Rotating the core and shoulders in the same amount and direction of your front binding is good for more than just carving; it will help your body stay in more of a stacked position when your body is flexing up and down. It helps prevent that weak position where you bend at the waist and your upper torso gets way out of alignment with the working edge. One word of caution though, it's very easy to overcook this. I picked up this tip at an instructor training session a couple of years back and in the early season this year I realized that I was overdoing it, leading to issues on my toe edge in variable terrain.
@suz4359 - The recommendation in this video is to rotate your shoulder and core a few degrees open. No mention of twisting at all. Separation of the upper and lower body is a key topic in advanced riding that's taught by high level snowboard coaches. For carved turns, it's helpful to start rotating your upper body inside the next turn before you change edges. Watch any advanced carving or racing video and this is what these guys are doing. This is quite basic stuff.
@suz4359 - I get where you're coming from. This is actually a higher level snowboarding topic, and throwing this out there to a beginner audience is potentially dangerous. I would never tell a beginner to ride with an open stance because overdo it and be out of alignment. Intro carving lessons should still emphasize shoulders, knees, hips stacked over the working edge and no rotation. But at the higher levels, you use these kinds of tactics to make riding more dynamic.
@suz4359 - I really don't understand where you're going with this. The term 'stacked' is merely a way to describe objects that are arranged in a pile. I am not aware of a gender-specific meaning. In snowboarding, it is generally accepted that for optimal control it's best to ride with most of your bodyweight 'aligned' over the working edge of the snowboard. An easy way to achieve this is to think of 'stacking' the body parts that snowboarders normally pivot -- the shoulders, hips, and knees -- over the working edge of the board. So what?
Ok, I see that the term can be used to describe a voluptuous woman. It's pretty clear in this context that that's not the meaning we're talking about here. So let's just move past this.
I just got to apply this and down unweighted turns the past couple of days, and it really transformed my riding. I felt far more comfortable in variable terrain in the trees, moguls, and steeps than I ever have. Your ability to narrate while demonstrating really pushed your teaching to the next level, thanks for the videos!
Love the shout out you gave to Ryan Knapton at 7:45. 😀Thanks for helping me to understand this position more. I do it, but never really understood why it's such a fun position while carving.
Ya know I’ve been boarding for a long time but this is the best explanation of opening up I’ve ever seen I can do it but can’t explain it. Great job Malcolm and as always your the best👍
They all talks about Knapton backside carve same Dirksen balet carving have noticed this back knee more bend but not open shoulder.Thank you very much.As I said before best snowboarding tips on northen hemisphere mr.Moore.Stay safe
Thanks so much for essentially responding to a prior comment of mine with a video. I haven’t seen a single video discussing this more open stance. Awesome vid as always, appreciate it.
Got that notification and loaded up the vid so quick, hahaha. Absolute best! Thanks Malcolm. This video will completely transform how I ride from now on. I've been stuck on keeping that stacked 'closed' stance, since like you said, it's recommended to all beginners, and I've been trying to keep strict on maintaining that all the time. But now after watching this and listening to your explanation, I know it's alright to open up a bit. Your tip on matching our binding angle was a great, simple, and easy way to visualize and understand the position. Definitely looking forward to trying this out and experimenting with it next time I'm out on the slopes. Thanks again Malcolm. Happy holidays and merry Christmas!
Top man thanks! Yeah the open stance can be great, when I used to look at pro riders whether it be boardercross or x games athletes I wondered why they didn't have the closed stance that my instructor qualifications taught me. It was only when I finished my level 4 exams I started to learn about a high performance stance!
@@malcolmmoore Wow, that's surprising! Thanks for exposing this top-secret, high-level technique then, hahaha. Making snowboarders better one video at a time.
Thank you so much for all your education, Malcolm! I'm in my second season and love this sport so much. Your technique and instruction is great to follow and is helping my progression. Let's keep rippin!!
Great tips, going to give this a try tomorrow if it isn't a whiteout! Been practicing my carving using your earlier tips and I think I've really improved, can carve hard and can finish going up the slope on my toe edge, need more practice on my heel edge. Tomorrow is my last day at Alpe d'Huez and it's been a fantastic week, even managed to get the Sarenne for a couple of runs!
Great video information as always, so much thought and analysis instead of the usual useless cliches like "this board leaves trenches" or "it's a sick board for carving". I just wish I had trails like this to practice on, most Northeast US trails are half the width, more blind turns, lined with trees, more bumps, more hard pack/ice and many more people. This would be the best trail I ride on ever! 😬
5th technique video from you i watch and already got my first tiny carves in, now desperatly waiting for the Amplid Board i ordered xD. You earned that sub
So awesome, thanks a lot, just what I've been looking for!! The content of your channel is phenomenal, highly appreciate you sharing all this knowledge, putting in all this work and effort and helping us progress in this beautiful sport!! Keep it up and have a grest season
As a 40 year snowboarder, I employed a lot of ski technique to my early learnings that translate to my style today. Shoulders square with the fall line for quick tunrs, trees and bumps.. on supre steep runs I press into my nose and my tail is off the snow completely. I have been working in modern style and composure, but I find it takes away from my freedom and overall vibe.. this is a great clip that affirms that you can use a host of different styles to address the situation you are facing.
Yeah absolutely, I spend most of my time teaching beginners to keep arms in line with their board in that classic 'snowboard instructor' look. It's a solid position that allows you to ride all terrain and adapt to different scenarios, but it's certainly not the best position for every given scenario. Board performance is the thing people should pay more attention to, not just what your upper body is doing, as I feel some instructors can get obsessed with!
I love your videos. I watched the one with how to learn switch ride a while ago and it has helped me alot! I have learned many new tricks using switch. Thank you very much!
Ohhhhhh!!!!! I have always tried to stack my shoulders, I will try this next time. I have actually done it by accidents few times, but every time, I forced my shoulders to be stack to the board.
Very good video so helpful thanks. Could someone elaborate a bit more with the shoulders alignment ? Not quite sure i totally get it yet as im french speaker its a bit harder for me to understand this part. Thanks!
Great video, would be interested to hear your thoughts on binding angles and stance width.. I have been riding duck (+15-15) since before time! It was just what was the thing to do when I learnt in the 90s but I think it's a bit of a waste since I ride very little switch or freestyle.. thinking of going more front facing (+18-3) maybe? What do you think? I am getting to the age I find myself doing more carving and less of much else..
I just got done resetting my Board and have it at +17 -12. I had it a little less aggressive and decided to change it so I don't have as much toe drag when I lean into it really hard. That's something you don't hear to offen, but when you want to carve hard you want a wide enough board so you don't scrape with your boot and wipe out. I had to set my stance wider as well so that didn't happen. I already have a nitro magnum which is a very wide board, but I still have problems with drag sometimes.
Hi, if you really want to focus on carving I recommend setting it even more forward facing! +3, +27 works for me. (I've been riding some GS competitions these past few years and mostly just carving, works well also for powder)
Anyone struggling to open up their position might benefit from spending a day with their rear foot at a posi angle (3 to 9 degrees maybe) . It makes it a littler easier to get your hips and shoulders more downhill, especially if you have some flexibility limitations in your knees. You can then go back to your preferred stance when you have figured things out. I'm a posi posi rider anyway so this doesn't apply to me but thought I'd offer it up as a suggestion for any duck riders who are finding this tricky.
I've been looking at quite a few carving videos and will definitely going this posi posi stance a try. Toeside carve is allright but my heelside carve just suck.
If you need to tense up your core to hold a position then that is a sign that it really isn't that stable. Most of your turning happens towards the end of the turn cos you're riding basically on your back foot. Turning your hips sets your bum back so you end up even more on the back of the board. This is why most your turns don't really carve from the start but have just a slight skid before getting that pressure on the edge, and therefore you end up with a "lazy" turn in the first half. The second half of the turn feels powerful but basically your putting all your effort into 50% of your turns.
