As a beginner having gone snowboarding once. I can say that watching these videos ahead of snowboarding for the first time gave me a clear advantage over my friends that didn’t watch or “pay attention “ to the videos. I went last week and going again this week! Im so hooked, I think about snowboarding more than fishing now. Crazy Talk
Amazing dude! I just learned at 33 years old this season, and now after 5 days on the mountain, I'm turning from edge edge and even carving smoothly here and there. Definitely lots to still learn, especially proper technique, but happy to be able to ride any run alongside my girlfriend who's been riding for 5 years. She's still in shock I figured it out this fast. Some of us are just naturals 🤙 But watching all kinds of beginner videos was super helpful in giving me and idea of what I was in for. Highly recommend to anyone learning to just soak up as much you can before your first day! Shred on dude!
@@joeysauce hell yeah! Get after it!....honestly once this season ends and you really want to improve get yourself a balance board!, youll be amazed next year how big a difference increasing your balance and single leg strength will change your riding instantly. Even if you use one for a few days before your next day on the mountain youll notice more control and less pain in those "little muscles" thatbyou probably noticed were sore that first time....good luck and keep shredding
i regret not trying to watch these vids earlier because ive gone like 6 times and cant really carve i still enjoy it alot but my brother had progressed alot because hes been watching these videos
@@vert8739 my comment above.....get yourself a balance board...tons of different styles, ones you can use with your snowboard as well......changed my entire life
Wow, I feel like an idiot but thanks! I've been snowboarding since I was 15 and watching this made me realize how poor my form is. Focused on riding in alignment this past weekend and it made a HUGE difference.
@@lepuluke having better form takes less energy, you can ride faster, and you have more stability, all contributing to being able to ride down more challenging terrain
@@lepuluke for me, the key was to initiate a curve not with my feet or knee, using strength, but with my shoulder, using just my weight. If I want to turn right, I just open my shoulder to the right and my whole body & board will follow automatically. You can even try it standing on ground, without your board. If you turn your shoulders, your knees and feet will follow the twist
The ‘less energy’ part is key. When the counter rotating folks want to go back to the truck and you feel like you are good to close out the lift… that’s the payoff, for me anyways.
This is one of the most helpful 4 minutes I've ever spent on TH-cam! I just got back on my board after 22 years and thanks to visualizing this alignment, I felt hardly any soreness the day after. Could have gone again the next day. If only someone had shown me this video back in the day!
This is the single best snowboarding video I've ever seen. I didn't even realize what I've been doing wrong until seeing that side-by-side. That's why I catch an edge at the bottom of a hill, I'm forcing my turns and not moving my upper body to match. I'm so pumped for this winter season!
As someone whos been snowboarding for around 10 years - but only 1-5 times a year, I'm so mad at myself for not taking this habit more seriously. I've never even thought to try actually carving while turning like this rather than just bombing down the hill and skid-turning. After watching videos like this I realize how much harder the terrain park is for me because I never learned how to properly ride like this. My motivation to learn is back! Now I need to drive to all these shitty resorts in the Midwest to practice haha.
From someone who hadn't boarded in 12 years, I am currently in Bulgaria and first two days I completely forgot the technique and lost confidence but after this video it helped me a lot. Thanks my man!
Hi Nev, I wanted to tell you that I find your videos immensely helpful. I watched your videos all week and took notes, practiced my alignment with my board on indoors, and visualized how to make these turns. I love the technical explanations. I really didn't understand *how* snowboarding even worked and it was really hindering my ability to use my body + board together. I leaned my highbacks forward today and really practiced getting my hips over my board and today for the first time I felt the magic of a gripped edge carve, and an almost floating sensation as I switched edges which I never knew was possible! Thank you so much for sharing the magic + science of snowboarding. Sending you love and fresh powder days from Manning Park - just a few hours east of you in southern BC. :)
Out of all the snowboard turns video’s, this is the first I can see and notice the differences of how I have been snowboarding for the last few years. Like to other comments, I feel like an idiot. Thanks. This is awesome
The first instructor I ever had told me this years ago and it's probably the best snowboarding advice I've ever gotten. More than half of the snowboarders I see going down he mountain do this and besides not being stable, it looks very unstylish as well.
I know what you mean, but it also depends on how much space you have and on how steep the slope is. If there are many other people on the piste or if it is too steep, you may need to ride down counter-rotating.
There are two schools of thought here and neither is wrong. Sometimes this style works. But for some riders in some situations, a silent upper body facing the direction you are going works as well. The most important points are having fun and riding within your ability.
Agreed. I’ve been snowboarding since 1991 and I’ve found that there’s a sweet spot between the flailing style and the stiff gingerbread man style he’s displaying. It depends on the run. Mellow groomer? Carve it out perfectly aligned. Steep and variable? You’re gonna be slashing here and there.
@@todddegroff6953 Same, I ride both ways and it totally depends on the conditions. I find myself doing the disconnect frequently when I'm relaxed on something easy, or worn out at the end coming back to the lifts. When I carve, I'm planted. When I'm riding fast, I'm planted. It's nice to have multiple tools for the job to apply when called for.
@@todddegroff6953 yeah I’ve been riding for about 15 years.. this tip I’m sure is great for those brand new to the sport.. once you have enough board control and understanding of the physics, it’s fine to ride much looser than he is. I ride really loose because I’m not trying to zig zag back and forth all the way across the slope.. I’m just trying to ride, have fun, and slash the hill like I’m surfing.
@@_t_f_ Exactly. I want a different feel than the guy in the video is describing. He's cool and solid, but I don't always want that clean line feel. On a black, I'm gonna slash as much as I need to.
I am totally on the wrong side here, and this is so easy to explain, even this way riding looks way easier and more chill. I came to the conclusion that such videos can work as a professional instructor, being so exact and understandable.
