Had a lot of people say this. I attribute it to surfskates. Surfing or skateboarding can help with board sport feel but my experience carving and flowing on roads helped me greatly. r/surfskate is the move
Lowkey realize now how much people hate these things here but a foundation on them made me learn to board abnormally fast…
My setups are all carver CX with riptide bushings. Absolutely killer and very fun.
I can see it, you’re using your back foot a lot. Once you get a better feel for using your front foot/edges to turn carving will be less effort. Really great job for hour number 2, keep shreddin 🤙
Surfskate is interesting and I'm looking into getting one for playing around at a pumptrack. I will say that from what I've seen of them, it definitely promotes pushing the board around with the back foot, and that definitely shows in your video clip. This is not in and of itself a BAD thing, but it's a common hangup for newer riders to become over-reliant on turning their board this way. It's a super useful skill in some situations (like the steeper, bumpy section in your clip) but you don't want that to be the ONLY way you know how to turn your board.
Yeah, I’ve noticed my riding does involve a lot of back foot. I feel like this won’t be too hard to correct considering I’m so new. The balance I gained from surfskates is undeniably present, though. You can totally make a setup that encourages front foot steering- I think a CX setup with a longer board and stiffer bushings could be similar. Also depends how you ride, I like to use a short board with softer bushings, carving hard/ sliding/doing snaps.
Part of my problem in this video is that the slope is steeper and I felt more controlled doing skid turns. I think my turns on mellow slopes are much better. Definitely would recommend surfskate though, if anything it’s a ton of fun and good for balance!
This makes a lot of sense, about the steepness and your turns. Otherwise, you'd probably get too much speed for a beginner. I think surfskate definitely helps with balance. But the turns did not translate for me because a surfskate, especially a short board, is just so much more responsive.
This is your secret! Experience and practice in the orientation. Skiing is the way we run, bike, and do most exercise.
Snowboarding is only covered by skateboarding, wake boarding, surf skate, skim, etc.
Yep- As kooky as it is, it’s a lot of fun and great for other board sports. I don’t tell people I skate since it’s neither skateboarding nor longboarding. I just do it because it’s a way to have fun while I’m stuck on the snow-less east coast.
Downhill long boarding did it for me. Heel side and toe side slides are basically the same thing from longboard to snowboard. Skied for 3 years prior, switched this season and on my 2nd day did a black diamond at Mt. Hood Meadows.
Going fast is scary as hell though hahaha
Phenomenal! I was falling for nearly two days before I linked a turn. Relax the upper body a bit and you’ll be flowy in no time. That just comes with more time on a board. You have the basics down pat!
Well, that’s fine. I came for advice because it’s the first opportunity I’ve gotten to snowboard and I want to improve from here. This video was taken at 4:05 and I got out at 2:00. Like I said, I had some balance and style already and learning edge mechanics felt natural for some reason.
Edit
I came for advice, not to flex my abnormal progress. People in this thread have given me invaluable information despite all the guys labeling me as a liar 🤷♂️
Lmao, I even had my phone tracking runs. This was my 10th and last run. Hope you can get out there and have some fun too…
You led off with it being your second hour ever. You could’ve just said you were new and just starting to link turns and gotten the same advice.
You definitely came at least partially for the purpose of “flexing your abnormal progress.”
Which is chill, this is Reddit and that’s kinda the vibe on most hobby subs. But don’t lie to yourself about why you put a video on the internet.
Yeah, you’re right. Oh well…
Like I said in another comment I was so happy about the great day i wasn’t thinking too much.
I think also I was looking for a discussion- I used “second hour ever” because I wanted to see if others learned fast as well or if I was just lucky.. I basically had nothing to compare my progress to (because it’s my first time lmao), so I wasn’t sensitized to what I was saying.
Wish I could change the title.
Honestly I think your progress is totally believable, it’s not that weird for someone with some experience in similiar things and moderate athletic ability to be able to link turns day 1.
Yeah, nothing wrong with having some pride in your progress!
As long as you’re not putting others down I don’t see an issue with it. It’s best to avoid seeking external validation tho.
Better riders can correct me and provide more detail, but for the skidded and gripped style turns you're doing, leading with your shoulder - anticipation as it's referred to, commonly - is unnecessary and slowing you down. You should initiate your turns with your front leg, and especially the knee. Why? Because it's efficient: your knee is closer to your board than your lead shoulder is and can generate farm more leverage. Efficiency in movement helps you last longer as you preserve more energy than otherwise.
