Where am I?

Post by **sabestian** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 18:11

Hi all,

I hope it is not too much to ask you for a bit of advice.

I have always been snowboarding bomber-style, then I had a snowboard accident and a 6-7 year break. While coming back to riding I decided to try push-pull and rotation technique that this awesome site is promoting.

I can't afford Swoard, so I chose F2 Speedster RS 168 with Proflex bindings (I weigh 85 kg and I'm 180cm tall). It seems a bit on a short side for me but I that's what I found on cheap! The angles are 60F/55B (can't be any lower because of overhang). A tiny bit toe lift on the front and heel lift at the back (I find it more comfortable for now).

I need a bit of advice from you as there are no hard-boot instructors here where I am. This is a film from the first day that I could actually do it right (I think). Now I moved to steeper slopes and I am going much lower entering turns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3NWtyyIF8

Am I doing it all OK for the start? Remember these are my very first days carving. Should I change anything? I hope it is all going in right direction.

Thank you all. Ride safe.

Post by **joemzl** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 19:29

Maybe you should compare your video with Ben´s.

Try to copy especially the first things he does .

Post by **starikashka** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 19:40

joemzl wrote:Maybe you should compare your video with Ben´s.

Try to copy especially the first things he does.

So, nobody knows why he riding with tail skidding...it`s better to ask Evgeny directly. I would not advice to just copy things without understanding what this is done for

Sorry for criticizm..

But you are right that guy should start from basic stuff. And use the hill with lower stepness to get things right first. I feel he have lot of experience, so it should not be a problem.

Last saturday i watched after a good skier. He was learning rotation turns incredibly fast after proper explanation.

Post by **sabestian** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 22:37

@ joemzl: thanks, I will look into this. You mean more body rotation starting from the top - shoulders/hips/knees? More pressure on the front while doing it? I am riding with about 15mm setback (to keep the stance long enough for me), perhaps this would be the problem?

@starikashka: Thanks for the PM. I have no one to ask apart from you guys, all I know comes from watching EC videos. I will happily follow an advice if I get it. You are talking about the "right explanation". That's what I am here for. Please explain!

Post by **Hans** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 22:52

I see that your upperbody is static and that you are leaning backwards in the hips to compensate something, only I can't judge what. You have a little rotation but not enough.

Your backleg is bending enough. But because you're leaning to much in the backseat with your hips compensating, you don't have a neutral position. I did this also in the beginning. Try to lean forward on an easy slope and exaggerate this. Bend your knees both. So you will get more confidence to learn what you and and your board will do. Just lean into your boots forward. put some weight against it. Because you are on an easy slope nothing wil happen.

Another good exercise to see if your knees are both bend equally: stand on your board on a flat surface (don't move! don't board), grab a long pole/stick. Keep it in front of you horizontally and bend your knees (don't bend your upperbody) and keep the pole in front of you horizontally and don't correct it with your arms but correct the position with your knees.

Post by **joemzl** » Thursday 18 February 2010, 22:53

If you rotate enough, especially with the hips , you will get pressure automatically on the edge.
Rotation is the key. (Still for me

) And bending the knees too.
Try it when you read this and you will feel it.
If not, you do something wrong.

Setback with 15 mm is no problem.

Post by **sabestian** » Friday 19 February 2010, 0:42

Hans wrote:I see that your upperbody is static and that you are leaning backwards in the hips to compensate something, only I can't judge what. You have a little rotation but not enough.

Yes, I noticed that leaning backwards, too. I used to skid a lot (old slalom style, facing the slope) and probably this is the way I am trying to avoid it. I will try to get a more neutral position.

There is one problem I am facing. If I try to put more weight on my front leg (and bend the knee), my back leg becomes extended 100% and I feel it trying to rip out of the boot or break the rear bail. That is one of the reasons I added the front toe lift and rear heel lift...

I believe this is why I am riding more back than front. I can easily croutch on the board by bending the rear knee while my front is hardly moving but I can't do it so that they both bend equally.