Thank you Malcom! This season is my 1st on a Knapton Twin and you're able to explain technique so clearly for a learner like me. Ive been working on the open stance (Ryan has some vids about this too) but your points about engaging the core excessively and dipping the back shoulder, along with your excellent demo, really clears it up. Question, what's your advice for driving more power into the back leg on a deep heelside carve, like when you're laying down your hand on the snow? My back leg has a tendency of skidding out.
Not necessarily as extreme a psotion, but mimicking going for the indy grab tends to line things up pretty well. I often see my back arm up in the air, and when I try to reach it down towards grabbing my edge it puts me in a stronger position 👍
if you've been riding for 25 years there is little anyone can teach you. Except Malcolm. Because Malcolm has some of the most organized and unique breakdowns of technique ever.
I've just found your chanel 2 day ago and i've whatched a lot of your video.These types of videos are helping.I'm going to the mountain in a few days and i'll try to apply what I have learned from you.I'm riding my board since February 2021 and i've learned a lot.But I still strugle to get some speed and do some carve , or atleast do the S-turns.This season i will try to improve my switch riding because I want to hit the park.Until then i have to improve my normal riding:)).Any tips ??? KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!👑👑👑👑👑
Keep practicing and keep watching haha! Nah, but I am actually working on video right now that is all about getting your posture totally correct, as even slightly wrong posture can lead to a whole host of problems!
This is a fantastic and instructive video. Thanks for the upload. One question: what sort of stance angle and width would you recommend to complement this sort of riding?
Hey Malcolm. I naturally ride in this position a lot and I find it messes me up when I do jumps. Any tips or a video of yourself on how to keep yourself aligned with the tips more? Whenever I think 'hands over nose and tail', I find my riding to be really awkward and rigid. Thanks!
Practice riding with your hands clasped behind your back, and really focus on using the flex of the board and weight shifts over the hips to initiate turns. 1. Move your hips over your front foot and get the weight on the top edge initiate rotation. 2. Flex the board with your front foot (pull your toes up if switching to heelside, ankle for toeside). Basically twisting the shape of the board. 3. Follow up with the rear foot shift shortly after, in a kind of flowing motion. While slowly shifting your weight to the back leg using your hips throughout the turn. Think of it like a 3 step turn, for heelside you would start with the weight on the front toe edge, flex onto the front heel edge (rear weight is still toe edge at this point), then follow through with the rear heel edge as you turn. Really think about using your feet separately in turns, might help to practice dolphin turns as well. The idea is that the weight is shifting across all 4 corners of the board while doing s turns. If practice and think about it often enough it'll start feeling more natural and give you a lot more board control.
I really miss Alpe D. Spent a season there quite some years ago and loved every second of it. Thinking of getting back into teaching (BASI level 2 Snowboard) and have decided I really want to focus on getting my level 3. How difficult is it these days for a British person to get a job out in Europe?
It will for this for sure, but I keep mine at +18 in the front and -12 on the back for a bit more all around riding! But positive angles are very fun to play with!
Is +30+3 to much forward for a freeride ish stance. I still like to ride switch. And play around on side hits. I feel when I want to spin my knees naturally track in that forward attack way. I’m pretty sure Its a uncommon stance. But it seems to work. Lol
Talking about angles, I think there is something wrong either with my ankles or my knees flexibility (or independence from each-other). I'm surely doing some posture mistakes, but for being able to ride on an open stance, or even just for fast flat downhill, I had to go very aggressive with my setup, otherwise it is almost impossible to get my back knee lower and inwards, without having my rear ankle being also pulled inwards and steering the board. To be comfortable carving in an open stance and not feel strain on my joint, I now have +42 +33 setup, which is kind of limiting imho. It seems SF for me seeing Malcom doing what he does with duck stance.
Question! Should I do this open stance for steeps ? Or short radius turns? or your “ open the door , shut the door “ video that u recommend for steeps .. Do you use this riding position yourself most of the time now ?
Nah, I would only really hold an open position all the time when carving like this, pr when riding bug open powder fields, so a similar turn size. In any smaller turn it is best to close off your posture at the end of the turn so you can then 'open the door' to help initiate a smaller turn.
@@malcolmmoore is this good for going switch? I’m used to +15 -15 but I feel i missing a bit on the carving front compared to when I tried +18. Do you change the angles depending on your plan for the day ? Thanks Malcom
@@damianmb5 I m riding +24 +6 forward lean 4.5/5 no issues at all switch... Switch is just repetition, nothing to worry about.. I can do it with +15-15 and +24+6 after several turns ..you just have to adjust your position a bit (posy stance is more of a twisted head when riding switch)
Nice! Thanks 👍 Is that the Amplid Dada you are carving on, it's a 154 yeah? I'm about 6'2", 187cm, 82kg. Probably intermediate level and seriously considering that board after your other videos! I have massive size 12s and to get a width big enough have landed up on a 167 Jones Mtn twin, which is significantly longer but carves so well... and I don't want to lose that feature! Thanks man
kind of comes natural... thanks for going onto more advanced level videos again. Just a thought that came to me the last days on the slope ... not doing well in carving on steeper slopes might be the result of that open stance... it kind of leeds to a realy strong toe-edge, but with a very wide radius and underrotating/not quite finishing that toe-edge turn.... resulting in to hight speed into a heel edge turn, where that exact same rotation leeds to smaler turn radius and overrotation, therefore starting to wash out on the heel earlier than on your toes I just started to try getting low on the transition onto the toe-edge and really rotating (upper body and forward knee) into that turn... resulting in much earlier edgehold and tighter radius... only getting into that open backheavy stance in the end of the turn. How are your thoughts on really manipiulating turnradius while carving and getting consistent good edgehold on firmer steeper slopes while carving? thanks for sending some nice style and nice views, cant wait to be back on snow
Yeah I'll be getting back into some more advanced stuff very soon, I've been boshing out a few beginner vids early in the season. For tighter radius and carving on steeper stuff you really need to get that board on a high edge angle early in the turn when there's not too many forces to act against it, and then just really pish into it and drive it around, but yeah I'll try and get into some of this stuff later in the season, I m a bug fan of retraction turns, I think some Canadians call them dynamic turns, and other systems call them low cross under, all gets a bit confusing!
This is fantastic, however I noticed when I started doing this it's easier to cramp on my back foot, is that normal when doing this as more weight rests on the back foot? Or is there more of a resting position when doing this for carving?
Try moving your upper Body forward slightly. So weight goes in front or center. You just Bend more in back. Try exprementing With weight shift in carve. Not so much but slight Weight shift. Try going in whit pressure in front boot and go out shifting it back. Play around and feel the diffrence.
Hi Malcolm should you change your bindings setting, otherwise would it not put a strain on your back knee to twist it? Or is it perfectly fine to use the standard bindings setting pointing toes outwards?
I don't change, but some people prefer to yes, if you can do it with normal binding settings then you'll be more versatile across the rest of the mountain. But it can also be fun to switch up your angles!
I’m so confused. I’ve been riding with an open stance and everyone has been telling me to stack my shoulders over my board. Are both stances used in different situations/scenarios?
basically open stance is the dunning kruger test for snowboarding.. If you are a beginner its not a good idea to do it, or to argue you should be doing it, especially with beginners or SITS ppl. If you are not a beginner, you can do a couple of tricks and a couple of carves, and ride pretty comfortably in most conditions, this is a technique for you, but again, never argue this because most people will never be at the level where this knowledge will make a difference to them. Use it and dont talk about it, ignore the naysayers
in my opinion, Malcolm is not telling you to ride fully open position, just 15 degrees open (tiny bit).. and bend your knees, upper body straight. And let the edge come naturally after edge change and do not force any rotation. Try it on mellow grippy slopes first
A more open stance is just better for a few scenarios really, like the aggressive carves in this vid, but until you're at an advanced level you should really avoid using it unless you're trying to eurocarve or something. A lot of people end up using it as a crutch to initiate board rotation and never get decent board control. Once you learn how to use board flex and weight shifts to control the board you'll massively improve. Then you can go back to using it where it's useful. I thought I was pretty decent before doing instructor training but focusing on this made a HUGE difference to my riding. Our BASI instructor would make us go around with our hands clasped behind our back a lot to get used to taking the upper body out of the equation. Basically just make sure you're using it as a tool rather than a crutch.
