Am i just a bad snowboarder?

[WolfgangLeopold]

Hey Ec World, my Name is Wolfgang Leopold and I'm new in this Community. Recently i tradet my SG full carve 163 for my long wished Sword Extremecarver Gen5 168. I know that those boards are quiet different. I think that I'm a good snowboarder and i handeled the SG Board pretty well. Today i rode the new board and i think i forgot hof to drive I watched all the touorials i could find and started practicing the positioning and the rotation plus "push pull", whitch i knew befor and it was going well. I have no canting or angeled boots or bindings. I tried to ride my boots in "walk mode" and thats where the "fun" began.... It felt so different and i got a little insecure. Every time i tried to go deeper, i either spun out, or i started to loose grip. I know that it was my first day riding it, but in other physical thhings i learn so fast and i couldtn figure out whats wrong. Could it be the edge, couse it was prepared by the last owner, an he may have not angled the edges right or so... I simply don't know. My boots are UPZ At 8 and i dont even know my bindings name but its a Burton binding (pretty old). Front foot angle: 55°, Back foot: ~ 47°. I also watched for the bindings position and the distance between my feet are 47cm.... I hope one of you could give me any advice.
Kind regards,
Wolfi

[joemzl]

Welcome to the forum new Swoarder.
I hope that we can solve your problem, and that you can answer your question with "No".
It would be nice, to have a photo of you during the curve, or a little video.

Yes, it could be because of your boots, bindings and unsharp edges, but main thing will be your technic I guess.
Only a picture will show, if you rotated enough, or if you only thought, you rotated.
Maybe you have the same problem, that I had for years. During the curve I put too much weight on my backfoot, causing in loosing edge control. Do you feel your front foot giving pressure in the curve?

Sitting here at 17 Degrees (plus ) in the Lockdown, I wait for many pictures or videos of you.
Jörg

[Swoard team]

Hello Wolfi and welcome!

This is the good place for support!
Meeting other Swoard riders (like Petr in Hintertux) is probably the best when you change so many parameters at the same time. That's why we also make many events, to explain and demonstrate both setup and technique.

I tried to ride my boots in "walk mode" and thats where the "fun" began.... It felt so different and i got a little insecure.

The "walk mode" is something very bad, especially for the backside: the hardboots have not the proper canting, and the flexion has not a linear response (not like what you get with a spring system working properly). That's why we have been modifying our hardboots since day one, and also why we finally made the Swoard-UPZ EC12.

What is the flex of your board? And what are your height and weight? We don't find you in our database and we need to check the flex.

The Swoard team

[WolfgangLeopold]

Welcome to the forum new Swoarder.
I hope that we can solve your problem, and that you can answer your question with "No".
It would be nice, to have a photo of you during the curve, or a little video.

Yes, it could be because of your boots, bindings and unsharp edges, but main thing will be your technic I guess.
Only a picture will show, if you rotated enough, or if you only thought, you rotated.
Maybe you have the same problem, that I had for years. During the curve I put too much weight on my backfoot, causing in loosing edge control. Do you feel your front foot giving pressure in the curve?

Sitting here at 17 Degrees (plus ) in the Lockdown, I wait for many pictures or videos of you.
Jörg

Thanks a lot. As i said im knew and im still a little lost with the features on the site but im working on it and Im gonna find someone whos willing to take some photos of me boarding
Thanks again !

[WolfgangLeopold]

Hello Wolfi and welcome!

This is the good place for support!
Meeting other Swoard riders (like Petr in Hintertux) is probably the best when you change so many parameters at the same time. That's why we also make many events, to explain and demonstrate both setup and technique.

I tried to ride my boots in "walk mode" and thats where the "fun" began.... It felt so different and i got a little insecure.

The "walk mode" is something very bad, especially for the backside: the hardboots have not the proper canting, and the flexion has not a linear response (not like what you get with a spring system working properly). That's why we have been modifying our hardboots since day one, and also why we finally made the Swoard-UPZ EC12.

What is the flex of your board? And what are your height and weight? We don't find you in our database and we need to check the flex.

The Swoard team

Wow thanks, i wasn't expecting this much support that quickly. Flex H, 179cm high and ~ 82 kg. Its a bit difficult to get the whole equipment, cause its a bit expencife for me as a student but im hyped to get everything neccecary

[Swoard team]

Wow thanks, i wasn't expecting this much support that quickly. Flex H, 179cm high and ~ 82 kg. Its a bit difficult to get the whole equipment, cause its a bit expencife for me as a student but im hyped to get everything neccecary

The 168H is the proper size and flex for you.
However, according to your height, your stance should be 49-50 cm (and not 47 cm as you mention). You can use the central inserts (what makes a stance of 49 cm on the board 168).
Well, the higher the binding angles and the stiffer the hardboots, the smaller the stance. At the opposite, with softboots we have a large stance.

As you are living in Austria, if you can, you should go to Hintertux to meet Petr who could watch you and your setup. Or you should join our next meeting in Hintertux on 18-19 December 2021.

We precisely make Swoard events for many years to help people in learning, and understanding the setup of the bindings, the hardboots flexibility, the board characteristics and the ride technique. It's a whole concept, different from "traditional" alpine snowboarding. Some people adapt immediately, some take more time, and some never because they prefer 70° for the bindings angles and narrow boards. Our philosophy is close to surf spirit, with fluidity (and thus flexibility of the hardboots and bindings) and more power on toes and heels (thus reasonable bindings angles) for better laid turns in all snows, and even in the bumps. We do not ride our snowboards like skwals: they are wide and we lead them with a rotation technique (the chest is not facing the tip all the time). No offence here to anybody, we just humbly propose an alternative, something different, following our line.
It's worth the effort! There are former racers who told us that they rediscovered alpine snowboarding thanks to Swoard and this Website.

To get in touch with Petr or the Swoard team, write us to info@swoard.com

The Swoard team

[WolfgangLeopold]

Ok ok. Its already in my Calendar and on the 18th and 19th December i, hopefully, will be there. Im trying these adjustments as you said so maybe im finding my "sweet spot" on the board i guess and im happy for the upcomming event Thanks again