illmaticnyc

i pm'd snowolf but i figure i would just put it on here for further discussion. i just started again after a long long hiatus. this is my 2nd season since my return to snowboarding and i love it. thank you guys for helping as always.

hi snowolf. i hear and have read on the internet you are the go to guy. =) i have an issue. i am not a beginner boarder but by no means am i great.

So I noticed that a few hours into my riding, as I would go from my toe side carve to my heel side my lead foot would make the transition flawlessly, however it is as if the edge on my back leg would not catch and the board felt very slippery wanting to wash out in front of my lead leg. I couldn’t get into a carve heel side. Its as if I was on a continuous skidded turn. I was thinking if it was fatigue and it might be but I have never had that happen to me before. My edges are fine. What am I doing wrong.

This is my setup. I ride normal. +21 +6. I don’t like a duck stance. I like a fwd stance as I have no intention of riding switch. The board I have is a capital indoor survival with union force bindings. I wear forum boots. can you critique my binding set up?

from snowolf...
With that forward of a stance, your technique may need to be a bit different. Like a skier, you will need to "roll" your ankles (especially that back one) into your turn in order to weight the heel edge. Adding more forward lean could also help make your heel side more responsive.



what are your guys thoughts on my binding set up. snowolf is right. i have to change my technique a lot more with that type of stance. any idea why my board was washing out though?

gjsnowboarder

When your board washes out or doesn't track along the direction you are meaning to go; it means that you don't have proper downward pressure along your edge length that is engaged into the snow. When this happens the board will move down towards the pull of gravity. In a lot of riders this is usually because they get fixated down the hill and stop actively moving. When this happens there is a natural tendency for the CM(center of mass) to move in one of two directions. Either towards the downhill edge(across the board to the opposite edge) or center of the board which flattens the board and takes your weight off of the effective edge(side of board you are riding/uphill edge). Or, too far up the hill which means that the riders CM is now too far away from the effective edge and over the snow(i.e. too far up the hill). This second one means that you have no downward weight on the boards edge and that it will be pushed down the slope opposed to INTO the slope. You also want your weight to be distributed evenly between both feet.

To correct this there are many techniques. For the the first issue to correct I would start a counting system. 1-5 is my favorite one to use to start off with. What you want to do is break up the movements that you make and start them a different counts to make your turn. You also want to make sure that you boards orientation to the hill is at a certain point during the count as well.

1 is across the hill or nose pointed slightly up,
2 is at a 45 degree angle of straight across down the hill,
3 is straight down the hill into the fall line,
4 is the opposite 45 degree or (135 degrees)
5 is 180 degrees from your original starting point or back across the hill to slightly up it. immediatly start back to one for your next turn.

Next to correct the second one and assist with the first issue of downward pressure. From a knowledge point you need to start thinking of Angulation vs Inclination.

Inclination is a full body tilt or leaning of the body. In snowboarding we can use this to shift our board on edge and move our weight on top the edge we are riding. However with too much inclination we move that CM off of the up hill edge into the snow. Eventually the board will loose enough downward pressure to stay in the arc of the turn and will start to move away from that arc in a tangent but also be at the mercy of the fall line\pull of gravity.

Angulation is the creation of angles in our body using our joints and spine. we can open or close our ankle, knee, hips/spine. This can allow us to position our bodys' over our board and edge we are riding on more effeciently. however it is important to understand that you can over angulate and change where your CM is. The best riding is down by using a combination of the two. That we can stay upright and over our board.(hense the bends your knees over your toe but push you hips forward and keep the back up and straight.)

Another solution to washing out in the back of the board is how you transfer your weight along the board from nose to tail. For this when you start your turn shift your weight more towards the front foot. AS you move through the turn shift your weight towards the center of the boards and when ending a little to the back foot but not past it. to start into your next turn by moving quicker backtowards the nose and weight across the board to your new edge. A great way to practice this movement is with nose manuals/stands, tail manuals/stands, ollies and nollies. You will use two primary movements(find a flat place first). One is the placing of you hips from nose to tail, This is a slower but more powerful movement. The other movement is a using a shuffling of the feet. It will feel like your feet are tipping in and out. This is the faster movement. Notice when you practice how you can place the board underneath your body. Next take it to the hill and start experimenting with the movement while you are riding.

Hope this info helps.

MistahTaki

i think your problem is you aren't bending your knees enough and not distributing your weight properly when you are on your heel edge.

illmaticnyc

probably or possibly from fatigue you think? it was fine all day then out of no where it started doing this. very weird.

do you also find anything about my setup that is odd or could be causing this?

gjsnowboarder...im reading your post now. thanks SO much

MistahTaki

i think the fatigue is causing you to be lazy and making you extend and lock your knees causing you to put too much pressure on your heelside. i've had the same experience before.

about your stance, it's not that odd. Only odd thing about it is that you are riding a more so freestyle oriented board and you're riding it like an alpine snowboard. lol. if it works for you then there is nothing wrong with it. It would make riding switch fairly difficult though. If you're still unsure try out different angles and see what feels right, it's all about personal preference.. As for me I have mine set at duck stance at -15/12.

edit: as for implications that your binding angles can cause with your board or riding i have no clue. don't take my word for it haha

gjsnowboarder

This is a pretty could description of what would cause chatter. ie. instead of the pressure being built up through the turn like a well worked front shock absorbing(bent knees) and managing the pressure the rider experiences a bouncing or disengagment of the edge with the snow like a locked out fork. Pressure build up is released through the rider up and away which releases the pressure but also lightens the downward pressure on the edge causing the board to slip out. and or the rider compenstates with breaking at the waist, folding in two. This move the CM out away from the wroking edge and causes the board to slip down the slope rather then to track across.

I do have a question on if your stance is how you wrote it? Typically when binding angles are given it is front foot first back foot next. In your statement you mentioned (-15/12). This would mean that your front foot is turned in toward your back foot and your back foot is turned in toward you front foot (ie. Pigeon toed). Kind of an interesting stance

MistahTaki

(--/---\--) <--- . i ride goofy so it's reversed.

MistahTaki

i guess you still write it as you would with a regular stance?

gjsnowboarder

yep, because your front foot regardless of which one it is will also be orientated to the nose of the board. + toward nose, - toward tail.

I knew what you probably meant, but couldn't resist giving you a hard time.