Posts Tagged ‘basic snowboard stance’

One of the questions a lot of beginner snowboarders ask is, what is the correct way to stand on a snowboard?

There are two possible answers to this question, one refers to how your body should be positioned when snowboarding, and the other refers to how your snowboard bindings should be set up on your snowboard.

How should I stand when I’m snowboarding?

When snowboarding, your back should be upright with your knees bent, you should try to make sure that your arms are almost always parallel to your snowboard, (One of the worst things you can do as a beginner is twist the top half of your body, this will only make things more difficult). You should also ensure that your head is up and you are looking where you are going at all times. Your arms should be down by your sides and you should have an even pressure on both of your feet so that you are standing centrally over your snowboard. We call this your basic snowboard stance and you can find out more about this by reading our article about how to stand on a snowboard.

How should my bindings be set up on my snowboard?

All i can do is explain to you why I set my bindings up in the snowboard stance that I use and you can make your own decisions from this…

• I ride a twin-tip snowboard so my snowboard can be ridden either way around. It is for this reason that I set up my snowboard stance so that both of my bindings are equal distances from each end of my snowboard. I also put my bindings as far apart from each other as I can (using the threads in the snowboard that are closest to the nose and tail). I do this because I find that a wider snowboard stance can help you to bend your knees, and a lower centre of gravity will mean better balance. Obviously you do not want your snowboard bindings so wide that you are nearly doing the splits, I would suggest them being just over shoulder width apart. There is no wrong or right way to set up your snowboard bindings for a perfect snowboard stance, it all comes down to personal preference. Every snowboarder will tell you to set your bindings up in a certain

• Each snowboard binding can be positioned at a variety of angles. There is no perfect angle to set your bindings at to achieve the perfect snowboard stance however, from my experience, having both bindings slightly duck footed seems to be the most preferred position. By pointing both snowboard bindings outwards, you will be forced to keep your knees apart from each other which will in turn help you to bend your knees and improve that centre of gravity. This snowboard stance will also be of an advantage to you when you become more experienced and start to learn to snowboard in switch.

When learning to heel edge side slip on your snowboard, a reasonably short slope that is of a shallow gradient would be an ideal location for practicing.

You will need to start by strapping on to your snowboard at the top of the hill while sitting facing down the slope with your snowboard positioned horizontally across the slope in front of you.

Once you are strapped on to your snowboard you will probably need a mate to give you a hand getting up on to your feet. As your mate pulls you up, get them to rest their foot underneath the front of your snowboard near to your toe edge. As long as you mate’s wearing snowboard boots too, it won’t hurt them a bit. Once you are up and resting on your mates snowboard boot, it is at this point that you can begin to concentrate on standing in your basic snowboard stance.

Now you’re standing in the correct position, your aim is to keep your toe edge raised off of the floor at all times and keep your heel edge dug into the slop as you travel at a slow but steady speed down the slope in front of you. Ask your mate to remove their foot from under the toe edge of your snowboard. Once the foot is removed, try to keep your toe edge raised off of the floor nice and high, you should find that you stay in the same position and don’t move anywhere.

By lowering your toe edge slightly, you should find that your start to “slip” down the slope. The higher you raise your toe edge, the slower your heel edge side slip will be, the more you lower the toe edge of your snowboard, the faster you will go. Be warned, if you lower your toe edge too much, it will catch the slope in front of you and throw you forward. The aim of a heel edge side slip is to travel and a slow and steady speed down the slope at about walking pace.

The first few times you try this, get your mate to guide you down the slope by holding onto your hands while your arms are right out in front of you. As you become more confident, try it from the top of the same slope again but get your mate to only hold on to one of your hands. When you think you are ready, try giving it a go on your own from the top and keep practicing until you are happy that you can now perform a heel edge side slip on a snowboard every time.

Things to remember when heel edge side slipping on a snowboard…

• Stand in your basic snowboard stance
• Keep your arms as still as possible (moving your arms around will make this even more difficult, try to stand as still as you can on your snowboard)
• Make sure you keep your head up (it is very tempting and very easy to get into the habit of looking at your feet)
• Maintain an even pressure over both feet (try not to lean over the nose or tail of your snowboard)
• Try to travel at a constant walking speed down the slope

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.