Carving in Soft Boot/Flat Stance.

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

The technique that I am currently riding in provides more balance and control than I've ever had before. I should probably have mentioned that I am riding with a 6-0 degree stance. The 6 is simply for comfort while skating. The 0 is for easier fakie riding.

So here's what I'm thinking - we'll look at the toeside first, because it's easier to visualize.

We can create angle with our ankles in one of two ways. If we extend, our suspension system and our calves are maxed out. If we flex, our knees drop, shins against the boot cuff creating leverage, our suspension system is in optimum configuration. Flexing the ankle is a great method for riding a snowboard in a flattish stance on the toeside.

For heelside we do the same - flex the ankle. By standing up tall and leaning against the highback we are taking movement from our suspension, making bumps and slicks more critical, and we are moving our CM further from the edge. If instead, we flex our ankles deeply, moving our highbacks away from our calves, our knees drop and we have more suspension and a lower CM. Not a bad combination.

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(Just found this in my archives while checking to see what's changed in my philosophy. Sort of a step by step thing.)

Crossover, crossunder, or crossthrough. It’s your choice in this explanation. Use flexion/extension accordingly.

The Reference Alignments

These alignments should be thought of as a centering point. Naturally there will be some deviations as the snowboard turn is very dynamic, but we want to ride close to these alignments through the whole turn with a quiet body above the knees. (Very different from hardboot carving.)

• Shoulders perpendicular to your front foot. So with 0/0, your shoulders would be directly in line with the board.

• Shoulders parallel to the hill. Not leaning backwards or forwards.

• Equal weight on both legs. Both legs should also be symmetrical in flex.

• Center of mass over affected edge.

• Head pointing in intended direction of travel. Look ahead. Head separate from shoulders.

The guy who introduced me to this style added a nifty little trick to help visualize the shoulder alignment. Hold your arms out towards the nose and tail of your board, thumbs down. Pretend there are two holes drilled in your board, one in the center of each tip. Pretend there are strings on each thumb tying them to the ends in the board. Keep your thumbs tied to the board through both turns.

The Toeside Turn

Coming off the heelside turn, just as you cross the fall line, unweight the edge. The toeside is initiated by pushing the front knee towards the snow followed almost immediately by the rear knee. Like a one-two punch. I like to feel my boot cuffs against my shins. As a matter of fact, I lean heavily on my shins, resting my whole skeleton on the boot. By flexing the ankles deeply we can get tons of edge angle without too much inclination. Does this take a lot of ankle strength to be confident on? You betcha. But the more you do it, the more you learn to rely on it. When done correctly, the toeside initiation is very quick, edge angle develops instantly and it feels as if you’re being thrown into a face plant.

Once the edge is set you want to arch your back to bring your center of mass up over the edge. Leaning out over the inside of the turn is fine, but if you flex your ankles more and arch your back you may find a lot more grip and balance - you will be less likely to blow your trench. Try to feel the entire edge gliding through your carve in the snow. In the middle of your turn, as you pass the fall line, your knees should be unbelievably close to the snow. Friends *will* comment. 

To finish the toeside turn let the board drive up under you by inclinating less and release the edge by once again unweighting.

The Heelside Turn

Starts in much the same way the toeside does. It starts early, just as you are crossing the fall line and it starts with deep ankle flexion in a one-two motion. The key to the heelside is that ankle flexion. It’s a good exercise to practice pulling the highback away from the calf rather than leaning against it with the calf. You read that right, pull the highbacks away from the calves by flexing the ankles. The knees will bend and the whole upper body will lower as a result. Start the turn by pulling up hard on the front toe, then the rear. If you get those ankles flexed to pull the snowboard up and the highbacks away from your legs, you will turn instantly. The turn initiation on heelside will be even quicker and more powerful than toeside. When you get it right, chances are you will fall the first time.