Hi Malcom, How you initiate the turn in carving ? Is it the same as in speed up ypur edge changes video ? We are starting with front foot rotation or try using both feets at once ?
Mate, awesome tips and fantastic teaching method.I did a BASI 1 crash course and spent a week holding my jacket to close my shoulder after being told it was a cardinal sin. Have been struggling to understand why I am not getting down lower on my carves so.really looking forward to trying this out. I ride duck though, do I need to go plus plus to really rail the carves in your opinion?
@@malcolmmoore Thanks mate, now I realise this off topic but any tips for a banked slalom? I have my first competition in May (Riksgransen in N. Sweden). By the way, love your dog in the flat base vid!
Can one make a directional twin out of a true twin? (Huck Knife 22/23). I have the feeling that my stance lenght when set at reference is a bit too wide but when I move the bindings down two hole towards the middle, (one left and one right), it feels kinda too narrow. So I was thinking about moving only the front binding one hole back, so that I only move one position narrower and not two. Does this work? Does it feel weird? Is it something riders (advanced) do all the time and a good way to solve such problem, or is it a no go and it wont work well due to the diference in the flex? PS I only ride groomers and am learning to ride park. Saying this because I know this works in pow, but now sure about groomers and park. Also, I ALMOST NEVER ride switch but when I ride it's only for a short moment because I landed a trick "to fakie", then I rotate back right away. Not doing this to ride pow. Thx in advance! Cheers!
Yeah it can kind of work, I would just pull back the front foot, this can make riding powder and carving feel a little better. But don't do it too much. You are on a twin board and it was designed to be ridden centered.
Love your vids. I’ve ridden ++ for many years (+24 +6 fwiw) as I first learned to ride in the mid 90s. Was considering going plus 12 negative 9 for more switch as I now teach my two kids and one is regular, the other goofy. Do you find it as easy to crank a carve with +- as ++ angles?
Honestly I'm still yet to properly experiment with the forward angles, I tried it for a day but it just felt strange but I'm planning on setting some time aside soon to really give it more of a go!
Would definitely also love to hear more on positive-positive stance angles and what their benefits/drawbacks are! Especially for people who don't ride switch at all!
Preference will always be most important, and each person’s physiology is different. However, for proficient carving and turning, it’s really hard to argue that a positive stance isn’t factually better. Most negative comments on it come from folks who’ve never tried it and don’t understand it, and if they have, they never got used to it and/or never adjusted their overall posture. Racers, historical best turners & carvers, etc all ride positive angles to some degree. There are truly very, very few exceptions. Many might be surprised just how many pros are riding positive, even those who are heavy on the freestyle. My advice is to make small angle adjustments, spend a little time with each, and see what feels best over time. It’s important to keep this “open” posture, or forward posture, in mind when trying it out. Retaining a duck/square posture with forward angles will feel weird, and vice versa. Personally, I’m happy to see that forward angles are making a comeback and being more accepted and understood. It used to be a common choice many years ago, but faded into the background. A friend once expressed it this way - yes, you can certainly carve well with a duck stance, but it’s carving well DESPITE your stance... whereas positive (to whatever degree) is working WITH your body.
I always used to ride duck stance +15/-15 and recently tried +18/+3 and boy that is a game changer! For beginners I would highly recommend positive angles at least until you master carving. Note that I love riding switch and was surprised how well it works to ride switch even with positive angles.
@@spenserak great reply Spencer thanks for taking the time to really give a detailed response. I've spent a few years duck stance but recently have gone positive and everything you have said is on point! 🤙
Yeah I do, you might spot it on my chest, I've never found any action cam gets good noise from the camera when moving. In my older videos you'll notice I only speak to the camera when I'm still because I was using the audio from the camera. But now I use a rode lavalier mic with a wind jammer. I record that into a 32bit float mic which means I don't have to set gain, its been a real game changer that one, but perhaps this is just going way over your head now! In short, gopro, insta, or any other action cam will have terrible audio when you're doing anything even vaguely fast!
Malcolm, I've noticed that on my directional boards with taper, it gives me better grip in the back if my binding angle is slightly positive in the rear. (9 front, 0 back). When I sink my weight it allows more pressure to back half of the board edge to make up for the difference of the taper. Is this a similar concept to what you are discussing here? Driving more weight towards the back edge for better grip? For twin boards I ride (9/9). With knees bent, my head is pointed downhill and upper body slightly opened about 15-20 degrees.
Yeah that's right, you can naturally get more back foot drive by having positive rear foot angles, but you can still achieve it with more standard foot angles too.
I've noticed that if I ride standard binding Angles (9/9) on my directional boards with taper I have to consciously drive more pressure through my rear knee to keep the toe edge from slipping out. It's just more work. Can I shift more body weight to the rear to lessen the slippage if I want to ride more standard angles (less positive angle in the rear) on tapered boards? What binding Angles are you using for your Dada? Btw I just picked up an Amplid Singular twin for this season. Can't wait try out an Amplid!
grew up in the alps and been carvin for 43 years -> forward stance is the only way if you wanna go wet armpits on both, front and back side, forget the ducks...not good for your knees either
Any tips to getting on the edge earlier in the turn? I am getting that nice carve mark in the snow but not until almost perpendicular to the fall line. My turn patterns show skidding through the “belly” of the C. Is it just initiating the edge sooner? Thanks. Really enjoy your videos.
Yeah initiate the edge change early in the turn, but a whole load of things could be leading you to nkt grip at the beginning, often I find people over rotate their upper body into the turn too much which then carries on down to their legs making the board skid out before the posture re aligns itself a bit more later in the turn and you get grip. Bit it old well be something else. The best thing to try and do is just to incline your whole body into the turn on something mellow (closed or open stance doesn't really matter here) and see if you can get the board to carve straight away, if you can't you are likely rotating or counter rotating at the start of the turn, or you may just have incorrect posture, and therefore not sending weight down to the right place, but yeah hard to say without seeing you ride!
Try some more forward lean on your bindings, but that's more of a cheat soloution, as you can still carve even without highbacks! Just keep practicing, carving is all about getting the fundamentals spot on
The more camber and the stiffer they are the better they will hold an edge, but this doesn't necessarily mean they are better for carving. A softer board is more easily manipulated and can be more fun to carve. You can carve on every board, but generally a softer park board won't be as good at it and a stuffer carving board will be better! I just use an all mountain board most of the time!
Mine are yeah, whilst I'm riding with an open stance I haven't gone full positive with my angles. I did just try that though, and thats where I think some people dial back their read back a little.
Hi Malcolm, this video is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I get the open stance part. But once the rear knee is lower than the front knee, do you also lean backwards? Is this related to the fore and aft video?
A little bit, it's more just to create a different posture that allows angulation. For carving you don't really need much fore pressure you can briefly use it at the edge change, but for most of the turn you're just driving the board around with the back foot, and this position helps you achieve that 👍
@@malcolmmoore Do you consider those angles an all mountain/mulit purpose type setup? i,e., Some park and side hits, carving and cruising? I know to each is their own but I'd like your opinion on it. Thanks.
You can keep your feet as whatever they are at, I just used that as a reference point as most people have their front foot between 15 and 20. But regardless of what your feet are at you can still open your body. My front foot is at +18 and back at -12. Of course having a more open stance lends itself to this kind of riding, but you can do it with any stance!
