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#1
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Grasshopper technique questions!
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. Many thanks anyone - I am one happy grasshopper on a board! Tom High Wycombe UK |
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#2
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Grasshopper technique questions!
The flicking of the board on your front-side turn with your back foot is
something that I teach newbies all time. That heel to toeside is one of the tougher things for newbies to get and this really seems to help. However, that said...I've heard many people say this is incorrect form? My philosophy is to give people something they can work on and get comfortable, they can then tweak it from there. By being able to really throw the board around on your toe edge, gives you much more confidence and allows you to slow your speed much more easily. Again, maybe bad form but it does seem to work for people, I think its tough to expect new riders to just go out and tell them 'heel to toe'...'heel to toe'. "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. Many thanks anyone - I am one happy grasshopper on a board! Tom High Wycombe UK |
#3
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Grasshopper technique questions!
"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 |
#4
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Grasshopper technique questions!
By being able to really throw the board
around on your toe edge, gives you much more confidence and allows you to slow your speed much more easily. Thanks for the encouragement. That's exactly how it feels - if I really trust myself to get that foot round and dig in, it usually always comes off fine. The momentum nicely absorbs the edge and the turn is solid. I can't think of hardly any occasions where I did this and I came too far round, or caught the edge too thick or anything, it just seemed quite natural. Tom |
#5
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Grasshopper technique questions!
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. Nice one, Bobs. I must say I haven't tried that, consciously thinking of feet / ankles. I'm hoping to get out again before and of season and all the adice i grab off of here will be useful. Tom |
#6
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Grasshopper technique questions!
I dunno, maybe it's too long since I was a beginner - but all this
kicking the foot, twisting the board stuff sounds pretty limiting. Your goal is really edge transfer by dynamic leg movement. Probably you are standing up too straight on your heel-side turn, which really limits your ability to get to the toe edge. Try getting as low as you can on the heel-side, and if you think you're too low you're probably still too straight. As you transition from the end of the heelside and want to switch edges, rise up and kind of suck your board through and under your body and onto the other edge, then sink back down into a low toeside turn. It is easier to stay flexed and low on toeside so that's probably why you can switch to the heel edge more easily. My .02 CDN Neil |
#7
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Grasshopper technique questions!
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#8
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Grasshopper technique questions!
So you are probably now all excited and like "ok so how do I carve?"
Well that's a long story and would make this long post even longer. Fortunately there's some great stuff on the web about that! www.bomberonline.com is a site dedicated to carving. For the most part, it's about carving with hard boots and an alpine board, but there's a lot of content that applies equally to soft boots and a freeride/freestyle board. This article describes a drill that will teach you exactly what it feels like to carve: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/feel_the_carve.cfm That is an important first step. Many beginners think they are carving when they aren't. This drill will teach you the difference. Once you've got the "Norm" drill down and know what it feels like to carve (and it is a very cool feeling!) follow up with: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/the_normii.cfm which teaches you how to bring that feel into your everyday riding. Hope that helps, -Mike T |
#9
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Grasshopper technique questions!
"Mike T" wrote in message ...
So you are probably now all excited and like "ok so how do I carve?" Well that's a long story and would make this long post even longer. Fortunately there's some great stuff on the web about that! www.bomberonline.com is a site dedicated to carving. For the most part, it's about carving with hard boots and an alpine board, but there's a lot of content that applies equally to soft boots and a freeride/freestyle board. This article describes a drill that will teach you exactly what it feels like to carve: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/feel_the_carve.cfm That is an important first step. Many beginners think they are carving when they aren't. This drill will teach you the difference. Once you've got the "Norm" drill down and know what it feels like to carve (and it is a very cool feeling!) follow up with: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/the_normii.cfm which teaches you how to bring that feel into your everyday riding. Hope that helps, -Mike T Yea, I decided not to mentioned BomberOnline because it is so hardbooter oriented. You are right that many of the things carry over, but that is only after you know what your are doing. I didn't want to overwhelm people with too much information, not all of which applies. So if you are excited and bold, check out Bomber, otherwise try comparing what you are doing to what more advanced riders and doing and see what's different, that always is a good place to start on what you need to practice. --Arvin |
#10
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Grasshopper technique questions!
"Tom" wrote in message
... 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? You are right that although this is a useful skill for short slow speed turns it is not really the ideal technique for faster riding. It sounds to me as though you are probably not getting enough weight forward on to your front foot. If you have too much weight on the back foot (and the trailing heel edge) as the board crosses the fall line it is difficult to quickly transition the front of the board on to the toe edge and the heel edge will often catch before you can make it! The solution is simple: lean forward on the board going into the turn with most of your weight on the front foot, now as you cross the fall line it will be much easier to transition on to the toe edge. Luke ------------------------- http://www.snowgo.com |
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