the fundamentals for all freestyle snowboarding
by dave martin
this info is for anyone of any ability level that wants to improve their riding. even the most simple of practices applies to the most difficult of tricks. first off, the ability to nail tricks in snowboarding is broken up into actual skill, and confidence. a huge part of this game is mental. most people already posses the nessesary skills to start doing things like going inverted, but there is a huge mental block to overcome before they will actually attempt it. of course, skill and confidence go hand in hand. the greater your skills, the more your confidence level goes up. the more your confidence level goes up, the more willing you are to push you skills.
your mental game
confidence is the hardest to build on because it is basically a battle with fear. one big fear is that people think that the faster they go, the more likely they are to get hurt in the event of a wipeout. in most cases its actually just the opposite. you are most likely to get hurt when all of your momentum comes to a complete stop in one instant. this happens all the time when you are going slow. but when you are moving fast, you will more often slide out and lose momentum gradually.
keep in mind that if one human can pull something off, so can you. you are made of the same stuff as everyone else. staying calm and thinking logically is key. many pros do things like yoga and meditation. regardless of how gay you think that is, it works on improving your mental game.
you have most likely heard someone say "visualize the trick before you hit the jump". this is great advice, but no one ever explains what kind of factors play into an accurate visualization. you need to think of things like body position and trajectory if you are going to pull this off AND land on your feet. most people focus so much attention on the actual trick, that they forget about where they have to be for the landing. keep in mind that your trajectory is not only forward, up, and down, but in most cases you will also drift left or right depending on how you take off the jump. you need to account for this when visualizing your body position for a solid landing. a visualization that helps with body position is to imagine that you are like one of thoughs horses on a carosel ride. imagine that there is a solid pole that runs verticly through your body to the ground. imagine that where the pole passes through your center of gravity there is an axis that your body can pivot on in any direction. however, your body mass must be lined up with that pole in order to be centered for your landing.
developing your skills
the first thing you need to be aware of at all times is that the natural flow of snowboarding is back and forth from heel edge to toe edge. this plays a huge role on your body position and center of gravity. when approching a jump, consider which edge you want to be on when you leave the lip. be on the oppisite edge prior to the transition, be flat based when you reach the tranny, and you will be on your desired edge by the time you leave the lip. do this every time, and you will always leave the lip in control.
one mistake i see many people making is that when the leave the lip of a jump, they explode with fully extended legs to get the most out of their ollie. sure, you will go higher, but this is a good way to put yourself off balance. instead, bend your knees during the tranny, and only straighten them out about 3/4 of the way off the lip. you are going to have much more control in the air, and with time your legs will get strong enough that you will be going just as high as always.
the basis for the most stylish grabs is the shifty. practice both frontside and backside shiftys. everything below the waist should be totally relaxed when in the air. the motion is controled from your torso, NOT your legs. this is true for almost all tricks in snowboarding, including spining and flipping, so spend a lot of time perfecting your shiftys. it will pay off bigtime in the long run. once you have it down, try your method grabs. get your buddy to take a picture. you should have not problem comparing it to a classic method puller like jamie lynn.
make sure to take note of your body position in the air. focus on shifting your body mass so that your center of gravity is over the center of your board when you are touching down on your landing. this might mean pitching your body forward a bit, or from one side to the other depending on the angle of the tranny. if you are constantly landing with your weight over your heels, or excessivly in the back seat, shift your weight so that you are landing centered, or a little bit over your toe edge. backside 180's are notorious for putting people over on their heel edge. an indy grab or a stalefish will sometimes help put you in the right spot, but pay attention so that you can pull it with any grab.
technical difficulties
most people will tell you to "spot your landing" when finishing up a spin/flip. spotting your landing is not the last thing you do during your trick. it is actually the first thig you do. what that means is that you lead your trick with your head. don't be looking down at your board for the grab. you don't need to look at your board to grab it. get your head spun around and start looking for the landing asap. this is a little tricky with frontside 360's because its easy to over rotate. in this case you just want to be peaking over your shoulder, or looking straight down at the ground. thats why they call it, "landing blind". in any case, initiate your spin with your head and shoulders. remeber that once again all of your spinning power comes from your torso, not your legs. your lower body and board are just along for the ride. this is where practicing your shiftys pays off. your torso is trained to control your body movement in the air.
if you can apply these concepts to your riding, there is no stopping you. each new trick will just come naturally. enjoy!