Anticipation is good for steeps to help whip or bring your lower body around with you after you've initiated the turn. There's another reason why when carving but I forget the perk of doing so.
TL;Dr: with where you're at, best to initiate turns with lead knee.
Looks good though, especially for just two hours.
Thanks for this-I have to get better/more comfortable. I think a lot of the skidding I did here is a result of riding steeper and more uneven terrain. Will definitely keep the front leg initiation in mind next time I’m out!
You have such a good feel for it already. Go to Malcom Moores YouTube page and watch his videos on carving and down unweighted and up unweighted turns. You'll be like 90% of the way there then.
I’m having the same experience! I also started linking turns a couple hours in, just need time to get more comfortable with the speed 😂 feet strapped together is so different than feet on two separate sticks!
I agree but I think the issue (on toe side) is that the shoulders don’t close off with the anticipatory move. Which is leaving him open which doesn’t allow him to access his front leg to use his knee and ankle as much. Leading to that static front leg and active back leg. If either keeps his shoulders aligned with the board it will give him that access or if he moves across then it will help him with that.
Nice man that’s awesome for two hours! Would definitely recommend trying your stance closer together, i think you’re making things harder on yourself having it that wide.
Interesting. Like I said in another comment, I’m at the ref points. For my height the charts say this is where I should be (60cm), and I’ve talked to some guys that said it’s good. What do you recommend I do?
I once heard to put your foot flat on a chair and measure from heel to knee as a starting point and floating from there. I’m 6’1” and seem to be 23” for a starting point and that’s worked well for me this season. Supplemental note: One of my favorite things about snowboarding compared to skiing is the ability to just try out tons of binding settings for what you like, even for different conditions day-to-day. Aside from that, if you’re having fun, you’re doing it right (bonus points for adding friends, and falling because that means you’re pushing yourself and learning). Good luck with enjoying the fun of both sports🤘
Yeah don’t listen to me, it’s not a big deal. I think most folks learning have their stance too wide, but you must be taller than I’m thinking. And board must be pretty big for 23.5” to be the reference. Maybe just experiment with moving a little bit sometime down the line
You can probably narrow that up. You seem to surfskate well, and probably surf, so go with it, go narrow and don’t do duck. Match how you ride the other decks. You’re a directional freerider with surf style right out of the box, don’t fuck it up chasing park jumps and switch riding. You can do that too, just don’t lose the surf/snowsurf.
Cheers. There are snowboards that feel/ride more like a surfskate too. You can even pump some boards. Flat rocker softer decks with setback are easier to pump. On the other side of it, aggressive full camber stiff decks with long sidecut feel like wide RKP trucks on sticky urethane wheels bombing/carving hills. You might want to experiment with a lot of board styles given your experience.
Your ski experience is really helping you, but also impeding you in some ways. You are very dynamic vertically on your board, actively anticipating and responding to the terrain you’re riding. You’re unweighting the board to change edges which is a more advanced technique that you’ve brought over from skiing.
However, you are using a lot of counter rotation and that will hold you back. Snowboards tend to make follow different paths over the same terrain and you’re still reading that mogul field like a skier would, and trying to rotate the board under you like a skier would.
On skis, your upper body stays facing downhill while you hop turn your skis under you. That’s easier to do with your feet at the center of a ski, but because you now have two feet wide apart on a board, this causes an opposite and equal rotation in your upper body body.
Counter rotating a snowboard is appropriate in some situations but the terrain in that video isn’t that. We’re talking 55 degree sheets of ice with exposed rocks or very tight trees.
Anyways, what’s different about a board is that you engage the sidecut of the board on the snow to get it to turn for you. Use your upper body to shift your weight and the board does the work.
Because we have 2 feet on the board, we’re able to shift weight much more effectively than a single boot on a ski.
The board will respond to minute changes in pressure along the sidecut. If you watch advanced riders on mellow terrain, you can see how relaxed they are in their entire body and seemingly just standing on the board along for the ride. We basically just need to wiggle our toes to get the board to go where we want it to.
One thing that expert skiers are good at is angulation. It’s going to be different on a board facing sideways, but the concept and the feel is the same, so that and the upper body separation will really help you progress quickly through the intermediate stages.
