Snowboarding Mechanics

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Matt Vansteenis and on behalf of Expert Village we are going to learn how to snowboard today at Cannonsburg Ski Resort in beautiful Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this segment we'll talk about a little bit of the body mechanics that go along with snowboarding. After we're all strapped in and we're kind of used to standing in board, we're going talk about how to turn. It's nice just to kind of stand just on the flats. You don't want to go up on the hill first, you definitely want to get used to this when you're strapped in on the flat ground. Talk about our turns, always with the shoulders. Wherever your shoulder leads, like I'm left-foot-forward, which is "regular", so I'm going to turn with my left shoulder. So, if I want to turn on my toes I'm going to bend my knees, lean forward a little bit, take this front left shoulder and I'm going to turn it to the right, rock up on my toes, just a little bit and that's how you're going to initiate your turn. You definitely want to be on your toes so that heel edge is off the ground and turning with your shoulders. The whole key in snowboarding is turning with your shoulders, not with your hips or your legs. Continue to stay centered or even be up on the front a little bit. You don't want to get that backfoot; it is where you're leaning back and completely out of control. Definitely centered or on the front."