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#11
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
"clarv02" wrote in oups.com:
It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns. probably poor technique as per your later description of the board you would have to have a very high edge angle to drag and if you were riding like that you probably wouldn't be asking us questions here Have a mate watch you from behind and then in front when you are on a steeper trail.. you probably aren't angulating at all and thats fine on easy stuff but harder to get away with on steeper terrain. You could also be pushing the board away from you which is something people tend to do on heeledge. |
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#12
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
Bob F wrote: "clarv02" wrote in message ups.com... Trad, you may be right. I've been boarding for 2 years and feel that my skill has increased quite a bit. I can make turns on the easier black diamonds for example. It does seem like at the beginning of the new year, I start learning over to a certain degree. Maybe that's all this is. What would be your suggestion for proper technique in my turns? Try to learn to initiate turns by twisting the front of the board so that the edge at the front of the board releases and begins to slide downhill into the turn while the rear edge is still engaged the other way. You can see the effect by standing on your board on the flat. Push down on the front toe while lifting up on the back toe. You will see the board twist. Then, on a mild slope, traverse the slope on your heel edge, then push your front toe down while holding your rear toe up the same as you did on the flat. The board will start to turn all by itself. Don't apply any twist with your arms or body. Just wait. The board will turn to point downhill. As it nears the fall line, then stop lifting the rear toe and gradually push it down until you are turning on the toe edge. Reverse the edges for heel turns. Toe traverse, Lower front heel, turn begins. As the turn continues, lower the rear heel edge, and you are turning on the heel edge. Done correctly, you should be keeping your body (shoulders and hips) aligned with your feet. Don't let your body open up to the front as you turn. Turn your head more to see ahead, not your body. Don't try to lead the turn with your arms or body. Initiate it from the feet as described. You will learn to actually steer the board into the turn, rather than sliding the board into the turn by pushing it with your feet. There is more to add. Finding a good instructor can make a huge difference in your riding abilities and constistancy. I improved dramatically when I learned the right way to initiate turns after being basically self taught. I still benefit constantly from having quality instructors observe and comment on my riding. That is the biggest benefit of being an instructor. Bob I would strongly disagree with the above advice. Telling someone who is having problems on heelside turns to try to initiate turns by pushing down on the board with the toes on one foot, while going the other way with the opposite foot to make the board twist is just going to make it more complicated and difficult for them to get it right. I've never heard an instructor give this advice to anyone. Initiating turns without falling down doesn't require any special technique. Nor have I had to use this techinque to make a turn myself. I agree with the advice to take a lesson. An instructor can likely see what you're doing wrong and point you in the right direction. |
#13
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
I think it was a combination of both - too much heel overhang and poor
technique. I do also agree with getting a lesson or two this year. I've actually had instruction for the last two years as I was part of a volunteer junior ski program here in Reno, called Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program. But we're not participating in that program this year and my daughter and I have season passes to a nearby resort, where I plan to get more instruction. Ironically, now my heelside is very strong, and now my toeside is a little shaky. I went up yesterday morning for 4 runs. After reading these posts and others from another thread, I realized I wasn't getting low enough in the turns. So I started doing this and also powering out of the turns and my heelside improved dramatically. Then I noticed my toeside being not so great. It seems like, even shifting weight to the front of the board, I can't seem to get low in the toeside turn. It certainly was a much better day - only my second of this season. I'm going to decrease the angle of my front binding. I had increased it to about 12 degrees, a little bit more than I've had for the past two years. So I'm going to go back down to about 9 degrees and see how that feels on the toeside. Thanks to everyone for their opinions. Mike M. Miskulin wrote: "clarv02" wrote in oups.com: It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns. probably poor technique as per your later description of the board you would have to have a very high edge angle to drag and if you were riding like that you probably wouldn't be asking us questions here Have a mate watch you from behind and then in front when you are on a steeper trail.. you probably aren't angulating at all and thats fine on easy stuff but harder to get away with on steeper terrain. You could also be pushing the board away from you which is something people tend to do on heeledge. |
#14
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
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#16
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
