New boarders are afraid of the speed. This causes over thought and you to begin to worry. Youre going to fall, many times until you get the hang of it. More practice more practice more practice.

 

Here's the snowboarding learning curve.

3-5 days of falling on your ass and wrists, cursing everyone around you.

6-50 days, you made it down a black diamond by heelsliding, therefore you think you're good. During this stage, focus more on having fun, and less on riding the steepest run you can find.

50-100 days, you get humble, and actually start to get "good"... don't start overthinking though!

100+ days, have fun and keep working on technique, after 23 years and 500+ days on the hill, I still have lots to learn

 

Thank u. Good to know and explains a lot!

 

Thank u so much for the detailed reply! This curve is good to know. I have a lot to learn esp that I'm going to fall a lot more than I ever realized. lol.

 

No prob, I still fall pretty much every day. If you focus on not falling, you'll never progress. Focus on techniques, and you've already done the right thing by getting lessons. I'd suggest a lesson every 5 days or so for the first bit, once you get over the hump then one/two lessons a year will make a huge difference.

edit: I should add that it's worth investing in armour. Most people use wrist guards and a helmet. I also use full upper body armour, and sometimes lowers if I'm riding really aggressive. If it can reduce the impacts, it's more lilkely you'll be able to get up and keep boarding. That's the fun part!

 

theres no reason to overcome that fear.

when you learn how to make turns and control the board with your front foot, you will simply go as fast as you want.

that fear is keeping you alive. speed is your enemy at this point since you probably don't know how to stop or turn.

 

Lean forward or neutral, not back helps also. Keep your hands near inside your knees. This will keep you more centered and a slightly crouched stance like you want

 

The biggy is to remember weight forward. It's only natural when you get a little unsure of yourself to think that moving back will help you, almost as if your pulling back on the reins of a horse to get it to stop. It doesn't work that way. Lean back and the board will take you for a ride where it wants to go (hint downhill!) rather than you controlling it.

Really concentrate on your downhill toes and heel pressuring to initiate the turn. The board will naturally want to turn when it's flexed and initiated with the downhill foot. Think of cutting with a knife, do you slice in with the tip or the part near the handle.

And finally, on the big slope make a huge S. Traverse across the entire thing and practice your turns nice and slow. Don't side slide down, but going across the hill will burn your speed that had you worried. Plus doing it that way maximizes the amount that you turn which is great practice. Each turn should swing you around almost 180.

It takes a good 2-4 times for it to cllick with most people. Dont' feel like you are behind the curve!

 

Padded shorts. Crucial ;-)
Snowboard Padded Shorts & Pants | XSportsProtective

 

It sounds like you're just scared and over thinking things. As relative newb myself, I'm prone to this at times still. I was taking a lesson last week in fact, and my instructor was saying this: "You're scared, which is causing you to be too squirrelly. Loosen up, and you'll be fine." Now that I'm conscience of this, I wasn't letting it get to me too much the few runs I took after lesson.

 

I myself am a newb too. I've been to one lesson, then one day out. Went 3 days to Breckenridge for vacation and then one day here on the slushy mess that's left last weekend. I feel your pain about falling, literally. I was in such pain after my second time out from falling that I could barely get off the ground. Perseverance will pay off dividends though. I've bought all kinds of padding and not afraid to say it. I'd rather sit comfortably on Monday than be in pain. Wrist, knee pads, hip/butt padded shorts and helmet. Your progression will go quickly with confidence. Don't be afraid to fall a few times. I caught many an edge trying to learn toe side turns and carving. I've found I'm comfortable as a switch rider now. I don't know if you know what setup they gave you or if you own a board, but that is something I found crucial to getting comfortable. If you're renting I'd suggest getting nearly the same each time out so you can progress without something being different. My first two boards rented were completely different setups. I just marked beginner and they gave me a board. I had no clue. Now I have my own to progress on and I find +12/-12 to be most comfortable stance wise. Keep on practicing and you'll be upright in no time. I made my first blue runs ever this past weekend. Boy is that steep on the east coast. Not to mention how moguled up the runs were by 4:00. I fell probably 6 times attempting them. But oh how much fun it was!

