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riding switch

25K views 133 replies 59 participants last post by  poutanen 
#1 ·
i am terrible at riding switch i tried a couple times over last weekend but i just can't manage to do it. any1 have some tips that might make learning to ride switch easier? also my bindings are set at about 14 and 12. my front foot being 14.
 
#84 ·
comfort and confidence are the name of the game. If you having trouble riding switch, BUT you can do 180's, throw 180's everywhere. land switch ride it out a turn, or revert both fronside and backside.

Even if your not confident riding switch, if you get really good at landing switch, getting out of switch every way possible, and 180 everywhere(getting comfortable getting in and out of), you are naturally building up you switch skills.

also something you can try is flat 180's, 360's, and 540's. The idea here is as you flat spin, you exit the rotation either your regular stance or switch. as you spin 3's and up, it starts to feel very much the same exiting both directions. You have just smashed through the confidence barrier.

Bookin it down a chutes and steeps switch simply takes miles, just as it did as you progressed from the bunny slope to the big hill. but the more comfortable you can get being ambidextrous on a board the better.


As a ender, I always tell my begginers that wanna get into more stuff, if you can 180, youll naturally learn to ride switch, and vice versa, if you can ride switch, spins are ride there. they go hand in hand.
 
#90 ·
wow 10 pages, I read every thing on this post
I am starting my switch education this weekend, I am pretty `OK` on goofy, my regular stance, blues double diamons no matter, now I am gonna try learning my other leg. I have a 163 directional board, it could be harder I guess but oh well.

I see lot of falling this weekend on the bunny/green slopes...
 
#91 ·
for a long time, I tried switch on standard camber boards and just couldn't do it. It was only when I started riding TBT that I could ride switch and well (linking turns smoothly and confidently). I'm guessing any of the new tech boards (RC, hybrid, etc) with lifted contact points would be similar....if you can't do it on those, maybe your brain just isn't geared for switch:dunno:
 
#92 ·
I just bought a regular old Burton Custom, and set it up for twin stance, and switch is SO much easier than on any directional board I've been on. I would either try centring stance, or try switching bindings 180 degrees (to make a direction board favour switch) before I'd buy a non-camber board.

But I'm a camber lover so I guess that's where that comes from!
 
#93 ·
The info in this thread has been awesome to say the least. I been snowboarding for 7yrs on and off, and never had the urge to learn switch. I just bought a 2012 Rome Mod Rocker 159 which is a twin board. After a couple runs of riding duck again, I wasn't feeling that confident of riding switch. It was all in the mind and looking down hill in a different way. Once i was able to ride switch on my heel edge, I started to carve onto my toe edge. After a couple spills and a few laughs to myself about what I did wrong. I learned it quickly and now able to switch back and forth with ease. Next step is to do backside/frontside 180s.

Thanks everyone that helped in this thread
 
#95 ·
I'm learning how to ride switch as well. i can do heel side and toe side pretty easily if I'm doing a big S shape down the hill slowly. But if i have any speed, linking turns together scares the crap out of me. Feels like I'm going to catch the edge when i'm going from heel to toe.

Am i doing something wrong or is it something i'll just have to get use to?
 
#107 · (Edited)
That's normal. It's because you're used to being good when riding regular and don't think about people watching much.

If you wear and use high-end gear that's brightly colored, chances are that other people really are watching you. I have a neon lime green jacket and bindings, which has definitely made me the one of brightest guys on the hill where I've been so far. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it does get attention.
It really doesn't matter though, unless you're one of those rich skiers who buys all the top-of-the-line equipment and then attempts to go skiing for the first time! Those guys...:huh:

Personally, when I'm riding switch I'm crap and always feel like I'm being watched from the lift, and being dressed like a bright green Sharpie marker doesn't help! :laugh:
If I get too worried about it, I just switch back to good ol' goofy and then anyone watching would have no choice but to realize oh, he was just learning switch!
 
#109 ·
Just wanted to add that I'm loving getting into switch.

I've been riding for nearly 20 years and never had any desire to learn switch or spend any time in the parks (I used to do laps when I first started out but I can't afford to injure myself these days so I stopped that). Up until a few weeks ago, I was all about the trees, steeps, and bumps, and thought switch was useless for me and a waste of time on the slopes. I've always had a directional board and didn't even think it was possible.

But then this year I started going with my girlfriend, who is a low to mid intermediate, and I was looking for something to keep me occupied as she falling-leafed her way down the slope (she has since gotten much much better, thankfully). So I tried switch.

The first couple of days were pretty brutal (including one really bad edge catch on hardpack leading to a tailbone slam, pretty much exactly as Gdog described), but by day three I was pretty fluid and wasn't catching any edges. Soon after that I was hitting 180s in the flats both frontside and backside, regular and switch. By the end of day 4, I was switching back and forth at least every 100 feet while carving between each switch. It's such a giddy feeling.

