Switching? Incredible...

[Ian M]

So, here's my funny 'don't try this at home' story :rolleyes:...

I thought, because snowboarding is asymmetrical and because it would give me great teaching insights, that I should switch to goofy this season. I've learned to play ping-pong and mouse left-handed, and picked up skiing really easily. So, when our local bumps opened a few runs this weekend, I headed out with my stance mirrored to goofy.

What followed were the most humbling and challenging three hours of sport in my life. Side-slipping took some time to straighten out; I couldn't even do that right away. (Did manage to get off the chairlift fine every time, though) Twice after sliding off the side of the run I made conscious choices to take a deep breath and start again rather than to scream expletives at the top of my lungs. After three hours of serious effort, I made one run of linked turns down the hill. They weren't even very smooth. So, my estimate at the end of those three hours was that it would take me approximately... four seasons to get very good at carving goofy; give or take half a season. Hmmm.....

Yesterday I really needed to experience some joy on a board again (read: rebuild my demolished ego), so I headed to another local bump in the rain on my way to a friend's Christmas party. Now I was even doubting whether I'd remember how to ride regular; what a mind-f#*$! I rode up, strapped in, and made exactly two sliding turns before dropping my CofG and hammering carve after carve.... yes - what a feeling! The familiar sense of empowerment and limitless fun was overwhelming, and I actually teared up on the lift as I expressed thanks to the universe for this incredible joy that is carving. <3 <3 <3 WOW.

I hope you guys get a good laugh out of this; it truly was a gong show. I'm curious, though... does anyone know a rider who has pulled this off? If not, what's the worst idea you've ever had for something to try on your carving board??

Wishing everyone an awesome season,

Ian :D

[tex1230]

The story of Shawn White...

When he was young, His mother was scared of how fast he would ride down the hill so she told him he was not allowed to snowboard forward anymore - only fakie (switch? I get confused with what the kids call it now)...

So id you pull it off you're following in some serious shoes.

[Donek]

I've been wanting to try this for years Ian. I'm concerned I'd mess myself up so bad, I'd never ride again. You've made the leap. I bet if you tried again, the second trip wouldn't be so bad.

[forrest]

I tried this once years ago. It was the most singular painful set of runs I have ever taken. You know that awful pain when you are first learning and your legs just don't like the way you are trying to use them? That was all I felt each run, its bad enough when you are learning but I was able to ride and knew there was a way around the pain but I couldn't find it for the life of me. I think it would be an interesting thing to do when you are working on teaching someone new as it brings you back to that level so you won't get bored sitting on your ass and running greens all day.

Perhaps this will be the year I try it again

[lafcadio]

Ian, that's an awesome story. Some of us have enough problems getting down the hill without the additional challenge of reversing our stance. :o But, I'm with Sean, I bet if you kept at it, you'd see huge improvements and leaps forward.

Out of curiosity, how do you do carving switch (i.e. riding backwards using your normal stance)? I've yet to be able to link a carved turn riding switch.

[C5 Golfer]

At my age I better not try.. I have trouble going to a freinds house when the toliet is on the goofy side of the shower.

[Puddy Tat]

I'm a goofy footer and had the same experience as you when I switched boards with a regular footer a couple of years ago. I'm sorry to say for those two runs we made alpine look incredibly lame.

What I found really interesting was that while I could actually comfortably ride switch-goofy (but not carve switch-goofy) on a hardboot deck set up goofy at 60F/55R, I couldn't do anything on an alpine deck set up as regular-footed at the same angles. Weird.

I wonder if you used alot of visualization techniques prior to going out if it would help the ability to ride in that position? I found learning to ride switch in softies required me to sit down close my eyes and visualize what it would actually feel like to ride that way.

Then again why even bother to do this on an alpine board, or any board with a heavily biased directional stance unless you actually want to ride with the other foot both forward and pointed forward (effectively goofy for you). That is to say if you are riding in a regular-footed directional stance then riding switch-regular is not the same as riding goofy because your feet are pointed in the wrong direction. Therefore a completely different set of muscle memories should be required to ride switch-regular for you than would be required to ride goofy.

