Back leg drifting - Snowboarding Forum

Pixel8tedOne · 02-09-2012, 07:45 PM

Hey all, I'm in my second year riding and have got out a ton of times so far, but still have a long way to go.

That being said I'm noticing a trend that I'm having a hard time figuring out why it's happening, and it's kinda screwing me up. I ride goofy, and when I'm on flats and going straight my back leg starts trying to pull to my right. So in effect it's like I'm starting to drift counter-clockwise. I've tried loading weight on my front foot, shifting weight to the back foot, as well as bending my knees and trying to center, but it seems that if I'm not on edge that leg starts to pull.

Any thoughts?

Bparmz · 02-09-2012, 08:00 PM

The first thing that comes to mind for me is that the binding angle on your back foot may be a little weird, sometimes when i toy around with different angles, it feels like the angles force movement or a pulling feel while riding straight.

grafta · 02-09-2012, 10:07 PM

Hips and shoulders aligned with your board? I bet your upper body is twisted out of line. It doesn't take much to rotate a board that's not on edge

AJHXXXIII · 02-09-2012, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grafta

Hips and shoulders aligned with your board? I bet your upper body is twisted out of line. It doesn't take much to rotate a board that's not on edge

+1 I didn't even know I did this until I someone told me I wasn't aligned. Being aligned made a big difference for me anyways.

jyuen · 02-09-2012, 11:46 PM

it maybe either you're out of line
or your bindings are slightly off and forcing you to stand out of line cause your back leg might have a bit more heel overhang than your front?

chomps1211 · 02-10-2012, 05:40 AM

...Yet another vote ( from a NooB ) for "Shoulders & Alignment"!

I had this same problem last year about a month after I first started riding. It began happening soon after I started getting good & comfortable linking my turns.

My issue was actually worse than yours as I was getting turned ALL the way around & winding up Switch!! (I was also weighting my back foot more, so that's probably why I was getting turned All the way around and not just "Drifting" some.)

A quick chat with one of the instructors @ Boyne, and he immediately suggested that I was leaving my shoulders "Open" & rotated as well as weighting my rear foot too much, and if I paid closer attention to getting my shoulders straight & pointed where I intended to go, that would probably fix it.

He was right! The good news was that as a result of having this issue,.. Getting switch doesn't freak me out!!!

Tarzanman · 02-10-2012, 06:43 AM

OP, what length is your board and how heavy are you?

Pixel8tedOne · 02-10-2012, 03:41 PM

Hey guys, thanks for the responses so far. For me I'm 6"1, 230 and ride a 163 Legacy set at +18/-15.

I'm definitely going to have to look at shoulders and alignment, as I know when it usually happens I might be a bit out of whack. Thinking about it my shoulders are usually twisted a bit open so that I'm looking downhill, same with my hips I believe.

I've been trying to stay on an edge - no matter how small - just to keep it from happening so I'll pay more attention to my form tomorrow and see what happens.

Pixel8tedOne · 02-12-2012, 09:42 PM

So after trying to stay squared up, I can definitely tell that was the major problem. I never realized it but when i would start to drift my shoulders were opened more to the front of the board and my hips were following. After letting it drift for a second I would pull my shoulders back to be in line and my tail would swing back into place. That being said I can say that I've spent way too long riding open like that cause it was weird as hell riding square.

Thanks for all the help guys!

02-09-2012, 07:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pixel8tedOne Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 69	Back leg drifting Hey all, I'm in my second year riding and have got out a ton of times so far, but still have a long way to go. That being said I'm noticing a trend that I'm having a hard time figuring out why it's happening, and it's kinda screwing me up. I ride goofy, and when I'm on flats and going straight my back leg starts trying to pull to my right. So in effect it's like I'm starting to drift counter-clockwise. I've tried loading weight on my front foot, shifting weight to the back foot, as well as bending my knees and trying to center, but it seems that if I'm not on edge that leg starts to pull. Any thoughts?

02-09-2012, 11:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
jyuen -LIFETIME MEMBER- Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 397	it maybe either you're out of line or your bindings are slightly off and forcing you to stand out of line cause your back leg might have a bit more heel overhang than your front? __________________ 2007 Rome Agent 155, 2011 Rome Artifact Rocker 150, 2012 Never Summer Proto CT 152 2011 Union Contacts, 2012 Flux SF45, 2008 Rome 390's (Retired) 2011 Zoom Kaiju, 2007 Thirtytwo Prospects (Retired)

02-10-2012, 05:40 AM	#6 (permalink)
chomps1211 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: S.E. Mich. Posts: 804	...Yet another vote ( from a NooB ) for "Shoulders & Alignment"! I had this same problem last year about a month after I first started riding. It began happening soon after I started getting good & comfortable linking my turns. My issue was actually worse than yours as I was getting turned ALL the way around & winding up Switch!! (I was also weighting my back foot more, so that's probably why I was getting turned All the way around and not just "Drifting" some.) A quick chat with one of the instructors @ Boyne, and he immediately suggested that I was leaving my shoulders "Open" & rotated as well as weighting my rear foot too much, and if I paid closer attention to getting my shoulders straight & pointed where I intended to go, that would probably fix it. He was right! The good news was that as a result of having this issue,.. Getting switch doesn't freak me out!!! __________________ *You're only Young Once,.. but you can be Immature FOREVER!!!!* 2012/13 Season; (48) days out!

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02-09-2012, 08:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
Bparmz Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: New York Posts: 67	The first thing that comes to mind for me is that the binding angle on your back foot may be a little weird, sometimes when i toy around with different angles, it feels like the angles force movement or a pulling feel while riding straight.

02-09-2012, 10:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
grafta Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 1,752	Hips and shoulders aligned with your board? I bet your upper body is twisted out of line. It doesn't take much to rotate a board that's not on edge

02-10-2012, 06:43 AM	#7 (permalink)
Tarzanman Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,394	OP, what length is your board and how heavy are you?

02-10-2012, 03:41 PM	#8 (permalink)
Pixel8tedOne Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 69	Hey guys, thanks for the responses so far. For me I'm 6"1, 230 and ride a 163 Legacy set at +18/-15. I'm definitely going to have to look at shoulders and alignment, as I know when it usually happens I might be a bit out of whack. Thinking about it my shoulders are usually twisted a bit open so that I'm looking downhill, same with my hips I believe. I've been trying to stay on an edge - no matter how small - just to keep it from happening so I'll pay more attention to my form tomorrow and see what happens.

02-12-2012, 09:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
Pixel8tedOne Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 69	So after trying to stay squared up, I can definitely tell that was the major problem. I never realized it but when i would start to drift my shoulders were opened more to the front of the board and my hips were following. After letting it drift for a second I would pull my shoulders back to be in line and my tail would swing back into place. That being said I can say that I've spent way too long riding open like that cause it was weird as hell riding square. Thanks for all the help guys!