"clarv02" wrote in message ps.com... I think it was a combination of both - too much heel overhang and poor technique. I do also agree with getting a lesson or two this year. I've actually had instruction for the last two years as I was part of a volunteer junior ski program here in Reno, called Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program. But we're not participating in that program this year and my daughter and I have season passes to a nearby resort, where I plan to get more instruction. Ironically, now my heelside is very strong, and now my toeside is a little shaky. I went up yesterday morning for 4 runs. After reading these posts and others from another thread, I realized I wasn't getting low enough in the turns. So I started doing this and also powering out of the turns and my heelside improved dramatically. Then I noticed my toeside being not so great. It seems like, even shifting weight to the front of the board, I can't seem to get low in the toeside turn. It certainly was a much better day - only my second of this season. I'm going to decrease the angle of my front binding. I had increased it to about 12 degrees, a little bit more than I've had for the past two years. So I'm going to go back down to about 9 degrees and see how that feels on the toeside. Arch your back when on toeside. You'll feel the difference. Bob |
#17
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
Bob F wrote: "Champ" wrote in message ... On 23 Dec 2006 05:01:29 -0800, wrote: Bob F wrote: Try to learn to initiate turns by twisting the front of the board so that the edge at the front of the board releases and begins to slide downhill into the turn while the rear edge is still engaged the other way. I would strongly disagree with the above advice. Telling someone who is having problems on heelside turns to try to initiate turns by pushing down on the board with the toes on one foot, while going the other way with the opposite foot to make the board twist is just going to make it more complicated and difficult for them to get it right. I've never heard an instructor give this advice to anyone. Initiating turns without falling down doesn't require any special technique. Nor have I had to use this techinque to make a turn myself. It's an old teaching technique from the early days of snowboarding. I remember hearing it in the early 90s. It is the technique that I am taught to teach by the PSIA. It is also the technique I teach my students for their very first turn. It really works. I have never been shown a better way to initiate turns for beginners. I really wonder what others are teaching if these comments are the case. Any help here? Bob In the US, I was taught to initiate a toeside turn by keeping weight on the front foot, knees slightly bent, rotate shoulders in direction of turn and look in direction of turn, while applying pressure on the toes of both feet, and lessening pressure on heels For heelside, same process, but apply pressure with the heels. If I had to think about rotating one foot in the opposite direction to try to twist the board, I don't think I ever would have learned. Also, the closer you follow this technique, the closer you are to carving, as opposed to sliding the board around. Just had a buddy take lessons here in the US and he was taught the same technique. |
#18
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
wrote in message ups.com... Bob F wrote: "Champ" wrote in message ... On 23 Dec 2006 05:01:29 -0800, wrote: Bob F wrote: Try to learn to initiate turns by twisting the front of the board so that the edge at the front of the board releases and begins to slide downhill into the turn while the rear edge is still engaged the other way. I would strongly disagree with the above advice. Telling someone who is having problems on heelside turns to try to initiate turns by pushing down on the board with the toes on one foot, while going the other way with the opposite foot to make the board twist is just going to make it more complicated and difficult for them to get it right. I've never heard an instructor give this advice to anyone. Initiating turns without falling down doesn't require any special technique. Nor have I had to use this techinque to make a turn myself. It's an old teaching technique from the early days of snowboarding. I remember hearing it in the early 90s. It is the technique that I am taught to teach by the PSIA. It is also the technique I teach my students for their very first turn. It really works. I have never been shown a better way to initiate turns for beginners. I really wonder what others are teaching if these comments are the case. Any help here? Bob In the US, I was taught to initiate a toeside turn by keeping weight on the front foot, knees slightly bent, rotate shoulders in direction of turn and look in direction of turn, while applying pressure on the toes of both feet, and lessening pressure on heels For heelside, same process, but apply pressure with the heels. If I had to think about rotating one foot in the opposite direction to try to twist the board, I don't think I ever would have learned. Also, the closer you follow this technique, the closer you are to carving, as opposed to sliding the board around. Just had a buddy take lessons here in the US and he was taught the same technique. I was taught to twist my body to start turns in my first lesson 15 or 20 years ago. When I started really trying to board a few years ago after not trying it again for many years, that was the first thing I was told to quit doing. In reality, steering the board by twisting it is less of a sliding motion than rotating your body to get it to turn. The board turns as if by itself. It enters the turn