Sorry if that last paragraph is confusing. For yourself regular would be correct leg forward and toes pointed in the normal direction of travel for you, switch-regular would be the wrong leg forward and toes pointed opposite of the direction of travel, goofy would be wrong leg forward but toes pointed in the direction of travel.

That's my take on it anyways.

Cheers,

Dave

edit: Sorry re-read your post and realized you actually were trying to learn to ride goofy rather than switch. You should definitely keep at it as goofy footers inherently have a better sense of style.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Puddy Tat

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Every few years I would come to the same conclusion? "How hard could it be, right". Then I get pounded. At a point that I can't take these risks just for a challenge/laugh. I am afraid I planned to ride a number of odd snowboard rarities too, probably won't happen at this point in life. Good on ya for giving it a go Ian!!. Only way to make this post better is VIDEO :)

[two_ravens]

When I took my boyfriend out for his first day on a board (softies) he was worried that I would be bored riding the beginner lift, so I switched my stance to help level the playing field. I figured he'd get a kick out of seeing me be a beginner for awhile and I'd be thoroughly entertained. It was absolutely the single most difficult day I've ever had on a board. I was very surprised to find that the only way I could make vaguely competent and controlled turns was to ride backward (fakie). So... fakie and switch, riding the direction that felt like 'forward' but with my feet pointed uphill. I never did feel in control just riding switch, I had to turn the board around to safely avoid killing other people. The spectacle generated a great number of comments from the peanut gallery on the chairlift.... :D My boyfriend BTW had a great time, ended the day riding MUCH better than me, and was forever scared off from hardboots as he decided it must be a REALLY hard sport to learn if I couldn't do even one good run swtich after a full day of trying......

Good on you Ian for giving it a go! And I agree completely with your estimate of a 4 season learning curve.:eek:

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Sort of related. So , I roll up to the lift bottom. Load with a spunky young gal. Note that she has her front foot out while loading. On closer observation I find she has been riding her board backwards all day!!!!!! I point out that perhaps she might want to reset the bindings to match her riding preference. She was biased heavily and it was really strange. She was so much fun I stayed with her and swapped her around. TOTALLY fkd her up. Ended up putting it back the way it was accept changing the leash so she could take out the back foot. This meant she had very little board in front of the front binding and allot of board behind the rear. All goes to show you can "get used to" something and it becomes the "Normal".

Enjoy! Bryan

Damn, too bad her boyfriend was in the lodge. She was a blast (and a ginger)

Edited December 4, 2012 by www.oldsnowboards.com

[Corey]

Bravo, I've also thought about trying that but never had the guts to do it.

[lowrider]

Old enough to know better. Still game to try it. We have free medical care. What's the correlation are most left handed people goofy? Don't all goofy riders mouse with their right hand ?

[Gabe T]

I hope you guys get a good laugh out of this; it truly was a gong show. I'm curious, though... does anyone know a rider who has pulled this off? If not, what's the worst idea you've ever had for something to try on your carving board??

I think it may have been a better laugh if there was some accompanying video.:D

So I had the same thoughts of trying it last year but haven't done it yet. I set up an old Coiler with a regular stance with a spare set of bindings late last season. (I ride goofy) Took it to the hill but it never made it out of the car. Had I tried it last year, I'm guessing my experience would have sounded very similar to yours.

Will definitely try it this year once conditions are right. Despite not having tried it on the alpine board, I'm feeling a bit more confident ... reason being is that I spent some time on a longboard over the summer and learned how to ride and push regular with a decent level of comfort. I wanted to learn a few basic tricks and figured that feeling comfortable going in both directions was pretty much a necessity. Getting used to riding regular was one of the first things I worked on. I definitely recall riding the opposite way feeling very foreign and incredibly awkward at first.