@@malcolmmoore I’ve just been riding at 0/0 and can carve pretty well, but I’ll definitely try opening my binding stance up a bit and see how that feels. Just started boarding last season so this was very helpful, thank you!
Hi Malcolm, when I open my stance to carve and bend my knees on heelside I find that my front leg tends to straighten out a bit more. Is this normal? I find it quite difficult to bend both knees to the same angle and apply equal pressure as I have more weight on my back foot.
Yeah that's normal, try not to let it fully extend though, but it can get pretty straight especially the more you drive through the back leg. I intend to cover this a bit more in a video at some point this winter actually!
Do you still believe that having hips and shoulders aligned with the board is 'stacked and aligned'? The reason I ask is that I disagree with that statement.
From 1:16 to 1:38 I still have hard time doing this. Rocking one edge to another back and forth. Can this only be done at certain speed? And only when going on a straight slope?
@@puckoberto damn i duno what im doing wrong. I just can't do it haha. Like is there even a snowboarding turn for this move? I typed "snowboard rocking edge to edge" on youtube. No tutorial :(
@Leaaa e carving is when you use your board’s side cut to make turns. This means that your weight is distributed evenly and centered on the board. Turning will basically happen when you put the downhill edge in the snow. At the time stamp you specified, he’s making very long turns but not really finishing them. You can imagine the board making circles in the snow. The smaller the circle, the shorter and sharper the turn. Both short and long turns are carving if they’re done using the edge only. Use long turns for flatter terrain and short ones for steeper terrain. If you did those long turns on a steep slope you’ll gain way too much speed and lose control. It’s also worth mentioning these turns are a great way to get across flats since you minimize the surface area making friction with the snow so you don’t lose as much speed. Just make sure to always almost have your board pointed straight like he does here!
Man, this front on vs. side on question is such an interesting topic. In Alpine Snowboarding with hard boots and double positive stance you always ride front on, never ride side on - the posture is much closer to surfing (e.g. comparing the bottom turn of surfing with a toe edge carve in alpine snowboarding). If you look at what world class surf coach Clayton Nienaber teaches ua-cam.com/video/SAtZ1YjeUaI/v-deo.html he makes so many valid points for a front on stance and the "lunge" being better for joint stacking than the "squat" position. Because of that I started questioning my duck snowboard stance because it prevents me from getting low by lunging. Would be awesome to get your thoughts on this
Great tips, but I really hate terms like "open position". To someone who doesn't know much about snowboarding saying "open position" or "opening up" literally means nothing.
Opening your hips is all about forcing carves to start from the front of the board. opening the hips like that moves your weight forward of center. + 1 level keep shoulders in line with the board transfer your weight to the front of the board initiate your turn from your front foot, at apex be neutral front to back. For the last 50% of the turn drive off the rear foot. rinse and repeat. You're totally doing correctly in your video you just haven't explained the motion properly.
I'm a cert 2 snowboard Instructor through the PSIA system... Everyone caution THIS IS NOT CARVING... notice the snow spray from the control phase(board pointing down hill) through the finish(turning board across hill) of the turn, that is an indicator of SKID TURNING NOT CARVE TURNING. Also take note his edge change is happening in the fall line(down hill)... When carving correctly the edge change should happen perpendicular to the fall line(across the slope)!!! Nice try but the body needs to stay closed to manage pressure and tilt during the edge change across the fall line!!!
You are funny. Sometimes its icy and board not grips so because its not a Perfect carve its Still a carve. Shure you can carve in fall line. A carve is the edge biting and follow the sidecut. Have you seen the guys from Japan duckstance carving Whit completly open Body? You been reading the rules to much.
Rotating the core and shoulders in the same amount and direction of your front binding is good for more than just carving; it will help your body stay in more of a stacked position when your body is flexing up and down. It helps prevent that weak position where you bend at the waist and your upper torso gets way out of alignment with the working edge. One word of caution though, it's very easy to overcook this. I picked up this tip at an instructor training session a couple of years back and in the early season this year I realized that I was overdoing it, leading to issues on my toe edge in variable terrain.
@suz4359 - The recommendation in this video is to rotate your shoulder and core a few degrees open. No mention of twisting at all. Separation of the upper and lower body is a key topic in advanced riding that's taught by high level snowboard coaches. For carved turns, it's helpful to start rotating your upper body inside the next turn before you change edges. Watch any advanced carving or racing video and this is what these guys are doing. This is quite basic stuff.
@suz4359 - I get where you're coming from. This is actually a higher level snowboarding topic, and throwing this out there to a beginner audience is potentially dangerous. I would never tell a beginner to ride with an open stance because overdo it and be out of alignment. Intro carving lessons should still emphasize shoulders, knees, hips stacked over the working edge and no rotation. But at the higher levels, you use these kinds of tactics to make riding more dynamic.
@suz4359 - I really don't understand where you're going with this. The term 'stacked' is merely a way to describe objects that are arranged in a pile. I am not aware of a gender-specific meaning. In snowboarding, it is generally accepted that for optimal control it's best to ride with most of your bodyweight 'aligned' over the working edge of the snowboard. An easy way to achieve this is to think of 'stacking' the body parts that snowboarders normally pivot -- the shoulders, hips, and knees -- over the working edge of the board. So what?
Ok, I see that the term can be used to describe a voluptuous woman. It's pretty clear in this context that that's not the meaning we're talking about here. So let's just move past this.
I just got to apply this and down unweighted turns the past couple of days, and it really transformed my riding. I felt far more comfortable in variable terrain in the trees, moguls, and steeps than I ever have. Your ability to narrate while demonstrating really pushed your teaching to the next level, thanks for the videos!
Thanks for watching! Happy to help ☺
Love the shout out you gave to Ryan Knapton at 7:45. 😀Thanks for helping me to understand this position more. I do it, but never really understood why it's such a fun position while carving.
He's the boss after all!
Ya know I’ve been boarding for a long time but this is the best explanation of opening up I’ve ever seen I can do it but can’t explain it. Great job Malcolm and as always your the best👍
Thanks man as always 🙏
They all talks about Knapton backside carve same Dirksen balet carving have noticed this back knee more bend but not open shoulder.Thank you very much.As I said before best snowboarding tips on northen hemisphere mr.Moore.Stay safe
Thanks Amar!
Thanks so much for essentially responding to a prior comment of mine with a video. I haven’t seen a single video discussing this more open stance. Awesome vid as always, appreciate it.
Thanks Gabriel!
Got that notification and loaded up the vid so quick, hahaha. Absolute best! Thanks Malcolm. This video will completely transform how I ride from now on. I've been stuck on keeping that stacked 'closed' stance, since like you said, it's recommended to all beginners, and I've been trying to keep strict on maintaining that all the time. But now after watching this and listening to your explanation, I know it's alright to open up a bit. Your tip on matching our binding angle was a great, simple, and easy way to visualize and understand the position. Definitely looking forward to trying this out and experimenting with it next time I'm out on the slopes. Thanks again Malcolm. Happy holidays and merry Christmas!
Top man thanks! Yeah the open stance can be great, when I used to look at pro riders whether it be boardercross or x games athletes I wondered why they didn't have the closed stance that my instructor qualifications taught me. It was only when I finished my level 4 exams I started to learn about a high performance stance!
@@malcolmmoore Wow, that's surprising! Thanks for exposing this top-secret, high-level technique then, hahaha. Making snowboarders better one video at a time.
@@cnrad yep thanks @Malcolm Moore you and xavier del le rue sharing this makes some of us no longer think we are crazy
@@newrenaissance 100%! Anytime my stance started opening up, I'd tell myself to bring it back. Now that will be no more. A whole new world!
To Little talk about open duckstance carving. This is Great. Learned about this recently.
Thank you so much for all your education, Malcolm! I'm in my second season and love this sport so much. Your technique and instruction is great to follow and is helping my progression. Let's keep rippin!!
Awesome, I've got a more advanced carving video dropping later on!
finally!! When you learn you're told to keep things parallel bu that feel alien to me (I;ve surfed all my life!) so can't wait to try this!
25 years since I was on the slopes. Going 2moro. Thanks for the refresher. Great content!!!
How was it? Already regret not going sooner? :)
It's October... time to start brushing-up the skills and go back through Malcolm's back catalogue 🤓💪
Great tips, going to give this a try tomorrow if it isn't a whiteout! Been practicing my carving using your earlier tips and I think I've really improved, can carve hard and can finish going up the slope on my toe edge, need more practice on my heel edge. Tomorrow is my last day at Alpe d'Huez and it's been a fantastic week, even managed to get the Sarenne for a couple of runs!
Ah, didn't see you, but hope you enjoyed it!
Great video information as always, so much thought and analysis instead of the usual useless cliches like "this board leaves trenches" or "it's a sick board for carving".
I just wish I had trails like this to practice on, most Northeast US trails are half the width, more blind turns, lined with trees, more bumps, more hard pack/ice and many more people. This would be the best trail I ride on ever! 😬
5th technique video from you i watch and already got my first tiny carves in, now desperatly waiting for the Amplid Board i ordered xD. You earned that sub
Amazing!! You got this 🙌
So awesome, thanks a lot, just what I've been looking for!! The content of your channel is phenomenal, highly appreciate you sharing all this knowledge, putting in all this work and effort and helping us progress in this beautiful sport!! Keep it up and have a grest season
Thank you 🙏😊 appreciate it
As a 40 year snowboarder, I employed a lot of ski technique to my early learnings that translate to my style today. Shoulders square with the fall line for quick tunrs, trees and bumps.. on supre steep runs I press into my nose and my tail is off the snow completely. I have been working in modern style and composure, but I find it takes away from my freedom and overall vibe.. this is a great clip that affirms that you can use a host of different styles to address the situation you are facing.
Yeah absolutely, I spend most of my time teaching beginners to keep arms in line with their board in that classic 'snowboard instructor' look. It's a solid position that allows you to ride all terrain and adapt to different scenarios, but it's certainly not the best position for every given scenario. Board performance is the thing people should pay more attention to, not just what your upper body is doing, as I feel some instructors can get obsessed with!
Mate, your videos are really a game changer! 🙌🙌🙌
Thanks Thomas! 🙌
Your channel + ryan knapton channel is all I need to learn how to snowboard! You guys are truly inspirational
Thanks! I'll be back in December with more!
Don't miss Tribute Lounge and all the Korua vids
I love your videos. I watched the one with how to learn switch ride a while ago and it has helped me alot! I have learned many new tricks using switch. Thank you very much!
Thanks 🙌
I love this channel. Such useful content for Summerboarding (electric pavement snowboarding) and just relaxing to Malcolm’s smooth flow!
What’s up Malcom you helped me a lot with my carving last season. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Kevin 🎅
Switched to open over a decade ago and never looked back. Started at open 12,14, and now I’m open 16 degrees with both feet.
Yeah so good!
Ohhhhhh!!!!! I have always tried to stack my shoulders, I will try this next time.
I have actually done it by accidents few times, but every time, I forced my shoulders to be stack to the board.
Torsion on the backfoot 🔑🗝️ keep on carving!
Awesome stuff Mal, learning so much from this.
Cheers 🙌
Hi Malcolm, may I ask what is your snowboard stance? Thanks
Very good video so helpful thanks. Could someone elaborate a bit more with the shoulders alignment ? Not quite sure i totally get it yet as im french speaker its a bit harder for me to understand this part. Thanks!
Great video, would be interested to hear your thoughts on binding angles and stance width.. I have been riding duck (+15-15) since before time! It was just what was the thing to do when I learnt in the 90s but I think it's a bit of a waste since I ride very little switch or freestyle.. thinking of going more front facing (+18-3) maybe? What do you think? I am getting to the age I find myself doing more carving and less of much else..
I do +18 -12, but yeah, if you don't do much switch or park, go more forward facing!
I just got done resetting my Board and have it at +17 -12. I had it a little less aggressive and decided to change it so I don't have as much toe drag when I lean into it really hard. That's something you don't hear to offen, but when you want to carve hard you want a wide enough board so you don't scrape with your boot and wipe out. I had to set my stance wider as well so that didn't happen. I already have a nitro magnum which is a very wide board, but I still have problems with drag sometimes.
Hi, if you really want to focus on carving I recommend setting it even more forward facing! +3, +27 works for me. (I've been riding some GS competitions these past few years and mostly just carving, works well also for powder)
It looks so easy when you do it, bravo 👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌
Cheers 🤩
Anyone struggling to open up their position might benefit from spending a day with their rear foot at a posi angle (3 to 9 degrees maybe) . It makes it a littler easier to get your hips and shoulders more downhill, especially if you have some flexibility limitations in your knees. You can then go back to your preferred stance when you have figured things out.
I'm a posi posi rider anyway so this doesn't apply to me but thought I'd offer it up as a suggestion for any duck riders who are finding this tricky.
I've been looking at quite a few carving videos and will definitely going this posi posi stance a try. Toeside carve is allright but my heelside carve just suck.
@@GC16199 posi posi definitely makes transition from toe to heelside easier so good luck.
@@Daz555Daz Thanks! 👍
If you need to tense up your core to hold a position then that is a sign that it really isn't that stable. Most of your turning happens towards the end of the turn cos you're riding basically on your back foot. Turning your hips sets your bum back so you end up even more on the back of the board. This is why most your turns don't really carve from the start but have just a slight skid before getting that pressure on the edge, and therefore you end up with a "lazy" turn in the first half.
The second half of the turn feels powerful but basically your putting all your effort into 50% of your turns.
Thank you Malcom! This season is my 1st on a Knapton Twin and you're able to explain technique so clearly for a learner like me. Ive been working on the open stance (Ryan has some vids about this too) but your points about engaging the core excessively and dipping the back shoulder, along with your excellent demo, really clears it up. Question, what's your advice for driving more power into the back leg on a deep heelside carve, like when you're laying down your hand on the snow? My back leg has a tendency of skidding out.
Not necessarily as extreme a psotion, but mimicking going for the indy grab tends to line things up pretty well. I often see my back arm up in the air, and when I try to reach it down towards grabbing my edge it puts me in a stronger position 👍
@@malcolmmoore Awesome, will work on that grab. Keep up the great work!
Now try 0 degrees binding angle in the back and your stance will open much more naturally.
And I was stupid to fight this! It seemed to me as very natural stance, but I forced myself to close it more and more.
here's me been trying for 25 years to bring my shoulders in line and it turns out I've been riding in a more aggressive stance all along.
if you've been riding for 25 years there is little anyone can teach you. Except Malcolm. Because Malcolm has some of the most organized and unique breakdowns of technique ever.
Thanks guys 🙌
Thank you for sharing your experience with us ! Good luck and have fun :)
Thank you! You too!
I've just found your chanel 2 day ago and i've whatched a lot of your video.These types of videos are helping.I'm going to the mountain in a few days and i'll try to apply what I have learned from you.I'm riding my board since February 2021 and i've learned a lot.But I still strugle to get some speed and do some carve , or atleast do the S-turns.This season i will try to improve my switch riding because I want to hit the park.Until then i have to improve my normal riding:)).Any tips ??? KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!👑👑👑👑👑
Keep practicing and keep watching haha! Nah, but I am actually working on video right now that is all about getting your posture totally correct, as even slightly wrong posture can lead to a whole host of problems!
@@malcolmmoore I've just arrived home after a long day of snowboarding.I improved a lot after i saw your videos.Thank you man!!
I watched many of your videos and I’m confused with all this turn variations, which one to use when?
Getting Bear Grylls vibes as you speak through those carves!
This is a fantastic and instructive video. Thanks for the upload. One question: what sort of stance angle and width would you recommend to complement this sort of riding?
I've got +18 -12. A more open stance will put you naturally in more of this position but you can still do it without that. 👍
Hey Malcolm. I naturally ride in this position a lot and I find it messes me up when I do jumps. Any tips or a video of yourself on how to keep yourself aligned with the tips more? Whenever I think 'hands over nose and tail', I find my riding to be really awkward and rigid. Thanks!
Practice riding with your hands clasped behind your back, and really focus on using the flex of the board and weight shifts over the hips to initiate turns.
1. Move your hips over your front foot and get the weight on the top edge initiate rotation.
2. Flex the board with your front foot (pull your toes up if switching to heelside, ankle for toeside). Basically twisting the shape of the board.
3. Follow up with the rear foot shift shortly after, in a kind of flowing motion. While slowly shifting your weight to the back leg using your hips throughout the turn.
Think of it like a 3 step turn, for heelside you would start with the weight on the front toe edge, flex onto the front heel edge (rear weight is still toe edge at this point), then follow through with the rear heel edge as you turn. Really think about using your feet separately in turns, might help to practice dolphin turns as well. The idea is that the weight is shifting across all 4 corners of the board while doing s turns. If practice and think about it often enough it'll start feeling more natural and give you a lot more board control.
@@homedogoli Thanks for the insanely detailed response. I'll definitely give this a try to be more mindful how I initiate turns.
I really miss Alpe D. Spent a season there quite some years ago and loved every second of it. Thinking of getting back into teaching (BASI level 2 Snowboard) and have decided I really want to focus on getting my level 3. How difficult is it these days for a British person to get a job out in Europe?
Impossible in France now, unless you do the ski route, but I think you can still work everywhere else in Europe with a level 3 👍
great video ! can you help with tips on riding icy slops?
+6 or 9 on rear foot will help, works for Terje.
It will for this for sure, but I keep mine at +18 in the front and -12 on the back for a bit more all around riding! But positive angles are very fun to play with!
Is +30+3 to much forward for a freeride ish stance. I still like to ride switch. And play around on side hits. I feel when I want to spin my knees naturally track in that forward attack way. I’m pretty sure Its a uncommon stance. But it seems to work. Lol
Talking about angles, I think there is something wrong either with my ankles or my knees flexibility (or independence from each-other). I'm surely doing some posture mistakes, but for being able to ride on an open stance, or even just for fast flat downhill, I had to go very aggressive with my setup, otherwise it is almost impossible to get my back knee lower and inwards, without having my rear ankle being also pulled inwards and steering the board. To be comfortable carving in an open stance and not feel strain on my joint, I now have +42 +33 setup, which is kind of limiting imho. It seems SF for me seeing Malcom doing what he does with duck stance.
Question! Should I do this open stance for steeps ? Or short radius turns? or your “ open the door , shut the door “ video that u recommend for steeps .. Do you use this riding position yourself most of the time now ?
Nah, I would only really hold an open position all the time when carving like this, pr when riding bug open powder fields, so a similar turn size. In any smaller turn it is best to close off your posture at the end of the turn so you can then 'open the door' to help initiate a smaller turn.
For the type of riding you are doing in this video, what are your binding angles?
I would assume fairly tight. Probably has a lot of forward lean.
+18 -12 and my forward lean is at 2 out of 5 👍
@@malcolmmoore is this good for going switch? I’m used to +15 -15 but I feel i missing a bit on the carving front compared to when I tried +18. Do you change the angles depending on your plan for the day ? Thanks Malcom
@@damianmb5 I m riding +24 +6 forward lean 4.5/5 no issues at all switch... Switch is just repetition, nothing to worry about.. I can do it with +15-15 and +24+6 after several turns ..you just have to adjust your position a bit (posy stance is more of a twisted head when riding switch)
+6 is a nice bootout angle. if you want to increase bootout even more, then use 0 degree backfoot.
Can you make a video of how to keep up speed on a flat slope
Done a couple of recent videos on riding flat slopes check this one out ua-cam.com/video/N7-cz8HcZFI/v-deo.html
Hope it helps!
@@malcolmmoore thanks luv yo content
Great video, i wanna try new carving stance when i go to snow.
Can you tell your stance? It's your neutral stance +4cm?
I have it drilled into me (AASI) do not snowboard tuck kneed. Probably why I have always had a difficult time carving. Ha!
BtW that first laid out toe side carve… beautiful!
Thanks 😊
Nice! Thanks 👍
Is that the Amplid Dada you are carving on, it's a 154 yeah? I'm about 6'2", 187cm, 82kg. Probably intermediate level and seriously considering that board after your other videos! I have massive size 12s and to get a width big enough have landed up on a 167 Jones Mtn twin, which is significantly longer but carves so well... and I don't want to lose that feature! Thanks man
Yeah, that's the board, it's great, probably won't carve as well as the Jones, but will definitely be more playful at slower speeds!
Yeah, that's the board, it's great, probably won't carve as well as the Jones, but will definitely be more playful at slower speeds!
kind of comes natural... thanks for going onto more advanced level videos again.
Just a thought that came to me the last days on the slope ... not doing well in carving on steeper slopes might be the result of that open stance... it kind of leeds to a realy strong toe-edge, but with a very wide radius and underrotating/not quite finishing that toe-edge turn.... resulting in to hight speed into a heel edge turn, where that exact same rotation leeds to smaler turn radius and overrotation, therefore starting to wash out on the heel earlier than on your toes
I just started to try getting low on the transition onto the toe-edge and really rotating (upper body and forward knee) into that turn... resulting in much earlier edgehold and tighter radius... only getting into that open backheavy stance in the end of the turn.
How are your thoughts on really manipiulating turnradius while carving and getting consistent good edgehold on firmer steeper slopes while carving?
thanks for sending some nice style and nice views, cant wait to be back on snow
Yeah I'll be getting back into some more advanced stuff very soon, I've been boshing out a few beginner vids early in the season. For tighter radius and carving on steeper stuff you really need to get that board on a high edge angle early in the turn when there's not too many forces to act against it, and then just really pish into it and drive it around, but yeah I'll try and get into some of this stuff later in the season, I m a bug fan of retraction turns, I think some Canadians call them dynamic turns, and other systems call them low cross under, all gets a bit confusing!
This is fantastic, however I noticed when I started doing this it's easier to cramp on my back foot, is that normal when doing this as more weight rests on the back foot? Or is there more of a resting position when doing this for carving?
Try moving your upper Body forward slightly. So weight goes in front or center.
You just Bend more in back. Try exprementing With weight shift in carve. Not so much but slight Weight shift. Try going in whit pressure in front boot and go out shifting it back. Play around and feel the diffrence.
If it feels bad on your back leg and you are not in powder or not tweaking like a
madman, you are probably doing it wrong. It should feel good.
Yeah, shouldn't feel too bad, but it might just be you getting used to it!
Hi Malcolm should you change your bindings setting, otherwise would it not put a strain on your back knee to twist it? Or is it perfectly fine to use the standard bindings setting pointing toes outwards?
I don't change, but some people prefer to yes, if you can do it with normal binding settings then you'll be more versatile across the rest of the mountain. But it can also be fun to switch up your angles!
Merry Christmas, MM!
Merry Christmas 🎅
I’m so confused. I’ve been riding with an open stance and everyone has been telling me to stack my shoulders over my board. Are both stances used in different situations/scenarios?
basically open stance is the dunning kruger test for snowboarding..
If you are a beginner its not a good idea to do it, or to argue you should be doing it, especially with beginners or SITS ppl.
If you are not a beginner, you can do a couple of tricks and a couple of carves, and ride pretty comfortably in most conditions, this is a technique for you, but again, never argue this because most people will never be at the level where this knowledge will make a difference to them.