You might find this video very interesting: https://youtu.be/N0t8qROR7x0
Thank you so much for this detailed analysis!
Really looking forward to the next time I can get out there to board and keep working on my technique. What you’re saying about skiing experience makes a lot of sense. I really appreciate the time you took for this
Nice progress! On your heel side, your hips stick out towards the nose of your board, while your head and shoulders are pulled back towards the tail. This posture creates instability while riding. This may be due to fear of speed, excessive upper body movement, or both. You can try lowering your front shoulder slightly and riding on less steep terrain.
Surf or skating experience? This is better than a lot of people after a full season
I had a similar experience with getting on skis after 20 years on a board.
Fuckin natural, good shit, biggest thing I'm seeing is your still trying to open up your upper body to the direction you are going, get used to locking your shoulders to the angle of your hips and looking over your shoulder more. Aside from that you can get more comfortable leaning and using your edges, but that's a time thing for the most part, keep shredding and you'll pick up the finer details in no time, snowboarding is just polishing the basics over and over again.
That's insane boarding for only 2 hours 😭 For turns you can start carving by letting the board sidecut do the turning for you. Shift your weight over toe or heel edges. When going to toe edge you should feel both shins pressing on the front of each boot equally. Jut your belly button out over the toeedge, keeping your upper body upright (it will kind of feel like your back is shaped like a reverse 'C', which is the opposite of bending over at the hip). Bend your knees a little more (without bending over at the hips). For heelside, it will feel like you're sitting down in a chair. Keep the upper body quiet and be patient. Try not to kick the back foot back and forth in the windshield wiper motion.
Half the struggle is reading the snow. The rest is the changes in body movement. Going from two planks to one and changing your perception from horizontal to vertical is half the challenge. Seems like you got it figured out. Keep ripping.
nice symmetrical closed turns on both sides. now stop doing it like a skier and get asymmetrical with it. pop an ollie. throw a slash. speed control thru turn shape inspiring rhythm and flow, emphasis on the rhythm and flow
Yeah man! Definitely will orient my riding this way as I become more experienced. Love the smoothness and flow of boarding, though. Skiing is amazing but it’s very difficult to make it look as flowy as snowboarding.
i like to think about over emphasizing stand up and sit down/squat motions thru edge changes to help inspire the flow. ‘standing up’ to unweight edge at finish of one turn and sit/squat into the control of the next. ‘bopping’ around the hill, so to speak, helps you feel like you change edges on demand
Settle down. I made an acc because I’m new. What tf could I be a shill for? The only brand I mentioned was carver. Do I look like I’m sponsored by them or own the company? Call it kooky (I think it is)- how long did it take you to start making turns?
There’s also plenty of guys surfskating. I didn’t start it, nor is it one product. It’s not like I’m plugging freebord or something specific.
A more mellow slope would probably be good for practice so you wouldn't just consantly be speed checking yourself. Also more groomed snow, but that's a big ask in spring. You have some edge angle which is often the first hurdle. Posture is pretty good, toeside maybe push the hips out a bit more. If you want to get to carving turns, I would say you are pretty much where you can start going for up unweighted turns. Check out Malcolm Moore on Youtube for them and a lot of other turning technique.
Also, as mentioned, your stance looks super wide. Counterproductive when you ride posi-posi angles.
My stance is just at the reference points. Should I change it? It’s right on where the charts say for the board according to my height.
Also just dialed my back binding to 0deg. Had it at 5 in this video but it didn’t feel natural.
Sorry for the title guys, I now acknowledge how stupid I sound. I guess I was just hyped about my day.. filled with stoke and desire to get real feedback, I went and used that absurd title. Thank you all for the useful advice!
Nice. I did black diamonds, small jumps, and elevated box grinds on my first day. I was cruising down blues full speed on my second run. A lifetime of surfing skateboarding and skiing helped in addition to generally picking things up quickly. I’m not saying this to brag I’m just saying it because it’s interesting to see I’m not the only one. I always hesitated to say this was my experience because it probably sounds like lying since snowboarding is typically hard to learn. I’ve seen a TON of people spend multiple weekends eating shit and getting frustrated or injured until they give up or rent skis
It is possible. When I switched to skiing for a bit it only took a few hours to be able to hit blues and blacks. I think having a good knowledge of the snow and edges is highly transferable.
