fayewolf

Hey guys, I'm back for 2nd season, first of all, I was scared to death that I wont remember a thing from snowboarding, but Vicky (another forum member here) reassure me that I will. went last week for the first time this season and I was back to normal after one run.
I still hate getting off lift.

So, some of the issues I had from last seasons till remained , and I'm determined to get them fixed,

1. I noticed that when I'm in my toe side, turning to heel side, it goes really fast, and before I know it, I'm already on the other side of the slope and have to turn back to toeside or else I'll hit the trees on the side. I ended up skidding my turns alot and have to side slip to slow down in order to be confident enough to initiate another toeside turn.
This does not happening the heel to toeside turn, everything's pretty smooth. It's almost like my turn from toe to heel is too quick and my turn is overshoot upon completion,
Now this is all on gentler terrains

On steeper terrains, my issue is

2. I freak out to imitate the toe side turn. I know I'm on the back seat, but I cannot for the life of me to lean down the slope because I'm afraid of gaining speed. What can I do to overcome this fear? Sometimes when I do have the courage to do so,I out weight on my front leg while keeping my rear leg heel edge dig in, the boards starts turning and it turns beautifully, but that's when I'm possessed and not freaked out.
What can I do to gain more confidence?


Thanks!!

KIRKRIDER

wear protection.
My take is that you are afraid to fall and get hurt. eliminate that and you will be more confident.

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lonerider

1.It sounds like you are rushing your edge transition. If you changes edges before your weight transfers over to the other edge, you can kind of get "stuck" with your board still turning, but your upper body is still lagging (and when your body is counter-rotated or twisted, it is hard to do much of anything until you untwist it). Try focusing on going from toeside to flatboard (for just a moment), and then to heelside to make the edge transition smoother.

2. One way to slow it down is to go completely perpendicular to the fall line (across the hill). That way when you finish your turn, you aren't picking up anymore speed because you are not going downhill (this give you a little breather before doing your next turn). Here is video of my wife doing big S-turns down a decently steep slope (this was early in her third season of snowboarding). You can see because she starts and ends her turn coming across the fall line - she really isn't pick up a lot of speed despite the steeper pitch of the slope. When doing this... it is IMPORTANT to LOOK UPHILL with your peripheral vision... because some people might not be paying attention and plow into you. You can see my wife keeps her head pointing in the direction she is travelling (not always pointing downhill) so she can see uphill out of the corner of her eye.



To slow it down ever more you can do garlands. Check out the video below



If you feel in control of your speed, you will feel much more confidant. Hope that helps.

EC99SS

The fear is natural. A big factor into it is the fact that you're not used to the speed yet. With time, experience, and practice you'll continue to get better. A progression of getting better also means you're able to handle more speed. Take it slow and continue to learn. As you learn to control your board and learn to feel your edges you'll be able to gain confidence in your riding abilities.

fayewolf

Thanks for the video!!! Love how your wife rides!!! So smooth and calm!! Thats essentially what I'm doing, but I don't have alot of space to go all the way across the slope, so while doing that, I ended up skidding/ side slipping down until the speed is slow enough for me to initiate the toe side turn!

nataku

I'm going to take this advice as I was falling a lot while turning toe to heel side when going at a speed, and ended up falling on my butt resulting in a lot of bruising. Going to get some tailbone protection and just keep trying to get used to speed for my next trip.

I'm pretty sure I'm rushing those turns when I am going at speed, because if I take myself very close to perpendicular on my toe side prior to initiating turns, they go a lot smoother as I take it slowly and shift weight correctly. Hopefully I learn to deal with turning with a little bit of speed soon.

fayewolf

Yeah, not sure why I have no fea turnng from toe to heel side on steeper terrain, but I freak out when I have to turn from heel to toe.

linvillegorge

Honestly, the best thing you can possibly do at this point is get a lesson. Once you nail toe side turns and linking turns, that's when you can start progressing by leaps and bounds.

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lonerider

It's because you are turning your back towards the fall-line and you brain thinks you are going backwards down the hill and balks.

kanny

EXACT same problem. Is there a way or some for a drill to counteract this?