surfinsmiley Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 EEK! Had my first day with the hard boots a couple of days ago. First day was bottomless powder runs on my soft board and the next day they had not groomed at all so it was real bumpy everywhere. So......I`m being a good learner and strictly using the little hills and trying to norm back and forth. I could do it perfectly on my toeside most of the time but on my heel side I felt like I could not weight the back leg and kept doing the classic softboot sideways slideturns. I hope to get better conditions for hardbooting next week. I tired all the tricks I could think of ........ to no avail. hours of trying the heelside carve yeild zero nice clean heelside carves.:( Any tips from the crew on what I might be doing wrong? I`ve been surfing and downhill skatboarding for many years so I thinking my body motions may be a tad exorbatent. I tried lots of different body movement techniques but none that actually worked. I can do it on my soft set-up pretty good. I know a lesson or two would be good be I don`t speak Japanese at all well, so that`s out. Clues? Hints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joecarve Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 I think we need a few more details on what's occurring...you'll get maximum help here if you can get someone to video you and post a clip somewhere. Beyond that, try staying centered between your bindings and let the board finish the turn. You're very used to tightening up the turn by pushing with your back foot...you basically need to break yourself of the habit. Also see other recent thread on heelsides... joe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted December 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Details are probably not my strong point, it`s all so new to me. I`ll get the wife to do a little video from the mobile phone and see what it looks like if I can get something of any quality I`ll bump this thread next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 nothing will beat an in-person instructor. got access to one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted December 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 I have met a couple, but they don`t speak english and I don`t speak Japanese.:o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 If you are doing body movements at all, you are probably not doing "the norm". All you want to do for now is tip your board. In your stance, stand up straight and just lean a little so that you tip your board on edge. If you do this, you will carve. Any extraneous movements will hinder this action. For now, keep it just that simple - stand up straight and then lean a little over your toeside edge - the board should hook up. If you really want to get basic, let it carve until you stop - somewhere facing uphill. Start again, then gently lean over your heelside edge. The board will hook up - rinse, repeat. Eventually, you will be comfy enough to just gently lean both ways and connect basic carves down the hill. Then you will be ready for the next step... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 just stand up straight and lean - NO KNEES!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yard Sale Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 I'm also a total noob wannabe carver, six days in hardboots. Toesides easy, heelsides hard. Here's what is working for me: -sit down/squat -look and rotate -just tip the board over on its edge My last time out, on a soft setup, just agressively looking ahead and rotating put me into my best heelside carve ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 -sit down/squat don't do that. -look and rotate definitely look where you want to go. Rotate with the board - don't let the board rotate underneath you. -just tip the board over on its edge yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 You could try what totally worked for me. Take the body movements out altogether. Put your hands behind your back, and work the board by just pressuring the edge with your heels (just lift your toes up - don't squat) and your toes (stand up on tiptoes). The first two times down the hill, this feels REALLY weird. And after that you should feel a real difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted December 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Thanks Team! I much appreciate all the tips! I hope that this week-end I can find a nice smooth groomer, last week we had a blizzard for three days in a row so the snow was just so bumpy. I spent about three hours last night reading all the old threads on other people learning to heelside, stoked to find I`m not alone. It all reads so simply, just the reality the bites. You all remember how it is I reckon, I want to carve NOW not tomorrow. Just like surfing and trying to do the perfect top turn, bottomturn, cutback combo, it`s alot harder than it looks.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 So it finally happened! New years was perfect groomer conditions and I could easily practise all the drills I`ve studied a hundred times on this site. After a couple of hours I was even able to pull a few sketchy feeling downhill edge carves from both frontside and heel. STOKED! I had a coulpe of runs following a local carver the next day and was very pleased to be able to follow his tracks in the snow "most of the time", matching carve for carve. I tried my luck on my favourite "bank" that I often tear up on my softies but it was still beyond my Hardboot level. The "bottom turn" into the bank was better than ever but coming of the top in Hardboots is a whole new ball game. Then after lunch it started snowing hard, the next day I woke up to knee deep powder all over the groomers. So....feeling confident in my new found abilities, I spent the day with my hardboots on the black runs in knee to waist deep powder. The snow and wind was strong enough that by the time I got back to the top of the mountain I couldn`t even see my tracks from the last run, only the occasional crash zone.(4 runs and only me on them, gotta love Japan) The LSD with Hardboots was OK in the powder as long as I kept it at warp factor five but I must say I feel much more relaxed in deep powder with soft boots and soft boards. Anyway.........All good, I`m on the path to becoming a real carver, now I just need some more boards! (Freecarver, Tanker 200, Dupraz D1) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 congrats! welcome to the dark side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thanks Jack, ......... Am I soon to be wearing a Darth Vader outfit?:rolleyes: Maybe a bright orange one to match my Boots! On that thought, a light sabre would be handy for cutting though the crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Dasai Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 ...I was even able to pull a few sketchy feeling downhill edge carves from both frontside and heel......(4 runs and only me on them, gotta love Japan) Cool. The sketchy feeling of being on the downhill edge mostly goes away as you get more experience, but it never disappears entirely. There's always a bit of a thrill about cheating gravity by being on the downhill edge. Where in Japan are you living/riding? There's so much snow in Japan - every season is consistently good. Not much steeps, but more powder than most Japanese know what to do with. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I`m living in the middle of Tokyo:eek: It`s a bit of a shock to the old system after the great Australian bush life, but it`s a couple of hours drive to surf or snow so I`m always happy about that. I ride Nagano or Nigata. The wifes family house is in the northern part of Nigata. This season is the already the most snow the locals have seen in ten years, bad for them but excelent for us.;) Powder is funny here, I`ve only seen a few people riding powder sticks and they have all been westeners. The Japanese, in general, just don`t seem to understand it..... Weird. I suppose that`s what you get for riding 142cm freestyle boards all the time. Follow the norm and don`t stray from the pack is the way of life here it seems. I have met a few "westernized Japanese" that are willing to break the rules in the name of having fun, so that`s a relief! I`m digging living here but I`ll never understand the culture at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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