Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner
1 - 7 of 7 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
1 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hi Im about to start my 2nd season snowboarding and I have not really been progressing as quickly as I would like. I’ve been stuck on linking turns and knowing when to initiate the turn. I’ve read a bunch of post regarding this it has been really helpful. Unfortunately, I think some posts have been removed from the thread (like snowolf) account has been deleted and the posts breaking down the steps have been deleted.

i have gotten a lot of insight about body posture and how to initiate turns better, I’ve definitely learned a lot from here :) . I feel like I learn better when I can read what is suppose to be done and visualize it (then practice the moves at home before I hit the slopes)
So if you could break everything down for me and what order things are done that would be a great help.

I’m goofy so say I’m riding the slope and I’m toe side (fully engaged, knees bent towards the snow, and front knee slightly facing toward my rear foot) then I want to engage my heel side now:
1. Open up my shoulders and begin looking the direction I want to go.
2. front foot will begin to flatten out (I’ll begin going down the fall line)
3. Engage the front foots heelside ( lifting up my toes and pointing my front knee slightly towards the nose) and then flatten out my back foot.
4. Then engage the back foots heel side

Is that correct? Also, when front foot is flat (initiating the new edge) will my back foot still be on the opposite edge or should I be flattening them out at the same time?

also when do you know when you should initiate the new turn? I feel like I switch edges too quickly and then catch and edge and fall or is it something else I’m doing wrong that is making me catch my edge?

unfortunately, I don’t have a video and won’t be snowboarding until next week. Thank you for all your help in advance.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,366 Posts
You gotta have enough speed to commit to the other edge before you get the turn around. Those steps aren't much use, it has to be a fluid motion. Try to ride the edge across the hill, then slow down, get low and point your board down the hill. Turn towards the other side, stand up as you lean into the turn, slow down and point your board downhill again. Do a few of those until you can ride the edge with some speed through a turn, then start linking it up. You can initiate a new turn when you want to turn. You are not moving the direction of the edge when you are trying to transition, you are sideslipping and that's the issue. Try to play around with a ruler or something on a carpet, you'll see what I mean.
 

· Destroying Worlds Since 2015
Joined
·
8,031 Posts
Turning on a snowboard is kind of like turning on a bike. At lower speeds, you turn the handlebars, but at higher speeds it's more about leaning into the turn. And the transition from one technique to another isn't abrupt--it's a smooth, gradual changeover, with some overlap in technique.

With snowboarding, you do the heel/toe lift thing at low speed, but at higher speed you just lean and use body position.

You can study the mechanics all you want, but you can't reduce the turn to a sequence of steps, performed in isolation. If it helps, everyone goes through this. Bad habits like sideslipping (as mentioned), riding the back seat, throwing your body around, all can contribute to a poor turning technique. Best solution is to take a lesson. Second best solution is to get yourself video'd while turning, either using a selfie stick or getting a friend to follow you. Third best is to watch a lot of videos on youtube.

These are also not mutually exclusive. You can do some combination of all three.

Also, practice. Nothing succeeds like time on the mountain.
 

· Premium Member
Joined
·
121 Posts
I think you're over thinking a process to recite over in your head. It's not bad for lounge room practicing, but in my opinion except for ultra slow movement techniques I don't know where it would be practical to checklist it out.

Best thing I ever did was get more lessons, even when I was comfortable turning and hitting easy blacks. Apparently you can always get lower on the board as you're never as low as you think you are.
 
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top