Charlie 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 hi. i have been having some problems with my turns on steep slopes, especially toe side ones. can anyone give me some advice? i know to sit down after the fall line and to get weight on front feet but it is not happening for me. any mental/physical advice would be highyl appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 I know you said you already know this, but I'm going to reiterate it for you - you have to put your weight on the front foot. On steep slopes, we have a tendency to lean upslope cause our brains are telling our body to stay vertical. Once you overcome that tendency, you'll be able to make the turn. It will feel like you're going to fall, and the more you put weight on the front foot, the faster you'll go down hill until you start to turn, but trust the physics - if you're leaning forward (both front foot and toe side), you will turn. I remember when I first started learning to snowboard, I had to overcome the feeling that I was going to fall on my face - thats how much you have to lean - it feels like your going to do a face plant. But once you realize that you won't - that you'll turn instead, you'll be able to carve with the best of them...good luck... Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Author Share Posted January 5, 2004 thanks for the reply. i guess the answer really is that i need to overcome the fear then! just to clarify something, when you put your weight on the front foot do you do anything with your head or hips? should you shift your head over the front end of the board or shift your hips left (if regular stance?) or is it just about having the weight on the front foot? also, any suggestions as to how to get the right mental image to overcome this fear of falling? Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 I think the "right way" is to have your head and hips centered over your feet - not actually moving them forward (towards the front foot. To me, feels like I am trying to lean them over the front but never actually get there. Its kinda hard to describe sitting here at the computer...what I do know is that if your weight is on the back foot, then its a lot more difficult to turn. And if my weight (hips)is leaning too far upslope when turning back side, I end up with the board sliding out from under me, or I won't be in a position to make the the toe-side turn... Powder is a different story though - you have to keep your weight back a little but turning in powder is a lot easier than on groomed slopes or ice... Where do you usually go? Maybe one of the forum regulars could meet up with you...if you decide to come up north, let me know - I'd be glad to board with you...take care, Ray Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 You may find it useful to initiate the turn a bit earlier i.e. not trying to steer the board all the way across the hill. If you do that you'd tend to hesitate. Keep a good pace and keep your turns short. Use your turns to control you speed. Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Author Share Posted January 5, 2004 thanks for some helpful replies. as i live in tokyo i will tend to stick to the nagano area, although i may get one long weekend in in hokkaido. ray, you say that it feels as though your head and hips are over the front feet but they are not. seems a bit strange to me! i'll keep going and let you know how i progress. any suggestions for a nice place near tokyo next weekend? Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 It is best if you use the middle level slopes to practise first. Those in Naeba are pretty good. Wide and steep enough but manageable. Assuming you board is pointing at the 12 o'clock position, try leaning in towards the 2 o'clock (on front side turn) and 10 o'clock (backside turn) directions and see if it works for you. Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Author Share Posted January 5, 2004 thanks siren. good tip. i'll try that. Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Good luck. Ray is correct. Think agressive on the steep and once you get used to the unnatural feeling of leaning forward (even for a split second), everything will come together. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Charlie, that was my biggest obstacle to overcome too. It's all the fear of plunging face-first to your doom. Leaning forward is a good way of aggressively overcoming your fear (I tried it and it worked), but it's not particularly good technique. Being centred in the middle of the board is usually best. I found that simply saying to myself "Make the turn!", twice if necessary, helped to free me from the urge to fall on my bum instead. The best things to do are to; - bend your knees much more than you are now (really important) - on a scarily steep slope, brake with your toeside edge right after the turn, before making the next heelside turn - wave your arms about if you have to force the board around After a while, you'll be casually putting your right hand to the slope as you make your toeside turns. It feels good. Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 5, 2004 Author Share Posted January 5, 2004 wow this is great. thanks ocean. any more advice out there? a freind of mine says its all about commitment, so i may say 'commit' before each turn... Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Hi Charlie - like I mentioned earlier, and said again by OC - the right way is keeping your weight centered on the board, and not on your back foot. What I was trying to say with the forward lean but not really getting there is that on steep slopes, when I intentionally try to put my weight on the front foot, its like I'm trying to lean hips and head toward the front foot but never actually get there cause the board is moving down hill very fast. The natural stance on a slope is for your body to be vertical despite the slope angle but if you do that, your weight will be on the back foot. So I lean forward/downhill towards my front foot which ends up centering me on the board...I've never seen pics or video of myself, so I don't know exactly what I end up doing - I just know that like OC, I have to tell myself to lean toward the tip of the board to get my weight off the back foot and distributed evenly on both feet. Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 I just saw your last post charlie - committment is a good word. I spent saturday trying to teach a friend of ours to snowboard but she was to afraid of falling. I kept trying to tell her that she has to committ to the turn - that she wont fall flat on her face though it will feel that way. I just couldn't get her to understand that it takes quite a bit of board edge to make the turn but if she trusted the physics - she won't fall down. I remember when I first started snowboarding...I came from a surfing/wakeboarding/skateboarding background and could turn heel side very easy but I wasn't commiting enough on the toe side and couldn't turn as sharp as I wanted - kept getting that feeling that if I leaned over more than I was, I'd fall flat on my face. Once I realized I wouldn't fall on my face - that the board edge will track - that the board edge needs the angle in order to turn, then I was able to overcome the fear of falling on my face. Well - I still have the fear of falling on my face - enough that I want to get a full face helmet instead of the one I wear now, but so far, haven't fallen flat on my face in a hard toe-side turn. And like OC says - when you make a hard turn and your face is just a few feet from the snow and your hand touches - its very cool...kinda like being on a wave for me...and if I'm on a deep powder covered steep slope - maybe even better than being on a wave... Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Author Share Posted January 6, 2004 i guess then it's all about being at right angles to the SNOW... Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Author Share Posted January 6, 2004 any more advice from other boarders??? (thanks.) Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts