Need help diagnosing bad habit when jumping in the Park
 

How ya doing? Ok, I need some help. I've been hitting park jumps fine for a while now. Unfortunately, I must have picked up a bad habit recently, because things are now going wrong. Another bummer is that I have no video of myself, as I don't have any friends who snowboard (in my area).

For whatever reason, when I'm doing grabs or a basic air (no spins involved), I tend to spin a bit sideways in the air, causing an ass first landing with my board slightly uphill from my arse. So I hit the lip, pop, fly upward/forward, but rotate maybe 45 degrees counter clockwise (I'm goofy). Knees are bent and the side of my ass (right cheek) hits first. It's just a little shift, but it fucks me every time. This is particularly problematic with large jumps. I'd like to know what different things could cause this.

I'm aware of all the 'steps' for jumping and such. As I said, I've hit these jumps fine a lot in the past. Right now I'm doing something wrong, but I'm unaware of it. So, I think I'm doing the right thing, but the results say otherwise. I can hit smaller jumps fine with proper technique, but for whatever reason, it's not translating to larger ones.

Suggestions? Advice? Looking for specific technique that could cause such movement. I'm essentially trying to diagnose the issue by myself. I plan to try different ideas out and see if I can work out the issue by trial and error.

Full disclosure: I posted this on another forum as well.

How are you coming off the lip? toeside, heelside, flat based?

Common beginner problem. The natural tendency when you go air born is to face your body fowards, which will cause you to turn in the air and land on your ass. Keep your shoulder parallel to the board. A simple grab will force you keep your shoulders properly aligned.

I'm attempting to come off flat based, and I was for a while. It 'feels' like I am now, but given the result, maybe not.

I'm comfortable enough to do a grab, I just thought I should sort out my basic air issue first. Though maybe not.

I will say that it does happen occasionally with a grab as well.

It's sort of become a mental issue now that is screwing with me on approach. It's hard to get comfortable.

I would agree but he said he rotates couterclockwise (goofy). If he were to do the natural reaction, he would be facing downhill with his board in
front of him which would be a clockwise rotation.

From the sounds of it, you are leaving the lip maybe with a bit of a toeside edge causing a slight spin???

i think most of your problem is mental. however some tips would be try toe edge pressure off the lip, not enough to turn the board, just to be on the balls of your feet and in an athletic stance. next grabs really help with staying balanced in the air. also gives your brain something to think about besides an arse first landing. and last i would drop down to a smaller jump to get the confidence up. a straight air is a straight air is a straight air. good form on a small jump will translate to bigger features.

good luck

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm a bit confused between the last two messages. The two statements in bold contradict each other, no?

cadencesdad, you are correct about the goofy/counterclockwise thing. I'm kind of flying slightly 'backwards'.

Ya, I would say you may already be a bit to much toe-edge.I would start off by making sure you are coming off flat based. If you are confident you are coming off flat based already, perhaps a slight heelside may help counter your slight spin. Like mentioned earlier...Throw in a grab to help keep things straight. Also, some grabs will help initiate a spin. But you said it happens during straight airs too so.... Indy grab would probably work best in diagnosing the problem.

Hm. People really aren't listening are they? Not a confidence problem, he's been doing this for a while. Not a "rotating to face the jump", he's rotating backside, and a toe-edge launch will just make it worse. Sorry guys, I'm not trying to be a PITA, but that's what the electrons say.

Bamfb2, your problem is likely either going off the jump slightly toeside, or cranking your upper body as you launch, or hitting the lip with a bit of a lean. Seems to me that A or B would give you a clean rotation, not the board-up-the-hill-fell-on-my-ass landing. Without any video evidence, I'd bet you've started leaning slightly forward and heelside as you launch. Dunno why -- maybe the jump is no longer level and you're compensating, maybe because of your approach you're initiating a slight heelside turn as you hit the lip. But it would cause the landing you describe. Fair warning, I'm basing this on physics, not experience. I'm no old pro by any means (old, yes. pro, no)