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which lesson?

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Ok.. So I want to do another lesson to progress further.. Buuuuut I don’t know if I’m intermediate or advanced?

I don’t want to do intermediate and be bored if I’m past that stage, but on the other hand.. I don’t really want to jump straight into advanced and find out I’m not.. And can’t keep up,

I can ride blues confidently.. And blacks don’t worry me.. I’m working on spins (getting them tighter and on steeper slopes) I can confidently tail press now, I’m also hitting small jumps (just ones on the side of the runs and can land about 75% of them)

I’ve been boarding almost 30 days now. But the first 5 don’t really count as I spent most of the time in the bar because I had a massive board and couldn’t pick it up.. After that I tried a different board and picked it up..

I can ride roller coaster carving the whole way and carved about 85-90% of zalis which is rated black atm, last weekend.. Had to stop a couple times to avoid other people.


anyways.. Any help would be awesome.. I really want to learn flat land tricks (butters, ollies/nollies, 180 off small hips and natural features and eventually 360 jumps and getting into the park, most likely go piper when it opens)

thanks guys!!

 
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h0z - 04 July 2013 05:40 PM

I can ride roller coaster carving the whole way and carved about 85-90% of zalis which is rated black atm, last weekend.. Had to stop a couple times to avoid other people.

First off good decision I’m sure it will push your riding to the next level and help find any odd kinks you may have but hadn’t noticed.

Just wanted to check but are you truly “carving” or are they skidded turns? (most people are doing these)

It’s a terminology a lot of people get mixed up which is why I’m double checking.

There’s a big difference between the two and working on proper Carving and dynamic turning is often something that separates an intermediate rider from an advanced.

Got any video footage of you riding? People in the past have posted them and received helpful feedback.

*note I am not a coach or even a very good rider myself I just read a lot LOL

 
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I feel I’m carving.. But I might not be.. I’ll get a video clip up when I’m home and you can judge off that..

zalis was pretty rutted and I wasn’t riding as smoothly as I could have.. But that was the first time I’d done zalis usually go side saddle and into the park to film the guys…

 
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Sounds good hoz!

When it kicks in you kind of feel like you are on rails and the sidecut is doing all the work. There’ll be none of that scraping noise and you will leave a very thin line in the snow behind you. The transition from edge to edge is also done by deweighting the edge of the board which often results in a gap in the line before it starts the alternate edge arc

Very rarely do you get the right combination of runs/snow/crowds to truly get into a nice carving rhythm in Australia. I can get a rhythm in the long groomed runs in Japan but very rarely here. But as I’ve mentioned I’m really not very good (probably about the same amount of days riding in oz as you I just have two extra Japan weeks) You’re trick and groundwork progression sounds impressive!

I’m definitely not saying you are but it’s not uncommon to overhear people on the slopes saying they are carving as soon as they start linking turns not realising just how tricky it actually is.

 
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Hmm reading that I think I might be skidding turns.. I honestly couldn’t tell you the difference as I’ve never done anything different to what I’ve been doing.. But I don’t feel like I’m skidding.. (anyways the video should be able to tell you guys)

 
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h0z - 04 July 2013 06:02 PM

Hmm reading that I think I might be skidding turns.. I honestly couldn’t tell you the difference as I’ve never done anything different to what I’ve been doing.. But I don’t feel like I’m skidding.. (anyways the video should be able to tell you guys)

Yeah probably but nothing wrong with that! the vast majority of us are and they are a very useful turn (carving isn’t always the optimal type of turn)

As for what to do different it’s a lot to do with edge angle (how much you raise your heel or toe edge) as well as varying pressure (raising and lowering the body) as well as keeping your body stacked over the board (I learnt it in a crude “Humping or Dumping” analogy)

The other thing I noticed when re-reading your OP is you probably want to start working some switch riding into the mix.

I’ll leave the rest to proper coaches as I’m really not qualified I’m just regurgitating what I’ve read.

 
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Hah I can ride switch ok.. Can turn the whole way down fv,  and not stack.. Obviously not as fast as normal.. But I still feel in control.. Didn’t try it too much last time as there was too many people just cutting you off and stacking lol!

thanks heaps for the info/help smile

 
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h0z - 04 July 2013 06:11 PM

Hah I can ride switch ok.. Can turn the whole way down fv,  and not stack.. Obviously not as fast as normal.. But I still feel in control.. Didn’t try it too much last time as there was too many people just cutting you off and stacking lol!

thanks heaps for the info/help smile

Even better! Just hadn’t noticed it in your list and it’s one of the intermediate kind of things. Yeah I’m similar can ride switch up until the point I need to react quickly to a situation i.e punter cutting me off or stacking and then I quickly find myself back in regular!

No worries looking forward to the video

 
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I would go for an intermediate private lesson by the sounds of things…...it sounds like that would be a better fit than a group lesson since you have specific things that you want to work on….get better value for your dollars if the instructor isn’t having to deal with other gumbies. Plus if its a private lesson then the instructor can just see what you’re good/not good at and help you from there.

 
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Yeh id say you are intermediate.

 
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My only issue atm is $$ with the car getting smashed, just having paid rego/insurance and a service due very soon.. I don’t have much spare cash.. :( And I was thinking of doing the lesson in about 10-11 days when I’m there..

also group lessons are limited to 6 now, and I’ll be doing it on a monday/tuesday the week after school holidays! So might not even be full? And groups are good for meeting people with a similar ability to you!

when we did our beginner lesson.. There was 4 of us already friends and we made friends with 3 other people and rode with them all day after the lesson.

might see if I can scrounge enough for a private lesson.. But at 3 times the cost… Might be hard. Thanks for the input cords /deano smile

 
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if cash flow is a problem then I would skip it for now. It doesn’t sound like you really NEED a lesson right at this point….and it also sounds like you’re learning new stuff every time you ride at the moment, anyway.

 
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I guess I’m just really loving boarding and willing to try everything the guys try ( and they are all better than me.. So it keeps me on my toes.. Just can’t seem to really get a few things and figured an instructor was a good person to have help me, lol)

 
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Don’t forget that even if its 3 times the cost your also getting a lot more time with the instructor and he gets to focus on just you and not what 5 other people are doing and can tailor the lesson to exactly what you want to learn.

You could also find someone riding around your level and split the cost with them.

 
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None of my friends want to do a lesson.. So it would be just me.. I’m quite happy to have a private lesson.. Just financially can’t justify it right now,

 
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yeah digital that is what I was saying…I reckon save your money until you can afford a private.