Have you been keeping up with the snowboarding at this year’s Winter Olympics? Are you now thinking of taking up this sport for yourself? Of course, those at the Olympics have been practicing for many years to get to the skill level that they are at today. However, while it may look extremely difficult to do all of those really cool tricks and jumps, with a little bit of help, you will be amazed at what you can achieve. Everyone has to start somewhere and below you can find our top tips and tricks for beginners to snowboarding.
Are You Goofy or Regular?
If you are completely new to the world of snowboarding, this will definitely be a confusing term! Essentially, all this refers to is whether you use your right foot or your left foot to lead. Your left foot is referred to as regular while your right foot is referred to as goofy. Unsure of which one you are? This is easy to find out. Simply get a friend to give you a gentle push and the foot that you put forward to stable yourself with is the foot that you will lead with when snowboarding. You will then need to ensure that your snowboard is correctly set up with your lead foot in front.
Get Fit
Nearly all sports require a degree of strength, stamina and physical effort and snowboarding is no different. If you are looking to seriously improve your snowboarding skills and pick up on what you are being taught at lessons you will want to ensure that you are as fit and as strong as you can be. You’ll need strong legs when snowboarding as it is the squat stance that is required here when on the board. Get yourself down to the gym and focus on doing lunges, squats and calf raises.
Falling
There is no point trying to avoid it, if you are taking up the sport of snowboarding then you will need to be prepared to fall – a lot. For this reason, it is important that you learn how to fall safely on the slope as this can help prevent injuries. It is recommended that you try to fall uphill and that you don’t land on your coccyx as this can be very, very painful! Try to stay calm and relaxed if you fall and try to keep in mind not to put out your hands when you fall as this can potentially damage your wrists and lead to a very serious injury that could otherwise be avoided.
Practice, Practice, Practice
If you are looking to improve your snowboarding skills, remember, just like anything else, you will need to put the hours in and practice, practice, practice! The more you hit those slopes, ultimately the better you will get. Why not check out the Alltracks Snowboarding Courses where you can hone your skills to become an expert snowboarder.
Images: Pixabay
