Tag Archives: snowboard lesson

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Advance Snowboard Carving Surfer Turns & Grab Carves

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves. Surfer Turns can really lock you into your carves. When you watch Advance Surfers ride waves they grab their board with one hand and touch the wave wall with the other. I came up with Surfer Turns after I started grabbing my snowboard while riding. This is Advance Carving and you should go back and watch Basic Carving: Circle Drills and have that down before attempting Surfer Turns. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for Advance Snowboard Carving on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basic Carving: Circle Drills, Basics For Freestyle Features & Snowboarding Moguls Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take FFR Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Carving terrain should be nice and groomed with wide open trails. Be sure to Look Uphill to see if there’s traffic from other snowboarders and skiers coming down. Carving is when you’re using your sidecut and eliminate the pivot/rotation movement in your snowboard and body. You’re balanced on your edge with no skid. Carving can make you such a better and efficient rider. Grabbing your board makes you more solid. When watching freestyle you’ll notice that riders grab their snowboards for style points but also it keeps them solid and in balance. Surfer Turns and Grab Carves start to get you bending and flexing to have better flow and rhythm. It’s safer to grab while your on the ground and then you can progress up to grabs while in the air. This drill helps with your carving and speed but also with your freestyle. It looks pretty cool and helps your personal snowboard style.

When we start carving we’re following the same path, our front foot follows the same path as our back foot, the tail follows the nose. I’ve given some drills like the Circle Turns to help you start carving but now we’re moving past L2 Rider and accelerating up two L3 ripper. We want to do carve turns while we’re grabbing our board! Really the only couple grabs that you can do the whole time on toe and heel switching edges without smashing your fingers is either a nose or a tail grab. We can start out by just doing some turns that don’t have to be carves yet but trying to make some turns while you’re trying to grab your board. Reach down try to grab your tail, try to grab your nose, try to grab your toeside edge or your heelside edge. You’ll know that if you’re making S-turns you can only grab your nose or your tail. I know that’s yoga really helps out if you’re not being able to flex down and grab your board maybe get out and do some stretching and do some yoga before you’re attempting to do these grabs. After you’re getting a little bit more flexible there attempt grabs. The big key is being flexible you need to be able to reach down and grab the board. Take a run and do some do some turns where you’re grabbing your board, that’s the first thing you want to do. Take a run and try to try to make turns while you’re grabbing your board.

After grab turns get back into flowing carves. You’ll want to go warm up by taking a run where you’re carving on every turn. Get into that flow of ripping carves down the mountain. After you’re feeling good start to reach down and grab your snowboard while you’re carving. Do the heelside and toeside first and then nose and tail. Progress into multiple grabs and start adding some style by putting your hand in the air or in the snow while grabbing your snowboard. Lock in your carve at the end of your turn by pulling up your edge with your hand. Once you’ve got that start to grab your snowboard right as you transition edges or at the beginning of your turn and see how long you can Rip Surfer Turns and Grab Carves. when I’m doing a toeside turn I have to really reach around and grab that heelside edge it’s a little bit more difficult then grabbing your heelside but it really looks like you’re surfing!

Practicing Surfer Turns helps to develop flexible body movements for Alpine Riders but also Freestyle Riders. Being able to reach down and grab your board is a big part of moving from L2 Rider to L3 Ripper. It may take a while to get this down. Remember it’s all about flexibility so if you’re have difficulties grabbing your board do some yoga and workout at the gym. Hope to see you out on the slopes ripping Surfer Turns & Grab Carves! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark contact me if you have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Snowboard Dolphin Turns

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dolphin Turns. Dolphin Turns can really help you develop fore aft movements on your snowboard. Developing these movements will really help you improve in skill in all parts of your riding. If you’ve got this down you’re moving dynamically with good rhythm. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for ‘Snowboarding Backcountry’ on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basics For Freestyle Features & Snowboarding Moguls Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to Snowboard Right!

Building up to Dolphin Turns takes some time. It’s a progression that may take you one run or all season to master. You’re using the board efficiently. The snowboard has camber and shape to it. The sidecut is the edge radius shape, usually 8-10 Meters in radius. Camber is the shape of the board from tail to tip. Depending on the type of camber (regular, hybrid, reverse) when you move fore and aft on your snowboard you can pop off the nose and tail creating ollies and nollies. It’s super fun once you’re timing is down. It leads into riding the whole mountain better. In freestyle it opens the door to pop off terrain features or on flat trails you pop more to start spinning. In Freeride you’ll be able to move fore aft to absorb moguls and bumps that get you to Powder Fields and you cruise down the mountain faster. In Alpine riding you’ll be able to pop from edge to edge quicker to really help with the racecourse to improve speed and skill.

Start by making turns putting all your weight on your nose and then your tail. Feel the snowboard with your each leg by flexing one and extending the other so that they’re not doing the same thing. Think of them as independent. The snowboard should start coming off of the snow. Next you’ll start lifting the nose and tail off the snow down the fall line and then across it. You’re not making turns here you’re just balancing on your front foot and then back. You should be feeling the board bending. Now start to lift your front foot off the snow as you makes turns and then your back foot.  Lift your front leg off the snow then your back leg. It’s an active movement that takes strength and good balance. See how high you can get the snowboard off the snow and to really bend it. When you get to the apex pop of your tail by extending your back leg. This will get the board to be straight again. Another way to think about it is the snowboard is a spring and when you pull it back it builds up power and when you let go it will come back with lots of force. This is what I’m trying to get you to feel in your snowboard by attempting these Dolphin Turns.

We’re bending the board like a bow and arrow. When you pull the bow back it bends and when you let go of the string it pops and shoot the arrow at high speeds and long distances. We’re bending our snowboard like a bow, creating that energy when we pop of the nose or tail. We need to finish our movement by popping off the tail and landing on the nose which is a ollie or pop off nose and land on tail nollie. Ollies and nollies is when we are moving fore aft and we are popping off our boards! Now ollie down the fall line and then across it on both toeside and heelside edges. Now put those movements, intensity and timing into your turns. You’re fore at the beginning of your turn and aft at the end. You’re turns should be symmetrical or the same shape on both heelside and toeside. It will happen naturally if you’re using the right efficient movements that you’ll start to pop to your new edge or at the transition of your turn. Soon you’ll be developing good rhythm to pop from edge to edge Ripping Dolphin Turns!

Dolphin turns are fun to do and a good workout. These types of movements are required of snowboarders to be AASI Level 3 Full Certified. Practicing Dolphin Turns helped me develop efficient body movements to get my AASI L3 in Snowboarding. Moving fore and aft on your snowboard opens the door to so many options in your riding style. Get out on the slopes and rip it up doing Dolphin Turns! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right!

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Snowboard Responsibility Code #5 Prevent Runaway Equipment

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Prevent Runaway Equipment. Part of the Snowboard Responsibility Code is to have a device such as a leash to prevent runaway equipment. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for ‘Snowboarding Backcountry’ on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Snowboard Responsibility Code #1, Snowboard Responsibility Code #2, Snowboard Responsibility Code #3, Snowboard Responsibility Code #4, Snowboard Responsibility Code #6, Snowboard Responsibility Code #7, & Beginner Snowboard Stance. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

When you lean your board up on the rack take one of your straps to secure it. Things get bumped or wind knocks boards down and then they can go down the mountain. Use leashes to prevent runaway equipment. Snowboard bindings that have two straps are considered to be safe without a leash at most resorts but you may need to have a leash on your board before loading the lift.

You’ll want to know the full responsibility code when you’re riding out on the mountain:

  1. Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
  2. People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
  3. You must not stop where you obstruct a trail, or are not visible from above.
  4. Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others.
  5. Always use devices to prevent runaway equipment; you are responsible for possible damage or injury as a result of runaways.
  6. Observe all posted signs and warnings. Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
  7. Prior to using any lift, you must have knowledge and the ability to load, ride, & unload safely.

Safety is a big part of snowboarding so be safe while you’re ripping it up! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

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Learn How To Snowboard Getting Big Air Step 1

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Getting Big Air In Snowboarding Step 1. Your biggest key to getting big air is your speed. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for ‘Big Air’ on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basics For Freestyle Features & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to Ride Right!

We want to break up the steps to going off jumps and features into four steps: The Approach, Take-Off, Maneuver & Landing-ATML. The first step is the most important part of hitting kickers and getting Big Air! Speed kills, don’t hesitate be confident with your acceleration. You need to be comfortable going straight and fast for at least 5-10 meters or 10-30 feet. An excellent drill to practice is the flat board drill. This is where you keep your board flat and straight. You’ll pick up a lot of momentum and then you do a quick stop/power stop. You practice two skills here. You’re carrying speed and you’re doing a freestyle movement using a lot of hip rotation to stop. Do your power stops on both toeside, heelside and fakie to improve your skill. Build up on your speed also going flat and straight for longer and longer distances going right down the fall line.

This drill is all about your approach to your feature. When you first start going off jumps you want your snowboard flat and straight, same with your landing. Jumps and kickers have ramps that go up the mountain so you need a lot of momentum just to get back up them. Most people make the mistake of going too slow and don’t even have enough speed to go off the kicker and get stuck. Practice these drills outside of the park first until you’re able to go straight and flat with lots of speed. Flat board drills build your confidence to carry speed and to be able to stop quickly. It’s a freestyle movement that’s used to make spinning tricks. Upper/Lower Body Separation shows you the type of movement you want to practice if you’re not quite getting how to stop quickly.

Step 1 to getting Big Air is to practice being flat and straight with lots of speed. Get out on some groomed wide terrain that doesn’t have a lot of traffic to build your confidence going fast. Go into the park and start on small jumps and progress up. If you’re not fast enough pull out of the park and practice more Flat Snowboard Drills outside and then go back in to get some Big Air! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

 

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Snowboard Boot Systems

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Learn how to snowboard with a comfortable boot. Soft boots are what most snowboarders use. There are hard boots that alpine snowboarders wear. They’re very similar to ski boots. The 3 Snowboard Types lets you know what type of rider you are. Depending on what type of rider you are will help you select your boot. I recommend a medium to stiff on your flex of your boot. Think of new tennis/basketball shoes, the newer shoes are stiff and need to be broken in a little for better movement. I ride a lot and know I’ll break in my boots and wear them out so I get stiff boots plus I like that support for my aggressive style of riding. If I were to get soft flex boots I’d wear them out and not have the support I like. When I ride a lot of park and like softer boots. I ride a lot, wear out my boots and have to buy another pair. Most snowboard boot companies give you a 1 year warranty, so if you ride tons you’ll wear your boots out and can get a new pair. That’s nice since most boots run between $100-$500 so ask about the warranty of the boot. This online snowboard lesson will go over Soft Boot Systems.

You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for equipment on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Snowboard Freestyle Boards, What To Wear Snowboarding, Demo Boards, Snowboard Camber, and Freeride Boards. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

You’ll have options on how soft or stiff your boot is but also the lace system. You can go the ol’ skool way traditional laces just like on your shoes or a laceless system. I’ve used all the systems and like the laceless system where I pull lace and click to teeth on boot. There is the metal wire rachet system as well. The regular lace system takes a lot of time and strength to tie and can come undone if they’re not tied right. If you have younger kids you’ll be doing this so get something easier. A big pro to laces is you can crank them as tight as you want and if they break you can easily go buy shoelaces almost anywhere. The laceless systems will have to be sent to company to repair. With the metal lace rachet system I’ve had problems with it not locking and then the boot is loose all the time. The thin thread material is quick and secures very well. I’ve found them to be more reliable but if the thread breaks it’s hard to replace.

I have a large foot and like to keep my footprint as small as possible on the snowboard. I get a boot that curves up a little at my toe and heel to give me a few more centimeters or a smaller foot so I can get higher edge angles when I carve. I don’t like to ‘boot out’ or my foot goes into the snow and lifts my board off the snow resulting in a crash. If you’re moving from a L1 RAW beginner to L2 RIDER intermediate you’ll want to have your own boots. Your boots are the first piece of snowboard equipment you’ll want to buy. They’re custom and provide such comfort. I’ve had students say they’ve tried to snowboard but felt awkward. I’ve recommended getting their own boots and that has made all the difference. You’re boots need to fit and be secure. If you heels come out while doing a toeside your boots are too loose or too big.
Go try on some boots and the different lace systems to see what you like. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

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Teaching Kids To Snowboard Part 1

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Teaching Kids To Snowboard Part 1. Keep it fun, know their body and keep it simple. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for equipment on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; How To Snowboard: Navigating The Resort, Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Little kids are top heavy, their heads weigh a lot. Spread their stances out a little bit more. Once they’re 6 or 7 their bodies start to catch up with their head size. They tend to like going on their heelside edge much more so make sure their stance is centered in the middle of the board so they can go switch/fakie or left and right foot forward. Take into consideration that toddlers and young kids are different biologically than adults. They have big top heavy heads creating their center of mass to be higher so spread their stance out and center it so they can go goofy and regular.

When riding the chairlift make sure to keep the child on your toeside edge so you can be facing them and help them on and off. With little kids under six years old I like to keep both feet strapped in. Riding with one foot out puts a lot of stress on their knee, the boot could slip out while on the lift and it’s much harder to get off the lift. Keep them all the way back in the chair to be safe and if they don’t let you ride with both feet in then it’s more difficult. I recommend keeping your young kids on conveyor belts or gondolas where loading and unloading is very safe and easy. The chairlift is a 500 lb object moving at fast speeds with lots of moving parts and you unload with one foot unstrapped. Unless you’re a strong confident rider keep your kids on safe lifts like a gondola or conveyor belt.

Each kid is different. Your child may like skating around one foot in and one out or perhaps your toddler likes being pushed around and going down the hill with both feet strapped in. Keep it fun by teaching a skill like going and stopping, then just play and make games out of that new skill. Getting them to unstrap their binding is huge and that might be all they do. It’s better when they learn how to strap in their own bindings but any accomplishment is rewarded with lots of positive reinforcement.

Get your kids out on the snow and start them snowboarding. Share your passion of snowboarding and get kids to love snowboarding. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

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Prevent Injuries With Workouts For Snowboarding

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I like going to a gym with access to multiple types of workouts and equipment to be at my best for the snowboard season. I get my heart rate up by doing cardio for at least 30-60 minutes, then I do strengthening for 30-60 minutes. Some exercises I recommend are elliptical, stationary bike, swimming and yoga. My go to exercise is the elliptical machine. Elliptical is very minimal impact on your joints, you burn a lot of calories and it works your whole body. It’s great if you’ve had injuries because of the low impact to help heal your joints. It gets blood flowing through your whole body. Your back is straight so if you’ve had issues with your back the elliptical keeps your body in a natural position. The stationary bike is another good option and low impact but it only works your legs and you’re sitting so it’s not as good for your back. Swimming is excellent because while in water you float and no impact. A lot of physical therapist have you exercise in water first after injuries because you’re floating and no weight on your joints. Yoga can count as both cardio and strengthening plus it really helps with flexibility. You really want to be flexible as a snowboarder to Prevent Injury By Being Snowboard Fit. If you’re tight and stiff you just don’t move as well. If you fall while snowboarding you don’t want to fight the fall and spread it out. If you’re tense you’re more likely to fight the fall and absorb the impact on one area of your body.

For strengthening I use free weights if I can rather than machine weights. Don’t do the same workout every time. Alternate your workouts. Do lower body and legs one day. Squatting, deadlifts and calf raisers are exercises I do on leg days with weights. Glute Med Activation and Hip Abductions are exercises that really help snowboarders. This is the muscle that stabilizes your inward rotation of your knee. Upper body days include bench press, incline, decline, shoulder press and a multiple of dumbbell exercises. Core Workout days I use the cable pulley machine to do cable core rotations, cable chest press, cable rows etc., I do a lot balancing on one leg while exercising with the cable pulley machine to increase core strength. There are a variety of plank positions as well.

I recommend to workout 3-4 times a week to stay Snowboard Fit. Any sport that you’re on a board will really help your riding improve in the off season. Wakeboarding is an excellent activity in the off season because you’re on a board looking sideways, you have bindings just like snowboarding and your stance is almost identical to snowboarding. A lot of the body movements are similar so that helps with muscle memory. Skateboarding, Longboarding & Surfing you’re on a board sideways either left foot forward, regular stance or right foot forward, goofy stance just like snowboarding but with no bindings so it’s harder to stay on your board. Mountain biking is great exercise when going uphill and downhill has a lot of similarities and physics to snowboarding. Hiking is perfect because unless you get a lift up the mountain you’re hiking and you hike a lot when you’re in the backcountry snowboarding.

The most common injuries while snowboarding are upper body injuries especially the wrist. You’re balancing on your snowboard. If you lose your balance the first thing to hit the ground is usually your hand or shoulder. A closed fist is stronger than an opened one. Try to punch the snow rather than slapping it and spread your fall out like a baseball player sliding into home. Don’t absorb the fall with one arm or leg. If you’re out of control get low and if you can, fall up the mountain. Toeside edge would be my knees hit first, then stomach then arms. Heelside edge lift your arms up and let your butt hit, then back then arms. If you fall down the mountain gravity pushes and has more force. If you fall against gravity or uphill you’re balancing out that force more. Try to have your head up the mountain as well when you fall. In steeper terrain when you fall you keep going down and might hit obstacles if you don’t stop. If you fall you want to get your board perpendicular to the slope, rollover to your butt and your head uphill. This is called the Self Arrest Stop. You have two edges; heelside and toeside. You want to keep your weight on your uphill edge because if you put your weight on your downhill edge you’ll ‘catch your edge’ causing a forceful whipping action that can cause dangerous injuries. Some falls happen so fast that you just react but if you know these tips and practice these techniques it’s less likely you’ll get injured.

Skiers use poles and one ski on each foot. They face down the mountain and not sideways like a snowboarder. Unless you’ve done a board sport or a sport where you’re sideways like batting in baseball being sideways may feel awkward at first. Muscle memory is already there for skiers because their bodies are positioned just like walking or running. It’s easier for them to keep their balance with 2 skis and 2 poles. That’s why when snowboarders stop they usually go to their knees or butts. Like a bike when you’re stopped it’s difficult to balance without putting your foot down. You need momentum to keep your balance. Since skiers have 2 skis they do get crossed up and the common injury for skiers are their knees and legs.

Snowboarding and skiing aggressively burns about 1,000 calories/hour and is very healthy. It’s so much fun that it doesn’t seem like work. Snowboarders leg muscles increase especially quads and butt muscles. As a beginner you use a ton of upper body because you’re getting up a lot and may not know how to strap in your back foot while standing up. Once you get better you’ll be using more efficient movements and will be able to go on more difficult trails. When there hasn’t been much snow Snowboarding Moguls will give you more of a workout than just riding flat groomers. Bumpy terrain causes you to use much more movement in your legs. You’re Active Versus Passive Absorption. You’re legs are absorbing independently. Your front leg may be bent/flexed while your back leg is extended. You’re more active moving fore and aft on your snowboard. Racing gates is another great way to snowboard more aggressive and burn more calories. Not every resort has a race course setup and it usually is an extra fee but you’ll feel the burn when racing. When you snowboard powder there are less bumps but you’re moving a lot more snow which is a lot more work. You may hike to get to the good Pow or splitboard up the mountain which is an excellent workout. My legs burn after a day of powder snowboarding or hiking. You don’t always get powder conditions so if you’re looking to get more of a workout while snowboarding hit the bumps, race course or hike.

We collaborated with Winter Olympians, Winter Athletes & Pros in this  article on how to get in shape for the snowboard season by MakeItBetter. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

 

 

 

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Learn How To Develop Dynamic Snowboard Movements & Rhythm

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A great way to Develop Dynamic Snowboard Movements & Rhythm is to listen to music while you’re riding. When listening to music you’re Flowing down the mountain. I like to use music to move to the beat and as you get better you can turn to the beat. Go out with and try different headphones to see what you like to snowboard with. I like to use earbuds but I only put one in so my other ear hears what’s going on around me. You can have noise canceling headphones and let them just be around your neck because you need to be able to hear other snowboarders/skiers for safety. I recommend watching and mastering these snowboard videos to help develop the right movements to be more dynamic; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist,  Beginner Snowboard Stance, Active Passive Absorption, How To Snowboard Moguls & Off Piste.

We’re focusing on rhythm while we snowboard. It’s really going to help us develop our
cross under movements & dynamic turns. I like to do is have people stand on their boards statically in a place where the boards aren’t moving in a  flat area. Then I have them start thinking about a piece of music that they know or even better listen to some music that way you can start getting a beat. Then I have them move up and down flex and extend to a beat that way they can start
getting into a better rhythm because they’re listening to something. Then I build on that bouncing to the beat as we’re riding. Riding around up and down to the rhythm. After I feel like the students or student has developed a bit of rhythm, I start building up onto it to progress.

