"Tom" wrote in message
...
Having grasshopped my way from novice to nutcase last week, I
made some major
breakthroughs, gradually refining my technique and learning to
understand the
physics of the board, and my muscle reactions / aches, enough
to get my board /
bindings set up really nicely.

Now..one grasshopper question on technique...

Turning from toes onto heels is fine at all speeds, but I had
quite a few falls
at first turning from heels to toes, especially at high speed.
The final
breakthrough seemed to come when I started bringing the back
leg round more
purposefully as I turned from heels to toes, as I'd seen others
do - really
consciously flicking it round as I made the turns. From that
point, my crash
ratio went down rapidly. I was already OK with my body /
shoulder / hip
movement and weight distribution, but this made an extra
difference.

So, my question is, is the above something that most people do
a lot, is this
correct technique (at medium to high speed - clearly you
sometimes have to do
that, eg sharpo direction changes at low speed) or does my need
to do this mean
that there's still something not quite right in my technique?
It felt fine, but
quite tiring and took a lot of concentration. That said, it was
only my second
week boarding, apart from practicing on indoor snow in the UK.

Try this. Traversing the slope, drop the leading edge of the
board by lowering the heel/toe of the front foot slightly. This
will actually twist the board. As you initiate the turn by
dropping the leading edge of the board, twist the front foot in
the direction of the turn. Do not twist the body, just apply
force with your ankle and knee. As the board points down the fall
line, switch to the new edge with both feet, and twist the back
foot also. Make all changes smoothly/gradually. Keep your body
aligned with your feet throughout the turn. Holding your rear
hand beyond your heelside edge throughout the turn may help keep
you from "opening up" toward the front of the board.

Good luck.

Bob