. It will help absorb shock and help you ride away clean.

Learn on a small park box, one or two feet tall thats about 8' long. Rails are harder to learn on because its harder to keep balance on a narrow rail.


----------



## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

boxes are honestly 10 times easier then the look if you ride on them..if you can ride on snow in a straight line you can ride on a box


----------



## Guest (Dec 28, 2008)

jmacphee9 said:


> boxes are honestly 10 times easier then the look if you ride on them..if you can ride on snow in a straight line you can ride on a box


Boxes are alot easier then they look, but if its gotta plastic top like most its getting used to the change of speed from snow to plastic which is real similar to ice in many ways. Like most people say just start slow and get the feel for the box/rail before going faster and bigger.


----------



## Guest (Dec 28, 2008)

the trick is balls, 

watch someone else hit it, chk their speed
duplicate
make sure your going straight and not at an angle 
and finally just fuckin do it, if your too scared or all worried when you hit it your gonna fall, and even if you do fall, its not like no one else has, just make sure you try and jump off instead of trying to look cool and ride it out, just hop off if you feel it coming out from under you.


----------



## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

lonewolf99701 said:


> Boxes are alot easier then they look, but if its gotta plastic top like most its getting used to the change of speed from snow to plastic which is real similar to ice in many ways. Like most people say just start slow and get the feel for the box/rail before going faster and bigger.


well im used to riding on ice over here




SublimE said:


> the trick is balls,


definetly, especially rails


----------



## Guest (Dec 28, 2008)

Whether you think you can or cannot...you are probably right. Visulaize and grow a pair. I am not an accomplished jibber.. but it has worked for me in the past.

If you are going to be jibbing alot back off all of the forward lean on your bindings. This will help you ride a flat board. Edging on a rail is a recipe for a hard slam.

Wear your helmet and protective gear and believe you can do it through visualization and imagery.

Gangsta jibbers unite


----------



## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

The trick is....

1) Start with a low box
2) Learn 50-50's at a slow speed
3) Ride off the box. Don't try and jump off it.

Come back to us when you can do those.


----------



## Guest (Jan 6, 2009)

I think one of the biggest things to keep in mind when hitting any rail is never try to adjust yourself once your on the rail. if you feel yourself sliding off of it just let it happen. most accidents ive seen on rails have been because the person starts sliding off and they dig there edge in to try to get back on it. BAD IDEA!


----------



## muexm (Nov 17, 2009)

Extremo said:


> The trick is....
> 
> 1) Start with a low box
> 2) Learn 50-50's at a slow speed
> ...


And wear a helmet!!


----------



## jputtho2 (Jan 14, 2010)

Yeah my biggest "fear" I guess when hitting the boxes and tables is crackin my noggin as I don't have a helmet yet. However I haven't had any close calls with my head. The "C" box I FINALLY nailed last night a few times for the full distance. Tonight I'm going to try and backside it and incorperate a couple spins into it on the exit. I really need to invest in a butt pad, that's what see's the brunt of the spills. 

I am new to boarding this year but am a fast learner and will try most things at least once hah. What I have learned is the fear of the tirck is always greater than the difficulty of it. (In most beginner to intermediate boarders specifically) As I ride the lift up I always watch other guys run through to see their style and how they attack a jib or a jump etc. Basically I watch it done and then I try it and adjust my style accordingly. Riding boxes and rails is not hard, you just have to have a good awareness of your balance and like whats been said, don't try and adjust yourself after you are into it as you will end up on your back or ass or off the side etc etc. Just ride it out and most of the times you will end up on your feet.


----------



## Guest (Feb 8, 2010)

imagination is the key in my opinion. everytime before i take a hard rail/kicker/box i imagine the whole ride in my mind, the corners towards the start for the speed, then the ride or the jump on the box/rail/kicker and the landing.

this gives me more confidence before the trick, and helps me land it better.

hope you can use this.

grtz Danny


----------



## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

do not go too slow... usually don't want to go too insanely fast unless you're talkin wallride or up-rails.. but even on the smallest stuff you don't want to go too slow - it makes you think about and try to adjust your balance on the box/rail too much..

when approaching the rail/box i like to look right at the start of the rail/box as i am gauging the speed, by the time i am set up and riding onto the rail i like to look at the very end of the rail to see where i am going to be going... from here i usually like to see the landing on the snow ahead of me as i'm sliding the rail and ride away like a pimp

i will look down between my feet at the rail when i am sliding frontside (backwards) on stuff - but i also land BS 180's looking backwards up the hill... to each his own i guess...


----------



## Guest (Feb 8, 2010)

Milligan said:


> I think one of the biggest things to keep in mind when hitting any rail is never try to adjust yourself once your on the rail. if you feel yourself sliding off of it just let it happen. most accidents ive seen on rails have been because the person starts sliding off and they dig there edge in to try to get back on it. BAD IDEA!


Gotta agree wit this post. Im pretty new to jibbing myself but am getting there. I started out on a flat wide box just riding on to it pretty slow and riding it out, pretty much just dropping off at the end. This works well just to get a feel of the difference from going off snow onto a different surface. I have moved on to rails now, again just riding them out, and starting to get the 50/50 working now. I have to agree though, when you feel yourself losing it, just pop of the side. I was trying a much thinner rail last week for the first time and found myself catch up about half way down, instead of just popping off I tried to correct myself and subsequently landed straight on my coccyx....not pleasent. Now a week on and and still sore!!!!! 

I would say though, with the rails dont take it too slow, I just found doing this led to catching up and not riding cleanly over the rail. With some speed behind you, even if you feel it slipping away, you will have the momentum to be able to slip off the side instead of dropping like a stone.

Just give it a go. You are going to be a bit nervous at first, especially after your buddy's experiences, but go for it...you will probably find yourself progress pretty quick if you just go for it.

Ohhh....and get a lid. Pretty much essential when learning rails...will save you comatosing yourself like your pal.

Enjoy.....


----------



## SnowProRick (Jan 13, 2009)

Start small. Go fast (it's like riding a bike). If you are going to fall, go with it, don't fight it.

Video on 50-50ing a box.
Video on boardsliding a box.

--rick


----------