with no skidding of the back of the board. The front of the board turns in the direction you want to go, rather than the back of the board sliding the other way to point the board in the new direction. The transition to a clean carve happens very easy in this turn since no skidding was used to start the turn.. This technique works well, especially at low speed. Sure, at high speeds anyone can change edges evenly to make quick non-skidded turns without pushing the tail of the board around. Using board torsion allows smooth turns without skidding even at near zero speeds. Focusing on it when riding switch makes switch riding much more comfortable. You just don't catch edges and fall as much. I will say again - I teach this technique to all my beginning students. It works very well for them. When it doesn't seem to work for them, they usually have their bindings too close together on the board. Move the bindings, and all of a sudden it works. The students that learn this way to turn are visably smoother riders. They also seem to suffer many fewer traumatic falls during the learning process. If you like the way you ride - fine. If you want to try something a lot of riders have never discovered that might improve your performance, you might want to try this. I have no vested interest other than liking to help people ride better. And I am always interested in any new concepts that I can learn, which is one of the reasons I visit R.S.S. Keep them coming. Bob |
#19
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
Bob F wrote: wrote in message ups.com... Bob F wrote: "Champ" wrote in message ... On 23 Dec 2006 05:01:29 -0800, wrote: Bob F wrote: Try to learn to initiate turns by twisting the front of the board so that the edge at the front of the board releases and begins to slide downhill into the turn while the rear edge is still engaged the other way. I would strongly disagree with the above advice. Telling someone who is having problems on heelside turns to try to initiate turns by pushing down on the board with the toes on one foot, while going the other way with the opposite foot to make the board twist is just going to make it more complicated and difficult for them to get it right. I've never heard an instructor give this advice to anyone. Initiating turns without falling down doesn't require any special technique. Nor have I had to use this techinque to make a turn myself. It's an old teaching technique from the early days of snowboarding. I remember hearing it in the early 90s. It is the technique that I am taught to teach by the PSIA. It is also the technique I teach my students for their very first turn. It really works. I have never been shown a better way to initiate turns for beginners. I really wonder what others are teaching if these comments are the case. Any help here? Bob In the US, I was taught to initiate a toeside turn by keeping weight on the front foot, knees slightly bent, rotate shoulders in direction of turn and look in direction of turn, while applying pressure on the toes of both feet, and lessening pressure on heels For heelside, same process, but apply pressure with the heels. If I had to think about rotating one foot in the opposite direction to try to twist the board, I don't think I ever would have learned. Also, the closer you follow this technique, the closer you are to carving, as opposed to sliding the board around. Just had a buddy take lessons here in the US and he was taught the same technique. I was taught to twist my body to start turns in my first lesson 15 or 20 years ago. When I started really trying to board a few years ago after not trying it again for many years, that was the first thing I was told to quit doing. In reality, steering the board by twisting it is less of a sliding motion than rotating your body to get it to turn. The board turns as if by itself. It enters the turn with no skidding of the back of the board. The front of the board turns in the direction you want to go, rather than the back of the board sliding the other way to point the board in the new direction. The transition to a clean carve happens very easy in this turn since no skidding was used to start the turn.. This technique works well, especially at low speed. Sure, at high speeds anyone can change edges evenly to make quick non-skidded turns without pushing the tail of the board around. Using board torsion allows smooth turns without skidding even at near zero speeds. Focusing on it when riding switch makes switch riding much more comfortable. You just don't catch edges and fall as much. I will say again - I teach this technique to all my beginning students. It works very well for them. When it doesn't seem to work for them, they usually have their bindings too close together on the board. Move the bindings, and all of a sudden it works. The students that learn this way to turn are visably smoother riders. They also seem to suffer many fewer traumatic falls during the learning process. If you like the way you ride - fine. If you want to try something a lot of riders have never discovered that might improve your performance, you might want to try this. I have no vested interest other than liking to help people ride better. And I am always interested in any new concepts that I can learn, which is one of the reasons I visit R.S.S. Keep them coming. Bob I'd be interested in hearing from others on here if: 1 - When learning to ride, they were told to make turns by twisting the board by moving the feet in opposite direction 2 - If they now use this technique in their own riding. My answer is no to both. |
#20
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Is my heel dragging the snow?
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