wrathfuldeity

Speed is your friend, newbs often over exaggerate the motion/mechanics due to a lack of speed. Have some one explain and show you the mechanics of the board/body interaction so that you can visualize it and then when on the chair have them point out folks that are riding with proper form. Hang in there...pain is just weaknes or stupidity leaving the body.

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davidj

1. Yes, many's the time I felt like giving up and sticking to skiing. Glad I didn't though

2. Body armor is your friend, impact shorts at the very least

3. You WILL get beyond the hard takedowns, and then the progression and fun quickly accelerates

Hang in there!

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Equal opportunity offender.

poutanen

I actually rode with a group of euro carvers at Nakiska yesterday. Fun but I would get bored stiff only carving...

You're wrong, the armour attracts the ladies!!! Shows them how badass I am! lol

chomps1211

Does anyone else here think that the "reverse camber" might be a big part of the issue? I mean jennifer has mentioned some real issues with boot fit problems,.. so if she's getting more than just a little heel lift, as was mentioned earlier,..

Wouldn't it be THAT much more difficult to engage her toe edge without biffing? I had that issue in the rental boots for my first few times out!! I'd lean,.. and lean some more,.. and a little more, without the board turning, (biting, carving to engage) then the board would go sideways, and WHAM!! Wouldn't that kind of difficulty initiating her turns, be harder with a RC deck,.. especially at slower speeds?

I't also seems to me that the "helicopter" spins, could get more pronounced with a reverse camber deck if a newb has less than proper weight distribution or technique!! Any validity to this notion? I learned on a regular cambered board! I rode the "back seat" & caught lots of edges sure,.. but I wasn't spinning uncontrollably down the bunny hills!!

Vet's,.. help me out! Am I way off in my thinking here? She obviously really wants to get this, but damn,.. as clumsy and uncoordinated as I am,.. I wan't bruised up like she's describing!! I'd really like to help if I can, and being closer to my first few rides (...and falls) than some of the Vet's,.. maybe I'm still more acutely aware of those sketchy first few rides & hard falls!

But I also know,.. I don't know all that much about the sport! So I don't want to make some flat out statement that makes things worse for her!

It's just that when she mentioned "Reverse Cambered Board" these questions immediately sprung to mind for me!

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GreyDragon

Jennifer, I'm confident that you have figured out your problems with snowboarding in that line above.

Lost 120 pounds in 5 months? My dear, you are learning your new body while you try to learn snowboarding. Absolutely you are getting used to controlling your muscles/joints in a different way from what you are used to. If you are still losing weight, your strength is probably not as high as it might be otherwise.

You've received alot of good advice in this thread. If you're fed up spending money on lessons for the instructor to watch you fall, Snowolf has kindly provided links to his online lessons. Use those and ride by yourself for a bit, or find another newbie on the hill to ride with you. DEFINITELY get some padded shorts (Skeletools and Azzpadz seem to be favoured by Forum members) and wrist guards. And yes, I would get off the bunny hill in favour of a moderate green run to at least make side slipping easier.

But don't give up. Once you get used to your new body, I'm sure you will enjoy using it in such a fun sport!

slyder

great thread.
Take up Snowolfs offer is my advice. In addition have your husband video tape you on the bunny hill to send to Snowolf. This can give him the visual he may need to spot your problems or make constructive suggestions.

On the body issue, congratulations on making or progressing on a goal you have set. I somewhat disagree with the clumsy part, only somewhat. Boarding is also about balance and small movements. When starting some people make large harsh movements to turn and this can hurt you as well. Just an observation of my experiences, others may disagree and I may be wrong but its what I have observed.

It took me 3 full days to be able to ride the gentle greens at our small hill. So don't feel alone in slow progression. Everyone learns at a different and individual pace. I and many of us look forward to seeing you progress. I love seeing families that ride together. I love riding with my kids, I wish my wife would ride but I know that is not and will not happen. My daugther may start soon as well so lots of father-kid time when this does happen.

Stick with it and work with Snowolf, I think you will be very happy with the results and enjoy your time riding.

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Thanks
-Slyder

t21

I agree with this^ do not give up. I almost did when i was learning cuz i was tired of eating it, but it became a challenge for me and i wanted to know if i can snowboard. protective gears is a must have. I have to admit though, i never took a lesson but i did watch a lot of snowolf's vids,ask for advices on this forum, snow addiction(SA), and other random vids. kindda learned how to do toeside turn with some helicopter spins on the bunny hill. But what helped me was getting off the bunny hill on to a mild green run where i can actually have more room to turn. It is intimidating at first but you have to focus on what you need to do. lastly as someone mentioned, when you get tired take a breather. Patience and Willpower(which you already have) is the key here, then it will click on like a light bulb. once it does, the fun begins
btw, reverse cambered boards does make it easier to do spins, LOL!