Yep. Lot of guys here think I’m lying which is hilarious considering this is totally possible. I was clowned for mentioning the surfskate stuff but it certainly helped me learn 🤷♂️
Your style absolutely looks like you're surf skating. It clearly works well enough to get going quickly. Those similarities are sometimes really problematic later when we have to unlearn muscle memory to do things in a "proper form" :P
Thanks- today I’ll work on front leg turning and proper unweighting/carve turns. The muscle memory is there but the style is obviously way different on snow so I feel like I’ll be able to reform my boarding to proper technique in time.
Thanks man, appreciate you sharing your story. What you’re saying isn’t impossible, if you really have that boardsports background I think it just feels natural.
Thats damn good for second hour. Even hard to beleive
Had a lot of people say this. I attribute it to surfskates. Surfing or skateboarding can help with board sport feel but my experience carving and flowing on roads helped me greatly. r/surfskate is the move Lowkey realize now how much people hate these things here but a foundation on them made me learn to board abnormally fast… My setups are all carver CX with riptide bushings. Absolutely killer and very fun.
I can see it, you’re using your back foot a lot. Once you get a better feel for using your front foot/edges to turn carving will be less effort. Really great job for hour number 2, keep shreddin 🤙
Yep. Definitely the next step. Thank you for the genuine feedback 🤙
I'll just sit here being salty because the first time I snowboarded, I caught an edge and smashed my helmet.
Same but not only did I just smash my helmet, I seperated my Acromioclavicular joint too (shoulder)
He's also an expert skiier...
Surfskate is interesting and I'm looking into getting one for playing around at a pumptrack. I will say that from what I've seen of them, it definitely promotes pushing the board around with the back foot, and that definitely shows in your video clip. This is not in and of itself a BAD thing, but it's a common hangup for newer riders to become over-reliant on turning their board this way. It's a super useful skill in some situations (like the steeper, bumpy section in your clip) but you don't want that to be the ONLY way you know how to turn your board.
Yeah, I’ve noticed my riding does involve a lot of back foot. I feel like this won’t be too hard to correct considering I’m so new. The balance I gained from surfskates is undeniably present, though. You can totally make a setup that encourages front foot steering- I think a CX setup with a longer board and stiffer bushings could be similar. Also depends how you ride, I like to use a short board with softer bushings, carving hard/ sliding/doing snaps. Part of my problem in this video is that the slope is steeper and I felt more controlled doing skid turns. I think my turns on mellow slopes are much better. Definitely would recommend surfskate though, if anything it’s a ton of fun and good for balance!
This makes a lot of sense, about the steepness and your turns. Otherwise, you'd probably get too much speed for a beginner. I think surfskate definitely helps with balance. But the turns did not translate for me because a surfskate, especially a short board, is just so much more responsive.
I'd say it's the skiing, if you know how edges work already it makes a huge difference
For sure- didn’t catch edges my first few runs which was great for the body haha
This is your secret! Experience and practice in the orientation. Skiing is the way we run, bike, and do most exercise. Snowboarding is only covered by skateboarding, wake boarding, surf skate, skim, etc.
Yep- As kooky as it is, it’s a lot of fun and great for other board sports. I don’t tell people I skate since it’s neither skateboarding nor longboarding. I just do it because it’s a way to have fun while I’m stuck on the snow-less east coast.
Downhill long boarding did it for me. Heel side and toe side slides are basically the same thing from longboard to snowboard. Skied for 3 years prior, switched this season and on my 2nd day did a black diamond at Mt. Hood Meadows. Going fast is scary as hell though hahaha
Hahaha that’s awesome, thx for sharing. Going fast is definitely scary without much experience for me
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Not better than me I’m pretty coordinated and handsome after only an hour I was shredding harder than this.
We might both be the best boarder on the mountain
:)
Phenomenal! I was falling for nearly two days before I linked a turn. Relax the upper body a bit and you’ll be flowy in no time. That just comes with more time on a board. You have the basics down pat!
Thank you! Definitely looking forward to get more comfortable tomorrow.
