Heel Side Woes

[BlueB]

Good write up John.

However, it sunds that in many sentences the "perpendicular to the fall line" you actually ment "parallel to the fall line" or "in the fall line", and "past the fall line" in some?

Edited February 7, 2013 by Jack Michaud
Removed quote of John's entire post.

[BlueB]

What if you have a heelside problem and hang on to racetechnique, which isn't rotating but just moving up and down using your legs/knees?

Very good question Hans!

[John Gilmour]

.

Fixed it.

I use the term across the hill and down the hill.

Thanks Blue B!

Edited February 6, 2013 by John Gilmour

[benno]

Hi barryj, hope you don't mind me posting here but I have the same issue as you sometimes.

I've read some good advice in here and I think I'm not using my back hand on the heelside like I should.

Here's some pics:

There's a

too if you're interested.

Anyone have some advice or tips for me?

I'm so jealous of all you people headed for SES... I'm sweating in a Brisbane summer right now. Off to J

[Puddy Tat]

To me the video was more useful than the stills. On your heelside your rear arm lags behind you this results in a somewhat toilet sitting position, leaving your chest not rotating into the turn.

What helped me, and made my heelsides much stronger than my toesides, was that I took the hand that was on the inside of the turn (right for you on heelside and left for you on toeside) and put it on my front knee (your left knee in this case). On heelsides you'll be touching the inside of your front knee and the outside of your front knee on toesides. On heelside this is your rear hand coming forward, forcing you to rotate your chest into the turn, in order to put your hand on your knee. Anytime you feel yourself chattering out mentally check where your hand is there is a good chance it's not on your knee and is up and back. I'll edit this post and add a picture of the positions tomorrow.

This made an immediate difference in my riding. Basically as soon as i started doing this i was able to put my hip on the snow on pretty much any heelside that I wanted to commit to.

Now that my toesides are weak compared to my heelsides I'm working on trying to stop touching the snow on toeside turns as I recently realized it is pulling my shoulders out of an optimal position, reducing my angulation and is contributing to weaker toesides.

Dave

The shot currently in my Avatar was taken in January 2012 before Darcy gave me this same advice and shows my rear arm in a bad position. Because my arm is up and towards the rear you'll notice my chest isn't really rotated into the turn. The picture actually bears a pretty close resemblance to your heelside in your second picture.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Puddy Tat

[benno]

Thanks for that tip Dave, I'll give that a crack in Japan and let you all know how I get on.

[Rob Stevens]

Awwww.

That vid proved Steve P right. Dammit! So much for my "No friends on a POV day" theory. The reverse angle attached to the board works well!

Anyhow, I figured the OP might have the same issue, so I'll step in here with Benno's...

I'm going to leave the rotation and hand position stuff out of it. I've learned that while both are solid visual cues to let you know where you may be in a rotation phase, it's not indicating where you're at in terms of hip angulation, where I think the solution (problem) lies.

Because it's easy to generate edge angle by dropping the hip to the snow, riders will do this excessively. If you're edging at high edge angles, you can expect some chatter, especially if you're static at that angle for a time, just riding the rail. You're really at the limit of the boards capability when it's tilted over that far.

Sure... You might say, "but I'm edging that hard on my toes", and you probably are, but you have ankle flexibility to absorb it, so the chatter gets "tuned out".

On the heels, if your hip is that low, when the board starts to chatter, you have no ability to absorb, except in your knees. You might find that those are pretty straight too, because that's generally what happens when someone drops their hit to the snow like that.

Excessive ritation only makes it worse. Turn your torso a bunch and watch what happens to your front leg... It straightens.

So... How do you tighen up the radius without more edge angle? Pressure control.

Especially on heelside, where you don't have the benefit of ankles for absorbtion, you have to regulate your edge angle more carefully so you don't over-do it.

The back foot pivot is what I do.

Entering into the turn, I'll add edge as most do, but towards the apex, I won't just let my hip drop to the snow, but keep internally rotated (hips higher and in line with the body more, using abdominal strength... There is NO SUBSTITUTE for core strength). This is where pressure comes into it. I'll apply a downward force to my rear heel, while lifting my front foot to a higher line. I'm also looking across the hill, rather than down, selecting a target at the side of the mountain I'm trying to aim the nose of the board at.

Rather than trying to rotate my body and hope the board will follow, I'm keeping my body more aligned, using less edge angle and pressing off the back foot, raising the front, moving the nose to a higher line. It's almost like a skateboard ollie in slow motion.

Through using the legs independently, you're creating a turning force in the location that actually does something. Upper body rotation does have an effect, but at a point it becomes useless or counter-productive.

This is very useful for racing, as you stay more stacked in the body. Do you need it for freeriding? No. Heavy hip anguation is fine, so long as the snow is good. That's what's so great about freeriding... You're free to ride the mint groomers. In a race, you have to ride what's there. By "what's there" I mean "what's left", as the course is probably haggard by the time you get to it.

In snow that's going to make you chatter getting all hippy like that, just don't do it. Keep the hips higher, using less edge and better pressure control between the feet.

A great way to make it impossible to edge too much, while getting better at "steering" your board to the line you want through independent leg action is to commit the crime of riding your alpine board in powder. You won't be able to edge heavily, or you'll fall over, forcing you to use other tactics.

[floBoot]

I can't contribute tips, as i'm learning..my biggest issue has been toe-side woes.However, after reading this thread a few days ago..it took me hours as I had to picture this all in reverse..my heel to toe-side started to come together last Saturday. Strange how I'd been trying for Weeks, then things suddenly happen. I'm not properly carving but i'm getting on the toe-edge quicker and more naturally..it's a start.

So thanks to those that keep posting advice:1luvu: