Jump to content

Looking for instructor to help with foot dynamics


Recommended Posts

I am an intermediate-level snowboarder. I have learnt snowboarding mostly from Japanese instructors. They teach you to turn using upper body rotation. Having read up on this a bit it seems to me that this method is outdated and being criticized for the instability it introduces. Only French and Canadian instructor associations still seem to teach this while American, Swiss, etc associations teach making turns by working solely through your feet. There is a book by Neil McNab, a former British snowboarding champion, that illustrates this foot-dynamic approach very nicely. Does anyone know of specific instructors in Japan that could help me develop the right footwork? Any AASI or Swiss instructors around? Location is not important as long as they're in Japan.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting post. Actually I was taught about upper body and foot work. I am guessing by foot work you mean stuff like "pedaling" ?

 

I was taught to when going toe to heel lift the front foot toes whilest pushing on the back toes and when going heel to toe do the oposite. ie push on the front toe and lift the back toes.

 

Actually I found it worked really well and when ever I got too nervous and hit an edge then I went back to that and I soon was riding well again.

 

Actually now tho I almost never need to use this technique turning is just natural. I am wondering as you are an intermediate do you really need to learn this kind of stuff. I am assuming you can turn without hitting an edge now.

 

Cheers

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: soulboy

Actually now tho I almost never need to use this technique turning is just natural. I am wondering as you are an intermediate do you really need to learn this kind of stuff. I am assuming you can turn without hitting an edge now.
Cheers


I would think it would help.

I recall one lesson in Niseko with a Canadian instructor (same instructor from FIRST EVER LESSON, but a year later) who had me do entire runs ONLY turning by pedalling, then only like a teapot, then only using up down/weight tranfer. It initially felt like a waste of a lesson - I wanted to be riding harder stuff and not looking so much like a n00b - I was disappointed. BUT ... I really GOT IT this year riding through some sick tree's where I used ALL of it to get me through. Once you learn those things they come naturally when you need them (as it seems they do for you now soulboy) - but if you don't learn them then you might not just 'pick them up'.

Just coz you are experienced and ballzy doesn't mean you have great form, or even great control. slap

Most decent instructors should be able to teach you these things if you let them know that is what you are interested in. Axel. thumbsup recommended!
Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: jcpops
That Neil McNab book sounds interesting. Can someone post more info about it?


You can look it up on Amazon and such. It's called "Go Snowboard: Read It, Watch It, Do It (GO SERIES)"

This guy also has a website for his school that's located in the Alps.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: soulboy
Interesting post. Actually I was taught about upper body and foot work. I am guessing by foot work you mean stuff like "pedaling" ?

I was taught to when going toe to heel lift the front foot toes whilest pushing on the back toes and when going heel to toe do the oposite. ie push on the front toe and lift the back toes.

Cheers


Not exactly. The book I mentioned teaches to exert pressure on four imaginary points on the board (basically the four "corners") not to lift your heels or toes. You can read up on this here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2002/feb/16/wintersportsholidays.wintersports.france
Link to post
Share on other sites

I refer to this turning technique "when going toe to heel lift the front foot toes whilest pushing on the back toes and when going heel to toe do the oposite. ie push on the front toe and lift the back toes."

 

According to this site

http://club-ski.web.cern.ch/club-ski/snowboard/tutor/frswiss.html

and extremecarving

its pure rotational, using the inertia of the upper body to turn the lower part. which i think its very good at large-radius carving.

 

So, i guess the technique you mention would be only suitable for softer board and without upper body rotation. it would more or less induce counter-rotation.

 

correct me if im wrong.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ive instructed both in Japan and New Zealand and when teaching beginners I teach them to turn with slight body rotation which I find helps when learning to turn(short radius skidded turns). Pedaling(torsional twisting the board) as mentioned above is also another way but I find that with beginners a little bit of rotation helps as not all students seem to understand the concept of pedaling.

When going faster and carving turns (short and long radius) I teach with shoulders basically in line with board. There are other factors as well with weighting(longitudinal), flexion/extension and body positioning etc.

Although Ive never really thought about it too much, I guess Japanese "Instructors" do rotate a fair bit but still a lot of them are very good riders and the rotation that may be considered by some groups "outdated" doesnt appear to affect how well they ride.

Best if you take a private lesson with an Instructor who has experience teaching overseas and work on you riding. Chances are that even if you are over rotating there will be other aspects of your riding(body positioning etc) that if improved will lift your level of riding.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: hknz
I refer to this turning technique "when going toe to heel lift the front foot toes whilest pushing on the back toes and when going heel to toe do the oposite. ie push on the front toe and lift the back toes."

So, i guess the technique you mention would be only suitable for softer board and without upper body rotation. it would more or less induce counter-rotation.

correct me if im wrong.



I guess you are asking soulboy, the poster of this, but I think you are right. At least this wouldn't work with stiffer boards unless you want to use a lot of force. I prefer to minimize the strength I have to put into anything. If anyone wants to use this technique, I recommend lots of resistance training for their tibia in the gym to prepare their muscles for this.
Not too sure if this induces counter-rotation in itself.
Link to post
Share on other sites

I ride both ski and snowboard.

 

in ski, beginners usually rotate the upper body to initiate a turn.

advance one use body joints from waist below to do it and that's involve some sort of counter-rotation.

 

in snowboard, beginners usually do counter-rotation to turn.

while more advance riders initiate the turn by twisting the upper body.

 

I always wonder why they are opposite and is there a technique to do a turn in snowboard with upper body TOTALLY dependent?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Foot pressuring is usually way beyond the abilities of most people who take lessons, the complete beginners. So no, pressuring and 'pedaling' is not taught to beginner-level instructors either.

 

And as for 'proper' foot dynamics, i'm not sure such a beast exists. It varies with terrain, board type, age, and a zillion other things.

 

I instruct as well, but i unfortunately don't know anyone that teaches this either.

 

good luck in your hunt.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Pedalling sounds an aweful lot like what I as a CASI instuructor would refer to a steering. This is the process of adjusting the radius of a turn once the turn has been initiated.

 

Under the CASI system, we are taught to teach people by initiating the turn with upper body rotation. However the more advanced the turns, the less pivot(also refered to as rotation) is needed, and more sterring is used.

 

I think tha trying to teach beginners to turn with no rotation will hamper their development, as the are likely to lack the correct balance requied. This is why rotation is used in beginner turns as it help with correct alignment and ensures good balanced body position.

 

High spped turns such as intermediate or advanced carves, have almost no rotation element in initiating the turn. This is because the initiation phase of the turn is combined with the completion phase of the previous one. Strong steering using the lower joints, allied with angulation and un-weighting (either up or down depending on the level of the rider) are the main tools of the rider for riding at speed.

 

Does this help at all?

Link to post
Share on other sites
×
×
  • Create New...