This obviously looks good in a leisurely descent, but the opposite rotation of the legs and shoulders allows for quicker reaction and turning of the board in my experience. I've managed to avoid a collision on the slopes more than once thanks to this. Another thing is that it is worth strengthening the pelvic and core muscles not only before the season. Then we have a stable figure.
This is what I was going to comment. Its more stable at a cost of much more exaggerated turns. Being able to throw the board around "incorrectly" can be a lot faster down the slope.
True, riding in alignment allows you to do a gentle wide slalom on a flat surface (and is actually very satisfying to do) but if you do that on a bumpy surface, you'll do something that'll look like side flip, it's actually quite spectacular! Sometimes, you need to be able to slow you down by rotating your body with minimal slalom. It's about all you can do when riding on trails in the wood due to the lack of space.
I ride always with my shoulders, hands , hips facing the direction i go , i use my back knee to turn by turning the knee in for the heelside turn and out for the toe side turn. When you hold or drag your hand behind your body (or how you call it 'alligned' with the board) You shift of lot of your weight to the back of your board while you want the weight more to the front of the board. And by leaning more forward you will have much more control on the slopes. Only on the powder you want to lean backwards.
One from best basic snb videos on TH-cam , many people here in comments say something about style and knapton, if you ride like this (beginner) you can add style and play with vertical weight etc. later, but every time you want to learn how to ride , you need to be able to manage this kind of ride first .
Great video. I've been boarding for more than fifteen years (albeit once a year, ha) and never knew this. It's never too late to make change! Thanks for the content.
Great video. Such an important fundamental. Learning to stop counter-rotating helped my riding immeasurably. I can stay stable at much higher speeds now.
Thank you. your presentation is most helpful to improve technique and reduce energy consumption on the mountain. I want to ride all day and use minimal energy to achieve the Zen state of riding! Your video series has the most substance and quality that I have seen so far. Again, Thank you for your efforts to help us all progress on the mountain. Ride in Zen.........
I go for straight body on clear slopes while carving and I rotate on busy slopes with moguls with very small quick turns similar to a Skier that does Slalom.
Tough on bumpy choppy icy north east conditions. Plus the runs aren't wide enough on busy days. Counter rotating can save some energy from deep crouched quick turns
I was trying this a lot last winter, but I found that when coming out of toe turns, my board would carry on turning and actually heading up hill, or further than I wanted. Then the back foot would slip out the other way, I actually fell quite a few times, as couldn’t really nail it, even though it was all quite slow speed. Enjoyed riding aligned while it lasted however!
This is something I’ve struggled with in the transition from skiing. Your body is supposed to stay facing downhill at all times, so it’s natural to try the same thing on a snowboard.
I like the pants grab tips! I just started snowboarding this season. My problem is I’m not young (47) so fallings is my main concern! Good to learn the tips from the videos before I hit the slopes! Will try it next time.
I must agree with slimeone, as I recently did a triple 360 cartwheel down a diamond run and everything went into slow motion. It was by the third cartwheel when I felt perfectly aligned. I was upside down on my head looking at the sun in the sky and I entered into trance and had a zen moment. 😎
I'm snowboarding for more than 26 years. My technique maybe a lite old school, but my upper body is mostly facing the direction I'm headed in. I dont have any issues with stability and I rip down the mountain and its very seldom that I'm being overtaking by a skiër or snowboarder. Controle and stability mostly come down to how well you are able to keep pressure on your edge through a turn plus off course the correct movement of your hips. Back in the days there where turning methods where changes pressure on your board by moving your body up and down. Sound a bit silly but ok. The down side was that at some point in the turn your legs where more stretched out which reduced your ability to cope with changes in terain, resulting in los of edge pressure and thereby loosing grip. With the general trend that everybody wants to stand duck although they dont know how to ride forward, let alone backwards, described body position may make sense for that particular stands.
You describe the way I learned to ride (and race), driving the body forward and down the hill with pelvis in basic alignment with the line, and using your hips and legs to drive from rail to rail. Monoski riding was much the same, and I was also taught to drive the back knee basically into the front calf. This video keeps popping up as recommended, but I scratch my head because it seems like he's showing the way I ride as improper, and I've been riding at least as long as you and took lessons to race (finishing upper middle, generally - maybe I'd have been on the podium if I rode like this video sez? ;).
@@clydemccoy1768 I don't really believe in absolutism, hence your point also your reference to any snowboard instructor. This channel is good, what this guy is teaching isn't bad, actually better than many paid instructors one can get. But is it absolute truth? I doubt it, I think the guy himself knew better to doubt that too. He is just saying so because this is a tutorial for intermediate almost duckish stance riders. He is not discussing possibilities to his equals, but teaching those less capable than him. A good teacher knows to narrow down and simplify what you meant to say. Especially he is not teaching one on one, but to a general audience, so it's natural for him to teach this method and method alone, as it is more relevant to his targeted general audience, which I suspect is intermediate all mountain leaning towards freestyle riders. But if you check out those big mountain freeriders, you'll see what many of those guys on the opposite side are arguing is common methodology used and practical for their purposes/terrain of riding. Even the pros, top athletes such as Xavier De La Rue in his tutorial said similar things to what those guys are thinking and finding. So I doubt his "little old school" methods is what you say "bad", it may simply mean, he is not same type of rider riding similar terrain/level as you are. By saying others' bad without fully understand or even try to understand what they're coming from and their reasons, to me is worse. As truly, you're just limiting yourself to the vast amount of knowledge and possibilities out there. There is a whole big world out there, you're denying yourself to. Would be interesting though to hear from those whom knows both sides and can give a more detailed and informative breakdown/comparison of those two methods in discussion. I am confused around it... and really keen to know, as I think I am crossing over a bit to freeride these days, and do find, naturally your body position is much more open in such conditions, and you're tempted to re-dial your stance from duckish to both forward a bit.
👍 Another good reason to take this advice is that not doing so last month over torqued my lower back so badly that I could barely walk for a week and took another to recover.
