# Carving



## flysolo. (Feb 1, 2014)

I've been riding for 1 year and a half and I can breeze through green runs and get around blue runs with decent turns with decent speed. Couple of things I excel at is the Ollie, cross-under turns.

I've been trying really hard to do full carving turns but it's just not there. I feel like when I ride on my edge I feel super unstable, [maybe normal at first?] and it feels like it's easier to carve on my heels than my toes. This is what I do,

I flex my ankles to increase the angle, sit down as much as I can but I cannot hold the position, maybe I'm sticking my ass out too much during the heel carve? or am not low enough.

Is there any advice for people who first started carving and what you guys did to get the hang of it?


----------



## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

flysolo. said:


> I've been riding for 1 year and a half and I can breeze through green runs and get around blue runs with decent turns with decent speed. Couple of things I excel at is the Ollie, cross-under turns.
> 
> I've been trying really hard to do full carving turns but it's just not there. I feel like when I ride on my edge I feel super unstable, [maybe normal at first?] and it feels like it's easier to carve on my heels than my toes. This is what I do,
> 
> ...



Not sure i understand?
Are you sayin' you can jump to a heel side carve & stop?

But are unable to do a toe side carve at all?

I hope not? 

If that's the case?

You haven't been snowboarding for a year & a half.
You haven't started snowboarding yet.
You've just wasted a year and a half.

If all you're doing is going straight then heelside carving over & over, that is definitely not snowboarding.

Money wasted.

You need to just do that toeside carve, right after the heelside one.
Sure your gonna eat shit a few times, but if you don't.
Youll suck forever & never get better.


TT


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

k...self taught gleetard...it wasn't until last year, my 11th season...that I can say that I was truely able claim to do some decent carving.

at 1.5 years kind of doubt ur doing cross unders...since your are running on blues and greens.

advice...lessons and practice with some specific drills.


----------



## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Unstable at carving? Try bending your knees. Also balance your weight. Heel side carving needs more finesse than toe side.
Or you are just too wussy to go fast. Faster is easier to carve.


----------



## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

posting a video may help in diagnosing a problem, if there is one...


----------



## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

wrathfuldeity said:


> k...self taught gleetard...it wasn't until last year, my 11th season...that I can say that I was truely able claim to do some decent carving.


Suck it up, we just suck at snowsliding :facepalm3::laugh:
(got that "claim" moment not before _many_ seasons as well - whatever "season" or "decent" means anyway )

OP, I second Wraths suggestion, get lessons to learn what you _should_ do, then practice, practice, practice. I've no idea what you're doing right or wrong by _reading_ what you _write_... way too many possibilities... maybe it's just a minor weight distribution issue? maybe a general technique problem? It's not addressable by text IMO (and even if I would have a clue what your problem would be, I probably wouldn't be able to phrase what you should change, I'm self taught, lack the eye, the theorie, the words...). But a skilled instructor will _see_ and has the edjucation to analyse and phrase.


----------



## trippinsoul (Dec 17, 2014)

flysolo. said:


> I flex my ankles to increase the angle, sit down as much as I can but I cannot hold the position, maybe I'm sticking my ass out too much during the heel carve? or am not low enough.


I found when I was first learning how to get low and deep into my carves that I did the same thing when I bent my knees...stuck my ass out while bending my upper-body forward, throws off your whole balance since you want to be vertically aligned on your board...I resolved it two ways...

1) had to loosen up my lower back, and strengthen it (stretches, squats, bit of yoga)...maybe you're just not comfortable in that stance because your muscles arent used to it? I actually figured this one out after doing the exercises

2)A tip an instructor told me...instead of bending your knees as if you're trying to sit down (ie bringing your ass to the ground), imagine you're driving you're knees forward and down, like theres a line from your kneecap to the ground your knees must follow..sounds weird but it will keep your pelvis forward when your knees are bent and you wont be ass-out, so to speak...


----------



## flysolo. (Feb 1, 2014)

timmytard said:


> Not sure i understand?
> Are you sayin' you can jump to a heel side carve & stop?
> 
> But are unable to do a toe side carve at all?
> ...


LMAO
I hope you understand the difference between dynamic turns without edge-only contact and carving turns.

Thanks others for advice, I will attempt again tommorow.


----------



## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

flysolo. said:


> LMAO
> I hope you understand the difference between dynamic turns without edge-only contact and carving turns.
> 
> Thanks others for advice, I will attempt again tommorow.


Nope sorry, skipped out that day.
Went boardin'

But I'm sure if we sat down & you explained your fancy pants turn.

I could do it with my eyes closed:dry:, switch, whilst riding with one foot in. :embarrased1:

I hope you know what a basic toeside carve, sans-fancy pants is?


TT


----------



## flysolo. (Feb 1, 2014)

timmytard said:


> Nope sorry, skipped out that day.
> Went boardin'
> 
> But I'm sure if we sat down & you explained your fancy pants turn.
> ...


Are you here to brag or give advice?


