If your like many of the riders I encounter out on the trails then this is excellent #411.
When asked or approached for snowboarding advice I'm very open to give it. Alot of times my advice may not necessarily have anything to do with the rider at first but their equipment...
Stance is key in terms of the "where you are" on the board. Meaning are you.... "centered" (in the middle), or are your bindings too far towards the tail of the board? Not sure then keep reading. These days pretty much every production snowboard is a "twin tip". Twin tip boards hands down are the most user friendly design out there. User friend to a certain extent...... expect when not properly set up. Set up with every new board you buy and even the board your riding is key..
OK... so what is my point you ask, well where I'm going with this is that if your stance is not wide enough then your range of motion will suffer. Please do not mistake what I'm saying here...to those with the ridiculous wide "Trucker Stances" as I call them I'm sorry to offend you. Ideally what your looking for is a stance that in terms of width should be wider than your shoulders. Meaning that if your standing in your binding on your board it doesn't look like your standing tall. To figure what your ideal stance should be take the stance you have and measure from center to center on each base plate. (this is your stance width). I suggest using tape or a grease pencil to mark where your existing stance. After marking your stance here's where you can begin to play with your width. A generally good rule of thumb is to slowly widen your stance try to take at least three or so runs (this give your body time to get used to it). If your not regularly experimenting with your stance then shame on you. For example, it was a season and a half to recently dial in the current set up I have. (Also bear in mind we really even touched on angles etc.)
More often that not ...riders get into this lazy mode of turning (minimal bending of their ankles and knees). Yes you can ride a board this way...is it the most efficient...NOPE. Riding with your ankles and knees bent allows for a lower center of gravity, which means better board control. The bindings are connected to your feet for a reason...your feet are what steer and control the snowboard. Why not make your life easier right?
Try focusing on staying low as you can while warming up on your favorite green or blue run. At first it might not make any sense, but once you begin to realize how much more stable you are it ill become second nature. Considering any park or air time then bending your ankles and knees is your Alli.
In conclusion if your one of the many intermediate riders stuck in a rut of staleness the give the above listed info a try.
Any questions or comments please send me an e-mail: dipasquale.jonah@gmail.com
Happy Trails !!
No comments:
Post a Comment