Once the whole edge is set you want to hunker down in there by lowering your knees with ankle flexion. It’s important to tuck the butt in on the heelside; we don’t want to be sitting on the toilet too much. This is going to lead to a more inclinated turn. Great, go with it. Keep those toes cranked up, ride low and loose, and allow yourself to follow the snowboard around the groove. (Keep those thumbs down to hold your shoulders in place if you’re using the imaginary strings.) On the heelside especially, it’s important to keep equal pressure along the entire edge. If the rear starts to slide ride a little lower, shift your weight slightly back, and pick those toes or the rear toe up higher. You will definitely feel the tail come in line with the groove.

To finish, let the board drive up under you. To really talk about the finish we would need to know which type of crossing the turn is using, but since it’s a carve we can assume the board is doing the lion’s share of the rotation. Again, flexion and extension should be used to unweight the board accordingly.

If we ride low and loose, this type of carve can be used for every turn shape and size at all but the lowest speeds to produce perfect carves without any sliding whatsoever. It is quick and powerful, smooth, fluid, and stable. So, if for some reason you find that you have to ride soft/flat, (like if you are working) you can still ride with power, style, and dignity.

[Phil]

That was a great, well thought out post. I am not sure if you were addressing someone or something in particular, but it was a great explanation of riding softies. I teach these techniques that you talk about six days a week. A lot of your ideas sounded similar to things that we talked about in the shoulder alignment thread. Are you involved with AASI? This sounds like AASI material. Thanks for another great post.

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

Thanks, yeah, in response to another thread. I posted here to stay on topic.

Most of that I got from Randy Price. After seeing him ride soft/flat, only a fool would not want a piece of what he's doing.

As far as AASI goes... well... it's a love hate thing.... :) :) :)

[Phil]

I've never ridden with Randy Price, but I've seen enough of him in video and pictures to know what you mean. It seems like a lot of people have a love hate thing w/AASI. Still, a lot of what you said is right on track with what they're preaching. Of course, Randy Price probably has a lot to do with that.

[jason_watkins]

I'm only an intermediate, so I wouldn't presume to advise people, and I most definately use and love to use my highbacks on heelside turns (dailing in a little forward lean can really do wonders).

However, I totally agree with this post. Whenever things are going wrong with my boarding, putting my hands on my hips, centering my body, and focusing on doing everything from the board up with minimal motion usually leads to the cure.

I have doubts about this pushing the highbacks away on heelside turns business, but since everything else in the post describes word for word things I've found very effective, I definately will give this a try.

edit: ohh, and I've found these same tips equally effective with intentionally skidded turns as well. Just a matter of where you move your weight to control what parts of the edge are pressured.

[Guest copek]

hi, great post! i'm hoping this thread along with the 'shoulder alignment' thread will really help me get off the intermediate plateau .....

i have one question.

snip

"It’s important to tuck the butt in on the heelside; we don’t want to be sitting on the toilet too much"

i'm not sure how to achieve this tucking the butt in?

when bending the knees & flexing the ankles, with the hips to the inside of the turn & back straight, i can't see how the toilet stance can be avoided? (see pic)

is it done by bending the knees even more, so your butt is almost touching your heels? any other way of pushing your butt back towards the board, would seem compromise flexion/edge angle?

thanks again,

C

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

The butt in that picture is fairly well tucked. I think the point is to avoid extremes. I've seen riders with their chest on their knees. We can bend so much at the waist that we straighten the knees and move our CM in to an inefficient arc. Mostly, the butt tuck is to keep a higher CM and looser legs for traction and control. (Less weight to move back in the case of a sudden bobble.)

Really, we just need to be aware of where the thing is. During large turns we can probably scoot it in and out and feel what it's doing to the edge.

A little experimentation will be fun. To take an idea from your post - Try Indy grabs during heelside turns without breaking at the waist, or in between deep crossunder turns see if you can get your heels to touch your butt. (I'm gonna try that today.)

[Guest copek]

thanks mark,

will try it in on my holiday next week!

C