"If you have a bump, it is likely you get thrown out of balance... " 0:25 for my experience a bump is much more brutal if you loose the edge while leaning inward the curve. Greatly depending on the angle between the board and the direction of the slope (10° no problem, 90° Huge problem) And yeah, you greatly pointed out how important bent knees are... My focus is 90% for spotting out those pumps that lead to loosing the edge, but i still have not found the best technique to "swallow" it. i ride a soft butterstyle board, don't know if it's less of a problem with a stiffer board - my intuition tells me that a soft board should be better to swallow the pump. Looking forward to a great Season - 1 month to go :) :) :)
Nice tips, i would have thought counter rotating the upper body is actually the right way to ride, coming from a longboarder's perspective because thats exactly what we wanna do to stop ourselves going 180 to switch
When snowboarding, you can still counter rotate for those quick stops and quick brakes. For normal riding, just like longboarding, you really want to trust on leaning with you upper body into the direction you want to go. Snowboarders are often initially afraid to go from toe to heel by just leaning backwards (down hill) or vise versa. Hence why they develop the bad habit shown in this video, flicking their back leg out to turn. I know in downhill longboarding the stance is different, but you get the idea.
Once the season starts, I'll definitely have to try out the pants grab technique to really force myself to be properly aligned. I'm sure I'm riding incorrectly. Thanks for the videos!
hi guys. i am french. i`ve learned snowbording by myself. if i have seen this video before maybe it will be better for my back. thks a lot.😜 sorry for my english😢
I got back into snowboarding a few years ago and I do the wild arm swing/counter rotation turns sometimes. This especially happens on hard, packed snow that is bumpy. No matter how often I try to go back to alignment riding, my body just naturally goes into counter rotating to deal with steeper, narrow hard packed runs.
MillCityShogun Sounds like you’re panicking a little when you’re getting out of your comfort zone. Using proper technique for steeps and/or variable terrain will allow you to steer the board without reverting to ‘survival snowboarding’ Steeps and variable involve intermediate-advanced techniques. It may be worth considering a development lesson.
You are absolutly right-there are many riders who make that mistake. one question for you: I noticed that your toes go way beyond the edge-isn't that causing problems once you make some nice carving turns?
Excellent advice, man! I only made it once this season and felt a little rusty, so this will come in very handy for me tomorrow. I’m hitting up Hunter Mountain in Upstate New York for one of the last days this season. They are getting like 16 inches over the next 24 hours which is awesome. I appreciate it. Cheers! 😎
My teacher for snowboard used to say always face the downhill with my upper part of body.. but when practicing i felt like it was easier to make lower and upper feel like moving with each othe
I don't know what to say ... I won't be the best snowboarder but I've been practicing it for 30 years and I think that at least you don't want to swing from toes to heels and vice versa, to have a smoother movement it is important to rotate your torso downstream, make a kind of sway while making the turns. If you do it in a fluid way, even aesthetically it is a very harmonious movement ... I have always thought that those who always remain still, in line with their body, are not a real freerider but someone who only goes to parks. Peace
hamoda younis You get lower on the board and have faster, more dynamic movement around on your board, but maintaining alignment will still help you maintain balance and apply pressure to the correct points on your board.
th-cam.com/video/63GZN-aKSOU/w-d-xo.html Watch this Hamoda. This Routine is actually swiss snowboard school Style. The shoulder leads into the direction. It is copied from surfing.
Great pointers! I’ve gotten more aligned when carving and when on tight trails, powder and ungroomed runs have better control since watching your videos. Thank you! 🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂
@@yamz342 I think its because carving like that on moguls is not easy. I can carve in alignment but you put moguls in the way, and it fucks me up and i start counter rotating cause IM scared lol.
@@GniatTaing Sounds familiar! Bending the knees even more and getting ridiculously low worked for me. Perhaps because the fall seemed shorter from down there!
I'd say Nev's (SA's) video on how to ride moguls has the most impressive mogul riding on youtube. Seriously, I've never seen a snowboarder take them on quite like Mr. Lapwood here.
You are such an amazing teacher in your riding and instruction! My buddy who teaches got me in a lesson @ Breck over the weekend and we rode on his day off. I'm a newbie and hooked! Thanks for the help on explaining turns. Got me goin on the slopes and I can't wait til next season ✊🏾
Thank you for your videos. I am on day 2 of riding and having followed your advice (among other TH-camrs) I was carving my turns comfortably on a green run today. It helps that I am an advanced skier so familiar with concepts such as carving, edge transitions, quiet upper body, etc. Technique obviously differs but concepts transfer. Full disclosure I was also a skater in many moons ago. Thanks again.
Hmm, I agree with some of this and disagree with other parts. What you are doing right is holding your edge and carving. Also, you are keeping your upper body quiet with no arm flailing. This makes you look smooth and controlled. I think the aligned upper body is a symptom of a straight across or duck stance. This "park stance" locks out your hips and won't allow you to face down the fall line. If you try to counter rotate it won't really work. If you turn rear binding slightly forward it will unlock your hips an let you drive them across while keeping the upper body quiet and facing down the fall line. This is key for steeps, bumps, tight trees, and double fall lines.
I thought I was doing it wrong but after watching this video it’s confirmed! It’s just like dancing guys! Ever since I’ve started snowboarding I unconsciously been doing this haha and I’m so proud of myself because I’m learning on my own and it’s about listening to your body ❄️ let’s goooo
Def the difference between being on a rail, letting the edge and side cut do the work, letting the board run, building speed while turning pumping the side cut….and scraping the edge slowing down. I used to be able to spot the snowboard slalom racer because they actually knew how to carve their side cut.
You can tell who surfed before learning to snowboard based on this. And when snowboarders start surfing their style on a surfboard is absolutely terrible because of this! I had to fight my surf style and keep my shoulders aligned to the snowboard, it works so much better. Thanks for the reminder, great tips. What are your tips about going through moguls though?