Use it and dont talk about it, ignore the naysayers
@@newrenaissance use it and dont talk about it... I need to start thinking that way more
in my opinion, Malcolm is not telling you to ride fully open position, just 15 degrees open (tiny bit).. and bend your knees, upper body straight. And let the edge come naturally after edge change and do not force any rotation. Try it on mellow grippy slopes first
A more open stance is just better for a few scenarios really, like the aggressive carves in this vid, but until you're at an advanced level you should really avoid using it unless you're trying to eurocarve or something. A lot of people end up using it as a crutch to initiate board rotation and never get decent board control. Once you learn how to use board flex and weight shifts to control the board you'll massively improve. Then you can go back to using it where it's useful.
I thought I was pretty decent before doing instructor training but focusing on this made a HUGE difference to my riding. Our BASI instructor would make us go around with our hands clasped behind our back a lot to get used to taking the upper body out of the equation.
Basically just make sure you're using it as a tool rather than a crutch.
@@newrenaissance haha...first rule about open stance.......don't talk about open stance 😀
Hi Malcom,
How you initiate the turn in carving ? Is it the same as in speed up ypur edge changes video ? We are starting with front foot rotation or try using both feets at once ?
Mate, awesome tips and fantastic teaching method.I did a BASI 1 crash course and spent a week holding my jacket to close my shoulder after being told it was a cardinal sin. Have been struggling to understand why I am not getting down lower on my carves so.really looking forward to trying this out. I ride duck though, do I need to go plus plus to really rail the carves in your opinion?
Nah you can still do it with duck, I ride +18 -12 so a little turned out, but not much! I used to ride 15 15 all the time!
@@malcolmmoore Thanks mate, now I realise this off topic but any tips for a banked slalom? I have my first competition in May (Riksgransen in N. Sweden). By the way, love your dog in the flat base vid!
Hold my beer, you've only got a banked slalom video on your channel!
@@jondoe9577 haha yep, check that one!
@@jondoe9577 that slalom looks very cool as well I would love to go!
Can one make a directional twin out of a true twin? (Huck Knife 22/23). I have the feeling that my stance lenght when set at reference is a bit too wide but when I move the bindings down two hole towards the middle, (one left and one right), it feels kinda too narrow.
So I was thinking about moving only the front binding one hole back, so that I only move one position narrower and not two. Does this work? Does it feel weird? Is it something riders (advanced) do all the time and a good way to solve such problem, or is it a no go and it wont work well due to the diference in the flex?
PS I only ride groomers and am learning to ride park. Saying this because I know this works in pow, but now sure about groomers and park. Also, I ALMOST NEVER ride switch but when I ride it's only for a short moment because I landed a trick "to fakie", then I rotate back right away. Not doing this to ride pow.
Thx in advance!
Cheers!
Yeah it can kind of work, I would just pull back the front foot, this can make riding powder and carving feel a little better. But don't do it too much. You are on a twin board and it was designed to be ridden centered.
Dancehaul looking good under your feet Malcolm. I’m attracted to that and the warpig. Pretty much going to have to flip a coin come purchase time!
This is the Amplid Dada, I do need to get back on the dancehaul though, just waiting for some pow!
@@malcolmmoore I was looking at it as an all rounder, carves, slush slashing, boot pack side/back country days
@@malcolmmoore I’ll check out this board though!
@@danyabsley yeah I love it, check out my 'best board 2022' video which is essentially the process of how I came to get it 👍
@@malcolmmoore cool I’ll check that out, I hadn’t watched that yet I’m few months behind on your videos cheers brother!!
what is the your binding set up for doing deep carving? do i need to put my back heelback more forward to keep my back knee more bend?
Brilliant video
Thanks Timothy
Love your vids. I’ve ridden ++ for many years (+24 +6 fwiw) as I first learned to ride in the mid 90s. Was considering going plus 12 negative 9 for more switch as I now teach my two kids and one is regular, the other goofy. Do you find it as easy to crank a carve with +- as ++ angles?
Honestly I'm still yet to properly experiment with the forward angles, I tried it for a day but it just felt strange but I'm planning on setting some time aside soon to really give it more of a go!
Would definitely also love to hear more on positive-positive stance angles and what their benefits/drawbacks are! Especially for people who don't ride switch at all!
Is it better to have a positive binding angle on both feet for this?
Preference will always be most important, and each person’s physiology is different. However, for proficient carving and turning, it’s really hard to argue that a positive stance isn’t factually better. Most negative comments on it come from folks who’ve never tried it and don’t understand it, and if they have, they never got used to it and/or never adjusted their overall posture. Racers, historical best turners & carvers, etc all ride positive angles to some degree. There are truly very, very few exceptions. Many might be surprised just how many pros are riding positive, even those who are heavy on the freestyle. My advice is to make small angle adjustments, spend a little time with each, and see what feels best over time. It’s important to keep this “open” posture, or forward posture, in mind when trying it out. Retaining a duck/square posture with forward angles will feel weird, and vice versa. Personally, I’m happy to see that forward angles are making a comeback and being more accepted and understood. It used to be a common choice many years ago, but faded into the background.
A friend once expressed it this way - yes, you can certainly carve well with a duck stance, but it’s carving well DESPITE your stance... whereas positive (to whatever degree) is working WITH your body.
I always used to ride duck stance +15/-15 and recently tried +18/+3 and boy that is a game changer! For beginners I would highly recommend positive angles at least until you master carving. Note that I love riding switch and was surprised how well it works to ride switch even with positive angles.
What Spenser said really, but as I ride switch alot too I go for +18 -12
@@spenserak great reply Spencer thanks for taking the time to really give a detailed response. I've spent a few years duck stance but recently have gone positive and everything you have said is on point! 🤙
@@spenserak Thanks for this explanation…answered everything I was thinking about bindings angles
Hi Malcolm. Do you adjust your forward lean on your bindings?
Do you use any aftermarket mics on your one r? All your vids have no wind noise at all, but I just cannot get it this good on my one r at all.
Yeah I do, you might spot it on my chest, I've never found any action cam gets good noise from the camera when moving. In my older videos you'll notice I only speak to the camera when I'm still because I was using the audio from the camera. But now I use a rode lavalier mic with a wind jammer. I record that into a 32bit float mic which means I don't have to set gain, its been a real game changer that one, but perhaps this is just going way over your head now! In short, gopro, insta, or any other action cam will have terrible audio when you're doing anything even vaguely fast!
Malcolm, I've noticed that on my directional boards with taper, it gives me better grip in the back if my binding angle is slightly positive in the rear. (9 front, 0 back). When I sink my weight it allows more pressure to back half of the board edge to make up for the difference of the taper. Is this a similar concept to what you are discussing here? Driving more weight towards the back edge for better grip? For twin boards I ride (9/9). With knees bent, my head is pointed downhill and upper body slightly opened about 15-20 degrees.
Yeah that's right, you can naturally get more back foot drive by having positive rear foot angles, but you can still achieve it with more standard foot angles too.
I've noticed that if I ride standard binding Angles (9/9) on my directional boards with taper I have to consciously drive more pressure through my rear knee to keep the toe edge from slipping out. It's just more work. Can I shift more body weight to the rear to lessen the slippage if I want to ride more standard angles (less positive angle in the rear) on tapered boards? What binding Angles are you using for your Dada? Btw I just picked up an Amplid Singular twin for this season. Can't wait try out an Amplid!
@@Chaugar I ride +18 -12 👌
grew up in the alps and been carvin for 43 years -> forward stance is the only way if you wanna go wet armpits on both, front and back side, forget the ducks...not good for your knees either
Any tips to getting on the edge earlier in the turn? I am getting that nice carve mark in the snow but not until almost perpendicular to the fall line. My turn patterns show skidding through the “belly” of the C. Is it just initiating the edge sooner? Thanks. Really enjoy your videos.
