Beginner Snowboarding Tips Tips
Read these 18 Beginner Snowboarding Tips Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Snow Board tips and hundreds of other topics.
How to Determine your Snowboard Stance
For starters, regular means your left foot is forward and goofy means your right foot is forward. Ask yourself how you would run and slide on ice?
If you know which foot you would slide forward with, chances are this is the same foot you would snowboard forward with. Another method is to push a person forward from behind, and whichever foot they step forward with is their front foot when they are snowboarding.
Finally, you can push a person backward from the chest, and whichever foot they step back with is their back foot when they are snowboarding.
Strapping Boots into Bindings
Always strap into the front snowboard binding first. Your back foot needs to be free for skating to and from the chair lift. Remove any loose snow from the binding. If you have traditional strap snowboard bindings, push your heel into the heel cup, buckle the ankle buckle, then buckle the toe strap last.
When you are ready to start riding down the hill, you can strap in to your other snowboard binding the same way.
Beginner Snowboarding Tip: Beginners will often find it easier to put their snowboard bindings on while sitting down, and you will gradually progress to the point where you can do it standing up.
Fair Falls
No one wants to learn to snowboard so they can learn how to fall. But, it happens. Because falling occurs in this sport, it is important to know the best way to do it so that you minimize hurting yourself.
If possible, fall up hill. This will reduce the impact. If you do fall downhill, try to relax and roll with the fall rather than resist it with your arms and legs.
Choosing a Stance Width for Snowboard Bindings
In general, snowboarders should take an athletic stance that is 1-2 inches wider than their shoulders. A common mistake is to make your snowboard stance too narrow. This makes turning and controlling your snowboard more difficult.
For those who like to huck big spins, we suggest making your stance even wider to center your weight over the board and keep your balance. Snowboarders who prefer carving and powder may want to make their stance a bit narrower.
Snowboard Training - Don't Overdo It
Despite the need to build strength, don't get too sport-specific in the weight room. Imitating a snowboard stance in a squat exercise, is a way to hurt yourself. Instead, work the calves on a calf-raise mackine and practice a lot of ankle-rotation work.
Beginner Tips for Snowboarding
Always keep your hands in a fist when learning to snowboard. When you fall backward punch the snow and sit on your butt. A broken wrist is the most common beginner injury when learning to snowboard.
Learning to push (skate) on your snowboard is very important because you need this skill to get to and from the lift. Force yourself to push (skate) from behind your heel edge, taking short steps, as this will make your snowboard glide much better.
Low Heel
A few snowboarding tips for leaning and practicing heel-side edging with low stance angles (feet mostly across the board):
- Stay standing fairly tall.
- Tilt the board by slowly rocking back on your heels.
- Move your hips over the heed edge and straighten your knees slightly but never fully straight.
- Push down with your heels and pick up your toes.
Toe
A few snowboarding tips for learning and practicing toe side edging:
- Stay standing fairly tall.
- Lean your hips over the toe edge of your board.
- Push your knees in the same direction and lift your heels.
- Try going from barely titling the board to tilting it near perpendicular to the floor.
- See if you can balance while tilting for three, five, and then ten seconds.
Starting Young
As snowboarding is becoming more popular, kids as young as even two and half years are braving the trails. When buying a kids snowboard, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
- The board should be narrower than any adult model.
- The width of the board should not exceed the length of the young rider's foot – if it does, turning will be extremely difficult for them.
- Choose a soft flexing board for kids so that their weight can bend it.
- Stand the board up on its end next to your child. If the other end is between his or her chest and chin, the board is a good fit. Do not get a child a board longer than this.
Get it Down
Snowboarding for beginners can seem overwhelming at first, but get down the movements for making your first turns and it will be much easier once you get going. When shifting your weight, be sure keep an upright stance while moving your torso without bending at the waist.
When your shift your weight forward, this encourages the tip of the board to head downhill. When headed downhill, if you shift your weight toward the back of the board you can help to turn the tip back uphill.
Indoor Riding
Snowboarding for beginners should begin before getting on the mountain. Beginning riders should learn and practice the basic positions and movements indoors, at home, or on the flat.
The most important key movement is the stance – it should be comfortable, relaxed, and allow you to balance easily while you look ahead, toe-side edging, heel-side edging, steering, fore and aft movements, and flexing and extending the legs.
Find a safe and clear spot at home on a carpet, newspapers or old blanket, pull on your boots and strap on your board. Sometimes it is helpful to use a chair or door frame for balance until you get more comfortable.
Stick or Steer?
A few snowboarding tips for learning and practicing steering movements:
When you steer, you pivot the board around a point midway between the bindings. In situations such as bumps, steep slopes and some freestyle tricks this pivot point may be further forward or backward- as you steer.
Move your feet interdependently. Twist your front foot in the direction of the turn while pushing the rear foot away from the turn. Try not to push the tail out abruptly.
Tail should follow tip smoothly in a round arc, each movement of the front foot complimented by a movement of the back foot.
Best Buddies
Take a friend and introduce them to the mountain. You'd be surprised how many people have never skied or snowboarded. Next time you go, find a friend who has never boarded before.
They can rent a board, get a lift ticket, and stay at the mountain for one package deal, most likely. Or, take them to your local shop before you go to get them excited about the gear they will learn to use. Snowboarding is a sport that can and should be enjoyed by all at any level. Share the wealth.
The Importance of Training
U.S. Snow boarding conditioning coach Heath Van Aken says he constantly pounds into his athletes the importance of proper strength training. There are a lot of injuries in the shoulders, lower backs and ankles that keep athletes off the snow for the whole season. Although muscle strength gained from squats, lunges and leg-presses is valuable for boarders, use low weights so your knees aren't left vulnerable from overuse.
Choosing your Snowboard Stance Angle
The stance angle of your bindings is really a matter of personal preference.
- Beginners tend to angle their front foot to get them leaning downhill while keeping the back foot straight with little or no angle.
- Racers tend to angle both feet quite a bit to really crank on their turns.
- Park and pipe riders will sometimes angle both feet in opposite directions outward. This is called a "ducked" stance and is ideal for riding both regular and switch.
Get a Grip
You should always tackle new sports as technical as skiing or snowboarding under the guidance of a proper instructor. It is highly recommended for riders who want to learn to snowboard to take lessons. You can often buy a combo lift ticket and lesson pass at most mountains.
Mountains want riders to learn how to snowboard properly, and the tickets and lessons are often discounted when bought together as an incentive for children and adult to learn to snowboard.
Training Regimen
U.S. snowboard team members begin training with light weights and high reps, which causes muscle growth without building bulk. Three to five weeks into the program, the snowboarders focus on strength building by increasing weight while decreasing the number of repetitions. A few weeks prior to the season, it's back to sports specific toning with light weights and high numbers of repetitions.
High Heel
A few snowboarding tips for leaning and practicing heel-side edging with high stance angles (toes pointed toward the tip):
- Move your hips over the heel edge and tile the board by pushing your bent knees out over the edge.
- Roll your angles to feel weight along the little.
- Toe side of your front foot and along the big-toe side of your rear foot.
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| Lynne Christen |