After I’ve been riding a little bit and I’m going up and down, I’ll try to have them turn to every three or four beats, then two or three beats, then every other beat and finally to turn at every beat. I want the students to develop rhythm where they’re actually turning to the beat. So I build up. At
first start statically start getting some rhythm and moving up and down and then I start riding, still thinking about that beat and developing rhythm. When I feel like they’ve got that rhythm down I have them start turning to the beat.
When you’re out riding if you have some type of music you can be listening to it but you don’t want to be putting music in both ears so you can still hear or maybe have speakers around your neck that way you can still hear everything that’s going on around you. You can be having fun using this
drill to develop some rhythm and also being safe by not having both of your ears covered with music.

You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

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Beginner Snowboard Lesson: Navigating The Resort & Transportation

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Learn how to snowboard and know how to navigate the resort. As a beginner snowboarder you may want to start on a ground lift or a conveyer belt. Riding the chairlift can be intimidating. You need to Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely. Riding the lift is part of the Rider Responsibility Code: #7 Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely. This online snowboard lesson will go over How To Snowboard: Navigating The Resort. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for steeper terrain on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding the lifts; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at Our Blog for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

As a beginner you can find Lifts You Can Ride For Free. Normally it will cost you a fee to ride lifts. It’s called your ticket or pass. They will have peeps out checking everyone’s pass or have sensors that let you through. It can be costly but there are a few gold nuggets out there where you don’t pay! As a beginner snowboarder there are lifts that are used to transport folks, tourists, locals or employees and they’re free! Most the terrain these lifts access is beginner level or mellow slope angles. This is perfect for L1 RAW snowboarders. Check out this snowboard video for more info on Lifts You Can Ride For Free. As a beginner snowboarder you’ll want to start on a conveyor belt or gondola because riding on chairlifts or tow-ropes are more difficult and challenging. 

At a resort there’s all types of ways to get around. Let’s talk about resort transportation. There are three types of aerial lifts there’s chair lifts gondolas and trams/gondolas and trams you actually take your equipment off and then enter into the car. A chair lift you keep your equipment on. You go into the line you sit down and then at the top you stand up and snowboard off. A ground lift such as a Pommel, T-bar or conveyor belt are usually going to be around the mountain where it’s just a very small little distance where you need to get say like 50 meters/yards being polled or it’s flat for a hundred yards/meters when you come down to a section where you’ve run out of a vertical and you need to go up to continue to get to the bottom. A tow-rope is just what it sounds like a rope that tows you. You keep your equipment on and you grab onto it and it pulls you up the mountain. A T-bar is similar to that it’s except it’s running on a wire. You’ll grab onto it & hold on to it. Pommel is very similar to that as well those are all lifts where you hold on to them. There are conveyor belts that you see out on the Beginner Hill where you’re  just like a conveyor like at the airport or something your equipment rides right onto it and it pulls you along.

As a beginner you’ll probably like the slow conveyor belt and as you improve you’ll want lifts that are fast accessing steeper deeper terrain.You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

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How To Snowboard: Funnel Turns

Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons, Snowboarding Tips, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

You’ve got off the easy trails (easy is marked by Green in America and Blue in Europe) and are exploring the mountain as a L2 Rider. You’ll be riding more of the mountain getting into intermediate terrain (Blue trails in America and Red trails in Europe). Riding steeper terrain can be super stoke especially when you’re using efficient movements and alignments. This online snowboard lesson will go over Funnel Turns Drill. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for ‘Snowboarding Backcountry’ on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding Steeper Terrain; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance.  Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Think of the shape of a funnel making large turns, then medium and last small/fast turns. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for steeper terrain on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding Steeper Terrain; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance . Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at Our Blog for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

The focus on this drill is to be able to turn and different speeds and multiple size radius of our turns. Let’s face it snowboarding is about turning. I love to just point it and not turn when conditions and safety allow. Before we get into pure speed and adrenaline we need to be able to turn as quickly as possible. There are dangers and obstacles all over the mountain. Once we get off the easy trails the slopes become more steep and narrow. For your safety and those on the mountain you’ll want to practice changing the size of your turns. The Funnel Drill is perfect to help you practice the size of your turns. It will help you develop ‘Rhythm & Flow’ key to everything we do.

Start making 4-5 turns that are very large, then make 4-5 turns that are medium in radius shape. Make 4-5 turns that are small and quick and then see how quick and fast you can make your turns. You’ll want to be using a lot of lower body movements and really focus initiating your turns with your ankle. There you’ve done it Funnel Turns. Drills really help you explore you snowboarding body movement and develop muscle memory. Get out there and Ride Right!

You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.