Fantastic as always. Can you help/show a video of these types of turns when you’re on a narrower run, and without the luxury of big wide open turns. The tips help me on open fields, but busier fields and less space bring in my bad habits again :(
Ive been snowboarding for years but as i get older i find that i was getting tired faster and thighs worn out quick… im thinking maybe my form got astray and i think i do snowboard a lot out of alignement at times.. wonder if thats what make you tired quicker…. Tho in alignement i feel you are more prone to fall on icy terrains . Out of alignement is easier to manage where there is ice i find. Your grip is less comited and you can adjust faster
You are gonna fall less when alignement is right, the issue is some people cofuse this for being stiff, you need to stay mobile with good for the use it to the fullest!
While the "incorrect technique" examples are correct, I have to disagree with this somewhat. Upper body should be quiet with shoulders perpendicular to the fall line. Use hip angulation to drive power into your sodecut.
You know. I'm starting to agree with you. I think this works if your learning early on. So you keep your weight centered on the board. . But you past that. Yeah the main goal should silent top.
rotation helps your turns and make them smooth and precise.. when you turn your hips you actually give some torsion to your board by using the high-backs, that way you can modify your egde and your turns
A lot of people in these comments are confused between aligned (as in riding with a bladed stance) and counter rotation. You can ride with your whole body facing down hill and still not use counter rotation while turning, that's the point. He rides slowly in the video so you can see the idea, but watch any pro snowboarder and they ride just like this, stale riding slope to trice riding giant AK lines. Speed checking using counter rotation should be used as a last resort as it's unstable, you can control your speed without counter rotating almost all the time.
This does not work if you use positive angles on both bindings. Riding positive angles on both feet is incredible on powder boards and for carving. Watch some Korua videos for reference
Worth noting that stance angles play a role were too. I run a fairly aggressive posi posi stance for carving so naturally my hips are not in line with my board - my whole body is opened up a little more and facing downhill than when I'm riding with a posi neg stance.
That's a very specifc riding stance that the average rider likely won't be running - if you running this style of stance chances are you are more expierenced rider anyway so most likely already know these common mistakes :)
As I'm flailing down the mountain uncontrollably there are no doubt brief moments in between the flailing when my body is perfectly aligned.
🤣🤣🤣
Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day.
Bend your knees, bend them more. Stick your ass out. Steer with your forward shoulder.
Well saved🤣🤣
That’s very true
As a beginner having gone snowboarding once. I can say that watching these videos ahead of snowboarding for the first time gave me a clear advantage over my friends that didn’t watch or “pay attention “ to the videos. I went last week and going again this week! Im so hooked, I think about snowboarding more than fishing now. Crazy Talk
Amazing dude! I just learned at 33 years old this season, and now after 5 days on the mountain, I'm turning from edge edge and even carving smoothly here and there. Definitely lots to still learn, especially proper technique, but happy to be able to ride any run alongside my girlfriend who's been riding for 5 years. She's still in shock I figured it out this fast. Some of us are just naturals 🤙 But watching all kinds of beginner videos was super helpful in giving me and idea of what I was in for. Highly recommend to anyone learning to just soak up as much you can before your first day! Shred on dude!
@@joeysauce hell yeah! Get after it!....honestly once this season ends and you really want to improve get yourself a balance board!, youll be amazed next year how big a difference increasing your balance and single leg strength will change your riding instantly. Even if you use one for a few days before your next day on the mountain youll notice more control and less pain in those "little muscles" thatbyou probably noticed were sore that first time....good luck and keep shredding
i regret not trying to watch these vids earlier because ive gone like 6 times and cant really carve i still enjoy it alot but my brother had progressed alot because hes been watching these videos
@@vert8739 my comment above.....get yourself a balance board...tons of different styles, ones you can use with your snowboard as well......changed my entire life
This is me, but with autocross. Snowboarding is cheaper, more accessible, more flexible with my schedule, and most importantly… more fun!
Wow, I feel like an idiot but thanks! I've been snowboarding since I was 15 and watching this made me realize how poor my form is. Focused on riding in alignment this past weekend and it made a HUGE difference.
What difference? Please give some more explanation.
I think my form is also „wrong“ but I don’t get why should change it
@@lepuluke having better form takes less energy, you can ride faster, and you have more stability, all contributing to being able to ride down more challenging terrain
@@lepuluke for me, the key was to initiate a curve not with my feet or knee, using strength, but with my shoulder, using just my weight. If I want to turn right, I just open my shoulder to the right and my whole body & board will follow automatically. You can even try it standing on ground, without your board. If you turn your shoulders, your knees and feet will follow the twist
The ‘less energy’ part is key. When the counter rotating folks want to go back to the truck and you feel like you are good to close out the lift… that’s the payoff, for me anyways.
th-cam.com/video/TxlzEQ70LoQ/w-d-xo.html
The “holding your pants” tip is a great idea!
This is one of the most helpful 4 minutes I've ever spent on TH-cam! I just got back on my board after 22 years and thanks to visualizing this alignment, I felt hardly any soreness the day after. Could have gone again the next day. If only someone had shown me this video back in the day!
Glad it helped:)
This is the single best snowboarding video I've ever seen. I didn't even realize what I've been doing wrong until seeing that side-by-side. That's why I catch an edge at the bottom of a hill, I'm forcing my turns and not moving my upper body to match. I'm so pumped for this winter season!
As someone whos been snowboarding for around 10 years - but only 1-5 times a year, I'm so mad at myself for not taking this habit more seriously. I've never even thought to try actually carving while turning like this rather than just bombing down the hill and skid-turning.
After watching videos like this I realize how much harder the terrain park is for me because I never learned how to properly ride like this. My motivation to learn is back! Now I need to drive to all these shitty resorts in the Midwest to practice haha.
I'm in the same position... I was bombing double blacks and I believe my upper and lower body is out of sync. Back to the drawing board, I'd guess
From someone who hadn't boarded in 12 years, I am currently in Bulgaria and first two days I completely forgot the technique and lost confidence but after this video it helped me a lot. Thanks my man!
I've been training for years but failed to get that lightsaber unlocked
Hi Nev, I wanted to tell you that I find your videos immensely helpful. I watched your videos all week and took notes, practiced my alignment with my board on indoors, and visualized how to make these turns. I love the technical explanations. I really didn't understand *how* snowboarding even worked and it was really hindering my ability to use my body + board together. I leaned my highbacks forward today and really practiced getting my hips over my board and today for the first time I felt the magic of a gripped edge carve, and an almost floating sensation as I switched edges which I never knew was possible! Thank you so much for sharing the magic + science of snowboarding. Sending you love and fresh powder days from Manning Park - just a few hours east of you in southern BC. :)
Out of all the snowboard turns video’s, this is the first I can see and notice the differences of how I have been snowboarding for the last few years. Like to other comments, I feel like an idiot. Thanks. This is awesome
The first instructor I ever had told me this years ago and it's probably the best snowboarding advice I've ever gotten. More than half of the snowboarders I see going down he mountain do this and besides not being stable, it looks very unstylish as well.
I wish I could go snowboarding more than 2-3 times a year.
Me too😞
Ah the negatives of living in Utah don’t outweigh the positive of being 30 minutes to an hour away from 10 different resorts
Man I wish o could go once a year I don’t have the money to go Every year it’s too expensive it’s like 1000 € a week in Germany
I wish to go at least once a year
i am from switzerland (about an hour drive away from laax). and i wish i could go more than once a year..
I know what you mean, but it also depends on how much space you have and on how steep the slope is. If there are many other people on the piste or if it is too steep, you may need to ride down counter-rotating.
True. It’s a good skill to have. But it’s not the way you turn a snowboard.
Twisting body and skidding is like the handbrake on a car.
Totaly agree
Not only that.. it's fun to throw your entire weight around. As long as you be don't crash you can do whatever you like
Definitely one must master counter rotation otherwise close encounter is inevitable🤕⛑️
If you're doing tree runs it's all 80 percent counter rotation. You need to get the board angled incredibly quickly to avoid obstacles.
There are two schools of thought here and neither is wrong. Sometimes this style works. But for some riders in some situations, a silent upper body facing the direction you are going works as well. The most important points are having fun and riding within your ability.
Agreed. I’ve been snowboarding since 1991 and I’ve found that there’s a sweet spot between the flailing style and the stiff gingerbread man style he’s displaying. It depends on the run. Mellow groomer? Carve it out perfectly aligned. Steep and variable? You’re gonna be slashing here and there.
@@todddegroff6953 Same, I ride both ways and it totally depends on the conditions. I find myself doing the disconnect frequently when I'm relaxed on something easy, or worn out at the end coming back to the lifts. When I carve, I'm planted. When I'm riding fast, I'm planted. It's nice to have multiple tools for the job to apply when called for.
@@todddegroff6953 yeah I’ve been riding for about 15 years.. this tip I’m sure is great for those brand new to the sport.. once you have enough board control and understanding of the physics, it’s fine to ride much looser than he is.
I ride really loose because I’m not trying to zig zag back and forth all the way across the slope.. I’m just trying to ride, have fun, and slash the hill like I’m surfing.
The only thing wrong here is one school always try to tell people other schools methods are wrong.
@@_t_f_ Exactly. I want a different feel than the guy in the video is describing. He's cool and solid, but I don't always want that clean line feel. On a black, I'm gonna slash as much as I need to.
Y'all absolutely nail the presentation with all these visual aides. So helpful!
I have used to put my hands into the jacket pockets to get rid of throwing my arms around. Did help quite a bit.
th-cam.com/video/TxlzEQ70LoQ/w-d-xo.html
I am totally on the wrong side here, and this is so easy to explain, even this way riding looks way easier and more chill. I came to the conclusion that such videos can work as a professional instructor, being so exact and understandable.
U truly r a very gd teacher I have learnt how to snowboard correctly because of you. Thankyou so much
This obviously looks good in a leisurely descent, but the opposite rotation of the legs and shoulders allows for quicker reaction and turning of the board in my experience. I've managed to avoid a collision on the slopes more than once thanks to this. Another thing is that it is worth strengthening the pelvic and core muscles not only before the season. Then we have a stable figure.
Great point
This is what I was going to comment. Its more stable at a cost of much more exaggerated turns. Being able to throw the board around "incorrectly" can be a lot faster down the slope.
Imagine being one of the random people on this video and being considered “incorrect technique”
th-cam.com/video/TxlzEQ70LoQ/w-d-xo.html
"Hey I have that same pants and jack..... damnit."
Its not wrong, its just different technique. There are Plus (+) and Minus(-) Techniques, and they both work great.
True, riding in alignment allows you to do a gentle wide slalom on a flat surface (and is actually very satisfying to do) but if you do that on a bumpy surface, you'll do something that'll look like side flip, it's actually quite spectacular! Sometimes, you need to be able to slow you down by rotating your body with minimal slalom. It's about all you can do when riding on trails in the wood due to the lack of space.
@@foufoufun YEah and also when the slope is rly crowded you can actually see something...
Learned this the hard way on my own this past week while nailing down my switch.
I ride always with my shoulders, hands , hips facing the direction i go , i use my back knee to turn by turning the knee in for the heelside turn and out for the toe side turn.
When you hold or drag your hand behind your body (or how you call it 'alligned' with the board)
You shift of lot of your weight to the back of your board while you want the weight more to the front of the board.
And by leaning more forward you will have much more control on the slopes.
Only on the powder you want to lean backwards.
I wish i’d learnt this before dislocating my shoulder
Jeeeeez 😩
Lmao always eat shit and broke my ankle but ya this video saved
I feel ya bro, I broke my humerus
Ow!
Welcome to the club 🤣
I live three hours away from the nearest resort 😣 eager to get back out there and perfect my technique! (Im a beginner)
Hahah you changed entirely my riding guys after decades of back riding. Thank you guys. Great vidéo
Great to hear!