Perhaps my BTS-like system is too stiff? It's 45N/mm, so I don't think so...I will change them to 20N/mm and will see if it helps. But it may be the way the boots are designed (Raichle 125 with a soft tongue).

My stance is 50cm so nothing extraordinary here. I don't know...

Hans wrote:Your backleg is bending enough. But because you're leaning to much in the backseat with your hips compensating, you don't have a neutral position. I did this also in the beginning. Try to lean forward on an easy slope and exaggerate this. Bend your knees both. So you will get more confidence to learn what you and and your board will do. Just lean into your boots forward. put some weight against it. Because you are on an easy slope nothing wil happen.

This is exactly what I can't do. I think that you may have hit the nail on the head here, Hans.

@joemzl: Thanks for the rotation tip, I will work on that!

Here is the yesterday's flick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdygFZkzOwk

I think I was getting better, not riding the back so much and rotating a bit more {still not enough, especially on the backside} even before reading your advice. That's a good sign, isn't it? Thanks again for your priceless tips.

Post by **Hans** » Friday 19 February 2010, 1:23

That was way better than before. Especially the last turn before you sat down. Don't reach for the snow with your hand: the mistake you're gonna make with this, is that you are going the bend at the waist/hips and not bending your knees! Keep those vids coming. Good luck with it.

The vids here on the Swoard site are also good to look at many times

to work on your position.

About lift/cant in your bindings. If you have no x or bow leg: I use only 3 degrees lift on my backfoot when my angles are over 60 degrees. Front foot always flat. Otherwise I use no cant and no lift. But it's just try and error.

Post by **starikashka** » Friday 19 February 2010, 6:24

Guys!can you please shut up and let EC instructors do their job:-) learning reqiure consistent methodical approach!or this will be a waste of his time. Pointing out some mistakes would not work without wholistic trainig plan

Post by **sabestian** » Friday 19 February 2010, 7:25

Thank you for your help. I appreciate your opinion.

It would be awesome if the EC instructors had their say here but for now they are quiet. And I have just today and tomorrow morning on slopes, so all the help I can get is priceless!

Post by **starikashka** » Friday 19 February 2010, 8:15

sabestian wrote: And I have just today and tomorrow morning on slopes, so all the help I can get is priceless!

If this will be a last days on the snow this season you better to forget about training, just get relaxed and carve for fun. Learning EC is sort of hard work...you need to have a plan, goals, performance analisys

Do not overestimate those two mornings. But you can try things i described in PM.

P.S. i`m not a Swoard team instructor

still have to improve

Post by **manuchill** » Friday 19 February 2010, 9:06

a small thing to think about and easy to improve on:

in your frontside turn you need more body rotation: your shoulders
should be pointing in the same direction as your board

Post by **Transistor Rhythm** » Friday 19 February 2010, 9:07

Try to be more dynamic on your board, more flexion / extension with your legs.

------

You will also notice if you practice on carpet a certain degree of rotation with both the hips and the shoulders cannot be reached without flexing the knees some. Try to find the feeling for the right position of your hips before you drop down the hill and try to reproduce that feeling while making turns.

Post by **starikashka** » Friday 19 February 2010, 10:01

if i would be newbie in this sport my mind would blow up....everybody try to help driven by only good intentions. So, but the problem that person need to have structured consistent information. You guys telling him to deal with separate issues, nothing wrong with it - everything you advicing to fix is needed to be fixed

But generally this is wrong without giving a person big picture

This makes him to move in any direction - not sure if he will pick up the right one. Later he can decide that extremecarving not worth those efforts if will not progressing.

So, this amount of help can create a mess...be careful

Post by **Transistor Rhythm** » Friday 19 February 2010, 10:15

You are right starikashka. But if you get lessons from the wrong instructor you learn the wrong technique. I have paid money for learning counter-rotation in Sölden - at least she was a nice girl