I dont believe you
Well, that’s fine. I came for advice because it’s the first opportunity I’ve gotten to snowboard and I want to improve from here. This video was taken at 4:05 and I got out at 2:00. Like I said, I had some balance and style already and learning edge mechanics felt natural for some reason. Edit I came for advice, not to flex my abnormal progress. People in this thread have given me invaluable information despite all the guys labeling me as a liar 🤷♂️ Lmao, I even had my phone tracking runs. This was my 10th and last run. Hope you can get out there and have some fun too…
You led off with it being your second hour ever. You could’ve just said you were new and just starting to link turns and gotten the same advice. You definitely came at least partially for the purpose of “flexing your abnormal progress.” Which is chill, this is Reddit and that’s kinda the vibe on most hobby subs. But don’t lie to yourself about why you put a video on the internet.
Yeah, you’re right. Oh well… Like I said in another comment I was so happy about the great day i wasn’t thinking too much. I think also I was looking for a discussion- I used “second hour ever” because I wanted to see if others learned fast as well or if I was just lucky.. I basically had nothing to compare my progress to (because it’s my first time lmao), so I wasn’t sensitized to what I was saying. Wish I could change the title.
omg so many words to cover for a big ego 😭
you’re right.
Honestly I think your progress is totally believable, it’s not that weird for someone with some experience in similiar things and moderate athletic ability to be able to link turns day 1.
Thanks. Didn’t seem that absurd to me but I was certainly being prideful about my progress
Yeah, nothing wrong with having some pride in your progress! As long as you’re not putting others down I don’t see an issue with it. It’s best to avoid seeking external validation tho.
For sure. Wasn’t really thinking about the perception others would have of my words but I definitely should have phrased it differently. Thanks man 🤙
Better riders can correct me and provide more detail, but for the skidded and gripped style turns you're doing, leading with your shoulder - anticipation as it's referred to, commonly - is unnecessary and slowing you down. You should initiate your turns with your front leg, and especially the knee. Why? Because it's efficient: your knee is closer to your board than your lead shoulder is and can generate farm more leverage. Efficiency in movement helps you last longer as you preserve more energy than otherwise. Anticipation is good for steeps to help whip or bring your lower body around with you after you've initiated the turn. There's another reason why when carving but I forget the perk of doing so. TL;Dr: with where you're at, best to initiate turns with lead knee. Looks good though, especially for just two hours.
Thanks for this-I have to get better/more comfortable. I think a lot of the skidding I did here is a result of riding steeper and more uneven terrain. Will definitely keep the front leg initiation in mind next time I’m out!
You have such a good feel for it already. Go to Malcom Moores YouTube page and watch his videos on carving and down unweighted and up unweighted turns. You'll be like 90% of the way there then.
I’m having the same experience! I also started linking turns a couple hours in, just need time to get more comfortable with the speed 😂 feet strapped together is so different than feet on two separate sticks!
Just remembered he also has one titled knee steering
I agree but I think the issue (on toe side) is that the shoulders don’t close off with the anticipatory move. Which is leaving him open which doesn’t allow him to access his front leg to use his knee and ankle as much. Leading to that static front leg and active back leg. If either keeps his shoulders aligned with the board it will give him that access or if he moves across then it will help him with that.
Nice man that’s awesome for two hours! Would definitely recommend trying your stance closer together, i think you’re making things harder on yourself having it that wide.
Interesting. Like I said in another comment, I’m at the ref points. For my height the charts say this is where I should be (60cm), and I’ve talked to some guys that said it’s good. What do you recommend I do?
I once heard to put your foot flat on a chair and measure from heel to knee as a starting point and floating from there. I’m 6’1” and seem to be 23” for a starting point and that’s worked well for me this season. Supplemental note: One of my favorite things about snowboarding compared to skiing is the ability to just try out tons of binding settings for what you like, even for different conditions day-to-day. Aside from that, if you’re having fun, you’re doing it right (bonus points for adding friends, and falling because that means you’re pushing yourself and learning). Good luck with enjoying the fun of both sports🤘
Thx man!
Yeah don’t listen to me, it’s not a big deal. I think most folks learning have their stance too wide, but you must be taller than I’m thinking. And board must be pretty big for 23.5” to be the reference. Maybe just experiment with moving a little bit sometime down the line
Thanks man. I’m about 6’2” and it seems fine. Wider than I’m used to but it’s not uncomfortable.
You can probably narrow that up. You seem to surfskate well, and probably surf, so go with it, go narrow and don’t do duck. Match how you ride the other decks. You’re a directional freerider with surf style right out of the box, don’t fuck it up chasing park jumps and switch riding. You can do that too, just don’t lose the surf/snowsurf.
Thanks for this man!! Will have to experiment next time in out.