----------



## stickz (Feb 6, 2013)

Your NOT riding dynamically if you can't stay in a squat. And if you aren't riding blacks or double blacks then you have alot of work to do before you should be worried about carving. I feel like you prob have really bad habits and that's throwing your balance off. When that happens you're surviving not snowboarding. What you need to do is 3 things. Grow some fucking balls and drop in on some double blacks. Take lessons, fastest way to improve. Last go to the gym. Your legs sound weak. Squats, leg presses, calf raises, and lunges. Then work out your lower back and core. The best way to do all of that at once. YOGA.


----------



## stickz (Feb 6, 2013)

If you can find my old posts on how to ride steeps. Greywolf gave me amazing advice and instruction along with many other forum members. It with a lot of days taught me to be able to ride anywhere I want by the end of my second season. Even 45 plus degree slopes.


----------



## ekb18c (Mar 11, 2013)

I think you should either 1 take a video of you snowboarding and post it here or go take a lesson. 

There are some great videos on youtube that show you how you are suppose to do it. You may also want to try snowboardaddiction.com a try as they have a video on how to do a carve and improve your riding.


----------



## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

A video will help a lot... mostly because there's a bunch of confusing terms in your post.

You say you excel at "the ollie" and cross under turns...
Then you say you're "super unstable" on edge and that heel feels easier... and you "get around" blue runs...

How on earth can you excel at cross-unders with ^ those conditions??

Then you say it feels easier heel edge, but you describe a struggle with the heel carve..... If you already struggle heel and find toe harder........ then you are actually struggling with both! which means you can't be carving. 

So yeah... Best advice is take a lesson. 

Second best, post a video.

Third best, ride more.
Actually... this should be 1st best. 




flysolo. said:


> I've been riding for 1 year and a half and I can breeze through green runs and get around blue runs with decent turns with decent speed. Couple of things I excel at is the Ollie, cross-under turns.
> 
> I've been trying really hard to do full carving turns but it's just not there. I feel like when I ride on my edge I feel super unstable, [maybe normal at first?] and it feels like it's easier to carve on my heels than my toes. This is what I do,
> 
> ...


----------



## highme (Dec 2, 2012)

flysolo. said:


> Are you here to brag or give advice?


Yes. Figure out the applicable parts and you'l be well on your way to carving like an early 90s hard booter.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

flysolo. said:


> Are you here to brag or give advice?


You here to take advice from people that can ride or not?

Plain and simple, you don't know how to snowboard. The only thing "dynamic" you're doing is looking like you're in a shitting pose. Which trust me, we see you, we laugh at you. 

So why don't you stop with the whole "dynamic carves" bullshit because you sound like a pretentious snowboard instructor and listen to those of us that carve on the daily. 

You want to carve toeside? Learn to fucking ride, you're reverting back to your heelside edge as a compensation for not knowing how to ride in general. 

You want to carve don't stick your ass out, that's for fucking turd burglars that can't turn. Get flat based, bend at the knees and ankles keeping your ass and back straight. As you go on edge flex the back knee into the center of the board toward your front knee, this will arc the board. As the board arcs load the board up with your body weight. Bend at the ankles and knees, keep the hips/ass/back locked. KNEES BENT! Get it? As you do this you will initiate the toeside carve as you go on that edge you will transition your weight onto it. Now as you go to the heelside you will unbend the ankles and lessen the bend of the knees. BUT KEEP THE ASS/HIPS/BACK straight. As you go on the heelside you will bend more into the knee than the ankle but be sure to leverage your weight onto the heel edge. 

There you go fucky.


----------



## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

I still have a lot of trouble with some of the terminology used by people on this forum,.. as such I had to do a few searches here to fully understand the difference between "cross under" and "cross over turns."

I would suggest you do a forum search as well. Because, having done so myself, I feel confident in telling you that if you are "ollying" during your turns? You are definitely _NOT_ performing any cross under turns! Can't say about "cross over. There seem to be fewer good video samples of that type turn here.

You are going to find that one of the "Pet Peeves" for a great many forum members is this claim by first season riders that they are "Carving!" This is because that is a skill that is difficult to perform correctly even by snowboarders with years and years of riding experience and practice! Even then some have only managed to master carving only moderately well! (Hence comments like those from Wrathful!) …some here tend to bristle at this and find claims like that from new riders to be more than a little arrogant, not to mention ignorant! 

I include these comments not to insult, only to inform and enlighten you so that you might not take such (…sarcastic or even fairly hostile,) comments too personally. Mostly because it's pretty clear to anyone reading your post, even someone like myself who's only been riding about four seasons, that considering the troubles you are having with the descriptions of your turns as well as your confusion over which types you are actually doing? It is _HIGHLY_ unlikely that you are doing anything even close to actual carved turns! 

There is an _IMMENSE_ wealth of information, advice and experience on this forum! If you are willing to not take yourself too seriously, have some fun with it, even at the expense of your own ego? You can benefit greatly from that wealth! However, if you become all incensed or indignant over a few sarcastic or less than flattering, even disrespectful comments,..? I'm afraid we probably won't be seeing much of you around here. And it won't be us that misses out in that instance!

