Anatomy of Snowboard Carving Turn 3

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– “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight ?”

– “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – try to analyze Mac Endo carving on a snowboard”.

Let’s pick up where we left in Anatomy of Snowboard Carving Turn 2. We are on the backside edge. What now ?

Well, not much. Since the backside turn is more stable – read The Backside Chill – we should assume position that will allow for the most freedom of movement of the legs/knees/hips.

The body is in neutral/natural position. It’s the position you’d assume if you just stood relaxed on your board, in your boots and bindings. This position by default should allow for the easiest flexing/extension of your knees.

The head is looking over the shoulder towards the center of the turn. It’s not over rotated, just comfortably turned with chin close the shoulder. Hands relaxed, on either side of the body. They are ready for action if needed – to provide additional balance.

The rider is flexing his knees and bending at the hips.

This picture is at very weird angle – it would seem that the rider is very far forward on the snowboard. But actually he is not – which can be seen on later pictures. He remains fairly centered – neither leaning forward or backward. His whole body is most definitely leaning towards the center of the turn.

See how the rear hand remains at the back, rather than being pulled forward. This prevents twisting of the upper body.  Remember, that it’s the stable turn – just let the snowboard ride. If it hits a bump/hole it will realign itself and continue carving. The most important task of the raider is to allow his body to become relaxed during backside turn and allow snowboard to do its work.

 

Now we are finally looking at the rider directly from the side. Notice all the elements mentioned above:

  • Body centered over the board – leaning neither towards the nose nor the tail of the snowboard
  • Head looking forward
  • Hands on either side
  • Knees flexed, body bent at the hips – basically doing a squat on a snowboard – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_(exercise)
In other words, on the backside: Keep Calm and Squat.