KIRKRIDER

One thing that gave me tons of confidence learning was wearing protection. ( Helmet, wrist guards (or protective gloves) and most of all padded shorts. Falling and NOT getting hurt is the best way not to be afraid of falling, therefore commit more.

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2012/13 -12- Kirkwood days
Arbor A-Frame 158 2009-10
Jeremy Jones Hovercraft 156, 2011/12
Burton Driver-X
K2-Cinch-CTX
Subaru WRX 06

t21

second that.my second season too,but i bought azzpad for tailbone protection and i commit more while practicing my weaknesses(really steeps terrains,moguls).too bad it did not help me when i hit a tree and bruised my ribs last saturday anyways,i still ride,just staying away from trees for now until i heal

lonerider

I always prefer blues to green because like you said... you need speed to turn properly and greens on most mountains (not all greens are the same) are just really, really flat and slow. One thing I recommend for speed control is to do wide S-turns so that your turns begin and end with you going almost completely across the fall line... this really helps keep you from accelerating to "ludicrous speed" the moment you forget to link another turn after you last one (which happens when you start/end each turn with your board pointing down the fall-line). Once again, I'm going to use a video of my wife (hopefully she doesn't mind me showing these early-year videos of her). This is early in her third season of riding, down a pretty decent black slope on the West coast. One important thing to note is that her head (and shoulders) point in the direction she is turning (not always looking downhill). This lets her body move as one unit with one purpose AND let's her LOOK UPHILL to WATCH OUT FOR STRAIGHT-LINING SKIIERS. Very important when you are coming across the fall line like that



Once you develop good "natural" speed control (i.e. not panicking and doing a shutdown heelslide), you will feel more relaxed and then you won't "rush" the turn... that will help you get that board carving. As people also mentioned... wearing protective gear will also dramatically improve your confidence. I recommend Level gloves which have a built-in wrist guard and Azzpadz (tailbone protector)... you can PM me if you have more questions about protective guard as I have tried a lot of brands.

So the first type of turn I talked about is called a "crossover" as you can see the turn happens as the upper body crosses back and forth over the toeside/heelside of the board. There are a few other techniques for turning as well... one is called a cross-under, where all the action is going on with your ankles and knees (your upper body is very quiet), it's a bit of a more advanced manuever. So I would suggest what I've seen people call a "pivot turn" which is what you kind of discovered yourself... you unweight you backfoot and kick it out.

Here is a decent video on pivot turns



Here is a "ok" video of how to do cross-unders

evilfeline007

i do wear protection... wrist guard, knee pads, helmet and RED impact shorts. I have an azzpad but I stopped wearing it because it hurts my azz. lol. when i fall on it, it protects my tail bone but hurts my seat bones

tremur

I'm a newb, so take my reply with a grain of salt.. (3 days practice, then just got back from 3 solid days at Jay Peak in Vermont). Been told I'm doing 'incredibly well' for so little experience, but still consider myself more or less a beginner, with a touch of talent left over from skateboarding as a kid.

You sound similar to me in the sense of being a 'technical learner'. Wanting to understand the physics..

I think you've accurately diagnosed some of your own sticking points.. The losing confidence from a fall can make you keep your weight back (for stability) and cost you your turning ability. Try to 'reset' your brain before a run, KNOWING that to do what you want to do, you HAVE to be moderately aggressive, keep your weight centered and forward when needed.

Shallow runs are the hardest. Coasting on the flats requires a fair bit of edge control that I'm not sure I've got yet, it will come. Don't let that spook you. Some experienced riders are telling me it can be one of the tougher things to feel comfortable with. I'm avoiding most green runs just to keep away from the too slow stuff

You do seem to have a 'speed issue', but I wouldn't worry about it. That middle phase when you're switching edges at high speed is where you cant be tentative. If you 'linger' in that float zone on the flat of the board, you're just asking to catch an edge and get thrown down hard. Commit to that turn and get thru the middle quickly

One thing that helped me is squatting more at higher speed, it helps get your legs out from under you quickly when switching edges. Commit your weight transfer and use your shoulders to help with your weight shift.

Cheers,