Snowboarding
1ST TIME – NEVER Been Snowboarding
Stance, stepping, sliding
Terrain: Flat
Outcome: Basic balance, awareness of equipment, some mobility, understanding of physical requirements for controlling speed.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, vision up, toe/heel edge awareness, foot-to-foot balance.
Before you go on:
1. Can they demonstrate balanced flexing?
2. Do they understand how to edge on both the heels and toes?
3.Can they skate and glide with more weight on the front foot.
Possible activities:
Board off
- Review equipment and how it works.
- In boots rock fore/aft, rock heel/toe, hop and land balanced.
One foot in
- Strap in front foot and stand evenly flexed on both legs, lift front toe/foot and step in a circle while “chopping” the snow. Twist board using front foot. Skate straight and glide, skate and glide as long as possible to J-turns. Do small hops and land flat footed (look for ankle and knee flex).
Gliding
Terrain: Gentle or in dish-shaped terrain with adequate slope to stop forward movement.
Outcome: Better mobility, some directional control, improved stance and foot-to-foot balance.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, vision up, toe/heel edge awareness, foot-to-foot balance.
Before you go on:
- Can they demonstrate balanced flexing and board twist?
- Can they intentionally move pressure from heel to toe and twist the board?
- Are they stable and not waving their arms around?
Possible activities: Straight run to counter slope revert, i.e. back and forth straight runs based on the slope; gradually come to a stop in the bottom. Move the starting point farther up the hill as the gain confidence/skill. Straight run to a fade turn both heelside and toeside. Sideslips, either downhill or diagonal.
LEARNING TO TURN – Learning to turn one direction to a stop
Heading down the hill – heelside or toeside based on student preference.
Terrain: Gentle slope by the Carpet.
Outcome: Control speed and direction, stop at will.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, vision up, toe/heel edge awareness, foot-to-foot balance, tipping the board enough so it creates friction and control.
Before you go on:
- Can they demonstrate balanced flexing?
- Can they intentionally move pressure from heel to toe?
- Can they control the amount of edge angle in a sideslip to speed up/slow down?
- Are they beginning to use torsional board flex to control edging and turning?
Possible activities: All of this can/should be done with the back foot out. The free heel can step to aid stability but not drag to slow the board. Keep the speed VERY slow, and coach them to use the board edge to stop rather than the back foot stop before they pick up speed. Side-slips straight down the fall line, diagonal side-slips to traverse, Falling Leaf.
BASIC TURNS – Single turns both toe-edge and heel edge to a stop without assistance
First Turns – heelside or toeside based on student preference.
Terrain: Graduate students to Happy Trails run as soon as they have control on one edge.
Outcome: Control speed by using a turn, stop at will, beginning to explore both edges.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, toe/heel edge awareness, foot-to-foot balance, using torsional flex to create a turn rather than upper body movements.
Before you go on:
- Can they intentionally move pressure from foot to foot and heel/ toe?
- Can they control edge angle to prevent slams?
- Are they using torsional board flex and pressure to control how the board turns and not rotary?
Possible activities: Review the activities from previous segment but now with both feet strapped in. Garlands! Utilize a garland to either start a turn or finish a turn. Garlands can be used on either toe side or on heel side.
First Turns alternate edge
Repeat everything from Step 3 and possibly even Step 2 but doing it on their alternate edge.
LINKING TURNS – Linking toe-edge and heel-edge turns on easy terrain
Beginning to link turns
Terrain: Creekside Express, or easiest green terrain.
Outcome: Turn at will, linking different sizes at different speeds.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, toe/heel edge awareness, foot-to-foot balance, using torsional flex to create a turn rather than upper body movements, blending diagonal/transition movements to create flow.
Before you go on:
- Does their balance stay centered (fore/aft) while turning?
- Do the turning movements start from the lower body?
- Is there only minimal pivoting of the board?
Possible activities: Garlands, Joystick turns with the front knee, forward sideslips, using sidehill terrain, follow my leader. Ask for a very short traverse between turns or several linked garlands then turn. Move knee to create torsional flex to start the next turn. Demonstrate flexion and extension of one leg more than the other to move you forward and across the board into the new turn.
Improving basic turns
Terrain: Midway, hard green terrain, or easy blue.
Outcome: Linking different sizes at different speeds with more edge control, less pivoting/skidding and higher edge angles.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, foot-to-foot balance, using torsional flex to create a turn rather than upper body movements, blending diagonal/transition movements to create flow, bigger range of motion for improved control in varied condition and steeper slopes.
Before you go on:
- Does their balance stay centered (fore/aft) as terrain changes?
- Do the turning movements start from the lower body?
- Is turn size/shape similar between the toe and heel turns?
- Is there minimal pivoting and a well-defined “C” shaped track in the snow?
Possible activities: Garland to turn, turns with a traverse. Hops and ollies to promote leg flexion and foot to foot movements. Do patience turns to insure decent turn shape. Keep or get people anchored in the basics, don’t add new terrain if they don’t have a strong foundation.
Anchoring turns and improving control
Terrain: Midway, Zip Down, easy to moderate blue
Outcome: Linking different sizes at different speeds with good edge control and turn shape. Expanding into different terrain and snow conditions.
Emphasis: Evenly flexed stance, foot-to-foot balance, using torsional flex to create a turn rather than upper body movements, blending diagonal/transition movements to create flow, bigger range of motion to manage greater pressures. Versatility, and basic freestyle tricks.
Before you go on:
- Does their balance stay centered (fore/aft) as terrain changes?
- Do the turning movements start from the lower body?
- Is turn size/shape similar between the toe and heel turns?
- Is there a “C” shaped track in the snow on both edges?
- Are balancing movements properly directed to maintain fluidity?
- Is the student maintaining an upright posture and alignments in the steeper terrain?
Possible activities: Ollies, flat 360’s, Quick stops with flexion, butters and presses, bumps, powder, crud. Basic freestyle. Flatland freestyle moves. At this level there must be constant movement, never static. Expand the range of motion outside of “normal” boundaries to do freestyle moves and improve versatility. Keep or get people anchored in the basics, do not add new terrain if they don’t have a strong foundation. Keep it fun!