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Really need some advice for riding goofy. I usually ride regular (left foot forward) and have no problems with that at all - however, when it comes to riding goofy/switch - I just CAN'T do it.

 

I have been snowboarding for about 3 years now - riding a 163cm board if it helps - has anyone got any tips to help?

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You know how some people are right handed and some are left handed, and then there are some who can write with both....

 

....and you know if you can't write with your left hand but you practice a LOT you can get sort of skilled at it...

 

I reckon the same applies for snowboarding.

 

I have enought trouble riding Natural without trying to confuse myself with Switch! But the kids seem to effortlessly go from one to the other...

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1) watch the sprocking cat in subjekt haakonsen...get inspiration. Terje is probably the best switch rider ever. (there is a rumor that he won the Baker Banked Slalom switch one year).

 

2) I had a buddy that used to set up his bindings opposite direction every other year b/c he thought that board sports wreaked havok on one side of your body and not the other. Not sure if he was right about that but he was excellent at riding switch. Going a whole season switch is a big ask, but a good idea if you know you'll be forced to ride w/ a slow group and race them on the groomers.

 

4) If your riding out of bounds, ride switch when you get back to the groomers.

 

5) Last run down to the base should be switch.

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 Originally Posted By: stillnoprogress
1) watch the sprocking cat in subjekt haakonsen...get inspiration. Terje is probably the best switch rider ever. (there is a rumor that he won the Baker Banked Slalom switch one year).

2) I had a buddy that used to set up his bindings opposite direction every other year b/c he thought that board sports wreaked havok on one side of your body and not the other. Not sure if he was right about that but he was excellent at riding switch. Going a whole season switch is a big ask, but a good idea if you know you'll be forced to ride w/ a slow group and race them on the groomers.

4) If your riding out of bounds, ride switch when you get back to the groomers.

5) Last run down to the base should be switch.



I tried No. 5 last week at Myoko, but by 5pm the slope was icy, hard. It made it very difficult to attempt a turn, so I switched back to natural after running about 5m.
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haha cheers Thurs!! Yeah I'm sober...just!!

 

I can't really help tho because I ride goofy and find it too weird to ride regular. When I first started boarding my bro done the "push" test on me and I came out regular but when I started actually riding I kept on switching over to goofy, my bro was shouting that I was going backwards!! It was just more comfortable for me, I can't ride regular....it feels like throwing a ball with your "other" hand

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Cheers for the advice so far.

 

Kinda funny as I tried doing some of the terrain park yesterday at Gala - ie the boxes and jumps anddid them fine. When itired to step it up - huge face plant and embarassment all around when I accidently landed switch.

 

will try all your advice next time I go.

 

Silly question - but how would I go setting up my bindings goofy?

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try making your stance centered, and not set back. or at least only set back a tiny bit. and ride with a duck stance, rather than both feet with a forward angle

then just practice on baby slopes for an hour or so. i'm hardly a master of switch, but can do alright on moderate slopes.

the other thing to remember is to lean forward with your front shoulder (well, that's what i do at least). remember when you first learnt to ride, and it felt so unnatural leaning down the hill, when all you wanted to do was lean back and slide down sideways? now you've just got to overcome that feeling again

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Thank you, Spook.

 

Like he said, try ducking your back foot out, ot at least make it 0 if it is angled forwards.

 

Switch riding is not impossible by any means, and it helps improve your all round riding as well.

 

There are usually two problems that people have when they first try switch riding.

 

One is that they rely way too much on their natural stance. In order to make the board turn downhill, you have to weight the leading foot. We get too used to weighting our natural lead foot (your left, in your case), so as soon as we try to do ride backwards, we keep or weight on our left when it should be our right. It just takes a little bit of concious effort to get over that.

 

Point two is that you are probably confident riding regular, and use your edges quite a bit. However, when you learn to ride switch, you have to learn basic turns again, and only use your edges a little. When execting a turn, let the board slip over the snow more than you are used to, and apply your edges slowly when slowing down.

 

if you can get used to switch riding, it opens up a whole world of possibilities to your riding. You will be able to jump and do small 180s, traverse steep slopes switch on your toe edge, and other handy tricks.

