Phenom

alright so I've been on my new park board 4 times now and I'm not really improving too much. I know 4 times isn't a lot, but I feel like I should at least seem some improvement, especially because I basically spend the whole day in the park.

Anyway, first thing is buttering. I'm trying to get good at butters on the tail end of the board, but 1 of three things always happens.
1) Don't lean back far enough and it just looks like a lame little butter.
2) I lean back too far and fall back which looks even more lame.
3) I lean back a good amount but my nose end swings to the right (I ride regular) then kinda puts me into a toe side turn.

I'm guessing 1 and 2 are solved by just repetition and just getting a better feel for the balance/lean. Any tips on #3 though? It happens almost everytime. Am I closing my front shoulder when I lift the nose or something?

Second problem is rails. Almost every rail, the nose wants to slide off to the right of the rail, and my whole body kinda twists into a boardslide (facing up hill - frontside boardslide?). Similar problem to my buttering problem I guess. Will the edge I'm on or side I appoach the rail from affect this? What the best way to approach the rail to just 50-50 the rail?

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East Coast Park Rat
2008 Burton Twin 157 w/ Rome 390 Boss
2005 Burton Canyon 168 w/ Ride LS
"its ppl like you, that I would "impact damage" your face if i ever saw you
keep your mouth shut. one more time, please and thank you." -user: chingy_

zumiezrep24

i think i have ur medicne. first of all what board boots and bindings do you have. second of all buttering happens when the board gets broken in more not just new you need to go ALOT for it to break in. or just walk around on it like strapped in with both feet. rock back and fourth in your room as high as you can stretch it. reach your limit. then when your going down the hill i want you to nollie then spring back on your tail and lean back a LITTLE BIT! this will help you get the feel of the tail butter.

now... binding position is CRITICAL! unless you have a diretcional board in which case your fucked. set your bindings in the middle of the mounting holes, and set ur bindings for 15, -15. this is how i ride on my forum youngblood team with ride delta mvmnt bindings and dc superpark boots. its a dream and it should suit you well too.

rails now? i hope that your not riding onto it and ollieing onto the side. do boardslides first, to get the feel of the rail its alot easier to balance like that. i want you to come from the side then ollie up a LITTLE bit and then get your board flat based and keep it there dont lean back or forward just flat. do that till you get down reg out and fakie out down the whole thing. then do 50 50s come up from the other side of the rail on the side about a foot away. ollie up and turn your board a little left if your reg right if your goofy. then just balance and ride off. if theres anything im missing anyone tell me its alot harder to teach then to do. basically just watch some people in the park and take after the good ones. ask them too. dont be afraid to ask anyone anything everyone always loves to be asked how to do something because that lets them know that they are good and you are seekin their advice out of everyone in the park. also where do you ride?

sedition

BINGO. Aside from the other good points he (she?) made, this is key. The main thing to do is to make sure you board, hips, shoulders, head, and thus, center of gravity, are all the same verticle plane. If this is not all lined up, then your going to end up sliding off to one side, sliding out early, or just falling on your ass. The tailride example is a good one. If your leaning to toe-side, you'll slide out that way. Hence, as snowolf said, you need tocounter-rotate your hips. The reason for this is to keep everything on the same verticle plane. EX: (emphasis added). You need to keep you board and board moving in the same direction, on the same plane. This is the key to almost *any* sport where balance is a central componant. Think of gymnasts who do the balance beam, or tight-rope walkers. If any part of their body, or center of gravity, is off to one side, they are fucked. The same is true with snowboarding...be it b/s 180 to fakie to switch 50/50 down a 90 stepped kinked-rail, or just carving on a green circle.

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Phenom

I ride a burton twin with burton customs and LTD boots (not sure what kind) that I bought about 3 years ago. since it's a burton I have 4 choices for mounting each binding. I have them mounted so that they are both one notch inward from the most spread out stance possible. Angles are currently 12/-12. But yeah I'll definitely try breaking it in and see how it feels.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

__________________
East Coast Park Rat
2008 Burton Twin 157 w/ Rome 390 Boss
2005 Burton Canyon 168 w/ Ride LS
"its ppl like you, that I would "impact damage" your face if i ever saw you
keep your mouth shut. one more time, please and thank you." -user: chingy_