Complete Your Turns

I gave a lesson today, to a young guy I’ll call Robert. He told me that he has taken a snowboard out “in my backyard” a few times, though I wasn’t sure what that went.

We went through the preliminary stuff, and then moved over to the bunny hill. He had a natural inclination to make toeside turns. But heelside turns? Those were another matter. I gave him some ideas on how to initiative and stick with a heelside turn, but he just couldn’t do it.

That’s not unusual; many new riders favor toeside turns. For one thing, you can see where you are going more easily. And it’s more like the natural motion of walking forward, in a circle. Going heelside can feel like walking backwards.

Sometime after his lesson, another instructor came up to me and said “Did you have the kid in the blue jacket this morning?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Well you should up to the top of the bunny hill. He’s doing some great jumps!”

And sure enough, he was doing jumps. Some boys had built a small kicker, and a lot of riders (all under 15, I would guess) took turns “getting air,” anywhere from 2 inches to 4 feet.

“Hey, I hear you’re doing some great stuff up here,” I said to Robert after I arrived in the area.

“Should I do a 180 or a nose grab?,” he asked.

“How about a 180? I like the way those look,” I said.

He did a tail grab instead. Oh well, it was still enjoyable to watch.

I ended up making a few jumps too. Nothing major, but enough to participate.

I was glad that Robert was able to get in some enjoyment from making those jumps. Now if he could just get those heelside turns worked out.

His experience made me wonder: is it possible to become a serious (enough for a small ski hill) freestyle rider without being able to link turns?