Improvement critique

[kentonharman]

I'm interested to hear ideas about how to improve my technique.  Here's a video from today on hard snow where I often feel I'm sliding the turns.

https://youtu.be/eLFJFkI5PC8

 

Thanks

Edited February 2, 2020 by kentonharman

[dgCarve]

I am sure some good riders give you more detailed answers...

I want to point one thing. To me it looks like you do angulation at heel edge but on toe edge you do inclination. On toe edge try to push knees down first rest of the body follows. Try to keep body more vertical.

[lowrider]

You must transition more quickly from edge to edge while traversing the fall line. Main thing i noticed but didn't watch a lot of the video ( i'm on the equivalent of dial -up ). Along with that the usual fore aft balance angulation etc. 
Audio tells me your riding boiler plate in this video so don't beat yourself up too much getting every turn to be perfect.

[Bobby Buggs]

Theres allot of good here, might want to stop staying so tall and ride with more flex in your knees and ankles, lets you connect to the terrain better.  On hard stuff I always stay closer to my board, allows for better correction on ice and variable surfaces and if you go down its not that far Very little bad happens when your close to yer board. After 20 years my mistakes come when I stand up tall. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Bobby Buggs

[Jonny]

I agree with the comments above and would add that you're actually initiating both sides with a skid, which makes it harder to hook up hard later. Try riding under a lift on a gentle slope and see if you can commit to the new edge really early - somewhere right around 90° to the fall line (or even earlier if you're turning up into the hill for speed control). You'll think you're going to fall to the inside of the turn but you won't. If you're doing it your tracks will show a hard line on the old inside edge and then a hard line right away on the new edge, separated by only a board length of neutral.

[philw]

I just watched the first bit, which suggests that you need to bend your knees more. I know it's a worn concept, but honest, that's the thing.

[Carvin' Marvin]

Like the others guys said.  Initiate your turns starting in your feet, then your knees, then hips, then finally your upper body.  That will help to get you up on edge faster and in the carve.  The board should be getting tipped on edge well before you move your upper body across that fast.  Keep that C.O.G. over your edge and yeah, bend your knees.

 

 

[JRAZZ]

As a beginner too I don't think I can give you good advice but I will tell you what doesn't work. All this "bend your knees" advice, while true, is really unhelpful. For me it caused me to focus on my knees. In addition I was told to "stomp the front foot" to get the carve going. Again, unhelpful. I would stomp my foot dutifully by applying pressure, the turn would start but my weight would shift back and I would slide out.

Instead try this: Ride Small (all credit to Big Mario). Keep your mind on your center of gravity and try to keep it over the front. This sliding out as far as I can tell is because you weight the back of the board. If you keep your COG on the front of the board and "ride small" it will slide less, turn better, and your knees will be bent to boot

And btw, I think your board choice, while fun, might not be the best to learn on. That thing wants to release and go. I had one and going to a board with a tighter radius (especially at the tail) really helped. 

[jng]

Any reason why your front foot angle is so steep? Shallower angles will make toesides easier to initiate. 

[barryj]

Not bad for such hardpack.   I'd say get small(er) and commit more to the turn...which is hard to do on that boilerplate, means you will need sunney/softer conditions to get bold and comfortable committing to the turn. 

I would like to know your boot/board/binding/angles/lift/cant choices

Next if we could see your style on some sunny softer conditions  we'd be able to give even more usefull feedback.

Keep at it!

[slapos]

hi there kenton,

imho you overrotate your upper body, which leads your board into a skid - i.e. backside 0:21

on front side you do not push down enough with your back knee to initiate the turn, thus the board has little angle on the snow.

Couple people in the forum already pointed out that you do not work with your knees enough. 

check out this vid closely :

 

 

 these guys do not rotate, just work they knees and angulate.

 

My advise for you :

1 bend the knees much more.

2 reach with the hand thats outside of the turn toward the boot. you ride goofy therefore : on heelside go with your left hand towards the rear boot. on toeside go with your right hand towards the right boot.

3 do not reach for the snow

4 do not overrotate the turns. Rotation is only good if you are aiming for extreme carving style

5 your hands should not cross the nose of the board. left hand at left edge, right hand at right edge

good luck!

[Bobby Buggs]

Wish I had that hip flexion, Love the hard commitment to the next edge. Nothing better then dropping onto your toeside down hill edge early and waiting for it to catch up. Love that feeling.  

[BlueB]

Actually, very good work on hard pack!

