RooX Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 The new virus (165cm, 17.1cm waist) is really out for me I figure. Two 1/2 days on it now and I still start every run feeling like I have never been on a board before. The first few runs of both days now have had me feeling more shaky and confused than even my very first day on a snowboard all those years ago. I either need tips on how to initiate turns better on a narrow waist board, or I need to sell the damn thing and get something with training wheels... I says something that I feel more comfortable (by like a million percent) on tight narrow people infested runs on my 180cm Proteus than on my 165cm pocket rocket. What might I be doing wrong? Angles are currently 65 front and 70 back, 3f/6r lift, 52cm stance width. I feel comfortable on the board just standing there on flat ground, once I'm on any kind of incline, Im like Bambi, arms flailing on 1/2 my turns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogokoenig Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) That's a difficult one. Very hard to locate the errors without pictures or a short video. First of all: I assume your binding angles are 65° rear and 70° front (and not vice versa as you described). Then I would throw out all lifts and cants - just mount the bindings flat and centered (measured at the inserts). This is the best point to start with. This should give you some comfort in your riding but will probably need some fine tuning afterwards. Furthermore could you please describe what exactly is your problem while riding. Do you have problems getting on edge or are you more locked in the turn? Does it skid, chatter? Is it easy to drift? In general you could say: The narrower a board the more you have to let it go by itself. Especially when it comes to edge changes. The trick is to find the sweet spot; there is not much with fancy technique. Practical advice: Find a flat blue slope, well groomed, not too crowded. Do some of the carving-beginner exercises from "hardbooter.com" and try to get the feeling for the board. Once you have adapted: Go out and rip it. Oh, my girlfriend Edit forgot to mention: If your virus still hates you, you can leave it with me for disposal. I will only charge you a small fee. Edited January 31, 2012 by pogokoenig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Was that you I saw at COP last night? Someone was on the hill on a hard setup, looking like they were having a tough time ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 These narrow, shorter boards can be a handful at slower speeds, and slower speeds make sense before you feel in command, so it's catch 22. One thing you might try is to pre-load the board before committing to an edge. If you've seen Ben's instructional video on the EC site you can see him do this, although I'm not sure he'd describe it that way. What he does is drop pretty far back as he drops down to start the turn (EC so it's down-unweighting) and this really lifts his front foot which in turn counterflexes or puts rocker in the board. Now when he hits an edge he's already arcing pretty tight. It's much more fore and aft movement than is fashionable on this continent, and once he's up to speed you can see that much of it goes away, but the key is that he's initiating a carve right away based on rocker rather than just sidecut. His board's two inches wider than yours, so it's going to look different, but the principle works well on narow boards too. Here's a link: Go to around 5:12 and thereafter. Don't worry about the lunge into the laydown - you're not going to EC that Virus at anything but Mach 2 - but give his pre-turn drop a try. Good luck. Once you've got that dialed I can find a home for that Proteus 180.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooX Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Nope, Couple days at Norquay on this setup... have never tried COP actually, should get there one day. Was that you I saw at COP last night? Someone was on the hill on a hard setup, looking like they were having a tough time ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sic t 2 Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 and this really lifts his front foot which in turn counterflexes or puts rocker in the board. Now when he hits an edge he's already arcing pretty tight. It's much more fore and aft movement than is fashionable on this continent, and once he's up to speed you can see that much of it goes away, but the key is that he's initiating a carve right away based on rocker rather than just sidecut. you know, I never thought about pulling harder with the front foot than the rear foot (when doing a high g push pull turn). I am going to concentrate on that the next time out. anything to preserve the energy packet for the uphill climb back over the top is worth its weight in gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Leave the lift,don't change you're stance. They are a different ride than most boards and take some getting used to. Maybe more so for you. I would say that you need to get really low in you're turn. And stay pretty low in transition. With out seeing you ride I can't say much but don't try to change the boot binding set up and just learn to adapt to that type of board. Grab the edge and get really low!