How to Snowboard

How to make good turns

The key to learning how to snowboard is learning how to make good turns. Turns allow you to slow down, avoid obstacles – including trees and other people, and ride across the run so you’re not racing straight downhill. For the beginner, turning is the most difficult thing they will have to learn – and the most important.
Turning requires a series of small movements done in the proper sequence. The
most important is the front foot. The snowboarder pushes down on the front toe or front heel, which puts their weight into the turn. A snowboard’s shape is designed so that with the proper foot pressure, the board will automatically turn. (Skiers used to jump from turn to turn, until snowboarding was invented, and the classic hourglass shape began to be used. Skis quickly began to be manufactured in that same shape, and turning became much easier for skiers.)

How to Snowboard

Next is a small rotation in their hips, either toward the toe side or the heel side. I have found that making this twist helps to keep the weight forward. If the beginner’s weight is on the back foot, then they will have a harder time making a turn no matter how much pressure they try to put on the front toe or heel. If the legs are straight, the turn won’t happen as easily either. The snowboarder needs to keep their knees bent in order to make this type of turn.