Below you will find a detailed guide to making the turns as it should go snowboarding. As you improve, you will learn how to control the edge so that the snowboard cuts a slight furrow in the snow, rather than a skid track, and you will be carving.
Steps
Step 1. Start on a slope with a moderate incline
Step 2. Start moving down the slope
Step 3. Adjust the weight by resting on your toes or heels
There is no need to bend over. Be one with your board. You will fall if you bend over. Instead, bend your lower body in the direction you should go and keep your balance with your upper body.
Step 4. Make a turn as tight as the slope allows
You will be able to make more sharp turns as you develop a greater sense of balance.
Step 5. Train by first cornering only with your front foot in almost flat ground (eg
the mound) before moving on to the rear foot. This will help you get used to controlling the board with your front foot.
Step 6. To turn with both feet, start your turn with the front foot, then let the back foot follow
By this, I mean that you have to go on your toes or heels with your front foot first, and then, when you have already started turning, you have to do the same with your back foot. This will make the board make a softer curve.
Step 7. To continue on the next turn, press your front foot on the board, but leave the rear foot on the edge, it will make you go straight again
Step 8. Once you are almost straight begin the curve on the other side
Step 9. To make tighter, more abrupt turns, lower yourself further into your heels or toes
Step 10. Keep making turns all the way down to control your speed
Advice
- Keep your weight centered on the board. Many have a tendency to put too much weight on the rear foot and this causes them to skid when cornering. Remember, when snowboarding, you turn with the front foot and if the latter doesn't touch the snow much, you can't turn well. It's okay to put some extra weight on your front foot; sometimes it can help to continue the curve. However, heavier weight on the back foot is usually not good. In some advanced techniques, the weight is sometimes placed on the rear foot but without the necessary attention to properly manage excessive weight on the rear foot, you simply risk turning around.
- Don't look at the ground. It will make you bend over your waist.
- Make sure you are not bending over your waist or arching too much. It will cause you to lose your balance almost every time you try to make a sharp or sharp turn. The hips should be completely straight for the front-side turns, centered to go straight, and only slightly bent for the back-side turns.
- To make a smoother transition from a toe side to a heel side curve, lower your front knee and tilt it inward. This will turn the board around to get you to the front side more smoothly.
- Think of your feet as two pedals. Your dominant foot is like the accelerator, you use it at the beginning to start the turn. The other foot follows it and is like your brake, the more you use your back foot (the deeper you get into the snow) the more it will slow you down. Using your back foot will also make you complete the turn smoothly.
- Keep your knees bent. Make a front-side (or toe side) turn by pushing your knees down and perform a back-side (or heel side, on the heels) by lifting your toes while keeping your knees bent. If you lock your knees you will not be able to turn fully in the front-side turns while you will lose your balance during the back-side turns. In addition, the knees also absorb any shock you receive.
- When you change direction (regular or goofy), you will have to relearn how to turn. Remember, you always bend with the front foot which is now the other foot.
- Keep your shoulders in line with the board. You absolutely don't need to move your shoulders to turn. On the contrary, it all takes place in the lower part of your body, from the hips to the knees. If you open your shoulders, you will get stuck and it will be difficult to connect the curves.
- Let the board do what it needs to do. When snowing, all you do is turn and tilt the board to help it get into its right position. You'll make much smoother turns by staying loose, handling the board and letting it glide across the snow. Do not force the board during a turn. If you hold the foil properly, it will turn for you.
- To make a back-side turn correctly, keep your knees bent and lean back by rocking back onto your heels. To do this, you need to sit back a bit, a bit like you are sitting in a chair, and keep your shoulders exactly where they are. It's like curling up, but without bending over your waist so much and balancing on your heels.
- When making a curve in your heels, don't leave your butt locked out behind you. Conversely, your waist and back should be as if you are sitting on a chair.
- More duck stance (wider angles and same width for both feet) will make your feet crawl less in a tight turn and make it easier to switch sides.
- A wider posture can help you take more power on the board to turn it more easily and make your curves smoother.
- The right position for a front-side turn is with the knees bent, the waist straight, from the shoulders. This allows you to drop your knees low enough and balance your upper body to make the bend as tight as possible.
- Do not push with your back foot or try to rotate the board. Snowboards don't have wheels so they can move in any direction. As a result, doing this will not cause you to turn but only slide sideways. What makes you spin is to move on the foil.
- To make a smoother transition from a front-side to a back-side turn, push your front knee out. This makes the board turn by putting you on the back-side more easily.
Warnings
- Practice makes perfect. Even to do something as "simple" as a base curve you will need a lot of practice to get it right.
- As you learn to turn, make sure you always stay on the edge facing upstream. If you lean on the other side your board will slide down the slope cutting through the snow and causing you to overturn in the counter blade. If you stay with the weight on the uphill side instead, when the board slides down the snow will fall under it safely.
If you have enough speed to make the turn, you can switch back to the front foot first, then quickly switch to the rear foot. Don't try to do this though, at least until you have enough control over the board to hold the edge and know if you have enough speed to make the turn.
- Do not try to descend on non-frozen water or rocks that are too large.
- Don't try to learn how to snowboard on your own. Take lessons or learn from someone prepared to teach. Almost anyone who learns on their own or from a friend doesn't learn how to snowboard properly. A simple glance at a track to see how many people get off with their shoulders open or push their back feet should be enough to convince you of this.
- Jumps and backward tricks are not recommended.
