Excessive Leg Strain Carving at High Speeds

Hi,

I'm an intermediate snowboarder and I've only just begun to go at
highspeeds for entire runs down the mountain. The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my legs before going again... Is
this normal? Is there something wrong with my carving technique or do I
sipmly need to strengthen my legs? I'm riding goofy +15 right -3 left.. Any
suggestions?

Alex

"Alex Kwan" wrote

I'm an intermediate snowboarder and I've only just begun to go at
highspeeds for entire runs down the mountain. The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my legs before going again... Is
this normal? Is there something wrong with my carving technique or do I
sipmly need to strengthen my legs?

I had exact same problem on my first couple of days this season.
Frankly, I still don't know exactly why this was happening. What
helped was changing the back leg binding angle from +3 to +6,
adjusting the highback for easier heel-side angulation, loosening
the back leg binding a bit (I was tightening it so snugly
it didn't allow any movement along the axis of the board, which
is essential for carving), and riding with more weight forward.

Try to ride with your back hand forward, as if you carry something
with both hands in front of you - this will help move some weight
forward.

Also try to pay attention to what your hips are doing. The
hip line should be always parallel to the slope, which means
you have to tilt your hips as you change from heel to toe
side and back.

"Alex Kwan" wrote in message
.250...
Hi,

I'm an intermediate snowboarder and I've only just begun to go at
highspeeds for entire runs down the mountain. The problem I have is that
my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my legs before going again...
Is
this normal? Is there something wrong with my carving technique or do I
sipmly need to strengthen my legs? I'm riding goofy +15 right -3 left..
Any
suggestions?

Alex


maybe try easing back the foward lean on your hi-back a bit. last year at
the start of a trip, i set up my high backs with lots of foward lean to
improve carving heelside. after about 10 mins my rear leg was in total
agony due to this fowrd lean combined with my lack of fitness!

i eased it off which stopped the pain and then gradually increased the
foward lean as i got fitter & stronger again.

Alex Kwan wrote in message 5.250...
Hi,

I'm an intermediate snowboarder and I've only just begun to go at
highspeeds for entire runs down the mountain. The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my legs before going again... Is
this normal? Is there something wrong with my carving technique or do I
sipmly need to strengthen my legs? I'm riding goofy +15 right -3 left.. Any
suggestions?

Alex


I made a similar post to this last year.. =)

It's hard to say without actually watching you ride, but for me, it
was an over-exaggerated stance that was killing me. I was ducking
very low, and putting most of my weight on the front leg. Finding a
balanced stance, and distributing the fatigue across all the muscles
in the legs helped me.

I also found that when I was first getting into high speed carving,
that I would tend to hold my breath, believe it or not, which _really_
tired me out quickly... oxygen is a good thing.

Have you tried adjusting your stance/angles? I was riding duck for a
while, but found that +30 right, +10-15 left felt better for
carving... a more forward stance.

Judging by your angles, your in softboots, as am I. Ever consider
going alpine?

On heelside carves, sometimes I stay squatting, and sort of "rest" my
elbows on my knees for a quick rest. I also try to straighten my legs
when toeside. Keeping the muscles moving with premote circulation to
help get the lactic acid out.

I find when I get tired I tend to stiff leg too much.. sometimes it's
best to rest, or call it a day.

If you're just beginning to carve, then you're no doubt going to
improve over time. Unless this trend continues, I'd say rest when you
feel you need it.

It's hard to say without seeing you do it. At risk of flame-throwers,
you might try dumping the duck stance. I haven't seen many duck people
carve at all, so that might be making it harder than it should be.

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 07:24:20 GMT, Alex Kwan
wrote:

Hi,

I'm an intermediate snowboarder and I've only just begun to go at
highspeeds for entire runs down the mountain. The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my legs before going again... Is
this normal? Is there something wrong with my carving technique or do I
sipmly need to strengthen my legs? I'm riding goofy +15 right -3 left.. Any
suggestions?

Alex

what about the highback lean? I bet thats the prob....I just changed
the spacing between the 2 bindings on my board and my back leg was
super fatigued giong down runs...i thought i had moved the back
binding too far back but thought to change the angle of the forward
lean on the back binding...solved my problem..phew!
Spiff

The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the time I
get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my leg

Lower or upper leg? I had major calf ache this season, brought the highbacks
backwards a bit, and it solved it immediately.

I also had aching right thigh; that turned out to be too much weight on back
foot. Moved bindings forward and reduced the angles in a bit.

After those two tweaks, I found a really great set-up for the first time.

(phil) wrote in message . com...
It's hard to say without seeing you do it. At risk of flame-throwers,
you might try dumping the duck stance. I haven't seen many duck people
carve at all, so that might be making it harder than it should be.

No, no, no, no, and no. Did I say no?

Duck stance is EXCELLENT stance for carving. I can't say how much
my carving improved since I switched from +30/+5 to +15/-15.
Both regular and switch for that matter. And I've seen several
people switch to duck and their carving improved as well.

I still do occasionally ride my hard setup with +58/+58 but for
my freeride/freestyle sessions it's duck stance. And I carve
hard, clean pencil lines and everything. Stance very relaxed - the original
poster's problem does not lie in his setup. There might be several
reasons for his back leg strain. Maybe he's twisted too much forward,
or he's pressing his knee too much inside or outside to help his steering.
Remember, carving is all about using your edge, no steering should be
necessary. Try to concentrate on pressing your edges and tilting your board
instead - see if that helps.

It's hard to say without seeing you do it. At risk of
flame-throwers,
you might try dumping the duck stance. I haven't seen many duck
people
carve at all, so that might be making it harder than it should be.

No, no, no, no, and no. Did I say no?

Duck stance is EXCELLENT stance for carving. I can't say how much
my carving improved since I switched from +30/+5 to +15/-15.
Both regular and switch for that matter. And I've seen several
people switch to duck and their carving improved as well.

Sharkie, I'd like to hear some details on how you are doing this!

When I see people carve in a duck stance, they are bending deep at the
knees and hips... using the angles in the joints to generate edge angle.
I see it work very well in halfpipes and terrain parks, and on trails
that are pitched about the same as your typical pipe or park -
generally, greens and gentle blues.

But on steeper terrain, I usually see them skidding every few turns to
scrub speed, or even carving toeside, skidding heel. They also seem to
have trouble carving different radius turns... they pretty much carve
all one radius.

A more forward stance allows one to drop the hip into the turn which
puts a lot of power into the turn, flexing the board harder, and making
a tighter turn. I can see how a duck stance lets you simply bend
deeply at the knees, creating the edge angle, but I'm having trouble
seeing how you make a really powerful turn. Please educate me!

Mike T

EMOVE (Theodore Luigi Stungo) wrote in
:

The problem I have is that my
back leg seems to strain alot while carving high speeds, and by the
time I get 1/2 down a run I have to stop and rest my leg

Lower or upper leg? I had major calf ache this season, brought the
highbacks backwards a bit, and it solved it immediately.

I also had aching right thigh; that turned out to be too much weight
on back foot. Moved bindings forward and reduced the angles in a bit.

After those two tweaks, I found a really great set-up for the first
time.

The strain is in upper leg, centered above the knee (lower quad).. I'll try
and adjust the highback and try some of the technique changes you guys
mentioned! I think I may be putting too much weight on my back leg and
trying to twist my knees when turning.. I think I'll stick with duckie for
now, unless I experience some real problems with it..

Thanks guys!.. I plan to go boarding agian sometime this week so I'll keep
you updated!

Alex