How to Snowboard: Basic Snowboarding Tutorials

This thread is for anyone learning to snowboard. Please feel free to ask any questions; the other instructors and myself will be more than happy to help you.

BALANCED BODY POSITION / STANCE

The balanced body position is a stable and responsive stance for snowboarding; it allows for quick reaction to terrain changes.

KEY POINTS:

Even weight on both feet.

Slightly bent at your ankles, knees, and hips.

Body aligned directly over your snowboard.

Back straight and shoulders aligned over your snowboard. Don’t bend forward at the waist.

Arms by your side for balance and aligned over your snowboard.

Head up and looking in the direction of travel.

SKATING / BASIC MOBILITY

Skating will enable you to move around on flat terrain with ease. The video below also covers climbing and J-turns (part of basic mobility).

KEY POINTS:

Maintain a balanced body position.

Look and point in the direction of desired travel.

Keep your snowboard flat on the snow, and pointed in the direction of desired travel.

When first learning to skate, use small pushes and keep your feet not too far apart.

HOW TO:

Skating with your snowboard requires you to have your front foot strapped into your front binding. You will be pushing with your back foot in a forwards direction (towards the nose of the board).

Strap your front foot into the front binding.

Place your snowboard on the snow and pointed in the direction of desired travel.

Place your back foot on the snow behind the heel edge of your snowboard.

Transfer weight onto your back foot (on the snow) and using a small push slide your snowboard in a forward direction. As your snowboard slides forward, transfer weight onto your front foot.

As momentum decreases, transfer weight back onto your back foot (on the snow) and push the snowboard in a forward direction again. As your snowboard slides forward, transfer weight onto your front foot.

Start by using small pushes and small glides. As you become more comfortable you can use bigger pushes and let the board glide further. If you want, during the glides you can place your back foot onto the stomp pad on your snowboard.

If you need to change direction, place your back foot on the snow and use it as a pivot point. Transfer weight onto your back foot (on the snow), lift your font foot (attached to snowboard) and make small adjustments to the direction of your snowboard.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

Placing your feet too far apart will cause your snowboard to move away from your body. Keep your feet no more than shoulder width apart, especially when you are first learning how to skate.

Looking down at your snowboard will put the rest of your body out of balance. Keep your head up and looking in the direction of travel.

USING CHAIRLIFTS

One of the great things about snowboarding is exploring the mountain on the way down. Chairlifts will get you up the mountain quickly, but it’s important to learn how to use them safely.

KEY POINTS:

Skate slowly and make sure you look where you are going.

Stay in your designated row when you are in the queue.

As the chair approaches, look behind you so you know where the chair is.

Always lower the safety bar while on the chairlift.

When you get to the top, keep your snowboard flat on the snow and pointing forward.

Relax. Maintain a balanced body position.

HOW TO:

Join the lift queue; if you are lucky there won’t be a queue. Most chairlifts carry four people per chair, so try to make a row with four people (or however many fit on that particular chairlift).

Slowly skate to the lift gate. Make sure you look where you are going. Don’t get upset if someone bumps your snowboard; contact is often unavoidable.

As the people in front of you move forward to the ‘Load Here’ sign, their chair will go around the corner and pass by you.

It is now your turn to skate to the designated ‘Load Here’ sign. Skate carefully to the ‘Load Here’ sign and stop. Keep your snowboard pointing straight ahead.

As the chair approaches, look behind you so you know where it is.

As the chair is near, rotate your upper body slightly, so your bottom is in a good position to sit down.

Sit down carefully on the chair in your designated spot. As the chair leaves the loading station, carefully lower the safety bar.

As you approach the end of the chair lift, raise the safety bar. Make sure you keep the nose of your snowboard pointed slightly upwards.

As your snowboard touches down, place your snowboard flat on the snow and pointing straight ahead. Place your back foot on the stomp pad next to your back binding and stand up. Relax. Let the chair push you forward.

The chair will push you gently down the slope. Don’t worry - you won’t gain much speed. Maintain a balanced body position. Look and point straight ahead.

Maintain your body position and let the snowboard run forwards. You will soon lose your speed on the flat area and come to a stop. If necessary perform a J-turn to slow down and stop.

HEELSIDE SIDESLIPPING

The first skill you need to learn to safely get down the hill is heelside sideslipping. It allows you to safely control your speed, stop, and also introduces you to using your heel edge. Heelside sideslipping by definition is sliding down the hill in a straight line on your heel edge, with your snowboard perpendicular to the fall line. When you are on your heel edge you will be facing downhill.

KEY POINTS:

Keep your head up and your eyes looking straight ahead. Never look down at your snowboard.

Keep your knees bent.

Maintain even weight on both feet.

Keep your upper body upright. Don’t bend forward at the waist.
Maintain a relaxed upper body.

HOW TO:

Ideally you want someone standing in front of you without their snowboard on. This way it will be easier for you to get to your feet and get a feel for your edge before trying it on your own.

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Sit down on the snow facing downhill, with your board perpendicular to the fall line. Dig in your heel edge and get a feel for the edge. Notice how it grips the snow. Using your hands and your leg muscles, push yourself forward onto your feet. Keep your knees bent and balance on your heel edge by lifting your toes upwards. It is important to have even weight distribution on both feet. Look straight ahead - not at your snowboard.

Slowly lower your toe edge closer to the snow. As you decrease the edge angle, you will start moving. Apply pressure to your heel edge and find a balanced position, in which you can comfortably control your speed.

To slow down or stop, you need to increase the edge angle - by pushing on your heels and lifting your toes. Bend your knees and keep looking at the terrain ahead. As the edge angle increases, your edge applies more pressure to the snow and grips harder - slowing you down or bringing you to a stop.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

Bending forward at the waist causes your upper body to be unaligned with your snowboard. Keep your upper body upright. Bend your knees and hips. Maintaining this body position will keep you aligned and balanced over your snowboard.

Don’t jerk the edge angle backwards and forwards - causing you to go fast then stop abruptly. Balance in a position where your snowboard slides in smooth and comfortable speed.

When you want to stop, resist the temptation to tense up and straighten your legs. Instead, bend further at your knees and hips. Lower your bottom closer to the ground and raise your toes. This is the most stable stopping position.

Don’t look down to see what your snowboard is doing. Looking down lowers your head and pushes your body forward, increasing the chance of catching your toe edge. Keep your head up and your eyes looking at the terrain ahead.

TOESIDE SIDESLIPPING

Now that you know how to control your speed and stop using your heel edge (heelside sideslipping), the next step is learning to control your speed and stop using your toe edge. In snowboarding, you use your heel and toe edges equally, so it is important to build your skills on both edges. Toeside sideslipping by definition is sliding down the hill in a straight line on your toe edge, with your snowboard perpendicular to the fall line. When you are on your toe edge, you will be facing uphill.

KEY POINTS:

Keep your head up and your eyes looking uphill. Never look down at your snowboard.

Keep your ankles and knees bent.

Maintain even weight on both feet.

Keep your upper body upright. Don’t bend forward at the waist.

Maintain a relaxed upper body.

HOW TO:

Ideally you want someone standing in front of you without their snowboard on. This way it will be easier for you to get to your feet and get a feel for your edge before trying it on your own.

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Sit down on the snow facing downhill, with your board perpendicular to the fall line. Grab underneath one of your legs and roll over onto your knees. You should now be facing uphill, with your toe edge in contact with the snow. Dig in your toe edge and get a feel for the edge. Notice how it grips the snow. While your toe edge is gripping the snow, slowly push yourself up onto your feet using your hands. Keep your ankles and knees bent. Balance on your toe edge by pushing your knees towards the snow. It is important to have even weight and pressure on both feet. Look straight ahead and not down at your snowboard.

Slowly lower your heel edge closer to the snow. As you decrease the edge angle, you will start moving. Apply pressure to your toe edge and find a balanced position, in which you can comfortably control your speed.

To slow down or stop, you need to increase the edge angle - by pushing on your toes and driving your knees towards the snow. As the edge angle increases, your edge applies more pressure to the snow and grips harder - slowing you down or bringing you to a stop.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

Bending forward at the waist causes your upper body to be unaligned with your snowboard. Keep your upper body upright. Bend your ankles and knees. Maintaining this body position will keep you aligned and balanced over your snowboard.

When you want to stop resist the temptation to tense up and straighten your legs. Instead, bend your knees further, apply pressure to your toe edge and raise your heels.

Don’t look down to see what your snowboard is doing. Looking down lowers your head and takes your body out of alignment with your snowboard. Keep your head up and your eyes looking directly uphill.

HEELSIDE PENDULUM (FALLING LEAF)

You should now be familiar with using your heel edge for controlling speed and stopping (heelside sideslipping). Now we are going to introduce direction control while on your heel edge - this exercise is called heelside pendulum. Heelside pendulum will enable you to move across the slope in either direction while on your heel edge.

KEY POINTS:

Keep your head up and your eyes looking in the direction of desired travel.

Point with your leading arm in the direction of desired travel.

Keep your knees bent.

Keep your upper body upright. Don’t bend forward at the waist.

Maintain a relaxed upper body.

HOW TO:

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Using the knowledge obtained from heelside sideslipping, start sideslipping on your heel edge.

Increase pressure on one foot. Slowly reduce edge angle on the same foot by slightly relaxing your ankle joint. Increasing pressure and reducing edge angle on one foot will cause your snowboard to slide in that direction.

With your leading arm, point across the slope (and slightly downhill). Keep your head up and looking in the direction of desired travel. By aligning your upper body with the direction of desired travel, your lower body and snowboard will want to follow the same path. Continue travelling across the slope.

Before you can change direction, you need to stop travelling in the current direction and bring yourself back into a controlled heelside sideslip. Slowly transfer pressure to your back foot and bring your upper body perpendicular to the fall line. As your snowboard becomes perpendicular to the fall line, maintain even pressure on both feet and look directly downhill (as in heelside sideslipping). Increase the edge angle by bending your ankles and knees, and lifting your toes; this will reduce your speed.

You should now be comfortably sideslipping on your heel edge. Now you can change direction and travel back across the slope. Increase pressure on your other foot (opposite foot to the first time). Slowly reduce edge angle on the same foot by slightly relaxing your ankle joint. Increasing pressure and reducing edge angle on one foot will cause your snowboard to slide in that direction.

With your leading arm, point across the slope (and slightly downhill). Keep your head up and looking in the direction of desired travel. By aligning your upper body with the direction of desired travel, your lower body and snowboard will want to follow the same path. Continue travelling across the slope.

When you want to stop, bring yourself back into a heelside sideslip as described above. Increase the edge angle as described in heelside sideslipping; this will bring you to a controlled stop.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

The board points downhill and gains too much speed. Make sure you maintain sufficient edge angle on your leading foot. You need to decrease edge angle to get the board to slide in that direction - but not too much! Reduce the angle slowly and gradually. Also, don’t point too far downhill with your upper body; look and point across the slope - only slightly downhill.

TOESIDE PENDULUM (FALLING LEAF)

You should now be familiar with using your heel edge for controlling speed and stopping (toeside sideslipping). Now we are going to introduce direction control while on your toe edge - this exercise is called toeside pendulum; it will enable you to move across the slope in either direction while on your toe edge.

KEY POINTS:

Keep your head up and your eyes looking in the direction of desired travel.

Point with your leading arm in the direction of desired travel.

Keep your ankles and knees bent.

Keep your upper body upright. Don’t bend forward at the waist.

Maintain a relaxed upper body.

HOW TO:

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Using the knowledge obtained from toeside sideslipping, start sideslipping on your toe edge.

Increase pressure on one foot. Slowly reduce edge angle on the same foot by slightly relaxing your ankle joint. Increasing pressure and reducing edge angle on one foot will cause your snowboard to slide in that direction.

With your leading arm, point across the slope (and slightly downhill). Keep your head up and looking over your front shoulder in the direction of desired travel. By aligning your upper body with the direction of desired travel, your lower body and snowboard will want to follow the same path. Continue travelling across the slope.

Before you can change direction, you need to stop travelling in the current direction and bring yourself back into a controlled toeside sideslip. Slowly transfer pressure to your back foot and bring your upper body perpendicular to the fall line. As your snowboard becomes perpendicular to the fall line, maintain even pressure on both feet and look directly uphill (as in toeside sideslipping). Increase the edge angle by bending your ankles and knees, and driving your knees towards the snow; this will reduce your speed.

You should now be comfortably sideslipping on your toe edge. Now you can change direction and travel back across the slope. Increase pressure on your other foot (opposite foot to the first time). Slowly reduce edge angle on the same foot by slightly relaxing your ankle joint. Increasing pressure and reducing edge angle on one foot will cause your snowboard to slide in that direction.

With your leading arm, point across the slope (and slightly downhill). Keep your head up and looking over your front shoulder in the direction of desired travel. By aligning your upper body with the direction of desired travel, your lower body and snowboard will want to follow the same path. Continue travelling across the slope.

Bring yourself back into a toeside sideslip as described above. To slow down or stop, you need to increase the edge angle - by pushing on your toes and driving your knees towards the snow. As the edge angle increases, your edge applies more pressure to the snow and grips harder - slowing you down and bringing you to a stop.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

The board points downhill and gains too much speed. Make sure you maintain sufficient edge angle on your leading foot. You need to decrease the edge angle to get the board to slide in that direction - but not too much! Reduce the angle slowly and gradually. Also, don’t point too far downhill with your upper body; look and point across the slope - only slightly downhill.

ISOLATED TURNS

Now that you are comfortable using both edges for direction and speed control, the next step is to transfer from one edge to the other edge in a fluid motion. When performing isolated turns you will be stopping after each turn. This will assist you in controlling speed so you can get used to changing edges, before you learn to link successive turns together. To view the video tutorial on turning, please go to Basic Turns.

KEY POINTS:

Look and point in the direction you want to turn.

Keep your ankles and knees bent.

Keep your upper body upright and aligned directly over your snowboard.

Be patient with the turn. Don’t force yourself onto the new edge.

Maintain a relaxed upper body.

HOW TO:

You need to determine whether your stance is regular or goofy. Read the article on stance to help determine whether you are regular or goofy.

If you are regular - the left side of your body is the leading side. If you are goofy - the right side of your body is the leading side.

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Start by sideslipping on your heel edge. Now start traversing (travelling across the slope) in the direction of your leading foot (to the left for regular, to the right for goofy). Look and point in the direction of travel.

Increase pressure on your front foot. Simultaneously rotate your upper body; so the leading side of your body is pointing downhill. Look and point with your leading arm directly downhill. Your snowboard will turn into the fall line and start travelling downhill.

As your snowboard turns downhill, transfer from your heel edge to a flat base. The base of your snowboard must be flat on the snow before it can transfer from one edge to the other. You will pick up a bit of speed when your board is facing downhill - don’t panic.

Once your snowboard is flat on the snow and pointing downhill, continue rotating your upper body in the direction of the turn (clockwise for regular, anti-clockwise for goofy). Apply pressure to your toe edge - by bending at the ankles and knees. Look and point across the slope. Your snowboard will engage the toe edge and turn across the slope.

Your upper body should now be aligned directly over your snowboard. Apply even pressure to both feet. Increase pressure to your toe edge - by driving your knees towards the snow. Look directly uphill and keep pointing across the slope to complete the turn. As the turn completes, you will lose momentum and come to a stop.

You have just completed your first toeside turn. You should be on your toe edge - facing uphill - with your snowboard perpendicular to the fall line. Next you are going to complete a heelside turn.

Proceed to sideslip on your toe edge. Now start traversing in the direction of your leading foot. Look and point in the direction of travel.

Increase pressure on your front foot. Simultaneously rotate your upper body; so the leading side of your body is pointing downhill. Look and point with your leading arm directly downhill. Your snowboard will turn into the fall line and start travelling downhill.

As your snowboard turns downhill, transfer from your toe edge to a flat base. The base of your snowboard must be flat on the snow before it can transfer from one edge to the other. You will pick up a bit of speed when your board is facing downhill - don’t panic.

Once your snowboard is flat on the snow and pointing downhill, continue rotating your upper body in the direction of the turn (anti-clockwise for regular, clockwise for goofy). Apply pressure to your heel edge - by bending at the knees and lifting your toes. Look and point across the slope. Your snowboard will engage the heel edge and turn across the slope.

Your upper body should now be aligned directly over your snowboard. Apply even pressure to both feet. Increase pressure to your heel edge - by bending at the knees and lifting your toes. Look directly downhill and keep pointing across the slope to complete the turn. As the turn completes, you will lose momentum and come to a stop.

You have just completed your first heelside turn. Now that you know how to perform individual toeside and heelside turns - the next step is linking the turns together without stopping (linking turns).

COMMON PROBLEMS:

Don’t rush the turn. When learning to turn it is normal to feel nervous or scared when the snowboard turns downhill and picks up speed. As a result of this, it is common to try to get on the new edge before the turn is properly initiated. If you try to get on the new edge too early, you will tip over and fall. Be patient with the turn. You must allow the snowboard to travel directly downhill with a flat base before you engage the new edge. Try to relax and overcome the fear of speed - it will actually prevent you from falling.

Counter-rotation occurs when your upper body rotates in the opposite direction to the turn. When this happens, your body is not aligned with your snowboard - which causes a variety of problems. It is important to rotate your upper body in the direction of the turn, while keeping your body aligned directly over your snowboard. Initiate with your upper body, and follow with your lower body.

Placing too much weight on the back foot causes turn initiation and completion to be very difficult. Shift your hips forward, so you are centered over your snowboard. This will also enable you to place pressure onto your front foot when needed - giving you much better control over your snowboard, as well as making turn initiation and completion much easier.

BASIC TURNS

The next step from isolated turns is linking the turns together in a fluid motion; this is essentially how we snowboard down the mountain. The moment you can link turns on a snowboard, the fun factor increases dramatically! This article follows directly from isolated turns.

KEY POINTS:

Look and point in the direction you want to turn.

Keep your ankles and knees bent.

Keep your upper body upright and aligned directly over your snowboard.

Be patient with the turn. Don’t force yourself onto the new edge.

Maintain a relaxed upper body.

Don’t stop after each turn. Carry momentum into the next turn.

HOW TO:

The only difference between an isolated turn and a basic turn is we don’t stop after each turn.

Choose a gentle slope (green run) or use a designated beginner’s area. This is the easiest and safest place to learn the basic skills of snowboarding.

Start by traversing (travelling across the slope) on your heel edge in the direction of your leading foot. Look and point in the direction of travel.

Increase pressure on your front foot. Simultaneously rotate your upper body, so the leading side of your body is pointing downhill. Look and point with your leading arm directly downhill. Your snowboard will turn into the fall line and start travelling downhill.

As your snowboard turns downhill, transfer from your heel edge to a flat base. The base of your snowboard must be flat on the snow before it can transfer from one edge to the other. You will pick up a bit of speed when your board is facing downhill - don’t panic.

Once your snowboard is flat on the snow and pointing downhill, continue rotating your upper body in the direction of the turn. Apply pressure to your toe edge - by bending at the ankles and knees. Look and point across the slope. Your snowboard will engage the toe edge and turn across the slope.

Your upper body should now be aligned directly over your snowboard. Apply even pressure to both feet. Increase pressure to your toe edge - by driving your knees towards the snow.

You should be on your toe edge, traversing across the slope. Continue looking and pointing across the slope - maintain your momentum.

Increase pressure on your front foot. Simultaneously rotate your upper body; so the leading side of your body is pointing downhill. Look and point with your leading arm directly downhill. Your snowboard will turn into the fall line and start travelling downhill.

As your snowboard turns downhill, transfer from your toe edge to a flat base. The base of your snowboard must be flat on the snow before it can transfer from one edge to the other. You will pick up a bit of speed when your board is facing downhill - don’t panic.

Once your snowboard is flat on the snow and pointing downhill, continue rotating your upper body in the direction of the turn. Apply pressure to your heel edge - by bending at the knees and lifting your toes. Look and point across the slope. Your snowboard will engage the heel edge and turn across the slope.

Your upper body should now be aligned directly over your snowboard. Apply even pressure to both feet. Increase pressure to your heel edge - by bending at the knees and lifting your toes.

You should be on your heel edge, traversing across the slope. Continue looking and pointing across the slope - maintain your momentum. Continue into another toeside turn.

COMMON PROBLEMS:

Don’t rush the turn. When learning to turn it is normal to feel nervous or scared when the snowboard turns downhill and picks up speed. As a result of this, it is common to try to get on the new edge before the turn is properly initiated. If you try to get on the new edge too early, you will tip over and fall. Be patient with the turn. You must allow the snowboard to travel directly downhill with a flat base before you engage the new edge. Try to relax and overcome the fear of speed - it will actually prevent you from falling.

Counter-rotation occurs when your upper body rotates in the opposite direction to the turn. When this happens, your body is not aligned with your snowboard - which causes a variety of problems. It is important to rotate your upper body in the direction of the turn, while keeping your body aligned directly over your snowboard. Initiate with your upper body, and follow with your lower body.

Placing too much weight on the back foot causes turn initiation and completion to be very difficult. Shift your hips forward, so you are centred over your snowboard. This will also enable you to place pressure onto your front foot when needed - giving you much better control over your snowboard, as well as making turn initiation and completion much easier.

STRAIGHT RUNS

Straight runs are a lot of fun and a crucial skill to learn before you can ride in the terrain park. You can travel at extremely high speeds while maintaining a very stable body position. Regardless of how fast or slow you are riding, all the same principles apply. Start slow on easy terrain or towards the bottom of a run. As you become more comfortable you can gradually try steeper and longer terrain.

KEY POINTS:

Maintain a balanced body position.

Keep the base of your snowboard flat on the snow at all times.

Stay perfectly aligned over your snowboard.

Always have your ankles and knees slightly flexed (bent).

Look and point straight down the fall line, like an arrow. Focus on the terrain ahead.

Relax your ankle and knee joints. This enables your lower body to work like suspension; riding over bumps becomes very easy.

Always stay in control. Know your limits.

TERRAIN PARK SAFETY

The terrain park can be a lot of fun, but there is also potential for serious injury if you don’t follow the rules and respect other riders. The following rules need to be followed to keep yourself and others safe.

KEY POINTS:

Check out the features properly before you try them. Do a run through the park and thoroughly check out all the features. Get an idea of how much speed you need for each feature. Watching other riders will help you determine how much speed you should carry in each feature.

Don’t attempt features that aren’t suitable for your ability. Although you should challenge yourself to try new things, there is a limit to how hard you should push yourself. If you push yourself too hard, the consequences can be severe.

Wait your turn and call your drop in. Get in line and when it’s your turn, raise your hand and call ‘dropping in next’. This will let the other riders know of your intention to drop next.

Gradually build up to the bigger features. Start small, build your skills, get comfortable, and then try something bigger.

Always make sure the landings are clear before you drop in. Wait until you can see the rider before you ride out before you drop in. If someone wipes out, wait until they get up and clear the landing.

Clear the landings quickly. For your own safety, completely remove yourself for the landing areas as quickly as possible.

SWITCH RIDING

Riding switch means snowboarding in the opposite direction to normal. If you usually ride regular, you will be riding switch with your right foot forward. If you usually ride goofy, you will be riding switch with your left foot forward.

Switch riding is often neglected; most snowboarders don’t even realise how important it really is to progression. Snowboarding is a lot of fun, and the reason a lot of people neglect learning switch is because they are having fun just riding around in their dominant stance. What they fail to realise is how much more fun they could have by learning this skill.

