When I snowboard I do wide turns. When I watch other people snowboard they do short fast turns.How do u turn?

Question

When I snowboard I do wide turns. When I watch other people snowboard they do short fast turns. This technique of turning makes them go faster. When I try to do turns like that it makes me loose my balence and I fall. Also my body won't let me do those fast turns. Also when I turn, my front leg gets alot of pressure when I turn.Can some one help give me advice?

Answer 1

Making faster, more frequent turns will slow you down more as you go down the hill - not speed you up.

You should have nearly equal pressure on each leg and use more pressure on your front toes to initiate a toe side turn and more pressure on your front heel to initiate a heel side turn. Remember that the speed of a skidded turn also depends on how much you keep the edge at the back of the board biting into the snow.

More bite on the back and more slip on the front come from the torque you put on the board - the back stays biting into the snow and the pressure on the toes or heel at the front allow the front of the board to release and swing around.

Good Luck

Answer 2

If your near Jiminy peak mountain i can give u a lesson for free. If not here is the deal.   There are 4 movements that you do that make things happen.   Pivot Pressure tilt and twist   PPTT. .   Its all about keeping your weight over the front of the board and putting pressure on either your toes (like your squashing a bug)  or on your heels (like trying to get the gum off the heel of your sneaker)   the more pressure and tilt you put on your board the quicker you will turn.    Make sure that your stance is exactly the way you want it . Take your bindings off and line them up 100% the way it feels most comtrible.  And start on a smaller hill. Sounds like you are trying to LINK TURNS i can futher explain how this is done. Hit me with an email  [e-mail].  I have been instruting snowboarding for 6 years

Answer 3

You have to keep your weight on your front foot.  Then lift your toes to do a heel turn and lift your heels to do a toe turn. It takes practice to get good at turning, just concentrate on trying to leave a thin line behind instead of pushing a lot of snow.  That is what makes them go faster.

Answer 4

You said you can do wide turns.  Thats a start.  To get those tight, fast turns, it just takes practice.  Start with just making your turns slightly tighter each time you go down the mountain.  

When youre making tight turns, your edges are your best friend.  Dont be afraid of em. Learn where they are, what they feel like, and exactly when they "grab" into the snow just by messing around, playing with different turn styles.  

Sometimes you also have to do these at speed.  It doesnt say if youre giong down slowly or at a decent rate, but when you go too slow, its much harder to control the turns until you get your balance on your board down.  

As you do more, the stronger your muscles will get, and the less strain you feel when you do those turns, and the more confident you get.  Its just a matter of practice and time.  Youll get it soon, especailly if you know the basics of turning which it sounds like you do.  

One last thing... just something to get you a little more confident/balanced on your board- at home, at the bottom of the hill, or at the top of the lift where its flat, just start jumping around.  Spin 180, just jump straight up as high as you can, etc.  Even tho it sounds easy, and is easy enough to do, it just helps me get the feel for my board again, gets me balanced and collected, and ready to go.  It could help build your balance a little also.

Good luck and go practice those turns!