One from best basic snb videos on TH-cam , many people here in comments say something about style and knapton, if you ride like this (beginner) you can add style and play with vertical weight etc. later, but every time you want to learn how to ride , you need to be able to manage this kind of ride first .
Great video. I've been boarding for more than fifteen years (albeit once a year, ha) and never knew this. It's never too late to make change! Thanks for the content.
Glad it was helpful!
I've worked all season to correct this after seeing this video. Unlocked a lot for me, thanks!
That's awesome! good work💪
Great video. Such an important fundamental. Learning to stop counter-rotating helped my riding immeasurably. I can stay stable at much higher speeds now.
Thank you. your presentation is most helpful to improve technique and reduce energy consumption on the mountain. I want to ride all day and use minimal energy to achieve the Zen state of riding!
Your video series has the most substance and quality that I have seen so far. Again, Thank you for your efforts to help us all progress on the mountain.
Ride in Zen.........
I go for straight body on clear slopes while carving and I rotate on busy slopes with moguls with very small quick turns similar to a Skier that does Slalom.
Tough on bumpy choppy icy north east conditions. Plus the runs aren't wide enough on busy days. Counter rotating can save some energy from deep crouched quick turns
I was trying this a lot last winter, but I found that when coming out of toe turns, my board would carry on turning and actually heading up hill, or further than I wanted. Then the back foot would slip out the other way, I actually fell quite a few times, as couldn’t really nail it, even though it was all quite slow speed. Enjoyed riding aligned while it lasted however!
This is something I’ve struggled with in the transition from skiing. Your body is supposed to stay facing downhill at all times, so it’s natural to try the same thing on a snowboard.
I switch between this and counter rotation regularly. All depends on the condition and the style I wish to display.
I like the pants grab tips! I just started snowboarding this season. My problem is I’m not young (47) so fallings is my main concern! Good to learn the tips from the videos before I hit the slopes! Will try it next time.
Just don't rush and you should have a long snowboarding life ahead of you!
@@SnowboardAddiction Will do, thank you!
I must agree with slimeone, as I recently did a triple 360 cartwheel down a diamond run and everything went into slow motion. It was by the third cartwheel when I felt perfectly aligned. I was upside down on my head looking at the sun in the sky and I entered into trance and had a zen moment. 😎
Hahahah
This is a really great tip! I feel like there aren’t that many videos talking about counter rotation and the “pole” technique is awesome.
I'm snowboarding for more than 26 years. My technique maybe a lite old school, but my upper body is mostly facing the direction I'm headed in. I dont have any issues with stability and I rip down the mountain and its very seldom that I'm being overtaking by a skiër or snowboarder. Controle and stability mostly come down to how well you are able to keep pressure on your edge through a turn plus off course the correct movement of your hips. Back in the days there where turning methods where changes pressure on your board by moving your body up and down. Sound a bit silly but ok. The down side was that at some point in the turn your legs where more stretched out which reduced your ability to cope with changes in terain, resulting in los of edge pressure and thereby loosing grip.
With the general trend that everybody wants to stand duck although they dont know how to ride forward, let alone backwards, described body position may make sense for that particular stands.
You describe the way I learned to ride (and race), driving the body forward and down the hill with pelvis in basic alignment with the line, and using your hips and legs to drive from rail to rail. Monoski riding was much the same, and I was also taught to drive the back knee basically into the front calf. This video keeps popping up as recommended, but I scratch my head because it seems like he's showing the way I ride as improper, and I've been riding at least as long as you and took lessons to race (finishing upper middle, generally - maybe I'd have been on the podium if I rode like this video sez? ;).
....what
@@clydemccoy1768 I don't really believe in absolutism, hence your point also your reference to any snowboard instructor. This channel is good, what this guy is teaching isn't bad, actually better than many paid instructors one can get. But is it absolute truth? I doubt it, I think the guy himself knew better to doubt that too. He is just saying so because this is a tutorial for intermediate almost duckish stance riders. He is not discussing possibilities to his equals, but teaching those less capable than him. A good teacher knows to narrow down and simplify what you meant to say. Especially he is not teaching one on one, but to a general audience, so it's natural for him to teach this method and method alone, as it is more relevant to his targeted general audience, which I suspect is intermediate all mountain leaning towards freestyle riders.
But if you check out those big mountain freeriders, you'll see what many of those guys on the opposite side are arguing is common methodology used and practical for their purposes/terrain of riding. Even the pros, top athletes such as Xavier De La Rue in his tutorial said similar things to what those guys are thinking and finding. So I doubt his "little old school" methods is what you say "bad", it may simply mean, he is not same type of rider riding similar terrain/level as you are. By saying others' bad without fully understand or even try to understand what they're coming from and their reasons, to me is worse. As truly, you're just limiting yourself to the vast amount of knowledge and possibilities out there. There is a whole big world out there, you're denying yourself to.
Would be interesting though to hear from those whom knows both sides and can give a more detailed and informative breakdown/comparison of those two methods in discussion. I am confused around it... and really keen to know, as I think I am crossing over a bit to freeride these days, and do find, naturally your body position is much more open in such conditions, and you're tempted to re-dial your stance from duckish to both forward a bit.
👍 Another good reason to take this advice is that not doing so last month over torqued my lower back so badly that I could barely walk for a week and took another to recover.
I hope your all good now!!!
I can do both and I certainly enjoy linking the full carved turns on empty slopes. But when it’s crowded counter rotation is kinda the only option
THIS CHANNEL HAS THE BEST SNOWBOARD TECH VIDEOS PERIOD!!!!
th-cam.com/video/TxlzEQ70LoQ/w-d-xo.html
"If you have a bump, it is likely you get thrown out of balance... " 0:25
for my experience a bump is much more brutal if you loose the edge while leaning inward the curve.
Greatly depending on the angle between the board and the direction of the slope (10° no problem, 90° Huge problem)
And yeah, you greatly pointed out how important bent knees are...
My focus is 90% for spotting out those pumps that lead to loosing the edge, but i still have not found the best technique to "swallow" it.
i ride a soft butterstyle board, don't know if it's less of a problem with a stiffer board - my intuition tells me that a soft board should be better to swallow the pump.
Looking forward to a great Season - 1 month to go :) :) :)
will try these techniques ..I am doing counter turn constantly
That's absolutely the best tutorial I've seen untill now. Thanks!
Nice tips, i would have thought counter rotating the upper body is actually the right way to ride, coming from a longboarder's perspective because thats exactly what we wanna do to stop ourselves going 180 to switch
When snowboarding, you can still counter rotate for those quick stops and quick brakes. For normal riding, just like longboarding, you really want to trust on leaning with you upper body into the direction you want to go. Snowboarders are often initially afraid to go from toe to heel by just leaning backwards (down hill) or vise versa. Hence why they develop the bad habit shown in this video, flicking their back leg out to turn. I know in downhill longboarding the stance is different, but you get the idea.
@@FrederickBorne Awesome, great explanation! Thanks for the video!!
My favourite channel. After two seasons I'm still a desaster on the slopes so I needed you again:)))
Nice video, I see that on my back side turn I'm aligned, but on the front side I'm doing this mistake, will work on it.
You are truly a master of coaching. I wish I could take some private lessons on the hill with you xD Greetings from Germany.
Once the season starts, I'll definitely have to try out the pants grab technique to really force myself to be properly aligned. I'm sure I'm riding incorrectly. Thanks for the videos!
Great video , it lifted my skill to another level and started doing 360 thanks
holding the pants trick works. It was my go to to help force my body to line up and keep my arms from failing
hi guys. i am french.
i`ve learned snowbording by myself. if i have seen this video before maybe it will be better for my back.
thks a lot.😜
sorry for my english😢
I know that this comment is old but your English is pretty good
Learning to ride switch helped me so much
I got back into snowboarding a few years ago and I do the wild arm swing/counter rotation turns sometimes. This especially happens on hard, packed snow that is bumpy. No matter how often I try to go back to alignment riding, my body just naturally goes into counter rotating to deal with steeper, narrow hard packed runs.
MillCityShogun Sounds like you’re panicking a little when you’re getting out of your comfort zone. Using proper technique for steeps and/or variable terrain will allow you to steer the board without reverting to ‘survival snowboarding’
Steeps and variable involve intermediate-advanced techniques. It may be worth considering a development lesson.
Yeah, you're right. Just need to develop more, I guess, and spend time on a gentler slope drilling turns and carving.
Now show it on a bumpy piste with great speed please!!!
I love these videos. They’re easy to follow instructions
According to this video all the snowboarders I just watched at the Olympics need to fix their snowboarding.
You are absolutly right-there are many riders who make that mistake. one question for you: I noticed that your toes go way beyond the edge-isn't that causing problems once you make some nice carving turns?
Excellent advice, man! I only made it once this season and felt a little rusty, so this will come in very handy for me tomorrow. I’m hitting up Hunter Mountain in Upstate New York for one of the last days this season. They are getting like 16 inches over the next 24 hours which is awesome. I appreciate it. Cheers! 😎
Glad it helped!
What about fast turns? Is there a video? Because this is way more difficult if you need to do it 3 times in 2-3 seconds.
Agree I was just wondering about this! Sometimes you got to funk it up on those steep slopes! However, practice riding switch is a great tip!
Best channel of snowboarding out in TH-cam.
Very well done… i will evaluate my alignment and try this alignment strategy this week… thanks
Glad it was helpful!
This is exactly what I need to work on ...so riding switch is my next goal!
My teacher for snowboard used to say always face the downhill with my upper part of body.. but when practicing i felt like it was easier to make lower and upper feel like moving with each othe
Never even been on a board or been skiing. Nice tips, going soon and its amazing the content available on here.
Glad it can help you before you even get on the mountain!
I don't know what to say ... I won't be the best snowboarder but I've been practicing it for 30 years and I think that at least you don't want to swing from toes to heels and vice versa, to have a smoother movement it is important to rotate your torso downstream, make a kind of sway while making the turns. If you do it in a fluid way, even aesthetically it is a very harmonious movement ... I have always thought that those who always remain still, in line with their body, are not a real freerider but someone who only goes to parks. Peace
You might check out a "dynamic" cross under turn. This video is showing a "basic" cross over turn.
never knew i was doing this.. going to the slopes this sat, def will give it a try!
What if you need to do quick short turns !?
hamoda younis You get lower on the board and have faster, more dynamic movement around on your board, but maintaining alignment will still help you maintain balance and apply pressure to the correct points on your board.
You just do the same faster and add more vertical movement over bumps :-)
th-cam.com/video/63GZN-aKSOU/w-d-xo.html
Watch this Hamoda. This Routine is actually swiss snowboard school Style. The shoulder leads into the direction. It is copied from surfing.
On a groomed run like that it makes sense but I wanna see this done on steep moguls and tree runs.
Just got back from watching Xavier De Le Rue coming down on a steep and he turns his lower body like those noobies. What gives?
After 5 years, you saved my life
This is fundamentals 👍 Everyone has their own style tho. Bent knees and weight dispersion is really all that matters at the end of the day.
Its all about the shoulders your body will follow were your front shoulder is facing.
Its similar to skateboarding especially bowl skating helps alot.
Great pointers! I’ve gotten more aligned when carving and when on tight trails, powder and ungroomed runs have better control since watching your videos. Thank you! 🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂🏂
th-cam.com/video/TxlzEQ70LoQ/w-d-xo.html
I wanna see how this is done on steep moguls and tree runs. That would be helpful.
Why would that change anything?
@@yamz342 I think its because carving like that on moguls is not easy. I can carve in alignment but you put moguls in the way, and it fucks me up and i start counter rotating cause IM scared lol.
@@GniatTaing Sounds familiar! Bending the knees even more and getting ridiculously low worked for me. Perhaps because the fall seemed shorter from down there!
Moguls on a snowboard?!?! That’s got to be the most unenjoyable thing I’ve ever heard of. Get a pair of ski’s if you want to ride moguls!
I'd say Nev's (SA's) video on how to ride moguls has the most impressive mogul riding on youtube. Seriously, I've never seen a snowboarder take them on quite like Mr. Lapwood here.
You are such an amazing teacher in your riding and instruction! My buddy who teaches got me in a lesson @ Breck over the weekend and we rode on his day off. I'm a newbie and hooked! Thanks for the help on explaining turns. Got me goin on the slopes and I can't wait til next season ✊🏾
Thank you for your videos. I am on day 2 of riding and having followed your advice (among other TH-camrs) I was carving my turns comfortably on a green run today. It helps that I am an advanced skier so familiar with concepts such as carving, edge transitions, quiet upper body, etc. Technique obviously differs but concepts transfer. Full disclosure I was also a skater in many moons ago. Thanks again.
Hmm, I agree with some of this and disagree with other parts. What you are doing right is holding your edge and carving. Also, you are keeping your upper body quiet with no arm flailing. This makes you look smooth and controlled. I think the aligned upper body is a symptom of a straight across or duck stance. This "park stance" locks out your hips and won't allow you to face down the fall line. If you try to counter rotate it won't really work. If you turn rear binding slightly forward it will unlock your hips an let you drive them across while keeping the upper body quiet and facing down the fall line. This is key for steeps, bumps, tight trees, and double fall lines.
I thought I was doing it wrong but after watching this video it’s confirmed! It’s just like dancing guys! Ever since I’ve started snowboarding I unconsciously been doing this haha and I’m so proud of myself because I’m learning on my own and it’s about listening to your body ❄️ let’s goooo
Glad we could help! keep on shreddin!
Def the difference between being on a rail, letting the edge and side cut do the work, letting the board run, building speed while turning pumping the side cut….and scraping the edge slowing down.
I used to be able to spot the snowboard slalom racer because they actually knew how to carve their side cut.
You can tell who surfed before learning to snowboard based on this. And when snowboarders start surfing their style on a surfboard is absolutely terrible because of this!
I had to fight my surf style and keep my shoulders aligned to the snowboard, it works so much better.
Thanks for the reminder, great tips.
What are your tips about going through moguls though?
We have videos on that on www.addictionplus.tv/
Thank you so much! I didn't realise I did this until I saw this video, I'll have to work on this.
Fantastic as always. Can you help/show a video of these types of turns when you’re on a narrower run, and without the luxury of big wide open turns. The tips help me on open fields, but busier fields and less space bring in my bad habits again :(
Absolutely!
Damn good video! Perfect explanation of proper form. Thanks for posting
The pole analogy is really good. I didn’t really understand it until then.
It also helps to have that much room to make those big sweeping turns. Normally the slopes are very crowded with pedestrians. Yikes!
Ive been snowboarding for years but as i get older i find that i was getting tired faster and thighs worn out quick… im thinking maybe my form got astray and i think i do snowboard a lot out of alignement at times.. wonder if thats what make you tired quicker…. Tho in alignement i feel you are more prone to fall on icy terrains . Out of alignement is easier to manage where there is ice i find. Your grip is less comited and you can adjust faster
You are gonna fall less when alignement is right, the issue is some people cofuse this for being stiff, you need to stay mobile with good for the use it to the fullest!
While the "incorrect technique" examples are correct, I have to disagree with this somewhat. Upper body should be quiet with shoulders perpendicular to the fall line. Use hip angulation to drive power into your sodecut.
Spot on
You know. I'm starting to agree with you. I think this works if your learning early on. So you keep your weight centered on the board. . But you past that. Yeah the main goal should silent top.
His upper body looks pretty quiet tbf
@@jeebs9 What's a silent top? Where the hips and shoulders are always aligned with the board with no rotation/twisting of the upper body?
Hey his upper body is super quiet because he's not square to the fall line. He's actually parallel to his ride line and is carving with excellent form
I’ve been making this mistake because I was trying to apply the skiing concept of upper body separation to snowboarding lol
I wish I watched this video. Thanks for tips man, super grateful
Glad it was helpful!
Good tip about riding switch, I'm regular foot and have never tried to ride switch, it will be like going backwards @!!😱
Thank you very much! I will keep an eye out for that, I don’t understand what you mean with switching though? It looks like the same for me(?)
Which part?
Great video! Nice and short with good explanations. Thank you!
rotation helps your turns and make them smooth and precise.. when you turn your hips you actually give some torsion to your board by using the high-backs, that way you can modify your egde and your turns
There's many different techinques for turning, Nev is demonstrating one effective way in this video :)
A lot of people in these comments are confused between aligned (as in riding with a bladed stance) and counter rotation. You can ride with your whole body facing down hill and still not use counter rotation while turning, that's the point. He rides slowly in the video so you can see the idea, but watch any pro snowboarder and they ride just like this, stale riding slope to trice riding giant AK lines. Speed checking using counter rotation should be used as a last resort as it's unstable, you can control your speed without counter rotating almost all the time.
awesome video! i wasnt doing it correctly. defs need to fix my alignment
This does not work if you use positive angles on both bindings. Riding positive angles on both feet is incredible on powder boards and for carving. Watch some Korua videos for reference
Great advanced tip... which can be learned as a beginner
Worth noting that stance angles play a role were too. I run a fairly aggressive posi posi stance for carving so naturally my hips are not in line with my board - my whole body is opened up a little more and facing downhill than when I'm riding with a posi neg stance.
That's a very specifc riding stance that the average rider likely won't be running - if you running this style of stance chances are you are more expierenced rider anyway so most likely already know these common mistakes :)