The longboard was a lot of fun. I never skateboarded as a kid or had any tricks in my bag prior to this; I found learning some of this very challenging. This was shot the last time I rode this season.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/50BGaVTsqtY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Will post an update (and maybe even a video) when I give it a go on the alpine board. :)

Gabe

[Puddy Tat]

I spent some time on a longboard over the summer and learned how to ride and push regular with a decent level of comfort. I wanted to learn a few basic tricks and figured that feeling comfortable going in both directions was pretty much a necessity. Getting used to riding regular was one of the first things I worked on. I definitely recall riding the opposite way feeling very foreign and incredibly awkward at first.

Nice riding. You're far better after one season than I am after a couple of years of riding. I got into distance riding this summer and had to learn to sort of ride and kick regular for skogging up hills. I'd pump goofy and then switch back and forth between kicking goofy and kicking regular to climb hills as it helped prevent burnout of my quads. First time I tried to ride the board with a regular stance I was glad I was wearing padding.

The distance riding and pumping has been discussed elsewhere on the forum but by the end of the season I was hitting 38k of continuous riding (which is nothing for the LDP nuts on pavedwave.org but I was pretty happy with it).

Dave

[Neil Gendzwill]

Old enough to know better. Still game to try it. We have free medical care. What's the correlation are most left handed people goofy? Don't all goofy riders mouse with their right hand ?

There's no correlation I'm aware of. I am strongly right handed and strongly goofy.

[kieran]

i gave it a shot and didn't find it much more of a challenge than riding goofy. i don't have particularly good muscle memory however — if i miss 2 days in the swimming pool it seems to take forever to get my stroke back.

what i recall about riding regular is that the strong turn direction i have riding goofy was also the same riding regular, which is to say turning left. regular toeside felt a bit unstable, as much as my goofy heelside does.

probably something to do with flexibility. or maybe magnetics.

Edited December 4, 2012 by kieran

[Hilux]

I ride regular and I've always wanted to try goofy myself and have thought it would be okay as my "logic" is as follows. In baseball I can (used to anyway) bat switch, and with skateboarding I'm mongo, that is I push with my right foot but my left foot is positioned on the back of the board. However I still prefer (when coasting) to be regular stance. FYI I'm right-handed, kick right, golf/hockey left. I wonder if this would have any effect ie my brain would provide the appropriate signaling to my muscles to perform such a task as riding goofy; or if there are any goofy riders that perform the previously mentioned tasks the same way I do?

Ian, I believe you should disclose and/or clarify the rest of the details on how courageous an effort this was on your part. For those who didn't know, it was Ian's FIRST time out this season. Even when I was skiing regularly I was worried that I wouldn't remember what I was doing the first time out and this feeling was amplified when I picked up alpine riding. Secondly, Ian was using a "vintage" Sims 167 glass board that I don't even think he's been on in a couple years if I remember correctly. Either way, great attempt Ian and perhaps you'll try it again once your "regular" legs are attuned to the slopes.

[lafcadio]

But it will be so awesome once you finally pull it off. Princess Bride anyone?

[Ian M]

You're right guys, I should have let Tabby take some video. It would be funny to see goofy and regular footage from the two days back to back; you wouldn't even think it was the same sport let alone rider :P

I bet if you tried again, the second trip wouldn't be so bad.

I think you're right Sean, but I just couldn't wait that long to rip fast and have such fun again!

What I found really interesting was that while I could actually comfortably ride switch-goofy (but not carve switch-goofy) on a hardboot deck set up goofy at 60F/55R, I couldn't do anything on an alpine deck set up as regular-footed at the same angles. Weird.

I wonder if you used alot of visualization techniques prior to going out if it would help the ability to ride in that position? I found learning to ride switch in softies required me to sit down close my eyes and visualize what it would actually feel like to ride that way.