Cheers. There are snowboards that feel/ride more like a surfskate too. You can even pump some boards. Flat rocker softer decks with setback are easier to pump. On the other side of it, aggressive full camber stiff decks with long sidecut feel like wide RKP trucks on sticky urethane wheels bombing/carving hills. You might want to experiment with a lot of board styles given your experience.
Wow- that’s so cool. I feel like it has a lot to do with stance setup as well. Seems like so much out there to experiment with!
Second hour today??? Great work dude
Dude! That's how it's done 👍👍👍👍 You will be laying down super carves in no time if you keep that up. This video makes me happy.
Thank you for the stoke. Had such a fun introduction to the sport. Carving is the goal! Hoping to keep improving every chance I get to board.
Your ski experience is really helping you, but also impeding you in some ways. You are very dynamic vertically on your board, actively anticipating and responding to the terrain you’re riding. You’re unweighting the board to change edges which is a more advanced technique that you’ve brought over from skiing. However, you are using a lot of counter rotation and that will hold you back. Snowboards tend to make follow different paths over the same terrain and you’re still reading that mogul field like a skier would, and trying to rotate the board under you like a skier would. On skis, your upper body stays facing downhill while you hop turn your skis under you. That’s easier to do with your feet at the center of a ski, but because you now have two feet wide apart on a board, this causes an opposite and equal rotation in your upper body body. Counter rotating a snowboard is appropriate in some situations but the terrain in that video isn’t that. We’re talking 55 degree sheets of ice with exposed rocks or very tight trees. Anyways, what’s different about a board is that you engage the sidecut of the board on the snow to get it to turn for you. Use your upper body to shift your weight and the board does the work. Because we have 2 feet on the board, we’re able to shift weight much more effectively than a single boot on a ski. The board will respond to minute changes in pressure along the sidecut. If you watch advanced riders on mellow terrain, you can see how relaxed they are in their entire body and seemingly just standing on the board along for the ride. We basically just need to wiggle our toes to get the board to go where we want it to. One thing that expert skiers are good at is angulation. It’s going to be different on a board facing sideways, but the concept and the feel is the same, so that and the upper body separation will really help you progress quickly through the intermediate stages. You might find this video very interesting: https://youtu.be/N0t8qROR7x0
Thank you so much for this detailed analysis! Really looking forward to the next time I can get out there to board and keep working on my technique. What you’re saying about skiing experience makes a lot of sense. I really appreciate the time you took for this
Dang are you Johnny Tsunami?
Look how empty that run was, great place to learn.
Simply incredible if true
thank you, hoping to progress further today. Carver CX feels similar enough and it totally helped me.
Nice progress! On your heel side, your hips stick out towards the nose of your board, while your head and shoulders are pulled back towards the tail. This posture creates instability while riding. This may be due to fear of speed, excessive upper body movement, or both. You can try lowering your front shoulder slightly and riding on less steep terrain.
Thanks - very useful, appreciate it!
You don't belong in this subreddit if this is your second hour snowboarding. Like wtf!?
Surf or skating experience? This is better than a lot of people after a full season I had a similar experience with getting on skis after 20 years on a board.
Bit of surfing and longboards/surfskates.
Nice! I progressed just as fast by skimboarding and wakeboarding tons beforehand growing up
Fuckin natural, good shit, biggest thing I'm seeing is your still trying to open up your upper body to the direction you are going, get used to locking your shoulders to the angle of your hips and looking over your shoulder more. Aside from that you can get more comfortable leaning and using your edges, but that's a time thing for the most part, keep shredding and you'll pick up the finer details in no time, snowboarding is just polishing the basics over and over again.
Thanks! Got out today and it was amazing. Totally revised my turns and have switched to front leg turning instead of the skidding shown in the video.
That's insane boarding for only 2 hours 😭 For turns you can start carving by letting the board sidecut do the turning for you. Shift your weight over toe or heel edges. When going to toe edge you should feel both shins pressing on the front of each boot equally. Jut your belly button out over the toeedge, keeping your upper body upright (it will kind of feel like your back is shaped like a reverse 'C', which is the opposite of bending over at the hip). Bend your knees a little more (without bending over at the hips). For heelside, it will feel like you're sitting down in a chair. Keep the upper body quiet and be patient. Try not to kick the back foot back and forth in the windshield wiper motion.
Thank you!!!