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Optikal_Illuzion

Jennifer,

I thought about giving up, ecspecially after I broke my tailbone. Thinking to myself "what the hell am I doing here? Maybe I should try stick to tubing or skiing". I've never been as bruised up as you though, but have been in alot of pain my first week riding.

Keep up your attitude and you'll get through it! I'm still on green/blues mostly, but I agree with trying to get off the bunny hill onto a green. I couldn't do jack on a bunny hill except go staright down to gain some sort of speed and by the time i was ready to do a turn I'd be at the botton. I was scared at first, but honestly it was alot of fun, even with some falls! Remember to stretch before and after, and hit up a hot tub... or a hot bath with some epsom salts?

I would also agree with purchasing protective gear. Since I fall mostly on my butt and have already broken it, I bought Azzpad, and a helmet. Seriously worth it. A little uncomfortable at first with azzpad but you dont notice it, and it barely hurts when I fall.

I took a hard takedown on ice right on my butt, and these kids just looked at me all astounded asking "how'd you get up so fast"... I just got up and kept going Protective gear really helps your confidence since you wont worry so much about injury.

Good luck on your progression!

brucew.

If you've done 3 lessons and your still falling and helicoptering uncontrollably I'd probably start to question the intelligence of whoever is giving you lessons.

Have you checked out the beginner videos from snowolf?
http://www.snowboardingforum.com/tip...ons-video.html

Snow professor also has some good stuff
First snowboard lesson


If you can post video of yourself riding that will help some of the experts on here diagnose your problems and get you shredding quickly.

Board Gadget

This is my first post but I have been lurking for a year. Great site!! Just about everything I know about snowboarding I learned here. I started snowboarding one year ago when I was 44 years old. I was 40 pounds over weight and hadn't exercised in 20 years. I grew up skateboarding in the 70's but had no experience with snow sports. I always really wanted to snowboard because I was a skateboarder but I never had the opportunity. My 4 kids got snowboards last year and they wanted me to go. At the time my kids were 14, 13, 10, and 6 so it was a good opportunity for me to fall down with them. I had heard the horror stories from my 13 year old son who is very athletic just killing himself and failing so I was a little nervous.

My two first trips to the "bunny hills" at our local hill were brutal. I was totally out of shape and very worried about getting injured because I am the sole provider. My wife was terrified I was going to kill myself. My first real run where I got serious speed I caught an edge at the bottom of the hill and landed on my chest. I got the wind knocked out of me and had a bruise the size of a softball on my sternum. My kids thought I was going to die.

Here are some of my recommendations:

-Make sure you really want to do this badly. I would have never been able to push through the pain and difficulty of being out of shape but I REALLY wanted to snowboard.

-Trust and understand what your boots, bindings and board are built to do. I have never been involved with an activity where the equipment plays such a critical role. Each component is designed in a certain way to assist you in riding your board.

-Watch Snow Wolf's videos. I learned how to snowboard from his videos and now is a perfect time to watch them. You have been out there a few times and his advice will make more sense now.

-Get protective equipment. The older we get the more consequences there are to falling. Get hip, knee and rear pads. This will allow you to take the risks you need to learn with less fear of pain. This year I also purchased the Level Super Pipe Gloves with the bio-metric wrist support. These are amazing and excellent for avoiding wrist injuries. My wrist hurt for 6 months after the season last year. They were the first thing I bought this year. The first time I wore them my confidence improved.

-Take a break and lay off the lessons. I have noticed when you are trying to learn something new, at the point when it is the worst you are about to have a break through. Oftentimes if you take a week off and you come back to the activity you make more progress. Lessons are great but there is nothing harder than trying to do something and failing in front of someone else. Go to the hill by yourself and just work on specific points to improve. Don't over think. Don't try to get too technical.

-It is going to hurt!! Before I started snowboarding I asked a few of my friends who had kids if they ever snowboarded. These guys were all in great shape and worked out regularly. Everyone of them told me don't do it. They said it hurt more than anything they have ever done and they would never get on a board again. It hurts to walk in the boots when you start, falling hurts and your pride hurts. Your body will adapt and it will stop hurting.

-If you are working out keeping doing it. I snowboarded 10 times in 2 months last year. This was my exercise and I was losing weight. I was also building stamina. The more tired you are the harder it is to execute while on your board. I realized when I got tired I would start making mistakes that I made on my first runs ever. I was afraid of injury so I would stop immediately. The more in shape you get the easier it is to ride. I realized it is hard to balance when you have a fat gut hanging in front of you. During the summer I started biking and this has improved my stamina greatly on my board this year.

Once you carve your first run it will all be worth it and you won't be able to stop. So don't give up now if you really want to snowboard. I would agree with other posts on this sight that 8-10 times on the hill is when things start to click. Good luck!!

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But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5:8-