poutanen

As a 21 year boarder this is true forever... I've said it many times on this forum but I fall EVERY DAY. Maybe one day I'll reach the point that I feel like just cruising around sightseeing on the blues and greens but until I'm 70 I don't see that happening!!!

Push yourself every day you're on your board, scare yourself a little, adrenaline is a beautiful thing to have coursing through your veins! Just make sure to scare yourself within reason.

XxSnowbunnyxX

[QUOTE=snowklinger;563700]

Getting out on a softer day can help.

QUOTE]

Definitely. Going when the snow is hard sucks for falling, plus I feel it's harder to control your board. Don't want the snow too soft either, but a well groomed trail is greatness

XxSnowbunnyxX

I failed at quoting

poutanen

lol... You're missing the "[/" before the last "QUOTE]"

raven159

Lots of good advice here. As someone said earlier, "Don't take it so seriously and over think it." I've been teaching two friends lately and their progress after two sessions has been impressive. One is a longboarder and the other is completely new to board sports. The best piece of advice I've given them is "really try to relax and not try to force things to happen". Relax your legs so that you can feel the smoothness of transitioning from heelside to toeside. Bend your knees comfortably and lightening your weight on your board by sucking your legs upward into your body as you're initiating those transitions. Don't ride like you're preparing to fall because this is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stick with it and smile & laugh a lot. It's supposed to be fun.

Consonantal

Your story pretty much sounds like everyone that's ever started snowboarding.

At this point, there's not much advice to give besides doing it more often.

Most of newer riders and a couple of my friends that started out snowboarding had the same problems. I'm not very good myself but I did notice that they were all not bending their legs and generally looked very tense.

So bend your legs and keep a good posture! Don't lean over and when you start acquainting yourself with your balance, keep your hands (especially your back hand) at your side or over your tail. I see so many retards flying down the mountain with one arm sticking out and they're leaning over just about ready to wipe out.

XxSnowbunnyxX

lol I thought I was all slick, deleting stuff so as to only quote what I wanted, but I deleted too much

XxSnowbunnyxX

21 years, nice!

nread

Ditto. I'm a board newb too, so take it for what it's worth, but as an active weightlifter and generally active person I can tell you to never underestimate the importance of rest. In the gym, you can get to a point where you are just overtraining and do more harm than good. I wonder: how long can you push yourself on the slopes before you're having to fight your fatigued, slow to respond, lactic acid laden, stiff and unresponsive muscle fibers? Sometimes it's just better to give yourself a few days of rest. Who knows, you might get back on the slopes and find that you were in your own way and a little rest gave everything you learned time to simmer.

raven159

As you become accustomed to the physical demands of snowboarding on a regular basis, your body will become stronger and the muscles used will adapt. Be patient, stretch, jump in the hot tub during the evening and before you know it, your body will no longer ache or feel sore from the activity. If you take long lay offs and then try to do 2-3 consecutive days of hard riding, your body will have to go through the whole process again and DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) will set in again. Enyoy and have fun!