In this blog: Why follow-through is one of the most common mistakes snowboarders make and how to fix it.
The most common mistake I see among other snowboarders riding around the slopes is a lack of follow-through when they turn.
Basically every 2nd or 3rd person that I watch on the slopes is making this mistake and it’s the reason they can’t get their snowboard to go where they want it to go.
Why is follow-through important & how does it work?
In snowboarding, follow-through is what allows you to turn exactly where you want to turn and ride exactly where you want to ride.
No follow-through:
If you don’t follow-through with each turn, you’re telling your board: “Turn right, I don’t care where, just right somewhere.”
This results in you turning right, but you can’t aim exactly where you’re going.
There’s no precision or power here. You’re skidding downhill while kinda turning right and there’s no aiming for that gap between the bumps in the snow or slicing through that space between 2 other riders on a tight ski slope.
You ever watch someone turn their snowboard, but then skid downhill 5 meters while hitting a few bumps in the snow and get thrown all over the place while they turn? That’s what happens with no follow-through in your turns.
Follow-through:
If you follow-through with your turn, you’re telling your board exactly where it should turn: “Turn right 5 meters ahead and cut between the ski school instructor and the tree.”
Follow-through allows you to turn and manpower your snowboard through the turn instead of letting the terrain, bumps and slope tell you where to go.
You ever watch a snowboarder cut his way through the snow, picking his turn and smoothly carving through the snow like a boss? That’s what happens when you follow-through.
Okay so, how do you follow through? Well, it’s pretty simple actually.
The mistake people make with turning and follow-through:
Most snowboarders will learn the technique of how to turn their snowboard because it’s basically the first thing you learn after learning how to side-slip down a slope.
The problem is they’ll stop turning too early.
They’ll use the technique they were taught to start turning their snowboard, but as soon as their snowboard changes direction, they think, “Oh, the job’s done, I can stop turning now!”
No! Changing directions is only the start of a turn. It’s 10-20% of the journey.
How to fix your turning follow-through:
After changing direction, you need to follow-through and continue to execute that turning technique even harder and drive that snowboard through the snow with your whole body.
This is how you get that sharp, tight snowboard power that you see in veteran snowboarders when they execute their turns.
How long you continue driving that turn depends on how sharply you want to turn, but don’t ease up on that turning technique until your snowboard is pointed exactly where you want to be going and you’re carving through the snow.
You want to drive that snowboard with your whole body through each turn and show the snow who’s boss. What good is learning turning technique if you stop using it halfway through the turn?
When you drive a car, do you tap on the accelerator once and expect to get to your destination? Of course not. You have to put your foot down and keep it down to put that engine to use.
Do the same with your snowboard turns. Keep your foot on that gas paddle until you reach your destination.
– Jed
ps – if you need tips on improving how you execute your actual turning technique, there’s plenty under Beginner Snowboard Tips & Intermediate Snowboard Tips