mister_tu

First off, I ride goofy and this is my first year.

So, I try to carve and sometimes I am able to do it fine for a short period of time, but than sometimes I have difficulty. When I am having difficulty it is normally due to my back foot not being able to kick out properly during the transition, especially going heel to toe. Now, I think this might be due to my stance on my back foot which is 0. I am wondering if I will have more success if I change it to a forward or duck stance? Any suggestions?

Also, should I consider moving my bindings? I set them up where they are sitting pretty even with the nose and tail of the board...should I set them back closer to the tail for more effective carving?

JiveTalkinRobot

I think your biggest problem is not stance nor setback... most beginners use the stance 15 / 0 and learn fine. Your biggest problem may be your weight distribution. I think you may be putting too much weight on your back foot.

apintojr

i had that same issue when i first started. my friend set up my board with a 15/0 stance. i couldnt do anything with it. i moved my stance to 15/6 and its so much better. i know people say its easier to learn with 0 but i found that to unconfortable.

mister_tu

So, basically just lean my weigh forward when transitioning the turns? That seems so simple and I never thought about it. I tend to lay back and rest on my back leg a lot, and sometimes I get too laxidasical when I do so and I catch an edge and tumble.

Apinto, I will try and move the bindings forward next time I ride just to see if it feels more comfortable.

JiveTalkinRobot

Yep, think about it this way. Hopefully you play some sports or this may not sound familiar. I'll use basketball: Think about the pivot foot you put your weight on your pivot foot and then the other foot is free to move around.

Same with snowboarding..it will feel a bit awkward at first because you are putting your weight down the mountain and will be afraid of flipping forward (please dont put THAT much weight on your front leg).

Over time you will get used to it and your weight distribution will be nearly 50/50 or 55/45.

Hopefully this helps.

AAA

For learning to link turns, you'll want to have about 65% of your weight on your front foot. Nose forward, and as your board begins to point down the fall line (don't panic when you feel a slight rush of acceleration), kick your back foot out on its uphill edge.

For carving, there is no kicking your foot out or skidding, and you need some degree of speed. Carving, essentially, involves pressuring the board into reverse camber and riding the edge as if it were a linear track. As you complete one carve, you initiate a direction change with a weight shift to your downhill edge. The transition from one edge to the other is seemless and a graceful trenched arc is left in the snow.

Snowolf

Carving, as you know is a different kind of riding than skidded turns. The idea is to make the tail travel in the same path as the nose throughout the turn. Speed is the crucial ingredient to a good carved turn since you will rely heavily on tilting your snowboard to allow the sidecut to turn the board. When at a high edge angle, centrifugal force which wants to throw you the outside of the turn, counteracts gravity that wants to pull you down toward the inside of the turn.

To do a good carved turn, tilt the snowboard onto it`s edge early in the turn. It is best to initiate this process with the front foot first, in essence twisting your board torsionally. Press on your heels or toes (depending on turn direction) rather than standing on the entire foot. Do this as a "1,2" maneuver; start with the front foot and as the turn begins, follow through with the back foot. Once you are solidily on edge, control turn rate by increasing and decreasing edge angle throughout your turn.

Maintain flexed ankles, knees and hips in the entire carved turn sequence so you can smoothly transition from one turn to the next. Additionally, focus on eliminating pivot by maintaining a quiet upper body with the your shoulders parallel to your board throught the turn sequence.

To begin learning how to carve, start by practicing moving edge to edge out of a straight run by tilting the snowboard. Focus on edge angle and eliminate pivot. Then practice moving edge to edge by pressing on the edge of the board by shifting your ankles toe to heel without leaning your upper body. As you do this, begin to focus on bending the snowboard to make it change directions by weighting and unweighting. From a low stance, extend the legs and press the edge into the snow. In other words, as you are traverseing in a straight line at a low stance, if you extend your legs, you can bow the snowboard in the middle, causing the board to bend in the middle which deepens the sidecut causing a faster rate turn.

Start doing this on long radius turns on the flats. Begin by tilting the board and balance on the edge. Next, bend the snowboard by pressing on the edge with the toes or heels. Attempt to carve a turn without skidding the tail. If the tail begins to skid in a carved turn, reduce edge angle and get it back under control. Make your moves more gradual as abrupt pressuring is often the cause of the skid.

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