I found this too, Puddy Tat. It seems to me that the majority of our stability and directional control at low speeds are achieved by positioning our weight correctly fore/aft on the board, and when your stance is reversed you're fighting your muscle memory the whole time. I did a lot of visualization before I tried this, and it was far far easier in my mind :P

Ian, I believe you should disclose and/or clarify the rest of the details on how courageous an effort this was on your part. For those who didn't know, it was Ian's FIRST time out this season. Even when I was skiing regularly I was worried that I wouldn't remember what I was doing the first time out and this feeling was amplified when I picked up alpine riding. Secondly, Ian was using a "vintage" Sims 167 glass board that I don't even think he's been on in a couple years if I remember correctly. Either way, great attempt Ian and perhaps you'll try it again once your "regular" legs are attuned to the slopes.

Thanks Hilux, but I don't think it matters that it was my first day. The second day shows clearly that I never lost my carving legs, I was tearing it up on that Sims! It's a good (rock) board; rides like a softer Factory Prime with better manners.

[Allee]

I tried this at Fernie at the end of the season two years ago, on the bunny hill in melting corn snow. Half an hour later I was drenched and had to call it quits.

Dave, I have the same problem as you. I can link carved turns riding switch on the soft board, and I cheat and ride the alpine board backwards through moguls quite happily, but I canoot ride regular to save my life. Is it mental, do you think? ( I suspect I'm already mental, but I can't speak for you.:) )

[GeoffV]

The only person I know that rips riding switch is Jörg. I am trying to recall the story (maybe someone that knows a little more history of Jörg can help clarify)

Jörg use to ski race and if I recall this correctly had a knee injury that forced him to ride goofy vs. regular. Just imagine how good Jörg would be if he actually rode with his dominate foot forward?

Ian, I've always wanted to try this, I may now actually try this at our local bump.

[Ian M]

^ Agreed Allee and Dave; switch on a softie is much more manageable. I did a fair bit of softie switch for my L2 course, my rig then was set up duck and it felt much easier. My only thought is that the stance is much more restrictive on a carving set-up, so it limits how you move your weight around on the board as well as your rotation. When I made a few very slow sliding turns once I was back to regular on Sunday, I found that I had to use some counter-rotation to effect them whereas on a freestyle setup I could make the same turns without counter-rotation.

That's a good point Dave that your muscle memories are more applicable when the stance doesn't change; like riding switch, duck.

[Ian M]

The only person I know that rips riding switch is Jörg. I am trying to recall the story (maybe someone that knows a little more history of Jörg can help clarify)

Jörg use to ski race and if I recall this correctly had a knee injury that forced him to ride goofy vs. regular. Just imagine how good Jörg would be if he actually rode with his dominate foot forward?

Ian, I've always wanted to try this, I may now actually try this at our local bump.

Try it out, Geoff, it'll rock your world :P I'll ask Jörg about that in February when he's over in Quebec!

[Tabatha]

I was there and I was told I could only laugh once - I used it when Ian tried to rotate the board at the top of the hill and fell over! It was hillarious. But Ian did really well ... I didn't have to wait long at the bottom of the lift at all and he was actually far more up-beat and far less angry the whole time than I expected. He looked better and far more in control that the very first time I tried a carving board.

In watching the attempt I actually think it was muscle memory in where and when to shift weight. Watching him it looked like his weight was way to far back because he was used to weighting his left foot. But what do I know - Ian taught me almost everything I know!

I may or may not have video ... Although I was sworn to secrecy and informed that "it never happened". It happened. Maybe we can convince him to try it just once more, it was nice riding the lift with another goofy!

[Bobby Buggs]

Gabe, your vid shows us why you can rip on your alpine board. Nice stuff right there.

I have thought about this switching but have not done it yet, **** I have a tough time just staying on a unfamiliar board long enough to figure it out never mind struggling to ride wrong footed.

If you have the patients remember what the usual rule of learning this is, or what mine was to my friends. Its called the 3 days of Hell. The first 3 days are spent learning what Not to do, by the 3rd day you usually are moving up the ladder and the smiles come at a rapid pace. Knowing this Im still just too impatient to give up 3 days of smiles. If you are able to spend the time to master it and overcome the 3 days imagine how much more powerful a rider you could become.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Bobby Buggs