I can not confirm, as I can't really see the tracks, but your turns do seem to start with a small, very precisely controlled skid. There is a bit of rotation and somewhat tall stance, but not too bad and neither should be really too counterproductive... You can experiment on reducing those and see what happens. 

The weight is actually a bit too much on the front foot, allowing for the sideways push onto the rear. The rear foot action also seem to be lagging a bit after the front. I'd try to really commit to equal pressure and unison tipping action of both feet. Don't try to turn the board, just commit to placing it high on the edge, early with both feet: "tip and rip". It will set the edge and turn by itself. That being said, a board with tighter tail sidecut than one you ride, could help. But don't obsess about it, you surely can make that one work too - you look like a strong rider. 

Have fun. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by BlueB

[TimW]

Agree with BlueB and others, most important thing is initiation, get rid of that skid. 

The other thing I noticed is you ride with quite a lot of speed, does not make it easier. Guess the inclination of the run and the snow conditions also make you need that skid to control your speed. I'd suggest to work on the initiation on a mellow slope to get the confidence to tip it on the edge, and once you get to the pencil lines slowly go to steeper slopes. 

Getting low, bending the knees, etc. , while definitely helping control, is not critical to me. You can also carve hard more upright. For now I would focus my mind on the initiation and not on getting low, one thing at a time. 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by TimW

[ursle]

As you are cutting 90 degrees to the fall line on your rear edge, not fast, get off the rear edge and on the front edge, in a straight line, weight the edge, tip it up and ride it, the sooner you weight it the sooner it will start your carve, ride it don't slide it, you're going to be going fully from one side of the trail to the other, wait for the board to turn, it will, then when you're going 90 degrees to the fall line on your front edge, switch to the rear edge, going straight and weight it, take your time, carving hard snow-ice takes perfect balance and timing, and initiating the carve is the first step.

In your minds eye, yes start the turn with your feet, but picture the edge in your mind, let it grip, the turns will be large to start but as you build up speed and get the board higher on edge the turns will become crisp.

You might find your setup will keep you from getting small, rear heel lift greatly lessens body tension for smallness.

Yes, racers take a straight line to the gate slide their board to the turn angle then weight the board, it's faster, and after you feel a weighted edge that will be an option, but starting with a pure carve might be the way to go. 

[Beckmann AG]

22 hours ago, kentonharman said:

on hard snow I often feel I'm sliding the turns.

...Because you are. 

 

1. You're generally front foot biased.

2. Your edge change mechanics can be characterized as 'secure edge, rotate torso, release edge, pivot board, try to secure edge'.

3. Your transitions involve up-unweighting.

4. None of the above are advisable for where you are at in your skill development; nor for the terrain, or the predominant turn size.

5. All of them will produce or contribute to skid.

Resolve the above and your sliding should subside.

 

 

Good luck winnowing.

[SunSurfer]

Erik has told you above what you need to eliminate.

He has written what to replace it with.

http://beckmannag.com/hardboot-snowboarding/snowboarding-a-practical-manual/08-versatility
http://beckmannag.com/hardboot-snowboarding/snowboarding-a-practical-manual/09-edging
http://beckmannag.com/hardboot-snowboarding/snowboarding-a-practical-manual/10-balancing
http://beckmannag.com/hardboot-snowboarding/snowboarding-a-practical-manual/11crossover

and onwards, PTO.

[kentonharman]

Thank you everyone for your tips.  I will start to work on these things starting this weekend.  I appreciate your help.

[SunSurfer]

Most of us have skidded the same path in the past. Remember to have fun.

[Rob Stevens]

This is pretty common stuff here. 
You’re going fast, so at the end of your turn, forces are generated which “pop you up”. You may also even be trying to extend yourself to be taller (up unweighting as Erik calls it). Combine this with rotation into the new turn and you’re actually doing what I’d recommend to anyone who wanted to slide the turn. For free riding in the steeps, your current technique is pretty good. 
 If you want to carve the whole turn, focus on where that actually happens, which is under the feet. 
 At a moderate speed, carve across the hill. When you want to change edges, focus on a feeling under your back foot where the weight of your body transitions from toe to heel, or heel to toe. Don’t think about anything else. Just that feeling of your weight shifting across your back foot. With all that weight back there (plus you not moving up and away from the board, or twisting your body into the turn) and you’ll pretty much automatically carve. 
 The rest of you is fine enough to not fall over when you do this because your balance looks good. 
 You’re just trying to eliminate moves that aren’t doing anything, or worse, something you don’t want. You can reintroduce unweighting and rotating once you’ve more effectively learned to control the board with your feet better. 

Edited February 5, 2020 by Rob Stevens