Don’t know how to STOP on A snowboard?
Imagine this….
Your snowboarding down the hill, you see someone sitting in the middle of the trail and the path you’re on is aiming you straight towards them.
You know you’re not very good at stopping on a snowboard but the last thing you want to do is fall over and break your tailbone.
You’re getting closer and closer to this victim.
By now you realize that the path your taking is your destiny, you try and slow down, but the stupid board just keeps going faster and faster… You panic, the snowboard aims right for its target…
‘BOOM’ ( you just killed someone)’jokes’
Yep, believe it or not, this is all too common on the mountain, snowboarding can be a dangerous game, especially when you run into someone who isn’t expecting it.
‘I would be pissed if this ever happened to me’
Fortunately, I know this has never happened to any of my clients. I taught them the correct stopping technique that I’m going to share with you in just a minute….
But before I do…you should know, not all of them were season pro’s. In fact, most of them were beginner/Intermediate snowboarders.
You don’t need Ten days snowboarding under your belt to be able to stop FAST, SAFELY and in CONTROL.
Here’s how you do it:
STEP 1- Basic stance
STEP 2- Turn shape
STEP 3- Flexion and Extension. (how to snowboard)
You can do it in just a couple of hours as long as you have the right training…
Using your Basic Stance to stop on a snowboard
Make sure your basic stance is correct and aligned with your snowboard, snowboarding becomes extremely hard when your stance is all out of ‘whack’.
NOTE: Have even weight on both feet when you want to stop.
Using your Turn shape to stop on a snowboard
The turn shape is vital to your success for stopping your snowboard. We can control our speed simply by the size or shape of our turn shape.
Put simply, the longer the board spends in the fall-line, the larger the turn, therefore the greater the rider’s rate of descent.
The size of our turn will vary depending on slope selection and the type of turn we choose to make.
Flexion and Extension to control Edge Pressure
I will just give you a quick overview of this section, it really deserves its own dedicated page to fully understand how we use up unweighting turns to truly control our edge pressure/speed and direction of our snowboard.
In short, when we flex down and extend up on the snowboard.
We are essentially loading energy into the camber/edge of the snowboard.
By doing this, the snowboard digs deeper into the snow, creating more friction and less speed.
Depending on the shape and size of your turn, we can use this technique to speed up or slow right down to a stop.
I hope this has helped you a lot, use the information wisely, now get out there, be safe and have fun.
RELATED: How to turn on a snowboard
NOTE: Want to learn how to shortcut your frustrating beginner snowboarding progression? Simply download this beginner snowboarder roadmap to learn all aspects of learning how to turn. Learn what bad habits beginners tend to make so you can avoid them to progress faster and maintain balance and control easier…check it out now!
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3 replies to "How to Stop on a Snowboard"
Today was my first time snowboarding and I had a hard time stoping I Reyes turning but I would just fall how can I keep myself from falling?
Hi Brea,
Stopping can be difficult on your first day snowboarding…I totally understand your frustration and pain! Ok, so first, you need to make sure your Basic stance is good?
– feet and knees slightly flexed and relaxed
– hips in alignment with your snowboard
– straight back
– head looking up in the direction of travel
– arms relaxed and to the side
Now, I’m guessing you are talking about stopping when trying a side slip?
In order to stop your snowboard correctly, the best way for beginners is to slow down and stop by bring your snowboard across the fall line (Instead of down the fall line)
To do this, it is vital you have even weight on both feet, arms out for balance and slowly lift your toes (or heels) dependinging on what edge you are on. By having even weight on both feet, it will naturally force your snowboard to come across the fall line instead of down.
If you find yourself losing balance and your snowboard starts to go in one direction rather than slide slip straight down the hill, then you have too much weight on one foot and you MUST realign your hips (to center)to help create even
weight again.
PRO TIP: Think about having cowboy knees when trying to stop, this will help with creating even weight on both feet. (pretend you have gun holsters on eac
each leg, force those knees out so they are facing the nose and tail of the snowboard) hope this helps!