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooX Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 yes, 65r, 70f. Biggest issue is transitioning from carve to carve, it happened a few times and it was great, but 90% of the time I felt like I was having to force it to the point of torture to get the board from edge to edge. Arm swinging torso twisting fun to get the thing back and forth. I was fully expecting it to be easier then ever to transition from edge to edge, as its 2cm narrower than my next closest board... its been anything but that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooX Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'll head out next Monday morning while the hill is empty and try and mimic this video, as well as work on some of the basic skills from hardbooter. I'll try and keep similar binding settings, its basically my preferred setup, just with higher angles, may even see about lowering them a degree or 2, as long as im not overhanging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teach Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I had a similar experience the other day. Almost the same setup on a different (new to me) board. Couldn't get my back knee out for toeside. It was as if I set myself up pigeon-toed. I finally added a lot of splay and was fine. All I can think of is that the feeling of the board not acting quite like the one I'm used to causes me to get in "defensive" posture, back knee locked. Very frustrating. Maybe the higher angles are doing that to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooX Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I had a similar experience the other day. Almost the same setup on a different (new to me) board. Couldn't get my back knee out for toeside. It was as if I set myself up pigeon-toed. I finally added a lot of splay and was fine. All I can think of is that the feeling of the board not acting quite like the one I'm used to causes me to get in "defensive" posture, back knee locked. Very frustrating. Maybe the higher angles are doing that to you? This is exactly what I was feeling! Pretty much only way to be comfortable was to stay in the fall-line position till stupid high speeds, then do little carves to blow a bit of that speed off. Repeat over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Tat Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Was that you I saw at COP last night? Someone was on the hill on a hard setup, looking like they were having a tough time ... Seeing as you were taking a park/freestyle course, did you wander over with your softboot set-up and ask them why their board didn't have a rounded tail?:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti_knee Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 This is exactly what I was feeling! Pretty much only way to be comfortable was to stay in the fall-line position till stupid high speeds, then do little carves to blow a bit of that speed off. Repeat over and over. I'm out of funds for lift tickets until after my trip to Sun Peaks mid-month, but I wanted to get out with a video camera with somebody one weekend and trade videoing and being videoed. Oh, and don't skip NES ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 This is exactly what I was feeling! Pretty much only way to be comfortable was to stay in the fall-line position till stupid high speeds, then do little carves to blow a bit of that speed off. Repeat over and over. Mostly when you have never ridden small boards, it's very hard to adapt your ridingstyle from wide to small boards. The other way around is much easier. Just keep your shoulders at 90 degrees to your board axes. Take a easy beginners slope, and just let the board do it's work and plank your body and fall a little sideways to let it carve. Then you feel what the board does by just using the sidecut of the board. After that you can use the knees beneath you and try to make a little rotation in the shoulders to see what the board does. Also try to skid/flatten the board sideways, because this is the hard part with small boards with this stance. Just also try to feel what an equal stance does. So try for example 70/70 or 65/65 degrees without bootoverhang. I also have a lot to learn. I just know the things on paper what I am doing wrong, but do it in real is something else. But, when you nailed it, the Virus boards are boards with bounderless fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooX Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm out of funds for lift tickets until after my trip to Sun Peaks mid-month, but I wanted to get out with a video camera with somebody one weekend and trade videoing and being videoed. Oh, and don't skip NES ;) im game for a video session. in the back of my head i was wondering if this was punishment for skipping this years NES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big canuck Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 The new virus (165cm, 17.1cm waist) is really out for me I figure. Two 1/2 days on it now and I still start every run feeling like I have never been on a board before. The first few runs of both days now have had me feeling more shaky and confused than even my very first day on a snowboard all those years ago.I either need tips on how to initiate turns better on a narrow waist board, or I need to sell the damn thing and get something with training wheels... I says something that I feel more comfortable (by like a million percent) on tight narrow people infested runs on my 180cm Proteus than on my 165cm pocket rocket. What might I be doing wrong? Angles are currently 65 front and 70 back, 3f/6r lift, 52cm stance width. I feel comfortable on the board just standing there on flat ground, once I'm on any kind of incline, Im like Bambi, arms flailing on 1/2 my turns. I got a really bad tune on a board i knew i could ride but after it got "tuned" i couldn't turn the thing it sucked. Might be something to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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