aloutris

I'm a 13 year old girl and it's today I just finished my second day of snowboarding Now heelside turns are just natural to me (being wimpy, I spent a while sideslipping down the blue squares like the boss I am )I can somewhat link turns but my toeside is very weak compared to my heelside. Also, I freak out on the blue square so I never link turns on it! Right now all that I do is practicing technique on the bunny hill, but don't say go to the green hill because it's hard to get to from the ski lift, and it's about the same skill level as the blue square at my ski resort. (I'm decent at this even though it's only my second time because I've skied for the past 3 years on the black diamonds <3) Basically it's help with toeside AND linking turns confidence. Thanks!!

ShredTaos

1) Bend your knees more. I'm sure you think you are bending them enough, but bend them more.

2) Put your shoulders into it, make sure you shoulders are paralell with the board when it goes to turn, most people actually fight toe turns with their upper body.

3) Crank your forward knee, almost act like you are trying to move your front foot inward( it wont actually move inward due to bindings).

4) think of your weight distribution at all times, when heelside turning your weight should be slightly over the heel edge, toeside make sure you put your weight slightly over the toe edge.


These are my basic tips for any new rider. Mostly just have fun

aloutris

Thanks! This will help a ton. I'm going to the slopes with my skier friends, so I want to know something

yojik

Not a huge fan of the shoulder advice bu thumbs up on the bent knees. Quiet upper body is the way to go.

Try activating your hips more. When initiating the toeside turn, thrust your hips out (in a controlled manner) and you'll have a stacked platform that is stable and powerful.

By using the hips in conjunction with the toes of your front foot, you'll strengthen the turn sooner and spend less time fighting to hold the edge.

aloutris

Great advice! Snowolf, are you the one with the videos on youtube that begin withnthe howling wolf? They really helped.

charmiander

I have the same problem as aloutris, haha...

My boyfriend and some other people keep on telling me to change my direction with my back foot - would that work as well? I think the concept that they've been trying to pound into me is that the back foot is "thrown around to change directions," but I find that my front foot does a whole lot better at that than my back foot... Which way is correct??

charmiander

When I rest my shins on the tongues of my boots and I bend my knees, my heels lift inside my boots no matter how hard I crank down on my boa - is this what they call "heel lift," and how can I fix this problem? Of course, as I had discovered, my heels don't lift as much with more hip movement and back arches, but the problem is still there.

I have that problem too although it only involves full J turns (without the 360 spin + fall), whether it's toe or heel-side turn. =/ I can't really stop my turns from turning into J's - would you say that as you start a turn, you immediately relax the front foot...??


And ditto aloutris, your videos on YouTube have helped immensely, thanks so much!

lonerider

Yes that is heel-lift and the real solution is buying new boots that fit you feet better. I have personally found Nitro boot work well... but you need to try it first. My wife tried Burton Sapphire boots and those solved her heel lift problems.

If you don't have the cash for new boots... go to a snowboard/ski shop that does bootfitting (helm of sun valley in san mateo does it... not sure about places in SF) and have them add a C-pad or butterfly wrap around the ankle area of your liner. That will help fill in the space above your heel and below your ankle to help keep the heel from lifting. Should cost like $10... you van go to tognar.com and buy the stuff yourself, but it takes a little bit of knowledge to put them on the liner in the correction spot (i could walk you through it though... There might be a YouTube video on It but I cant search for it right now)

Bayoh

Ya those inserts for the liners at the fitting shops work wonders for heel lift. The glue from them tends to come loose after a lot of use though from all the sweat of your feet which is the downside.

As for your turns, yes, if you're wanting to make smooth snakelike carving motions instead of a circular turn you don't need much front foot pressure to get the carve intiated. As long as you keep toe/heel pressure on your front foot your board will continue to go in that direction until you let off.

ShredTaos

That is completely wrong. Initiate and lead the turn with your front foot, back will follow. What your boyfriend is having you do is bad form, some people call this "kick turning", this will only lead you to "skidded turns", tons of caught edges and face slams, and not proper carves.