 

More great advice, thank u again! Yes I plan on taking more lessons and armor is key...I see that now lol

 

Makes sense, thank u for the advice!

 

Will definitely use those tips, thank u!

 

Wow, thank u for all the amazing advice! I was def. leaning back, I'm sure of it. I was so scared of the speed, all technique went out the window. OK will focus on S turns, that sounds much more reasonable than flying down the slope

 

Yes, totally looking into them, thank u!

 

Thank u, yes, I agree, very mental. Once I realized the speed of the bigger slope, I freaked out in my head. Any relaxation was done. I tried to "let it go" on the lift before doing my second run but I was too shaken up and then I had a bad fall. I'm def. trying again tho!

 

Wow, Breckenridge, I'm jealous. Switch riding, that's awesome. I want to keep trying because once you have it, it seems like such a peaceful and fun sport with all the gliding.

Yep, I rented and my first board wasn't great. Today seemed better board wise. I want to go once more this winter and if I like it, I'll buy a starter board. Thank u for giving me advice!

 

We actually had the Breck trip already booked before our first lesson. So I had pressure on my to at least stand up before getting out there. I didn't get to any of the really fun stuff, mostly really long green runs. Wife is new to skiing and was plowing her way down so I went slow to stay near her with some fun in between. That powder is so much nicer than the east coast snow. Much more forgiving. Also, if you can get a twin board to try, you might want to try switch. I thought it was easier to get used to. I think my first board was directional and it was hard to get turned back to my regular stance if I got around 180. Play with your stance too. +15/-9 and +12/-12 seem to be good beginner positions to try out. I like the twin board also because it is set up the same forward and backwards (regular/goofy). Just have fun with it and you'll be up and flying in no time. Speed comes with confidence. I had a hard time with it too at first getting used to the feeling of gaining speed and not knowing confidently how to stop. It will be like a light switch though. You'll all of a sudden understand what your feet need to do and it'll be a lot more fun. Keep at it!

 

Nice! You're a great husband I keep hearing that, that East Coast snow is awful and we also have steep slopes. Yesterday, when I went out, the snow was a combination of ice and mush--certainly not ideal for a first timer. Also, I go to a low-budget ski slope 15 minutes from my house. I feel lucky that I have one so close to practice, but it's certainly no Breckenridge or Killington OK, will look into the twin board and stance. That's awesome. I hope to get out again next week. We shall see. Fingers crossed!!!

 

Actually the loose granular is slower than powder. The water in the slush bascially slows you down a lot more because of more friction. I felt like I was on maple syrup on Sunday. The consistency was much like a 7-11 Slurpee. The blue runs had been piled up from the skiers into moguls throughout the day and that stuff was awful, but I just had to try it out. Not much time left for us down here.. it's 50s and raining and I'm sure the snow is getting eaten up.

 

Most might not recommend it, but try listening to music with ear buds in one ear. It gives your brain something to focus on so you can just board.

 

Where have you been going?

 

The advice about keeping the weight forward is crucial.

I thought I was doing good after a few years but was having a heck of a time carving and really even smoothly connecting turns on steeper terrain. It all fell into place once I was consciously putting the weight and work onto the front foot.

its really easy on non-steeps to use poor technic and more or less rudder out with the rear foot (pushing the rear foot into the turn) as opposed to actually carving by letting the front foot initiate the turn and letting the board edges do what they do. The steeper it gets the more obvious it is that pushing the rear foot is not going to work. It starts turning into hopskips instead of turns if you can even swing the board around at all.

 

Hmm, good idea. I'll take it into consideration. Thank you!

 

Thunder Ridge in Patterson, NY. If you're a big boarder, you've never heard of it. It's very local and their main customers are kids and teenagers and a local crowd. I've heard on weekends they get people from the city, though.

 

Oh really. I was just flying down the bigger slope because I had no idea what I was doing. LOL. Yes, it was 56 when I went, and I was sweating up a storm. I plan to possibly go again on Monday, weather permitting, and if so, that's probably it for the season! But I am glad it's spring