# Any pointers for 2 1/2 year old?



## Swede (Mar 23, 2013)

Here are a couple videos of my 2 1/2 year old son. I think we may try to go to Snowshoe one more time this week. He is doing awesome and staying in control and having a blast. Does anyone have any suttle tips or tricks on breaking him of the falling leaf? Hopefully next season I can get someone better than me willing to give him lessons. Thanks


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

I got my 2 1/2 year old on a board this season too. He loved it.

Here's my tip: just let him have fun. You obviously showed him how to stop, that's all you need to do for now. He's probably not going to understand anything else you teach him. The stopping thing is most likely just due to natural balance anyway.

All I kept telling my son to do is "Look straight ahead!" He is able to go straight without falling leaf, but also I only had him ride on slight declines. Not even on an actual run.

Instructors will tell you that kids aren't coachable until 3 or older. All of my instructor buddies recommend lessons at 5 yo for snowboarding.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

My Son


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## rider3 (Mar 14, 2013)

Wow. That's awesome. I teach snowboarding and although I've seen kids up and moving on a board at that age, it has been rare. I have had the opportunity to work with some really young students (even a very few 4 and 5 year olds who were straight up linking turns) and I agree with the others, FUN is the name of the game at this point, and whole body movements are going to be the order of the day for a while. As long as they like sliding on snow, every time they get out there, they are just building a great foundation for becoming really good at an early age. One thing I have noticed with little ones I've taught is that images and ideas are a great tool. For instance, I had a little boy once, and between us we worked out that riding his snowboard was like walking the dog. (Stay with me here :laugh When he let the board go flat, that was letting the dog off the leash and letting him run. When he tilted the board, that was putting the dog on the leash and slowing him down. It was really cool to see him gain the understanding of how one position of the board sped him up, and one slowed him down. Or one little guy actually figured out toe and heel side by thinking of his snowboard as a door, when he opened the door he slowed down, when he closed it he sped up. The heel edge was opening the front door, and the toe edge was the back door. I'm always very hands on with the itty bitty ones, just helping the body and board get into position, without a lot of worthless explanations. Just training that muscle memory, and using fun and games and relatable images to gently guide them toward understanding they can actually steer and control what the board does, as opposed to simply balancing on it and going with whatever happens. Anyway, just wanted to send props to the little ripper. He's already tearing it up! So cool.


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## Swede (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks for the ideas and props. It's definitely interesting trying to explain things to a 2 year old. We are heading to Snowshoe,WV Friday so we will see how it goes. I told him we were going and he said "I want to go up big mountain and go on jumps"


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## Snowball (Feb 21, 2013)

I'm a snowboard instructor as well and my son is now 5. He started boarding at 4 and out of experience I can say, that it is very hard to teach kids that young any specifics. Last year, he didn't understand heel or toe traverse at all and just went straight. This year was way better. He now can do heel side and straight to a T, combined with a few jumps and tricks and butterboxes. Just let your kid have fun. Teaching him the breaks is the most important, the rest will fall into place. My little guy didn't even understand how to break last year at all. He just went straight and fell on his butt. So yours is pretty advanced at 2.5 with knowing this, I'd say.

Just have fun with him and the rest will develop!
Stef


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## Sincraft (Sep 6, 2010)

Swede said:


> Here are a couple videos of my 2 1/2 year old son. I think we may try to go to Snowshoe one more time this week. He is doing awesome and staying in control and having a blast. Does anyone have any suttle tips or tricks on breaking him of the falling leaf? Hopefully next season I can get someone better than me willing to give him lessons. Thanks


His smile alone is worth it all! Awesome video. My son will be 2.5 years old mid winter next year and I'm REALLY thinking of starting him out on a board vs skis. We shall see.


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## zullu_adi (Nov 7, 2016)

Hi, really nice videos... I also have a little girl and I would like to try snowboarding with her but I'm having a hard time finding a board that small. Can you please let me know what size is yours and where did you find it?


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

zullu_adi said:


> Hi, really nice videos... I also have a little girl and I would like to try snowboarding with her but I'm having a hard time finding a board that small. Can you please let me know what size is yours and where did you find it?


Hi, the original poster of this thread hasn't posted since Jan-2016, so hopefully he's still watching his e-mails. In the meantime, here's a way to view some of the other threads he's posted in. Maybe you'll find what you're looking for there?

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/search.php?searchid=6445041



Burton has boards as small as 80 cm. Head to their website and click kids > hardgoods > snowboards... Here's the rider weight ranges they suggest from the specs on their website:

80 cm: 25-45 lb (11-20 kg)
90 cm: 35-55 lb (16-25 kg)
100 cm: 45-65 lb (20-29 kg)

Hope this helps!


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## Winter_Lion (Nov 30, 2016)

Have you seen little Zeke? He's one and a half? https://youtu.be/bVPiJGnOS00

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk


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