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#1
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my snowboard & not being able to stick my landings
Started doing more jumps and park this past season.
I don't have problems with doing beginner jumps. (The jumps near Hole n the Wall lifts at Kirkwood.) I was able to approach beginner jumps at a pretty fast speed, catch good amount of air (so I was told) and stick my landings no problem. So I went to the next bigger jump, but I have problems sticking my landings when I approach the jump at higher speeds, trying to catch more air. (These are the jumps at Stomping Grounds at Kirkwood.) If I approach the jump at a slower speed, I was able to stick my landings. It feels like my leg turns to jello while landing and my board washes out from underneath me. I know that rider ability and skill level has a lot to do with why I am not sticking my landing. But I have this nagging feeling that my snowboard is washing out under me and couldn't stick my landing because the snowboard couldn't withstand my weight at this force. So my question is -- Is there a possiblity that my snowboard could be a reason why I'm not sticking my landings?!?!?!?! Thanks |
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#2
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Hi, I ride at Kirkwood as well. I'm assuming you are referring to the
jumps on the left run of the "Stomping Ground" that runs directly to the superpipe. I see a lot of people crash on those jumps and I think the main issue is that you don't have enough speed to clear the flat transition before the landing. So the jumps at "Terrain Garden" generally are shaped like trapzoid, with an uphill takeoff point, a flat transition, and a downhill landing area. If you go slowly, you don't go very high or far and land short in the flat. Since you didn't go very high, you don't fall very far and your legs are able to absorb the force of the impact. Now say you go a bit faster, you get more air, fly farther... but don't make it to the downhill landing and still hit the transition. With the added height and speed, your legs will not be able to absorb the impact of your landing, you will feel a massive jolt and will likely bounce and crash. So what you really need to do is to land on the downslope or the "landing of the jump" if you land there with you board flat and under you, you will feel virtually no "jolt" when landing. Because you mention "washing" out on your jumps, I think you are also landing on edge or with you board at an angle to the direction of travel and skidding immediately upon landing - this is a *very* common problem I see at the stomping ground and comes from the natural urge to slow down the moment you land since you pretty much always land going faster than you did taking off. You need to resists this urge and "stomp" you board flat down as you land and ride straight down the landing for say about 10 feet before trying to turn or slowdown. This is kind of like how a gymnast "sticks" his or her landing and holds still for a second to reacquire their balance before raising their arms to greet the judges. You need to be balance and "ready" before you can speed check or turn... better riders can "recover" more quickly from a jump so don't be fooled... all of them pause a moment after they land to recover. Just to make sure it's not your board... tell how much do you weight and what is model/size snowboard are you riding? Feel free to ask any questions if I wasn't clear on something. --Arvin ihm wrote: Started doing more jumps and park this past season. I don't have problems with doing beginner jumps. (The jumps near Hole n the Wall lifts at Kirkwood.) I was able to approach beginner jumps at a pretty fast speed, catch good amount of air (so I was told) and stick my landings no problem. So I went to the next bigger jump, but I have problems sticking my landings when I approach the jump at higher speeds, trying to catch more air. (These are the jumps at Stomping Grounds at Kirkwood.) If I approach the jump at a slower speed, I was able to stick my landings. It feels like my leg turns to jello while landing and my board washes out from underneath me. I know that rider ability and skill level has a lot to do with why I am not sticking my landing. But I have this nagging feeling that my snowboard is washing out under me and couldn't stick my landing because the snowboard couldn't withstand my weight at this force. So my question is -- Is there a possiblity that my snowboard could be a reason why I'm not sticking my landings?!?!?!?! Thanks |
#3
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ihm wrote:
So my question is -- Is there a possiblity that my snowboard could be a reason why I'm not sticking my landings?!?!?!?! Thanks Wait, is this Dawn? Are you still riding that K2 Luna 143? If so, I would say while everything I just mention is still probably the main problem... your shorterm softer board is probably not helping as longer, stiffer boards tend to be a lot more solid on landings. If you have the 147 and especially 150 Ride Kashmir then I'm pretty sure it isn't the board. The fact that your legs "go the jello" on the moment of impact tells me you are getting a hard *jolt* on your landing (meaning you are landing short) and you aren't balanced over you board to absorb the impact (probably on edge or turned the board across the fall line). Don't worry... *everyone* suffers this problem when they try to tackle a jump bigger than what they are used to. I had the exact same problem at the Big Air jump during the first week of April - landed 5 feet short of the landing, "washed out", landed on my rear and went off the edge of the flat and back into the air in a semi-seated position... A helpful trick to finding out how fast you need to go is to let the other riders be your guinea pigs. Count how many turns they take before they get to the jump and see how far they go... in most cases you can only do two turns before you need to line up and go straight to clear the jump. A lot of people will do an extra turn thinking that they are going too fast... only to "discover" that you slow down a lot going up the takeoff ramp and crashing short of the landing. --Arvin |
#4
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Hey Arvin, Yep, this is Dawn. I bought a 150 Kashmir from REI, but returned it after using it for 1 day because it's a big and stiff board for me and didn't quite like it at the time. I ended up buying a 147 NS Infinity, the girly version of the SL. The board is kinda stiff, not as stiff as the kashmir, but it feels lightweight and really sensitive to me -- compared to the other boards I've ridden before -- I had 1 day on the Kashmir, 2 days on the K2 Mix, several years on the Luna. It's the sensitivity of the board that made me wonder if the board's is a possible problem. Then I read some comment about how a snowboard flex not being right, going at mach 5, not being able to hold your 120lb weight while landing... Forgot where I read it though. When I wash out going fast, it's on the downhill ramp, almost towards the middle of the ramp. When I speed check, approach the jump more cautiously, I still end up on th downhill ramp, but towards the beginning of the downhill ramp. I don't freak out and physically over rotate my body while trying to land in an attempt to slow my speed. Yeah, I'm aware landing on the transition is bad ... And it's when I go super slow that I end on the flat transition. Hmmm, it's possible that I could be trying to turn as soon as I try to land on certain jumps, cause I'm trying to break the speed, I think that's part of the the problem. But there are other jumps, it feels like my legs are like jello and couldn't absorb the force of the landing. |
#5
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ihm wrote:
I ended up buying a 147 NS Infinity, the girly version of the SL. Yes the Neversummer freestyle boards tend to be less "damp" meaning that if you try to charge through or turn on choppy, sloppy snow... you will get a bit of bounced ride. When I wash out going fast, it's on the downhill ramp, almost towards the middle of the ramp. You sound like you have figured out how to judge how much need you need to clear a jump then... good job! That is one of the most important skills to have and makes takeoffs and clearing the jump much more relaxing. Hmmm, it's possible that I could be trying to turn as soon as I try to land on certain jumps, cause I'm trying to break the speed, I think that's part of the the problem. But there are other jumps, it feels like my legs are like jello and couldn't absorb the force of the landing. Yea, if you turn as soon as you land you will have a tendency to push the residual energy of your landing (you legs will often be down while you upper body is still coming down) into your turn and wash out - hence why you need to run flat for a moment to re-center yourself over your board. This probably will fix the "washing out part". When you legs are "jelly" and you can't absorb the force of the landing, my second guess is that your legs are too straight. If your legs are straight and you knees are locked, your muscles aren't tensed and they will not react fast enough to hold your body up when you land. As you land, you should be extending you legs and literally "stomping" on the ground (hence why they call it "stomping" a landing). This stomping motion pre-tenses you leg muscles and prepares them to absorb the force of the landing. Hoep that helps, --Arvin |
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