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#1
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control with the back leg?
Hello group,
I hope your new year is going well everybody... I'm new to this group, and to snowboarding. I just spent the weekend at Boyne Mountain in Michigan where I snowboarded for a couple of days. This is my second time snowboarding; the first was last year (done it only once as only one time for few hours - but absolutely loved it). I bought my own snowboard before going this time (picked one off of ebay, 156cm freeride). I went from the bunny hill to Deere Run (easiest slope I guess). The slope starts very (very) steep - was kinda scary at first, but I got used to it, and was able to make it all the way down without falling (very hard). My problem is I've been using my back leg to control the board. So, I put all my weight on my rear leg when going down. By the thirteenth run, my leg cramped so hard I couldn't even stand any more. So, I started doing things like sitting on the board's tail while going down to relief the pressure off my rear leg (kinda fun, but allows no direction control). I would really appreciate it if someone can give me some tips on how to relief pressure off my back leg (I think I'm doing something wrong here). If you know of any good websites that give some pointers and tips to beginner snowbarders I would be very grateful if you list them. Thank you, Jay |
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#2
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control with the back leg?
Hey Jay,
Welcome to the addiction. I would say your first no-no is the way you were riding. You should have more weight on the front foot than the back for normal groomed slope riding. Only in deeper powder do you want to lean back to keep the nose afloat. I'd say weight bias is 60-40 front-back. TO start you want to steer by moving the tail around. As you advance you will find yourself leaning further back while you carve your turns rather than skid them . Most likely your leaning back started as a natural reaction to being "scared" of going too fast. Beginners reflex is to lean back to slow down but that just makes it harder to control the board at low speeds. Try leaning more forward next time and I'd be surprised if you don't find drastic improvement. Give it a few runs to get used to this different feeling but it should click quickly as you already have a couple days under your belt. J |
#3
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control with the back leg?
JayMoka wrote in . com:
My problem is I've been using my back leg to control the board. So, I put all my weight on my rear leg when going down. Imagine a snowboard instructor with a horrible french accent... "LEAN FORWARD!!!!" Seriously, my advice would be "take classes". Either with a group (if your speed of learning is compatible) or a private class. It sounds like you are learning some bad habits.. it's better to re-learn the right habits before you are too 'used' to the bad ones. Koos -- Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V |
#4
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control with the back leg?
On 9 Jan 2007 19:38:49 -0800, "JayMoka" wrote:
My problem is I've been using my back leg to control the board. So, I put all my weight on my rear leg when going down. By the thirteenth run, my leg cramped so hard I couldn't even stand any more. So, I started doing things like sitting on the board's tail while going down to relief the pressure off my rear leg (kinda fun, but allows no direction control). I would really appreciate it if someone can give me some tips on how to relief pressure off my back leg (I think I'm doing something wrong here). If you know of any good websites that give some pointers and tips to beginner snowbarders I would be very grateful if you list them. To echo what others have said - you really are using a very poor technique there. Hardly surprising as you're self-taught. Get yourself a lesson or two. It's really the only way. -- Champ |
#5
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control with the back leg?
Thank you all for your replies. I decided to follow your advice and
ignore my ego. I'm going this Saturday for my first class. I'm gonna get a private lesson for a couple of hours at Alpine Valley in Michigan. Wish me luck.. thx, Jay Champ wrote: On 9 Jan 2007 19:38:49 -0800, "JayMoka" wrote: My problem is I've been using my back leg to control the board. So, I put all my weight on my rear leg when going down. By the thirteenth run, my leg cramped so hard I couldn't even stand any more. So, I started doing things like sitting on the board's tail while going down to relief the pressure off my rear leg (kinda fun, but allows no direction control). I would really appreciate it if someone can give me some tips on how to relief pressure off my back leg (I think I'm doing something wrong here). If you know of any good websites that give some pointers and tips to beginner snowbarders I would be very grateful if you list them. To echo what others have said - you really are using a very poor technique there. Hardly surprising as you're self-taught. Get yourself a lesson or two. It's really the only way. -- Champ |
#6
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control with the back leg?
I would really appreciate it if someone can give me some tips on how to relief pressure off my back leg (I think I'm doing something wrong here). If you know of any good websites that give some pointers and tips to beginner snowbarders I would be very grateful if you list them. Also maybe get someone (friend or instructor) to check your stance, angles and binding positions. Search the web for these and you'll find some diagrams and info to do with your weight and board length. It always amazes me how such subtle changes can make such big differences, so for beginners this is even more relevant as you don't want to be struggling against technique caused by a set-up issue. Setting up can be a bind (no pun intended!) but it is satisfying when you start to understand the physics in relation to your boarding and how different muscles feel, and make successful tweaks.. |
#7
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control with the back leg?
JayMoka wrote in .com:
Thank you all for your replies. I decided to follow your advice and ignore my ego. I'm going this Saturday for my first class. I'm gonna get a private lesson for a couple of hours at Alpine Valley in Michigan. Wish me luck.. Good luck, and hoping you'll enjoy snowboarding a lot more! Koos -- Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V |
#8
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control with the back leg?
Hello everyone. I received a lot of good tips and emails. I wanna say
thank you for that.. I did end up taking a 2 hr private class. The difference was amazing. We started by doing the "falling leaf", then the "garlands", then "connecting the turns". Obiously the goal is to be able constantly connect the turns which I can do very well now on the blue slopes. I still have a little trouble doing it when I'm going at very high speeds, so I end slowing it up a little. The "falling leaf" is my friend on the black diamond slopes (makes me a little boring, I know, but hey at least I can go all the way without falling), and most importantly my back leg is not a factor anymore. This past Sunday, I went airborn for the first time (unintentionally ). It was cool, but i don't think I'm ready for it yet (maybe in a couple more weeks). Anyway, thank you guys for the tips and the help; I really appreciate it... Jay On Jan 11, 4:13 am, Koos van den Hout koos wrote: JayMoka wrote in .com: Thank you all for your replies. I decided to follow your advice and ignore my ego. I'm going this Saturday for my first class. I'm gonna get a private lesson for a couple of hours at Alpine Valley in Michigan. Wish me luck.. Good luck, and hoping you'll enjoy snowboarding a lot more! Koos -- Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V |
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