Originally Posted by Snowolf

Yes, using "torsional steering" is the correct and most efficient method to steer your board. Most self taught people do get in the habit of pushing the rear of the board around with the back foot. It is a common thing and it kinda sorta gets the job done, just rather inefficiently and a bit clumsily.

The idea here is like this, Say for example you are going down a run, making linked S turns. You are just coming out of a heel side turn and are about ready to go back to toe side. As you are making your traverse, you will be riding on the heel edge of the board. To begin the turn, you will first, relax the heel pressure on the front foot basically allowing the nose of the board to go flat and disengage that uphill heel edge. What will happen is the nose of the board will begin to slide down the hill. It is like when you are side slipping; if you flatten the board out, it slides down the hill. The difference here is your rear foot is keeping the tail end of the board "locked in" to the hill with the heel edge. So, the nose slips down the hill while the tail stays right where it is. As the board enters the fall line and is almost pointing straight down the hill, you will then start pressing down on the toe edge of the board with the front foot as you now let the rear foot go totally flat. This begins to engage the toe edge of the board beginning at the nose and working down the length of the side cut. As the board leaves the fall line and is climbing back up the hill, you will start pressuring the toe edge with the back foot so that as you complete the turn and traverse across the hill, you will solidly be on the toe edge with both feet.

Once you get proficient with this technique, you will find it is almost effortless and takes almost zero work to go down the runs making lots of short and medium radius turns to maintain a constant speed.

Originally Posted by Penguin

Great thread.

I didn't know using the back foot as a rudder was bad form. Like others here, nobody taught me. It was pretty much "find your own way down the hill." So when I started doing toeside, I'd swing my back foot out to turn.

I'm gonna have to work on that next time I go, but winter is so far away.

Originally Posted by Nito

Hi Snowolf,

I squeeze my knees together to flex the board. For example, after I initiate my turn, if I want to reduce my turning radius I squeeze my knee to flex the board more.

BTW, my angles are 12/3 but some friends do this riding duck.

If this is a bad technique, please let us know.

Thanks - Nito

Originally Posted by sedition

curse words, gambling, satanism, poetry, whiskey, women, rock and roll...