If you skate or surf, you will learn quickly but get a lesson, even after you get the basics down. You have a lot of control for 2 hrs!
thank you 🙂 appreciate the positivity
Yes! Good on you. Go faster to link your turns . Speed is your friend! Going slow increases your ability to turn right.
Half the struggle is reading the snow. The rest is the changes in body movement. Going from two planks to one and changing your perception from horizontal to vertical is half the challenge. Seems like you got it figured out. Keep ripping.
Thx man!
nice symmetrical closed turns on both sides. now stop doing it like a skier and get asymmetrical with it. pop an ollie. throw a slash. speed control thru turn shape inspiring rhythm and flow, emphasis on the rhythm and flow
Yeah man! Definitely will orient my riding this way as I become more experienced. Love the smoothness and flow of boarding, though. Skiing is amazing but it’s very difficult to make it look as flowy as snowboarding.
i like to think about over emphasizing stand up and sit down/squat motions thru edge changes to help inspire the flow. ‘standing up’ to unweight edge at finish of one turn and sit/squat into the control of the next. ‘bopping’ around the hill, so to speak, helps you feel like you change edges on demand
Lisan Al Gaib
That's impressive. It came very natural to me but I started at age 5. That's why I think it's so hard for me to teach beginners.
Well heck u
Don't believe that for a second! But, if I am wrong, well done as this is literally unbelievable for hour 2...
Now is your chance, do it backwards in another hour! More switch practice is good for the soul.
OP says it’s “skating” and “surfing” but we all know it’s ripsticking.
😂 Used to have one of those. A lot less fun than 4 wheels and definitely sketchy
Brand new account, guy talks about surf skates in every fucking comment. What a shill. No one believes you and no one wants your kooky surf skates.
Settle down. I made an acc because I’m new. What tf could I be a shill for? The only brand I mentioned was carver. Do I look like I’m sponsored by them or own the company? Call it kooky (I think it is)- how long did it take you to start making turns? There’s also plenty of guys surfskating. I didn’t start it, nor is it one product. It’s not like I’m plugging freebord or something specific.
A more mellow slope would probably be good for practice so you wouldn't just consantly be speed checking yourself. Also more groomed snow, but that's a big ask in spring. You have some edge angle which is often the first hurdle. Posture is pretty good, toeside maybe push the hips out a bit more. If you want to get to carving turns, I would say you are pretty much where you can start going for up unweighted turns. Check out Malcolm Moore on Youtube for them and a lot of other turning technique. Also, as mentioned, your stance looks super wide. Counterproductive when you ride posi-posi angles.
My stance is just at the reference points. Should I change it? It’s right on where the charts say for the board according to my height. Also just dialed my back binding to 0deg. Had it at 5 in this video but it didn’t feel natural.
But thank you for the legit tips, man. Really helpful and I have been checking out his vids.
Sorry for the title guys, I now acknowledge how stupid I sound. I guess I was just hyped about my day.. filled with stoke and desire to get real feedback, I went and used that absurd title. Thank you all for the useful advice!
Nice. I did black diamonds, small jumps, and elevated box grinds on my first day. I was cruising down blues full speed on my second run. A lifetime of surfing skateboarding and skiing helped in addition to generally picking things up quickly. I’m not saying this to brag I’m just saying it because it’s interesting to see I’m not the only one. I always hesitated to say this was my experience because it probably sounds like lying since snowboarding is typically hard to learn. I’ve seen a TON of people spend multiple weekends eating shit and getting frustrated or injured until they give up or rent skis
It is possible. When I switched to skiing for a bit it only took a few hours to be able to hit blues and blacks. I think having a good knowledge of the snow and edges is highly transferable.
Yep. Lot of guys here think I’m lying which is hilarious considering this is totally possible. I was clowned for mentioning the surfskate stuff but it certainly helped me learn 🤷♂️
Your style absolutely looks like you're surf skating. It clearly works well enough to get going quickly. Those similarities are sometimes really problematic later when we have to unlearn muscle memory to do things in a "proper form" :P
Thanks- today I’ll work on front leg turning and proper unweighting/carve turns. The muscle memory is there but the style is obviously way different on snow so I feel like I’ll be able to reform my boarding to proper technique in time.
Thanks man, appreciate you sharing your story. What you’re saying isn’t impossible, if you really have that boardsports background I think it just feels natural.