Snowolf

Riding counter rotated on the toe edge is a common "bad habit" what this does really is caues the rider to have to work harder at riding. Start trying to keep the shoulders over the board and turn just the head to look where you want to go.

True carving is done by using only the sidecut of the board to make the turn and the tail travels in the sme groove as the nose without skidding toward the outside of the turn. To really carve well, the rider has to learn dynamic riding well and use the lower body to conrol the board while the upper body is quiet. In a dynamic carved turn, the board is always in motion under a quiet upper body. At the apex of the turn, the board travels in a different path from the upper body and is only underneath it at the fall line. Carving on hardpack takes a lot of finesse. There is a very narrow window where your edge angle is just right. Too much and the board will skid, not enough and the turn will shallow out.

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sedition

Karate is a great example of this. Watch someone (good) do forms, and their hips, shoulder, and head NEVER change or alter in height. Meanwhile, their arms and legs are going all over the place. Watch a white-belt, and their enite body is as stable as latte in San Fran earthquake. The same is true with riding...

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"Up front there ought to be a man in black." -Johnny Cash
Drink sin. Ride with the devil.

GEAR
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TNT

I think I fit into almost all of those bad habit categories. I don't have problems getting down east coast stuff, and manage to do some small jumps in the terrain park, but I definitely need to work on the basics.
Question: when riding regular on the toe edge, I usually have my torso twisted quite a bit downhill so I can look over my left shoulder. Should I only worry about what's in front of my board and ALWAYS keep my shoulders square when doing general carving and cruising?

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-TNT

Snowolf

You should work on keeping the shoulders square over the board and reduce that counter rotated position for most of your riding (there are some cases where counter rotation is called for such as buttering) Instead, turn just your head to look forward and if you need to look farther toward your heel side, it is fine to go ahead and turn more, but remember to turn back after a glance.

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snowcraze

uh oh... i think i kinda do that. Like when i do my toe-side, i lean into the turn. I'll apply some pressure on the toes of my front foot and then kinda swing my back foot down a little. At least that was what i learnt from my bf. Is that very bad? should i try to correct it and take a proper lesson

NYCboarder

good points

WickedWheat

This past Tuesday I caught an edge on a flat surface just trying to make it past the cat walk. Pretty good speed.... I usually just rock back and forth from my toe edge to my heel edge so I don't get too tired on one or the other. I don't catch and edge that often.... just bad luck or is rocking back and forth bad? It was also a new board with really sharp edges but I went all day without any trouble.

When I say rock back and forth I mean I'll stay on my heel a good 8 seconds or so and toe 8 seconds or so.

xevi89

Wicked: I don't do this, but it has been recommended to someone before. In a situation like that ride with one foot twisted toe and the other heel, so you are riding on both edges. I'm not quite sure if theres anything more to it. I'm sure Snowolf will be back in here and be able to elaborate.

Goat

I do this also,is it right?

Also,what about riding flat?I know you shouldn't when just starting,but i've found that it is so much more comfy(as long as I don't catch an edge!)

Snowolf

No you are doing fine; you are still initiating your turn with the front foot, then following through with the rear foot. You may be overdoing the pushing out with the tail of the board, but that is a minor thing you can work on when trying to do an actual carve as opposed to a skidded turn. I am refering to people who are telling other people to use their back foot as a rudder to turn. This starts the bad habit that has to be broken in order to start carving turns.

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