Getting Started:
First of all, there are two different ways to snowboard, goofy and regular. The difference depends on which foot you prefer turning with. Goofy foot riders have their wieght on their right foot, and turn with their left foot. Goofy riders have their right foot forward on the board. Regular riders have their wieght on their left foot, and turn with their left foot. Regular riders have their right foot forward on the board.
Next, try different kinds of gear. Your comfort is key. Traditional freestyle setups with soft boots and lowback bindings are good for low-speed maneuvers, but they lack support at higher speeds. Stiff racing gear, like hard boots and narrow boards, take too much upper body movement to turn and often leaves you stuck on one edge, unable to turn. The best is a compromise, a not-too-stiff hard boot with a lightweight board.
Getting Balanced:
Getting balanced is very important. You cannot snowboard if you are not balanced. This depends mainly on the way your bindings are set up. When considering binding width and angles, the most important thing is that they are setup with your hips over your feet. A good stance width is shoulder length apart. Your angles will vary, depending on your comfort, riding style, and width of your board. If you ride in soft boots, make sure that your highbacks are adjusted to lean forward, this will help keep your knees bent and your weight over the board while turning.
To reveal your balanced center point, stand on your living room floor and get into a natural athletic stance. Your feet should be apart, your ankles and knees bent, and your hands out. To find your ideal body position, rock from your heels to your toes, and shift your weight from side to side. Once on your snowboard, try one turn at a time. Concentrate on maintaining your balanced position. You should feel both of your toes or heels working equally through the turn.
Gradually apply this to linked turns and every aspect of riding. Your actual position will change as you ride, keeping you in balance with constantly changing terrain. But knowing your center will give you a reference point to start from and return to whenever you need control. When you feel the benefits of riding centered, you will wonder how you could ever ride without it. Your riding will be significantly smoother, and you will have a better understanding of the balance required to snowboard.
Now you are ready to snowboard:
Now that you got your equipment, you're ready to snowboard. Keep your hands on either side of the board, and in front of your knee. This will help your balance and spare your shoulders down the hill. Stay low and let it flow. Your knees must bend to absorb the bumps. As your board rides up on a bump, sink down to put pressure on your boot tongues.
Press your back knee in behind your front knee and concentrate on keeping your knees that way, as if they were strapped together. All your movement should come from bending and steering your knees. If you do this, you'll stay flexed and ready for whatever the hill throws at you. A common mistake in bumps is to start low, and with each turn, stand up taller until you fall backwards. Avoid that. Stay low but relaxed. Eyes up. Even if you've successfully adopted the proper body position, you'll never be able to ride bumps if you look down at the nose of your board. Look three to four bumps down the hill. That will improve balance, timing, and line.
Short turns:
First, start by finding a flat spot on the hill and trying this exercise in place. With both feet strapped in, shift your weight from edge to edge as you move your front knee across the board. Then begin incorporating this knee movement into your turns while riding on a moderate slope. When turning on your toeside, the front knee should be bent and positioned directly over the toeside edge of the board. When turning onto your heels, shift your front knee across the board until it's straight above the heelside edge. Isolate a narrow section of the run and confine your turns to that width to simulate a chute or gully.
In your first attempts to add knee motion, do it toward the bottom or end of the turn. Gradually initiate the knee movements earlier in the turn to prevent the board from lingering in the fall-line and gaining speed. With practice, this exercise will give you the ability to make short turns and control your speed on just about any terrain.
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