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 Originally Posted By: RobBright
Cheers for the advice so far.

Silly question - but how would I go setting up my bindings goofy?


If your board has a definite "nose" and "tail", just unmount the bindings and switch everything around so it's like a mirror image of how it is currently. You may have to fuss with the highbacks if those are adjustable side-to-side. This probably isn't a really good idea for "just learning" unless you are committed to toughing it out goofy all day. It'll be a royal pain in the @ss to switch it back on the mountain.

If your board is symmetric and your stance is about centered, do as a lot of people have suggested and "duck" the rear binding angle (if it isn't already that way). If you find that uncomfortable, try reducing the angle on the front foot a little.

When you have the turning more under control, try launching small stuff switch and landing natural before progressing to launching natural and landing switch.
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Before I had my bindings at 21/-6 and 18/-9 at it was nearly impossible to ride switch. I changed to 15/-12 and it feels more natural to me. Still difficult, but not impossible.

 

But, anyway, ignore my comments because I am still a noob.

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Well my curernt angles are +9/+3

 

what do you think I should set them up to to ride switch?

 

even bought a new board on yahoo to try this out on - that's how determined I am this season ;\)

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oyuki and kuma would know much more than me, but maybe try something like +9 and -3. or try sometime a bit more extreme and see how you like it, and play around with your settings a bit

i think mine are something like +24 and -15. i think. haven't checked for a while

what do others ride with?

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I ride switch with 30/30 binding angles, and the other day I saw a hard-booter with extreme angles carving tight turns in switch. That was probably the most impressive thing I've seen all season. Higher binding angles makes carving toe-side really easy switch. So easy I do it all the time. i.e., by accident. :p whoops.

 

Oyuki gave great advice: keep your weight on your front foot! And get used to sliding turns again: think of it like you're re-learning how to snowboard, with a different foot.

 

good luck!

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Oyuki kigan,

 

Im a beginner intermediate rider and i just started riding switch. When i first started riding i had my weight on my front foot. However i dont think this is the best way. Sure you feel like you can turn fast and control your speed but what about all the bumps along the way. If you have your weight forward you get thrown off balance.

 

I think you are better off having your weight centered or even slightly backwards. You can feel the board flex and pop as you turn at a decent speed and you can ride through the bumps.

 

What do others think?

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what i am describing is a beginner turn, on what i hope would be a beginner slope. IE no bumps.

 

The biggest problem beginners make (and even a lot of more advanced riders) is that they don't stand naturally on the board. If you are centered, then it takes very little effort to move the board around. There should be as little effort as possible.

 

Of course, your stance changes due to a million factors, such as snow conditions, your stance set-up, your board, the weather, even your age. Of course i am not suggesting that someone ride front-foot heavy all the time. But on a groomed run, and especially when you are carving, it can be beneficial.

 

Another important thing is to have flexed knees, and to absorb the terrain. But that isn't really an issue on a bunny hill beginner turn, is it?

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 Originally Posted By: stillnoprogress

5) Last run down to the base should be switch.


Its good to set targets towards a goal and everything, but I heard once that a good number of injuries happen on the last run of the day. Its much easier to lose control when you're tired of course, and the courses getting icey after the sun has gone in. Other folk might be hurrying back to the car or onsen too.

As a general rule, you shouldn't practice anything new when you're tired. You'll only impart a bad way of doing it into your muscle memory. The idea behind the drills and exercises you do in lessons is to get your body to remember the right way.

Anyway, just my 2 yen.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok - sorry for the elay in updating - if anyone is intereseted - but for the last couple of weeks have been riding switch - and my god - I have forgotten how much it hurts to fall over on 'ice' sometimes!

 

At times, it drove me back to riding regular but managed to try it and now - not great, nor competant, but can ride basic switch - still a little iffy with carving and turning at speed but getting there.

 

had to change from a 9 / -9 to a 15/ -9 as didn't quite have enough leverage but it works great.

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Just up in gala today - some friends (skiers) wanted to learn how to to snowboard but baulked at gala's prices so ended up getting the short straw and teaching them in the morning. Afternoonm just rode switch down edelweiss and melody runs

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