# consistent heelside to faceplant...



## KahWhyC (Nov 10, 2010)

I think it'll stop as you progress.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

well if you are on a heelside then you face planting you are catching your front edge. How much pressure is on your heeledge?? Because if you have a lot of heel pressure there is no way your front edge should dig in and throw you forward. 
Almost sounds like you are riding "flat based" then catching your front edge or toe edge and face planting.

Does this make sense???


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

stop leaning back to your tail.


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## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

If you want you should just slam your heels in like you are almost about to do the stops that wiley coyote does in the cartoons....

Like literally push in as hard as you can... like beast mode... and you'll hit your ass, then gradually lower the pressure... just wear butt pads or something.. the issue is one common with new people.. you push on your heels hard.. and then the whiplash from your body carries your board over to the toe side.. so the issue is making sure you don't allow that 'whiplash' to occur... leg muscles.. or forward lean on the highbacks.. at your discretion...


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## cadencesdad (Nov 18, 2008)

Heelside to faceplant?

Like mentioned earlier....You must be catching your toe edge. Keep them toes up.


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## MistahTaki (Apr 24, 2010)

lean back up the mountain and exert your force on to the heel edge of the board and dont lean forward until you come to a complete stop.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

sounds like you maybe having trouble going from heelside to toeside...rushing it...then faceplant.

...so you do a heelside stop/turn/traverse...board is across/transverse the fall line...ur probably not dumping/sitting enough, as Snowolf notes.

...but then you want to get going again/link to toeside, and it sounds like you are rushing the transition to toeside...first, you got to weight the nose and let the nose drop into the fall line then weight or pressure the toe edge...ur doing this too early....timing issue. 

Just shift weight to nose, then let it drop in to the fall line, then engauge/pressure the toe-edge to initiate the turn, then sink into the turn...compress and center, then rise/extend and shift weight toward the nose to let it drop into the fall line before initinating the heel side turn.

another thing...assuming ur riding regular...u might infact be more naturally goofy...or visa versa.


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## Zak (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm gonna try adding a little more forward lean on my highbacks and practice being lower on my board.

Thanks for the fast replies and good advice all


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

It's a common thing when starting out. People think their toe edge is high enough off of the ground and then it catches and throws them for a not so fun ride. Like everyone else said, remember to keep your toes up it is higher than you really think is needed.


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

Moving my forward the highbacks like snowwolf said helped me when I had this issue.


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## Shwank (Feb 15, 2011)

Just a side note. This is spookily reminiscent of my own boarding history. Got Into it December 23'rd and since then have progressed at what I would say is a fairly nice pace. I had the same problem as you however, my heelside stops were so bad that I learned how to switch and ride fakie before I learned how to not slam my face in the ground from a heelside. It turns out all I was doing is not applying enough pressure. I would lean too far back, skid my butt across the ground and try to recover; whenever I would try to tip my board forward my ankles were too loose and went too far. My toe side would catch and my face met the earth.
After you notice the flaw it's a fairly quick learning transition.


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## jyuen (Dec 16, 2007)

heelside to faceplant? sounds like an awesome trick


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## ThomasOwen (Mar 8, 2011)

This is my first post and I could have started the thread myself - same exact problem. After skiing for many years in the East and then a brief 16 year break, I decided to try snowboarding last week in Beaver Creek.

I must point out that during this 16 year 'break' I had gotten married, so the big difference going into this was that I had a Wife that was convinced I was going to kill myself.

Comments like "all these people with snowboards seem MUCH younger than you", or "write down how we access our financial and bank information" did not help any...

Well, I had a private lesson with a great instructor and had the time of my life. I would never go back to skiing after the experience I had last week, and can only look forward to a trip next year for snowboarding.

What I have seen above seems like great advice - I never fell going to toes but I have some serious sore ribs from the falls going to heels (would land with my arms folded across my chest and drive the elbow into the ribs).

I think I need to:
stay more balanced and 'on my front foot', stay lower, and get back more on my heels sooner. Every so often I think the board was flat too long with some downhill momentum and that was disaster time.

Now, can someone please explain the positioning of the high back and what effect that would have on this situation?

Thanks -


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## Zak (Jan 25, 2011)

from what i understand, the highback just makes your knees go forward in relation to the board. that brings your toes more off the ground. the more they're off the ground, the harder it is to catch your toeside edge.
correct me if i'm wrong, though.


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## Nefarious (Dec 26, 2010)

Zak said:


> from what i understand, the highback just makes your knees go forward in relation to the board. that brings your toes more off the ground. the more they're off the ground, the harder it is to catch your toeside edge.
> correct me if i'm wrong, though.


Right on track. Not only that but by flexing your knees more, it allows your knees to absorb shock better. Thus when you're riding heelside and you hit a patch of ice or snowpack, you have a better chance of passing over it without hooking. With your legs straightened, any abnormal bumps will cause your legs to lock, your weight to shift forward, and your toe edge to potentially catch.

Partially hypothetical but there's gotta be some logic to it. Bump up those highbacks for the remainder of this season and awhile into the next. Once you've got a few months of muscle memory built up it's usually safe to go back. I personally hate my highbacks forward. Part of that is that I have softer boots that allow me to lean enough forward to get the same results that forward highbacks would.

Best of luck and keep at it.


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## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

sabatoa said:


> Moving my forward the highbacks like snowolf said after blindkink helped me when I had this issue.


fixed good sir...


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## Zak (Jan 25, 2011)

^ i think he needs to be fixed. :cheeky4:


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