Learning to snowboard: regular or goofy, your first day, falling leaf and linking turns
TUREFF• •0
Most people find the first day or two of snowboarding harder than skiing, and the days after that easier. Both feet are fixed to one board, so you cannot step out of trouble; instead you learn to control one edge at a time. Once that clicks, progress tends to come quickly. This is the order most instructors teach it in.
Regular or goofy?
Your stance is which foot goes in front. Regular means left foot forward, goofy means right foot forward. Neither is better; it is simply what feels natural.
Ways to find out:
- Think about which foot you would lead with sliding across a kitchen floor in socks.
- If you skateboard or surf, use the same stance.
- Ask a friend to give you a gentle, unexpected nudge from behind: the foot you step forward with is often your front foot.
If you are unsure, tell the instructor or rental shop. Bindings can be swapped round in minutes, and trying both on the first morning is normal.
Your first day
A lesson on day one is the single best investment you can make. Expect to spend the morning on the flattest ground at the resort, not on a run.
- Strapping in: you will strap in the front foot only and learn to move around with the back foot free, like a scooter. This is also how you get on and off chairlifts.
- Skating and gliding: push along with the back foot, then rest it on the board between the bindings and glide a short distance.
- Standing up: sitting on the slope with the board across it, you pull yourself up on the heel edge. Kneeling facing uphill, you push up on the toe edge.
- Side-slipping: with the board across the slope, you slowly release and reset the uphill edge to slide straight down in control. This is your brake for the whole of your first week.
Lifting your toes digs the heel edge in; pressing down through your toes digs the toe edge in. Almost everything in snowboarding comes back to that.
The falling leaf
Once you can side-slip on both edges, the falling leaf teaches you to travel across the slope. Stay on one edge, put a little more weight on your front foot and you drift that way; shift weight to your back foot and you drift back. The track zigzags down the hill like a leaf falling from a tree. Practise it on the heel edge first, then on the toe edge, which most people find scarier because they are facing uphill.
Linking turns
A turn is just changing from one edge to the other as the board points down the hill.
- Start in a gentle falling leaf on your heel edge.
- Look where you want to go and let the board point a little more downhill.
- As it does, flatten the board briefly and roll gently onto your toe edge, keeping your weight over the front foot.
- Let the board come round across the slope and slow down.
- Repeat the other way.
The moment of pointing downhill on a flat board is the part your instincts fight. Leaning back, towards the uphill, feels safer and is the usual reason the board runs away. Keep your weight centred or slightly forward and your knees bent.
Falling well
You will fall, often. To limit the damage:
- Try not to put an outstretched hand down; fall onto your forearms and roll, or sit down onto your bottom.
- Keep your chin tucked on backward falls so your head does not snap back.
- Wear a helmet. Many beginners also wear wrist guards and padded shorts.
Short days with breaks beat a long, exhausted afternoon; tired legs cause most late-day falls. Tell us which part took you longest to get, or ask about anything from your first lesson, in the comments.