I've found that the directional board doesn't really reduce the ability or fundamentals of riding switch in terms of turning, the main problem is that it's just really slow (this is on a NS Raptor). But I'm not at the point where I need more speed at switch yet.

After riding this long, I really wasn't expecting this whole other level of enjoyment. Flipping 180s and riding out switch feels sooo good! (and for some reason, especially the first heel-to-toe turn after a 180, I have no idea why).
 
#111 ·
Hey, switch riding is probably one of the most important riding skills.. It leads into tricks and gets you out of "tight spots" when you really have no option other than to ride switch or bail out.

I read a few posts in this thread with some crazy details on how to ride switch and I also seen people post "its just like riding regular, but backwards". I agree with the guys saying that it is just riding backwards tbh.. it is more or less learning to ride all over again but with your unnatural foot forward. Apply all that you have learned riding with your natural foot forward... to your switch riding.

I posted a video on youtube a year or so ago of me riding with a gopro at Lake Louise on opening weekend. There was only a couple greens and blues open.. so it was a great opportunity to fool around and do some switch riding. Not really a good vid clip to learn from.. but if you do a youtube search for switch riding you will find some instructional videos that might help you.

 
#112 ·
I posted a video on youtube a year or so ago of me riding with a gopro at Lake Louise on opening weekend.
Ah, you're the gondola lap guy!?! I remember watching this vid just after we moved to Alberta. Used it to help show the GF what the runs were going to be like! :thumbsup:

I like to do a fair bit of switch on the cat tracks or if my legs get tired. I'm goofy so the entire track leading down to the Paradise chair I usually ride switch. Gives me a chance to play around with 180s on the little rollers. Fun stuff! :thumbsup:
 
#116 ·
bcasey said:
Yup that's me haha!
That was probably the most common run at Lake Louise, really doesn't do the rest of the mountain justice imo as there is such a wide variety of terrain there. Some of my favorite tree lines are at Lake Louise and when it snows.. omg.
That video was awesome. :eusa_clap: I like the way you put the GoPro upside-down on the pole and then put that behind you-that's pretty creative.

I can't stand all the GoPro videos that just show someone's torso and face as they go down a hill. They don't show anything except exactly that :huh: Especially the skiers because they stand forward which makes them wider in front of the camera so there's less to actually see. But who watches ski videos anyway? :D
 
#117 ·
Also trying switch riding here, just started snowboarding 4 months ago, mainly indoor.

In the beginning switch was really frustrating me, I always turned back to my right (normal) foot. The main problem now with riding switch/regular is my posture, I always lean back or can't get my body right in the turns.

Particularly toe-side it's still difficult, but if I see how far I got in these 4 months I just think it's a matter of time, effort & building confidence with your 'wrong' leg in front.
 
#120 · (Edited)
different strokes for different folks I guess. Maybe your right, is this how they are teaching in courses? To center the stance?

When I learned 16+ years ago we just strapped in and rode, there was no forum to discuss stuff like this, we didn't know what sidecut was. We barely new which side was which, and we certainly did not know why. Switch turned out just fine for the us without centering our stances, and back then I was riding a tapered directional with like several inches of setback with no possibility to get equal nose & tail lengths.

That said I'm teaching my friend from Peru to snowboard, he's on a directional, setback with wider nose than tail. He's learning to ride both ways, after the second day he's linking turns riding regular, I'm sure he'll be linking turns riding switch this weekend when we head up to lillehammer.
 
#122 ·
I'm new at all this but this is what worked out for me.

I was expecting to fall and crash on my drive to the resort because i know i am new at this and hopefully progression as my rewards by days end. This way, i was able to commit and push my personal limits instead of being trapped behind a wall of trying not to get hurt. I am now pased my worst falls and I am glad it's all behind me. :thumbsup:
 
#123 · (Edited)
This way, i was able to commit and push my personal limits instead of being trapped behind a wall of trying not to get hurt. I am now pased my worst falls and I am glad it's all behind me. :thumbsup:
Of all the words from all the users I have ever read on this forum, these are the best.

Thanks. You've just given the best overall advise a snowboarder can use. :eusa_clap:
 
#132 ·
Saturday was a bluebird at Louise for sure, you shoulda stayed! I rode some of the stuff we hit friday but I got way tired, headed to the park but was way too tired for that too so I kept hucking terribad 3's and falling on my ass lol. Pretty much rode the rest of the day switch just to keep going... see what I did there? Back on topic. haha.
 
#134 ·
lol... Yeah so when I tried doing that jump switch and rotated funny in the air, I landed on my side. Went to the hospital yesterday morning and the doc said I probably didn't crack a rib, most likely just bruised the muscles. But MAN IT HURTS!

Pisses me off that I can ride all the big lines fine, but I try to do a little FS 180 and I bonk myself off the snow. :dizzy:

FUCK SWITCH RIDING! :yahoo:
 
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