Yeah initiate the edge change early in the turn, but a whole load of things could be leading you to nkt grip at the beginning, often I find people over rotate their upper body into the turn too much which then carries on down to their legs making the board skid out before the posture re aligns itself a bit more later in the turn and you get grip. Bit it old well be something else. The best thing to try and do is just to incline your whole body into the turn on something mellow (closed or open stance doesn't really matter here) and see if you can get the board to carve straight away, if you can't you are likely rotating or counter rotating at the start of the turn, or you may just have incorrect posture, and therefore not sending weight down to the right place, but yeah hard to say without seeing you ride!
Why is a clean carve harder on the backside? My heels keep skidding a but
Try some more forward lean on your bindings, but that's more of a cheat soloution, as you can still carve even without highbacks! Just keep practicing, carving is all about getting the fundamentals spot on
Bonjour
Quelle est votre annulation fixation pied avant pied arriere merci et bravo pour vos conseils
+18 -12 🤗
Another great video.
Have a great Xmas! 🎄☃❄🏂🍻🥂
Thanks Richard, hope you had a good Christmas!
Great posture ! what is your binding angle ? Thanks
+18 -12 👍
@@malcolmmoore awesome. thank you !! ;)
What are the best carving boards? What type of snowboard should I looking for?
The more camber and the stiffer they are the better they will hold an edge, but this doesn't necessarily mean they are better for carving. A softer board is more easily manipulated and can be more fun to carve. You can carve on every board, but generally a softer park board won't be as good at it and a stuffer carving board will be better! I just use an all mountain board most of the time!
@@malcolmmoore thanks Malcom. Your videos are great!
@@malcolmmoore so flex: medium / medium-stiff
Are your Highbacks set at the same angle when you're riding an open stance?
Mine are yeah, whilst I'm riding with an open stance I haven't gone full positive with my angles. I did just try that though, and thats where I think some people dial back their read back a little.
Hi Malcolm, this video is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I get the open stance part. But once the rear knee is lower than the front knee, do you also lean backwards? Is this related to the fore and aft video?
A little bit, it's more just to create a different posture that allows angulation. For carving you don't really need much fore pressure you can briefly use it at the edge change, but for most of the turn you're just driving the board around with the back foot, and this position helps you achieve that 👍
@@malcolmmoore thank you for the clarification! Will try this again (the 4th time?) 👍👍👍
"Allows us to be ready foWATCHOUT FUCKING SKIIER"
Haha 🙈
Gold!
what size board? Do you choose board length based on height?
What degrees are your binding positions set to? Looks like your well into the negative on your back foot and maybe around 15* for your front?
+18 -12 👍👍
@@malcolmmoore Do you consider those angles an all mountain/mulit purpose type setup? i,e., Some park and side hits, carving and cruising? I know to each is their own but I'd like your opinion on it. Thanks.
So open up the front foot binding position and keep the back at 0°? Or open up both?
You can keep your feet as whatever they are at, I just used that as a reference point as most people have their front foot between 15 and 20. But regardless of what your feet are at you can still open your body. My front foot is at +18 and back at -12. Of course having a more open stance lends itself to this kind of riding, but you can do it with any stance!
@@malcolmmoore I’ve just been riding at 0/0 and can carve pretty well, but I’ll definitely try opening my binding stance up a bit and see how that feels. Just started boarding last season so this was very helpful, thank you!
Hi Malcolm, when I open my stance to carve and bend my knees on heelside I find that my front leg tends to straighten out a bit more. Is this normal? I find it quite difficult to bend both knees to the same angle and apply equal pressure as I have more weight on my back foot.
Yeah that's normal, try not to let it fully extend though, but it can get pretty straight especially the more you drive through the back leg. I intend to cover this a bit more in a video at some point this winter actually!
Almost Japanese carver are open stance :)
Good stuff!
Thanks!
What stance angles should we use on the board for this?
Up to you, I didn't change my angles, I rode +18 -12, but it will be easier to get into this position the more you open your feet up
@@malcolmmoore Thanks!
Do you still believe that having hips and shoulders aligned with the board is 'stacked and aligned'? The reason I ask is that I disagree with that statement.
From 1:16 to 1:38 I still have hard time doing this. Rocking one edge to another back and forth. Can this only be done at certain speed? And only when going on a straight slope?
No. You can do it really slow but some Speed Helps.. you can do it wereever
@@puckoberto damn i duno what im doing wrong. I just can't do it haha. Like is there even a snowboarding turn for this move? I typed "snowboard rocking edge to edge" on youtube. No tutorial :(
Carving. And its alot out there.
@@puckoberto ohh that's called carving as well? From 1:16 to 1:38
@Leaaa e carving is when you use your board’s side cut to make turns. This means that your weight is distributed evenly and centered on the board. Turning will basically happen when you put the downhill edge in the snow. At the time stamp you specified, he’s making very long turns but not really finishing them. You can imagine the board making circles in the snow. The smaller the circle, the shorter and sharper the turn. Both short and long turns are carving if they’re done using the edge only. Use long turns for flatter terrain and short ones for steeper terrain. If you did those long turns on a steep slope you’ll gain way too much speed and lose control. It’s also worth mentioning these turns are a great way to get across flats since you minimize the surface area making friction with the snow so you don’t lose as much speed. Just make sure to always almost have your board pointed straight like he does here!
Hi Malcolm Moore😅
Hi Yusuf!
what angle do you use at the front and back links?
+18 -12 👍
It’s about drive it’s about power- Dwayne Johnson
Haha 😄
where are you located what resort is this
Alpe d'Huez in France 🇫🇷
@@malcolmmoore cool thanks
Man, this front on vs. side on question is such an interesting topic. In Alpine Snowboarding with hard boots and double positive stance you always ride front on, never ride side on - the posture is much closer to surfing (e.g. comparing the bottom turn of surfing with a toe edge carve in alpine snowboarding). If you look at what world class surf coach Clayton Nienaber teaches ua-cam.com/video/SAtZ1YjeUaI/v-deo.html he makes so many valid points for a front on stance and the "lunge" being better for joint stacking than the "squat" position. Because of that I started questioning my duck snowboard stance because it prevents me from getting low by lunging. Would be awesome to get your thoughts on this
what are binding angles pls
+18-12 ✌
Great tips, but I really hate terms like "open position". To someone who doesn't know much about snowboarding saying "open position" or "opening up" literally means nothing.
Forward lean... You need more.
Opening your hips is all about forcing carves to start from the front of the board. opening the hips like that moves your weight forward of center.
+ 1 level keep shoulders in line with the board transfer your weight to the front of the board initiate your turn from your front foot, at apex be neutral front to back. For the last 50% of the turn drive off the rear foot. rinse and repeat.
You're totally doing correctly in your video you just haven't explained the motion properly.
I'm a cert 2 snowboard Instructor through the PSIA system... Everyone caution THIS IS NOT CARVING... notice the snow spray from the control phase(board pointing down hill) through the finish(turning board across hill) of the turn, that is an indicator of SKID TURNING NOT CARVE TURNING. Also take note his edge change is happening in the fall line(down hill)... When carving correctly the edge change should happen perpendicular to the fall line(across the slope)!!! Nice try but the body needs to stay closed to manage pressure and tilt during the edge change across the fall line!!!
Just gonna drop this here and let you figure out yourself.
ua-cam.com/video/h70kgLV2_Vg/v-deo.html
You are funny. Sometimes its icy and board not grips so because its not a Perfect carve its Still a carve. Shure you can carve in fall line. A carve is the edge biting and follow the sidecut. Have you seen the guys from Japan duckstance carving Whit completly open Body? You been reading the rules to much.
Benjamin, you are wrong I'm afraid
Dude you ever state side? I want to get some carving lessons from you 🏂
Unfortunately not!