Neil Gendzwill Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 Testing out my new rig at the local pimple. Jones Flagship 162W, Burton Ion, Burton Genesis X. Toesides feel ok, heelsides still iffy. I think my upper body is rotating too far out of habit. +9/+24 https://imgur.com/a/oMVfw3L 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carvin' Marvin Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 30 years between softies is quite the record! You should see a doctor for any "stiffness" lasting more than 4 hours. 2 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugboater Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I know I can't remember that far back, but how are you finding the new softie gear? I'm debating if I should steal my son's skis now that he's away at college or grab a soft boot setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noschoolrider Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 On 1/3/2020 at 7:27 PM, Neil Gendzwill said: I think my upper body is rotating too far Good self-analysis. Here are some suggestions: When turning on heelside, try to keep the palm of your front hand over the heelside edge - use that as a mental and visual reminder to stop over rotating your upper body and hips. Don't fight your binding angles! The goal is to have more/enough weight on the back foot to allow the tail of the board to carve/track like when riding hard boots. When balanced and carving on the heelside edge and you feel the need to tighten the turn use/create subtle rotary/steering with your knees/ankles/feet instead of gross/exaggerated movements from your shoulders/arms/hips. When you get dialed-in at carving on soft boots then you might want to try incorporating those subtle/efficient carving movements into your hard boot carving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 Thanks, I note from the vid my front hand is way past the heel edge. I was considering a more forward stance but I think I want to try to make this work. 9/24 is in the ballpark of what several of the older pros run. If it’s good enough for Jeremy Jones... Tugboater it is still pretty early to judge: this was a half-day at a short prairie hill with maybe 200’ of vertical and conditions were man-made hard pack. The last soft bindings I rode were the Sims ones from 1987 that came with my 1710 Blade, and I was running Sorels with ski boot liners. I think most soft booters would find the Genesis bindings too stiff but I thought they were fine. As I go on I’ll probably want more forward lean than they can give, they are maxed out right now. The Ions are pretty much what I wanted, stiff enough to work with but still softer than my hard boots by quite a bit especially laterally. I found the combination pretty comfortable. My soft boot carving skills will need to improve considerably before the Flagship is the limiting factor. I didn’t find the top end on it at that little hill. Looking forward to getting it more into its element at Big White later this month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 I started out as a soft-booter (not carving). I tried for many years to get into hardbooting. I worked and worked and worked at it. When the snow conditions were perfect and the slope not too steep, I could link some turns together. When one of these conditions changed, I got scared and my form fell apart. About 3 years ago I switched back to softbooting (but attempting to carve this time). I got a carve specific softboot board. I doubt that I will ever get as low as the good hardbooters here but I feel much more relaxed and can carve pretty well in most conditions. The biggest difference I feel between hard and soft is the boot angles. Having my feet more across the board and driving forward with my knees and backward with my butt seems more natural to me. How do you find the transition from feet/knees forward to feet/knees sideways? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 The more sideways stance is fine on toeside. There it’s just going to be confidence that I can attack it harder, right now I’m just cruising around on the sidecut. It’s on the heelside where I have trouble adjusting: my instincts are to drive the sides of my knees into the hill. I just need more snow time to figure it out. I’ve just had a dozen runs on a teeny hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 another word for Slop is Play...the Edge is what does it...regardless HB or SB HB have very little Slop, SB have too much Play, the boards are softer and shorter typically with SB, to get the same effective edge, exaggeration becomes reality, either you control the Stick or it controls you applies to both SB and HB just another opinion based on observations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Edges Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 "Be vewy carefuwl... We're hunting softbootahs." (apologies to Elmer J) It is a slippery slope. One year your picking up a used Amplid and some 'Mutes to see what the fuss is all about. The next year there is a hammer head leaning on the wall next to it and your wondering which of the GS boards you can live without... Sure there is a loss of precision, but now you can carve the same runs and the hits and hips on the side of the run come into play. Consider yourself warned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 20 minutes ago, Rusty Edges said: but now you can carve the same runs and the hits and hips on the side of the run come into play. I don't see why they wouldn't be in play, if one rode a versatile HB setup... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 The hard boots aren’t what is preventing me from launching the hits and hips. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.