So Relax,.. put your ego on hold. Realize you almost certainly don't know near as much as you think you do,… and this place is great fun, informative, infuriating, and full of great people!

_…and yes! TT was bragging! :laugh:  Doesn't mean what he said wasn't accurate!_


----------



## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

I was carving in the womb, so all of this is very confusing.


Just wanted to stop by to brag.


----------



## BoardChitless (Mar 11, 2013)

You have your binding's set up right for your stance? Recommend playing with your bindings till you know your preffered stance 100%.

Took me 3 seasons in my teens to know my stance... Still the same almost 20yrs later.

Or, give up lol, if you weren't carving in the womb like Snowklinger... No chance!!

Being serious, try a little more positive angle in your front.. My 2 cents at least.


----------



## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

snowklinger said:


> *I was carving in the womb,* so all of this is very confusing.
> 
> 
> Just wanted to stop by to brag.


…The "White Womb!" With white curtains, no doubt!  :rofl3:


----------



## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

BoardChitless said:


> You have your binding's set up right for your stance? Recommend playing with your bindings till you know your preffered stance 100%.
> 
> Took me 3 seasons in my teens to know my stance... Still the same almost 20yrs later.
> 
> ...



This right here is good advice - it's amazing what a change in stance angle and width can do. I recently widened my stance a set of holes - and it's made a big difference in my turns and my balance on those turns. It's easier for me to keep my knees bent and my weight distributed over the board.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

BoardChitless said:


> You have your binding's set up right for your stance? Recommend playing with your bindings till you know your preffered stance 100%.
> 
> Took me 3 seasons in my teens to know my stance... Still the same almost 20yrs later.
> 
> ...





radiomuse210 said:


> This right here is good advice - it's amazing what a change in stance angle and width can do. I recently widened my stance a set of holes - and it's made a big difference in my turns and my balance on those turns. It's easier for me to keep my knees bent and my weight distributed over the board.


definitely experiment...a stance wide enough to crouch/sink in the knees and to get fore/aft movement in the hips...also an angle that gives you enough leverage or power on the nose....too much +angle and you loose leverage power and too little angle then you/most folks have to overcompensate by using too much upper body rotation.


----------



## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

chomps1211 said:


> I still have a lot of trouble with some of the terminology used by people on this forum,.. as such I had to do a few searches here to fully understand the difference between "cross under" and "cross over turns."


Any chance you remember the threads where you've found helpful definitions of these terms? I've no concept of what the terms mean... (reading "cross-over" I just imagine a music style :dry


----------



## stickz (Feb 6, 2013)

Less than 2 years is way to early to care about carving. Post a video and let the more experienced riders help you. This is my 4th yr and just this yr am I working on carving. You need more time on your board.


----------



## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

neni said:


> Any chance you remember the threads where you've found helpful definitions of these terms? I've no concept of what the terms mean... (reading "cross-over" I just imagine a music style :dry


Bomber Online


----------



## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

deagol said:


> Bomber Online


:thumbsup:
Good info, now it's very clear to me what is meant with the terms. This helps a lot to improve my rudimental movement lingo. Thanks!


----------



## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

stickz said:


> Less than 2 years is way to early to care about carving. Post a video and let the more experienced riders help you. This is my 4th yr and just this yr am I working on carving. You need more time on your board.


all about days/year on that one.

ride 100 days, takes only one year to become better than 80% of the people on the hill.


----------



## trippinsoul (Dec 17, 2014)

stickz said:


> Less than 2 years is way to early to care about carving. Post a video and let the more experienced riders help you. This is my 4th yr and just this yr am I working on carving. You need more time on your board.





snowklinger said:


> all about days/year on that one.
> 
> ride 100 days, takes only one year to become better than 80% of the people on the hill.


Gotta agree...more time+effort= more results. I was out at least 3 times a week my first season, and halfway I took an hour lesson to break some beginner bad-habits and was legit carving by the end of it...and I learned cross-unders and how to ride more dynamically riding with more experienced riders on as varied terrain as possible and just doing what they do....Lotta people want to figure things out on their own but end up doing the same thing on simple groomers for years... a little direct guidance and instruction can take your progression far..


----------



## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

neni said:


> Any chance you remember the threads where you've found helpful definitions of these terms? I've no concept of what the terms mean... (reading "cross-over" I just imagine a music style :dry


People on this forum and instructors in general get too caught up in jargon. It's makes you sound smarter and all that but at the end of the day it's easier to just say what someone needs to do rather than tell them the term for what they need to do. Telling someone who essentially says " I have trouble carving heelside" that they need to learn "cross under turns" isn't helpful and isn't a solution and usually steers the conversation towards defining the jargon rather than snowboarding. Telling the person what joints/moves they need to make and what they need to make the board do and when it should do it is helpful. 
It's also important to understand that there is no one way to do a "cross under turn" or a "short radius dynamic skidded turn". All of those terms require a blend of abilities that are unique to the person doing them, some may like more edge angle, others a little less rotation and even then how that rotation is generated is a choise(from he hips, short scissor of the legs, rotating the whole leg at the hip socket, etc...).


----------

