skogs Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 OK, so I've been carving for a year (spent 20 years in soft boots before that) and have been able to improve my technique considerably since day 1. I'm running a Donek Axis 172 with TD2 bindings set at 55/45. However, at the end of last season, my brother took a bunch of photos of me coming downhill so I could see my form. My toe side turns look and feel good, but my heel side turns look like I'm trying to hang my butt out and throw my hands in front of me. It seems like I have to do that to balance the board on edge. However, the technique doesn't look very good. I've attached several photos showing this. Any ideas for how to improve this? Many Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yup, this is common when starting out. You'll need to get back to basics in order to fix this. Check out our Technique Articles here, start with The Norm: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm A couple points for you to keep in mind next time you ride - keep both your hands out in front of you where you can see them, and keep your leading hand (left hand) on the heel side of the board. Don't let it cross the board. Lean into the turn first, bend knees second. Look where you want to go, not just down the hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Try bringing your trailing (right) hand around to be more in line with your front boot. This will help get your upper body facing the right direction. I think you could allow some more flex in your knees, but this will depend partly on how fast you are moving. As you get lower on your board keep that right hand up front and even let it touch your front boot top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loc Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Just a few days ago I was trying to remedy the same problem. I tried fixing it by reaching for my front boot cuff and it felt like I was able to angle the board much more without chatter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Just a few days ago I was trying to remedy the same problem. I tried fixing it by reaching for my front boot cuff and it felt like I was able to angle the board much more without chatter. This is a good drill, reach for the front boot cuff with your trailing (left) hand. Just don't bend over at the waist to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skogs Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 OK. Thanks for the great suggestions. I've been missing the lean into the turn first and then bending the knees. I really need to force myself to turn my body to face the length of the board. I'll try this stuff the next time I'm on the hill. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBrad Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 This is the first I've read or heard of leaning into the turn first then bending your knees. Can you explain this further? When transitioning from toeside to heelside, I think I bend my knees first then drive my knees into the direction of the turn. Also, for the cross-through technique you bend your knees to bring the board under you so the knees are bent as you initiate the turn, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtslalom Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Skogs, Some of the best advice I've gotten has been from USSA ski race coaches. Find some USSA ski racers that are training at your local mountain and try to incorporate their ski drills into snowboard drills. I have successfully done this and it has worked well for me. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 You're board is going left and you're looking right. That's a problem. Your torso will be pulled in the direction you're focusing. While you're progressing throught the turn, try looking over your leading shoulder. In fact, you should try to look uphill a bit as you come out of the fall line. The side benefit is that you won't get smoked by someone behind you. In the position you're in now, you're just asking for it. When you're looking the right way, your aliginment should improve. Look at Jacks focus in his picture vs. yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 To fix my toilet seat, I had to try and sit down on the tail of the board, and try to look behind me on my heelside edge. Now I have the fore aft balance right, but still have to look behind myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 I got one for you, its a bit extreme but... move your back foot angle up to some where in the 50s or higher:eek: makes it much easier to get your backside hip around and forces you to get your ass over the tail of the board. The other stuff said here about where to look and back side hand is very important but its easier to get in that position with a higher angled back foot. Once you refine the movement you can start to reduce the angle to the point where it becomes a flexibility issue to continue with that move.... Understand?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpenn Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Yup, this is common when starting out. You'll need to get back to basics in order to fix this. Check out our Technique Articles here, start with The Norm:http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm A couple points for you to keep in mind next time you ride - keep both your hands out in front of you where you can see them, and keep your leading hand (left hand) on the heel side of the board. Don't let it cross the board. Lean into the turn first, bend knees second. Look where you want to go, not just down the hill. Hey: Thanks for all the great insights as this is something I've been working on as well. I tried something this morning that seemed to help me a bit and I wanted to share it and get thoughts on it. It seems pretty small, but seemed to help me. On my leading hand (regular set up, left hand, heelside turn), I simply put my palm down and imagined that I was pulling myself through the turn with that hand. What it seemed to do was to help keep my shoulders where I wanted them as I initiated the turn - facing the fall line instead of parallel with the board. Hope it helps. JP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 +1 on trailing hand to the boot cuff or even to the knee. a drill that works wonders for my riding, toe and heelside, is to point the front hand in the direction you want to go. Especially aproaching, and through transitions. This leads the eyes followed by the center of mass toward where you are going to be, the board will follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Bend at the knees more. If you are unable to squat all the way down, you may want to re-tool your stance so you are able to do that comfortably. It's difficult to tell from the pics, but it seems you run a pretty narrow stance, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Cant get a better pic of a Closed front shoulder:freak3: Do you have a bar you are holding on to there. Sorry couldn't resist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Make that bar an imaginary handle bar and turn it as if you were riding a bike and keep both hands on the bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Cant get a better pic of a Closed front shoulder:freak3: Do you have a bar you are holding on to there. Sorry couldn't resistThe "closed" front shoulder is often a symptom of counter rotation, where the rider finishes the toe turn with leading hand down the hill. Without flexible enough boots, and/or knee ankle flex for whatever reason, you have to compensate for the lack of unweighting the rider has to swing the arms to get the board to come around. To the OP, I am just speculating here. Not referring specifically to you. Do you have some pics or vid of toeside? The more you can flex and unweight with knee ankle articulation the less you have to do with rotational moves ( arm swinging being one of those). Food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortcutToMoncton Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Make that bar an imaginary handle bar and turn it as if you were riding a bike and keep both hands on the bar. what what Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 what what LOL - been there. Now to LOOK and TURN in the direction of the turn. Nose and Knuckles towards the direction of the destination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotbeans Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Shortcut, THAT is the best!! :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coloradoking Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Imo the best way to fix that is to think about not crossing your left arm over your chest when you go into the heelside; it'll make the edge feel more comfortable and line your shoulders up with the hill; that will make the turn look and feel faster and better balanced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ESPI Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 hahaah WHAT WHAT ? on the bike... haha funny photoshop! I'll .gif it and animate it. made me LOL. I second bobbys advice about turning the back foot angle up a bit higher as it will get your hips around a bit more and make the lateral turn a bit more comfortable for your leg/knee also. It will make you drive your back knee in behind your front knee a bit more rather than squeezing both knees inward (cowboy/indian). It helped me last season as I too was trying to turn myself away fromthe "squat" on the heelside too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 You mean I actually helped you:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortcutToMoncton Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 About six years ago I spent about 3 or 4 days of a season riding with a ski pole in my hands: I concentrated on holding it parallel to the snow surface, just ahead of my front foot and with each hand on either side of the board. I'm not sure where I got that advice, but I remember that I found my balance seriously messed up for the first couple days – probably a clear indication of how badly my arms were windmilling around before that. That might be a good drill to try sometime; it actually MAKES you put your hands there, because no matter how much you think about keeping them in the right place, they tend to go off on their own when you actually start concentrating on not killing yourself. Of course, the caveat emptor to all this is that I did wipe out at one point and managed to impale myself on one end of the ski pole. Of course no actual impaling was performed, but it did leave a nasty bruise on my ribcage. So if you're going to bail out and hit someone, don't worry, it won't look weird at all if you just lunge at them with the pointy end....:D greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loc Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I have trekking poles I can use too or I can go to one of those art stores and get a wooden dowel, but I'm just wondering where to get bamboo poles to use for practice drills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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