skategoat Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 I ride a 174 Prior 4WD with binding angles at 50 and 43 degrees. I've only been riding for 2 years on plates with a year of soft booting before that (yawn). I think I'm carving okay with a noticeable weakness on my heelside. I'm working on it. However, I find that I pretty much have to rip the fall line to stay in the carve. If I try to make nice, rounded carves across the hill, I find my tail skids out on my toeside and the entire board starts to skip and chatter on the heelside. Now, I love the speed of my fall line runs, but sometimes it gets scary when the slopes are crowded or if the run is steep. I've had some very close calls with the local pines and maples. I'm wondering what I can do to complete my carves more and keep my speed down. Will changing my binding angles help? As far as technique goes, I try to face my binding angles on the toeside. On the heelside, I'm working on bending my knees toward the nose of the board and getting good hip rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 I think you've got boot overhang, which is causing you to lose your edge on your bigger carves. You are not seeing this when you are making small turns because you are not tilting the board over as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleaman Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Hey Skate goat, I did see you at Apex, I remember the board you were riding. I didnt get to see you ride though. But while I was patrolling I went over To the Prior tent and checked out one of their WCR's. I found that if I wasnt centered on the board on my heelsides, it would skid. But with my Coiler Pr and Rossi I can lean forward lots and it doesnt affect the board at all. So while I was riding the WCR, I would initiate the turn a little forward then rock back slowly to finish the turn and it worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted February 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Fleaman: I think I saw you too. Tall patroller on plates. It was at times when one of us was riding away from the other so I couldn't say hi. Did you see my buddy doing EC turns on his Swoard? I borrowed the Swoard for a few runs and I did not get the tail wash out like on my Prior. So maybe it is my board. I try hard to stay forward and maybe the Prior doesn't like that. I'll try moving my weight back a bit when I get out this weekend. BTW, I really enjoyed Apex. Great fall line runs and no crowds. We got some great early morning runs on the trail next to the t-bar. I'm coming back next year. Henry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outsider Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 although you riding may have an effect on your comfort level, but also your mental speed limit can have an effect on your riding. somthing i suggest when you get a chance (this might sould crazy, but it worked) is go find some safe clifs to jump off of into water. after i did this, i realized that i had little or no mental speed limit left, even off of snow (i longboard a lot now, and the speed doesnt bother me anymore) the bottom line is comfort at speed involves riding and the mind, and one is very easy to deal with. find somthing that will scare the hell outa you but not too dangerous, and do it for a while (bungee jumping might work too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Dasai Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Without seing you ride, I can't know whether the following applies to you, but... Maybe you aren't actually <strong>looking</strong> across the hill when you're trying to <strong>ride</strong> across the hill. The board will tend to go where the eyes are looking. Try really turning your head and looking where you want to go. The other thing is practice the bigger across-the-fall-line carves at slower speeds (where you probably don't have a chattering problem), and gradually work up to doing them on steeper slopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 outsider: Believe me, I do not want to get *more* comfortable with speed. I ride too fast. It's dangerous (mostly to myself). I just spent 3 days riding with one of the best carvers I've ever seen. I kept passing him and when I looked up the mountain, I would see big, swoopy trenches (his) and then my little wiggles straight down the fall line. When I tried to stay with him, I could not. I could not emulate his technique and the completeness of his turns. He stressed hip rotation and driving into the turn low, in a more balanced, athletic stance. This helped but not entirely. I'm going to mess with binding angles and shifting my weight more towards the tail. Also, I'll take the suggestion to progress from blue square to black diamonds in a more gradual fashion. Maybe I just need to buy a Swoard! Henry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleaman Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 I didnt get to see your friend ride, but I heard about him, He was diggin and draggin pretty good . I was actually humbled by it. My friend said he was better than I was. I have to admit, there are tons of riders better than myself and I love to watch them, it gives me something to look forward too. I can learn better ways to ride from them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 I'm no expert, but it sounds like you are putting too much weight on the nose in the last half of the carve. From the midpoint of the carve (or earlier) you need to progressively move your weight from the front foot to the rear foot. If you think a different board might help, we have a few (161 through 185) you're welcome to try out any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Thanks for the offer Chris. I'd like to try a lot of different boards now that I have semi-competent technique. Maybe I could hook up with you at MSLM next weekend. I'm planning to talk to Bruce to see what he recommends. I'd like to spend my money close to home and Coiler is about 10 minutes from my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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