Types of riders:
| All mountain | 180's, Switch riding, Carving. Complex combinations of basic skills & manouevres. |
| Freestyle | Groomed, sculpted terrain features. Natural hits, drops, banks etc. Performance of complex tricks & air. Competition types include - boarder-x, half-pipe, slopestyle & big air. |
| Freeride | Ungroomed, natural, backcountry terrain. Trees, chutes, cornices & bumps. Competition types include - bumps, extreme championships |
| Alpine/carving | Groomed terrain. Speed, lines. Competition types include - Slalom, Giant slalom, Super G. |
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Stages of riding:
| Stage 1 | New to snowboarding |
| Stage 2 | Able to use lifts & ride the beginners hill |
| Stage 3 | Able to make turns on green terrain |
| Stage 4 | Comfortable riding blue terrain |
| Stage 5 | Comfortable riding black terrain |
| Stage 6 | Able to handle anything the mountain can throw at them! |
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Teaching beginners/ First lesson (example plan for adults):-
Aims - Move on snowboard, make changes in direction, balance & control, make basic turns in both directions & stop!
Key points to cover - Snowboard tilt (edges); Pivot; Body rotation to change board direction; Even weight distribution; Balance, Rotation, Flex & extend leg joints, Snowboard torsional flex.
Morning Location - Flats
INTRODUCTION Stretching see stretching section below, Background - BOARD description/intro - BALANCE flamingo stance, equal weight - SKATING & SLIDING small steps, balance, shoulder position - FLATS/DOWNHILL 1 foot strapped in, bending up & down, looking up & ahead, equal weight - STOPPING both edges, pointing shoulders & head, looking up, heel side - look up & focus on point up hill - TRAVERSING 2 feet strapped in, both edges, equal weight, short bursts, feeling edges.
Afternoon Location - Gentle, groomed slope with slight incline and long runaways.
TRAVERSING & STOPPING - FALLING LEAF both edges, looking across hill, pointing shoulders, slightly more weight on lead foot - J/GARLAND TURNS both edges, lookin up/down hill to stop, equal weight, if going straight down look across hill & use edge control - LINKED TURNS - FINISH summarise lesson, what students have learnt, skills they need to work on, how to progress, possible second lesson.
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Basic skills: Problem solving/ improvement methods/instructors tool kit:
So, you've noticed that your student has a problem in an area of their riding. You have figured out that the weakness in one of their skills is the cause. Now you need a drill/exercise that will develop that skill, here are some suggestions; use them carefully:-
Problem/Weakenss - STANCE / BALANCE
Drill/Exercise:- Static - rocking back & forth, Static: jump board (straight then in circles); Straight run variation (bouncing, hoping, fakie etc); Hands on trousers; Bungees on bindings; Fakie riding; Fakie chairlifts; Flatland 180s; Flatland 360s; Ollies; One foot riding; One foot traverses; Switch bindings.
Problem/Weakness - EDGING
Drill/Exercise:- Sideslipping; Sideslip with edge sets (and/or traverses); Edged traverses; Edged traverses (1 foot); Edged fan turns; Single uphill turns; Medium radius carved turns; Edge roll turns; Inclination turns; Grab carves.
Problem/Weakenss - ROTARY
Drill/Exercise:- Garlands (progressing further into the fall-line); Refined falling leaf; 3 point turns; Flatland 180s; Flatland 360s; Riding with hands on trousers; Toeside: turns, nose rolss, jumps; Heelside: turns, nose rolls, jumps; Hockey stops.
Problem/Weakness - PRESSURE
Drill/Exercise:- Static: explore range of motion; Straight runs: bouncing & hopping; Giants/Smurfs: traverses rising & sinking; Kangaroo: hopping traverses; Incorporate both exercises into turns; Ollies; Ollie turns; Hockey stops.
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Basic Stretching before first lesson -
Basic stretching could include: -
1) Rotate head & neck 2) Stretch arms upwards & bend over reaching to toes 3) Stretch upwards & bend sideways 4) Circle arms 5) Trunk circles 6) Squats 7) Hamstring stretch 8) Quadriceps stretch 9) Hip abductor stretch 10) Hip flexor stretch
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Useful links:-
Snow Instructors Internet learning
American Association of Snowboard Instructors
British Association of Snowsport Instructors
Snow
board riders dictionary- (see snowboard clip on 'videos' page for tricks)
Air - manouevre performed whilst off the ground
Alley-oop - a 180 degree turn plus rotation in the halfpipe
Bail - to give up on a task
Big air - impressive amount of spatial seperation from the snow (or for a novice riders, any seperation from the snow!)
Coping - the top edge of a half-pipe (lip)
Crud - settling snow that is cut up
Fakie - riding backwards without turning the body to face the direction of travel
Goofy foot - right foot is the front foot on your board (stance)
Jam - a format for halfpipe competition in which all riders compete, without order, for a set amount of time.
Kicker - a pile of snow that is formed to get air
Knoll - a wave-like terrain feature (similar to roller)
McTwist - ariel trick (i.e a flip plus a mute grab) with minimum of 540 degree horizontal rotation and at least 1 vertical rotation.
Nollie - springing off the tip of your board
Ollie - springing off the tail of your board
Regular - left foot is the front foot on your board (stance)
Shiftie - air where the board is rotated in either direction & back before landing
Slam/Stack - hard, uncontrolled fall.
Tweak - a small variation in movement for adding style to airs
Wheelie - Riding with the nose or tail of your board off the ground
Whoa! - An excited utterance...