THE BENEFITS:

Freestyle: If you want to learn any tricks on your snowboard (freestyle), the first thing you should learn is switch. Think about basic progression; you can’t learn a 360 until you can learn a 180, and you can’t learn a 180 unless you can take off or land switch.

Learning to ride switch is the key to freestyle progression!

If you are serious about snowboarding, getting strong at switch will make you a well-rounded and versatile snowboarder.

Switch is fun: Once you learn how to ride switch the fun factor increases dramatically. Spins, butters, presses, boardslides - the options and combinations are endless. The challenge of learning a new skill and getting better at it will also give you a great sense of achievement. Just like you have fun improving your riding in your normal stance, the same goes for switch.

Full-body workout: When you incorporate switch into your snowboarding you will get a much better full-body workout. If you constantly ride in one direction, you are only working certain muscles on either side; this often leads to rapid muscle fatigue (think about your back leg on cat-tracks or towards the end of the day). You are working the different sides of your body in different ways; not only will this lead to fatigue, but you increase the chance of injury.

If you ride switch during the day you are using your whole body and will significantly prolong the time it takes for your muscles to fatigue, not to mention giving your body a balanced workout.

HOW TO:

Learning to ride switch is much like learning to link turns in your normal stance; all the same principles apply. It is important to think about all the techniques you used when learning to link turns. If you didn’t learn to link turns with correct technique or you want to revise your technique, you should definitely read over the following articles: isolated turns and basic turns. The articles cover turning in detail - including step-by-step instruction, common problems, and video tutorial.

Be patient when learning to ride switch; it doesn’t usually come together in one run. Set aside a few runs a day to only ride switch; with a bit of dedicated practise you will progress quickly. It is common for snowboarders to progress quicker learning switch compared to when they were learning to link turns in their normal stance; this is because there is already an understanding of the principles of turning, with strong edging and rotation/steering skills aquired from previous riding.

There is however a few things you can do to your stance that will make riding switch easier. Placing a negative angle on your back binding (duck stance) opens your body to travel in both directions. Setting up your stance to be more centred (stance setback) or completely centred places you in a better position on your snowboard for riding switch; your snowboard will initiate turns with greater ease.

The type of board you ride (board shape) will also make a difference. A twin shaped snowboard is designed to travel equally well in both directions, making it easier to ride switch.

I suggest you read the following articles to gain a better understanding of how stance and board type affects your ride: stance and board characteristics.

Are you trying to put us snowboard instructors out of a job!  Seriously though, awesome resource for anyone wanting to learn how to ride or improve their technique or take CASI courses….  Do you have a direct link to this section on the facebook page or other boardworld marketing tools as it’s a quality feature that should set boardworld apart from other board based websites.  Also if this section is popular there is loads of scope for more tutorials, intro to jibbing anyone?

I like the idea of intro to jibbing Aidy. You putting your hand up? I would if I had the resources/skills to put it together

Thanks Aidy. These tutorials have been up on Boardworld since the day we launched. They can all be accessed through the snowboarding homepage - click ‘HOW TO RIDE’. I thought it was super important to get resources like this on the website as our main goal at the time was to introduce more people to snowboarding, to teach them step-by-step, and to show them it’s possible. Of course we aren’t looking to put instructors out of a job (that’s the last thing I’d want to do); this was more created to make them aware and better prepare them for lessons. Or maybe they took a group lesson and were struggling with a certain skill. Group lessons are good but it’s hard to give everyone the one-on-one attention they need. They can watch the videos, read the common problems and learn how to overcome their problems. Of course they can also come on here and discuss anything with us.

There’s a few basic freestyle tutorials and videos in the ‘FREESTYLE’ tab, including jibbing: https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/jibbing/

However this is something I would like to eventually develop further. Also, we’ve been involved with Nev Lapwood and Snowboard Addiction from day one. Their freestyle program is second-to-none. Any Boardworld member will receive a 10% discount on any of their products - just use the special code: boardworld.

goign to send this link to my sis and gf. cheers mate