Balance

[Boots]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the board but I've been lurking for a while. I made the conversion about 5 years ago and for the most part love it. But one thing that I've had a hard time solving is getting the weight off my front leg. I'm riding sidewinders with 3 degree plates front and back with a touch of outward cant. I feel like most of my weight is on my front leg and very little supported by my back leg.

Has anyone else had this issue and have a recommendation to help balance

my weight more? Ive got a zero degree plate that I put on my front binding (I read this on one of the setup articles), but while carpet surfing it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Im ona A prior 4wd and ride all over.

Thanks,

Boots

[davekempmeister]

hi boots. no advice here but i noticed you're in D.C. if you get to whitetail on occasion, i hope to meet you. fwiw, i feel just the opposite about my riding so maybe if you ride with me and emulate the sit back style a little, it'll compensate.

[Buell]

Try the 0 degree cant disc on the back foot. With the 3 degrees of toe lift on the front foot.

[charliechocolate]

What is your stance width? How much setback do you have? I found that I had the problem where front leg was essentially dead weight if my stance was too wide.

[Boots]

Dave, I'd would like to meet up. I'm in CO for the next two weekends. I'll send you an e-mail.

[Boots]

My stance width is 18.5"+/-, and I'm 5'6". While carpet surfing I was thinking of moving the 3 degree plate to the front foot, but I placed the 0 degree on the front based on this:

: https://bomberonline.3dcartstores.com/Choosing-Cants_ep_53-1.html - second to last paragraph.

I'm on my way to CO for a week now. I can play some with the setup, but I was hoping someone had the same issue before and could help me narrow down the amount of tweaking I needed to do. I have been able to figure out how to get a more balance stance since I started.

[Buell]

My stance width is 18.5"+/-, and I'm 5'6". While carpet surfing I was thinking of moving the 3 degree plate to the front foot, but I placed the 0 degree on the front based on this:

: https://bomberonline.3dcartstores.com/Choosing-Cants_ep_53-1.html - second to last paragraph.

I'm on my way to CO for a week now. I can play some with the setup, but I was hoping someone had the same issue before and could help me narrow down the amount of tweaking I needed to do. I have been able to figure out how to get a more balance stance since I started.

Try both to know what works for you. You have described a current issue you are having as getting weight off you front foot. It could be a more significant technique issue but a zero degree disc will likely put more weight forward than toe lift. Use lift to adjust where your weight distribution between your legs. If you want weight off the front leg, increase the front toe lift or decrease the rear heel lift. That will shift you back.

[Boots]

Try both to know what works for you. You have described a current issue you are having as getting weight off you front foot. It could be a more significant technique issue but a zero degree disc will likely put more weight forward than toe lift. Use lift to adjust where your weight distribution between your legs. If you want weight off the front leg, increase the front toe lift or decrease the rear heel lift. That will shift you back.

Thanks, I'll give it a go both ways and see which feels better.

[BobD]

You might check the forward lean on the front boot. Most people need very little lean on the front, but more on the rear boot. A riser under the front binding can help as well.

[Jonny]

You might try moving the whole setup a bit more forward on the board - maybe go a full inch further forward with your front foot and half an inch with your back foot - 18.5 is pretty narrow which is incredibly cool if you're on the sweetspot of the board but incredibly tiring if you aren't.

[lafcadio]

I've been plagued with this exact problem for years. It took me a long time to realize many issues with my riding were all related to too much wight on my front foot.

Is this something you only feel while riding hardboots with your current setup? What about when riding a softie setup on a free-ride board (if you do that)?

For me, I had to look at both my setup and technique.

For setup: try adding toe lift to front foot, removing heel lift form rear foot, or both. I could not remove heel lift without discomfort, so I went with adding toe lift. If you only have a zero and three degree cant disc for the TD3s, try switching them (3 in front, 0 in back) as Buell suggested. You may find that no lift on the rear foot is not comfortable, in which case you may need another 3 or even a 6 degree disc.

For technique: look at the Practice Drills here. Especially the Look ma, no hands drill. If you can't place your hands behind your back, try placing them on your hips or thighs. With your hands and arms out of the picture, you will be forced to get into a more balanced position. This did wonders for my riding and I immediately found my weight shifted to a more centered stance.

Also, a good mental image of where your weight needs to be helps. Think about everything happening between your feet (between the bindings). On heel side turn, concentrate on keeping the pressure on the front heel, but no further forward. On toe side turn, concentrate on keeping the pressure on the back toe. Sometimes talking to myself helps as I make turns (front heel, rear toe... front heel, rear toe...)

Edited January 14, 2013 by lafcadio

[Boots]

First, i want to thank everyone for the responses.

Lafcadio, i havent rode soft since i converted. I went all or nothing on it. My prevous soft setup was balanced. On my heels i was on my front heel; on my toes i was leaning into my boot cuff on my rear foot. I could always shift my weight front to back. I started my hard boots with 3 degrees front and back and i've stayed there since, mostly playing with angles and boot lean. But I was always heavily weighted to my front foot and i couldn't shift my weight back like i used to on my soft setup. The article you linked is actually what got me to my first full lay down carves last rear. Ill be running through some of those again tomorrow.

If i can figure out my weight balance I'll try increasing my stance width.

I was out yesterday and went out with the 0 disk on my front and the 3 disk on the rear. I'm also in a new pair of boots and didnt install the BTS so i could quickly change boot lean. I started with the boot lean nuetral, lean mech. At 3 front and rear, but it wasn't right. So in keeping with trying to shift my weight rear I reduced the lean on the front boot. This felt balanced over both feet, but i found i couldn't bend my knees any more so i was riding stiff. I added 1 click boot lean to front and back, 3 on front and 2 on back. I could engage my knees again and was carving well but still heavy on the front foot, but not as bad as my previous setup. I think I added high boot lean through my BTS.

I'm going to swap the cant plates tomorrow, 3 degee front & 0 degree back. Intuitively this is what i was thinking, but the bomber article went opposite so i figured i would start there.

Thanks for the feedback. And I am open to more experience.

Boots