Ok for some reason now my carvings and straight line bombing got better but I always end up on my ass doing small jumps on the side of the runs. I remember doing some small jumps last year and did kinda ok (not falling everytime). Right now, it seems that I'm always off balance when I'm in the air or I feel like I have more weight on the back foot. However, I can ollie off rollers just fine. Any tipss? Or maybe it's just still the beginning of the season.

Biggest one would say is try not to jump yourself, hit them with more speed and let your speed do the work rather than trying to heave yourself higher into the air. That way you will be less likely to unbalance yourself as you take off.

Kept telling a mate this last season but he wouldn't listen, kept trying to make mountains out of molehills so to speak and eating shit. He would jump as hard as he could off the lip and get all outta shape and axe himself almost every time. Trying to get 4ft of air of something that's really only meant for 2ft with the right speed is only going to end badly.

Hmm, ya prolly did not have enough speed. I'll hitting it w/ more speed next time

You see it all the time in the starter park, guys who are only just linking turns not wanting to really go fast enough for the jumps and instead jumping as hard as they can off the lip to get air, not only does it look bad but on bigger jumps they could get into real trouble, adding that extra foot or two by high jumping off the top only to land on the knuckle? Ouch.

nthnbeachesguy - 28 November 2011 04:02 PM

Biggest one would say is try not to jump yourself, hit them with more speed and let your speed do the work rather than trying to heave yourself higher into the air. That way you will be less likely to unbalance yourself as you take off.

I like that. It's an important point.

It sounds like you're not keeping your lower body solid as you ride the transition. Remember, any jump is exerting an upward force through your board. You need to match this force, by either holding your lower body strong and solid, or pushing back at the jump even harder (more pop). If you ride the transition balanced and strong, you should stay smooth and balanced in the air. From there, all you need to do is suck up your legs and spot your landing.

Ya, I remember what you said about keeping the leg solid but for some reason I can't land balanced. I think part of the problem is not having enough speed like beaches said or maybe having too much weight on my back foot. Maybe you can see whats the problem on saturday rider ?

Also try to keep your upper body square with your shoulders pointing in the direction you intend on landing - (can kinda see this with my avatar at the moment as that was taken off a side hit out at 7th last season). This made a bit of a difference for me and made my landings considerably better when combining it with the points mentioned above.

by the way I should also be riding this weekend once I've got my pass and everything sorted.

Oh you're already here Finney? sweettt, I'll be at Whis on saturday. My friend is taking a beginner lesson so I'll ride with you guys.

Yeah boys, for sure. I'm down for a shred on Saturday.

Oh wish I could come along too...

" "

skip11 - 29 November 2011 02:49 PM

Oh you're already here Finney? sweettt, I'll be at Whis on saturday. My friend is taking a beginner lesson so I'll ride with you guys.

Not yet.. flight gets in on Wednesday and I should have a week or so off before starting work so should work out well provided I can get my staff pass sorted and get the new gear I need.

Make sure ya have a safe trip finney!!!!! (Demand it as a payin customer!!!!)

And I'll se ya over there in feb!!!!!

Hey Skip
So everything written above are good things to keep in mind with stance and body position/control when learning how to jump.

Now I'm going to give u something to practice to build confidence and a feel for jumping in different ways before just sending it.

You said that you are hitting side hits and falling but u said last year you were hitting jumps (I assume small park jumps)
The difference is, on a park jump you take off with your board flat. On side hits, you will be jumping off your toe edge or heel edge (depending on what side you're on).
It seems pretty easy, but if your not confident jumping off an edge you will end up on your face or your butt.

So to learn how to do this safely, try riding across the hill (across the fall line) and popping (jumping evenly off both feet) off your toe edge. Do a few little pops going across the hill and then turn. Now do a few little pops on your heel edge. Keep doing this until it feels pretty easy.
Then do the same thing, toe dge and then heel edge but try ollie-ing in stead of popping (ollie is like popping but you lift the front up first and kick off the tail to get into the air, but you probably knew that)
Popping is more stable but it's good to practice ollie-ing too.

Then go back to those side hits and SEND IT BRAAAAA!!!!

Let me know how u go!

Theres a reason why Andy is an instructor and I'm just a hack ha ha, take heed of the above!

Oh, thanks man but what you said was said was spot on too. Actually it's what I tell kids learning to ride the park cause they often get too excited at the idea of jumping and go a bit overboard.