# [Video] Critique my riding



## Guest (Dec 31, 2009)

After a few outings last season, this is my first season as a dedicated rider. I can usually link turns and maintain pretty good speed on groomed blues, but a lot of things have given me trouble in these early season conditions including: steep blacks, choppy snow, unpacked powder, bumpy terrain, crowds, ice, etc. Most of all though, I still can't really successfully carve. All of my turns end up skidded, and I can only really maintain speed by just mostly going straight and doing quick edge changes without doing full C-shaped turns. I definitely also do get scared at high speeds and end up slowing myself down or doing wide turns.

Here are two videos of me riding on blue groomers. One thing i noticed is that in I sometimes, especially going toeside, swing my back foot around and my upper body turns with it. What should I be doing instead? What else stands out as bad habits or obvious places for improvement?

YouTube - Jack Snowboarding 2009/12/29
YouTube - Jack Snowboarding 2009/12/29 Part 2

Setup:
6'0, 185lbs
'09 Never Summer Premier F1 161
Flow NXT-ATs
Vans Cirros boots


----------



## Sphere (Oct 20, 2009)

to me it does look like you are ruddering a bit. try to use that front foot more in initializing a turn, using the torsional flex to engage that sidecut. also, to me it looks like you are standing a bit too straight, you should have a more athletic stance, a little more bend in the knees and ankles. also take a look at some of Snowolf's instructional vids in the sticky at the top of this forum, i know they helped me a lot


----------



## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

You're skidding when you want to carve. Your form is off and you're way too stiff. Get that board angle up, roll your hips to keep it pointed in the right direction, and ride your edge.


----------



## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

i need help with this as well. but it looks like you are counter rotating your upper body after you turn, which causes you to torsionally flex the board to skid. try turning less and more gradually. think of driving a car. your turns are nice and smooth when you turn gradually. when you want to drift, you turn alot at first then counter turn to skid.

i can do nice carve turns on my toe side but i can't seem to do the same carves on my heel side, yet. the way i carve on my toe side is to keep my whole upper body parallel with the board and evenly balance my weight on both leg (maybe slightly forward) after i initiate the turn. make sure that my board doesn't have any torsional flex during the turn. but for some reason, i cant do it on my heel side yet... i think i am torsionally flexing my board without knowing it.


----------



## k2spitfire (Nov 27, 2007)

why do you have such nice gear when u can't even ride properly jeez


----------



## k2spitfire (Nov 27, 2007)

Snowolf said:


> Why do you feel the need to say negative and unproductive things in a thread where a guy is looking for constructive feedback?.......


lol it's almost impulsive, but i guess i will help this fellow boarder out. Firstly u must have a proper relaxed stance and you can achieve this by having your knees slightly bent, back straight, shoulders perpendicular to board, and hands over tail and nose. now it seems to me as if your flexion and extension is off. To improve this look at this







At all the A's is the point where you should be bent down the lowest through out the turn then as your coming off of it from A to B your extending back out( this meaning not bending your knees as much) then from point B to A your starting to bend down again in order to achieve the lowest bending point A. Now your hands need much improving i told u to keep them by nose and tail but for u i would recommend to pretend your in a fishing boat and controlling the engine with your back hand while having your hand at the front reaching for the beers as they slide back and forth during the turns. so for example if u make a left turn your back hand goes behind your back while your front hand goes in front on the stomach side reaching for those beers and vice versa.


----------



## tschamp20 (Nov 2, 2009)

k2spitfire said:


> why do you have such nice gear when u can't even ride properly jeez


jealous much?j/k
looks like how i ride. guess i need to work on it as well.:dunno:
good luck
btw,thanks for the pointers snowolf,very helpful.


----------



## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> Need a bit more specif info on what exactly is happening to you when you try to do a true carve on your heel side edge. I will take a stab in the dark and guess that you either fall backwards or the tail skids to the outside (downhill) of the turn.
> 
> In the first scenario, you are inclining too far for your speed. Inclination or cross over is the method most used by beginning carvers. It can be tricky heel side due to the anatomy of the foot. It is difficult to balance on our heels compared to our toes. Increased speed helps as the centrifugal force then balances out gravity which makes you fall down to the inside of the turn. The trick is to adjust this inclination a bit and sit into the turn more.
> 
> ...


I think it's a little bit of both scenario is what I am experiencing. My carves are slightly skidded on my heelside, but my toeside feels buttery smooth. The skidding happens with the cross over carves. The cross under carves seems to be easier since the transitions are quicker and the edge seems to dig in harder. I will experiment more next time. Thanks!

O I forgot to mention that I ride 151cm Forum Symbol. I am 150lbs. Maybe my board is too short to do fast carves? I would say I had plenty of speed.


----------

