Problems in the park...

So I'm in my second year of snowboarding and I'm tired of getting sore body parts in the terrain park.

I just got back from a week in Big White where I was carving in and out of the trees no problem. I only hesitate slightly to throw myself off a jump/drop in the wilderness..I can land a 180 about 75% of the time, sometimes I do the 180 and then end up falling on my ass. It all seems to come apart in the park though.

Whenever I do a step-up, or one of the REALLY big jumps I always seem to chicken out a bit and slow down before the jump causing me to land to flat all the time, and when I do get air I never seem to have time to do a trick.

Whenever I try to do a rail or box I can hit all of the S, and some of the M ones as long as I keep the board straight. I'd really love to be able to do a 50-50 but whenever I try I land on my ass and the bum bum gets sore quickly.

I guess what I'd like tips on most are 1) doing a 50-50 2) getting off a box/rail without splitting my head/ass open 3) I would REALLY love to do a 360 off a jump/drop/step up

What can I practice in order to achieve my goals?

Thanks

Practice the 50 50s on boxes in the little terrain park. For some reason i find it easier to boardslide than 50-50. Remember also, if your falling off the rail, lean the way your falling, not the opposite. If you lean the way your falling, your whole bodys gonna clear the rail, and you wont get a spine full of rail

I guess what I'd like tips on most are 1) doing a 50-50 2) getting off a box/rail without splitting my head/ass open 3) I would REALLY love to do a 360 off a jump/drop/step up

What can I practice in order to achieve my goals?

Thanks

for #3…

FREERIDE.

The better you get at boarding, the better you will be in the park, more comfortable and better balance. The biggest problem I see is people who don't know how to ride trying to hit pretty big jumps… LEARN HOW TO RIDE FIRST. It makes a huge difference.

Start small. Sure the small jumps seem easy and you want to get more air, but keep practicing on them. Go faster, try diferent grabs, make sure you're in control in the air. When you get to a point where small jumps are easy, try something a bit bigger. Don't progress until you feel comfortable. Sure you can just go and giv'er, but there's definitaly a bigger risk hurting yourself.

As for spins…

Stop on a flat area. Jump, do a 180. Land. Try it over and over and over… THEN, go REALLY REALLY REALLY slow, I mean, REALLY SLOW, and try it again. Keep doing that until you feel comfortable. Then try going a little faster and a little faster, until you can do it going a decent speed. Once you're there… Try it off a tiny roller, then bigger, and bigger and well… You get the point.

Keys:
- go with people who help you progress is a positive way (not just guys who huck themselves without skill)
- PRACTICE RIDING SWITCH (very key)
- progression, start small… Sure big air is SWEET, but everyone has to start somewhere
- screw what other people think, sure you'll get laughed at, but we all had that when we were starting out

be safe and have fun
-Jesse

yea just get better at riding and confident at doing straight airs before you start learning to spin. and then like uncle jesse there said start small and learn slow. get your body used to doing the ugly lurch around motion of a flatground 360 and when time comes to do it in the air you wont freeze up at 180 and 45 more degrees and then everything starts to suck.

try changing up your stance ( i honestly cant tell but i tihnk i can see from here ) that you might want to centre it a bit more. it would make it easier to land a 180.

yea just get better at riding and confident at doing straight airs before you start learning to spin. and then like uncle jesse there said start small and learn slow. get your body used to doing the ugly lurch around motion of a flatground 360 and when time comes to do it in the air you wont freeze up at 180 and 45 more degrees and then everything starts to suck.

try changing up your stance ( i honestly cant tell but i tihnk i can see from here ) that you might want to centre it a bit more. it would make it easier to land a 180.

:lol:

if you snowboard… Wider stance for park I believe… Best to ask a fellow boarder.

Another thing I notice is that you're facing very forward on the board as opposed to having your shoulders squared with the board and your head turned. Twisting your whole body like that, trying to face forward down the hill, is a bad habit. It'll make it tough for you to ride switch and spin.

Just keep riding, you've only been doing it 2 years. I snowboarded for 5 years and still can't really land a 180 or a 360.

Thanks for the pointers gang..was up in the pow at Seymour this morning and it's days like today that make me forget about trying to do tricks in the park..just surf the fluffy stuff.

:lol:

if you snowboard… Wider stance for park I believe… Best to ask a fellow boarder.

im not sure why you are laughing. i dont think you know what a centered stance is.

learn how to ride switch before doing 180s.
if you are sliding off the side of a box dont try to jump off cuaase you will probably slip out and land on it.

i think he was laughing about the uncle jesse thing ;)

I just measured my stance and while I can remember back in the day people said you set your stance to shoulder width, my shoulders are not even 17" wide and I run a 23" stance, and its as centered as I could get it on my board. I'm 5'8'' for reference.

gotham … imagine busting tricks mid surf in the fluffy stuff, no yea no ?

keefer had good advice too, dont face your chest downhill so much, you're totally taking your body out of its position where its best to respond - you're all kinked up and wonky and it probably makes a bunch of things tougher like carving because your unweighting your back foot and yea.

im not sure why you are laughing. i dont think you know what a centered stance is.

yes coop is right, i had a little laugh…

and you don't think I know what a centered stance is? Alright Einstein…

Seriously.

So place my body parallel to the board then and just look downhill, or wherever I am going/turning?

good advice all around
personally i have my stance maxed out not sure how big it is but it works for me -
pros - better balance on most rail tricks wont help that much for you 50-50s
better turning response
spins look better
cons - hurts your legs for a couple days when you first widen your stance
spins a bit harder to do the spin but i looks alot better

for 50-50s the only thing i can recomend is to look at the end of the rail not the sides also learn 50-50s on the easy rails at your park boxes i find harder because if you start slipping out you WILL hit the box but on rails its a much smaller area then if you follow with whatever side your going to fall off much better chance you will only hit the snow

switch riding - just do it when ever you go riding with someone slower than you i have just learned how to ride switch well and it is such a nice skill to have

360s - think of it as 2 180s when you go off the lip slightly carve off the lip
then look where you want to spin either over your shoulder or under your arm

cons - hurts your legs for a couple days when you first widen your stance

supposedly too wide is pretty bad for your legs/knees

yeah if your legs still hurt after the first couple times shorten the stance