Last Updated3 November 2022

Exploring Freestyle looks at a series of tricks to develop freestyle riding both outside and inside the park. A good understanding of park safety and the ATTL model is essential to successfully break down and teach each trick safely.

Freestyle is often one of the main reasons why people start snowboarding. Remember that, whilst extremely popular, freestyle is not for everyone. Be mindful of your students’ interests and do not push them into freestyle if they appear uncomfortable. The tricks featured in this resource are some of the fundamental tricks required to become a well-rounded freestyle snowboarder. Students will need a variety of turn sizes and shapes before learning these tricks. In some tricks, students will require the ability to flat base and ride switch, for the approach and takeoff and/or to perform or land the trick.

Intro to & Exploring Jumps

What, Why, How

Jumping off natural and man-made features.

Develop skills to jump off features that have more transition through the takeoff (e.g. park jumps). Develop basic air awareness and build confidence.

VIDEO: Intro to Park Jumps with Jamie Middleton

Straight Airs

Review medium open turns and flat basing the board in the fall line.

On flat terrain and stationary, practise hops from a flat base, jumping off both feet. Use a small retraction of the legs in the air and land softly in the same spot. Focus on a quiet upper body with movement focused in the ankles, knees and hips.

On a gentle pitch practise hopping off both feet from a flat base in the fall line. Focus on absorbing the landing through the ankles and knees. Develop this by adding the small retraction movement in the air.

Next, try this off small natural terrain features from a flat base. Bumps in the snow and cat tracks work well. The approach, takeoff, trick (position in the air) and landing can all be focused on one at a time through different activities or attempts.

When students are feeling confident to go into the park, introduce or review Park SMART and appropriate safety considerations. Find a small and well-shaped park jump and describe what to expect within each zone of ATTL. Remind students to pop when the nose of the board has just passed the lip and the leading foot is at the lip. Watch others to help judge speed (including the demo).

When ready, sideslip to a suitable drop in point, call the drop and commit. The pre-ride, re-ride, freeride tactic is great in helping build confidence with a new environment and feature before committing to it. Plenty of mileage jumping will allow for analysing and adapting techniques.

Hot Tip

Practise the timing of the pop by drawing lines in the snow to jump over. Focus on allowing the nose to pass the line and jumping when the leading foot is at the line, rather than jumping over the whole thing. To practise the retraction movement needed in the straight air and indy grab, have students jump on the flat with their boards off, bringing their knees up to meet their hands by flexing through the knees and hips. As opposed to their feet going behind them towards their backsides by only flexing the knees.

Basic Air Awareness (Retracting for Grabs, Pokes & Shiftys):

To develop basic air awareness, practise holding a compact position in the air. Maintain a stable upper body and bring the board closer by retracting the knees up towards the chest. Holding for an increasingly longer period of time before extending the legs for landing.

Next, try to add a basic indy grab. On flat ground with the back foot unstrapped, imagine hitting a jump. Retract the front leg and board up to meet the back hand that is waiting ready to grab, hold between the bindings for a second or two then release the hand and place the board back on the ground. It is important not to flex at the waist and reach down to grab as this may create an unstable position in the air. Now try an indy grab over the same small jump.

To work on a poke of the front foot forwards or back foot backwards/down (whichever is easier) review the retraction movement in the straight air. When the board is at its most retracted, try extending then retracting one of the legs creating either a nose or tail poke. Land like normal by extending and flexing through both legs. Hold the trick for longer as confidence grows.

To frontside shifty, find a gentle slope outside of the park to review using counter-rotation and practise heelside speed checks from a flat base down the fall line. Try to feel how tension builds in the core as the lower body and board is turned sideways, while the upper body points downhill and is then released as the board goes back into a straight run. Make these movements quickly so that the speed check is created and released fairly fast. This will help develop the quick movement needed with minimal time in the air.

Movements & Board Performance

Vertical with Pressuring (Pop)

Movements vertically are the key to a good pop during takeoff and absorption on landing. They are also required for retraction movements to bring the board up towards the upper body, this should be focused in the knees and hips.

Lateral

Minimal movements are recommended at the early stages. Encourage students to take off and land on a flat board. To help this, ensure that flexion movements in the ankles, knees and hips are well proportioned and timed.

Longitudinal

A centred stance is needed to land on both feet and avoid butt checks or going over the nose on landing. Independent movement in the legs is required for creating pokes.

Rotational

Rotational movements should be avoided to maintain alignment and stability as students ride through each zone of ATTL (with the exception of shiftys, where a small counter-rotation movement should be used).

Terrain & Group Management

Begin on flat ground, much the same as the ollie. Progress onto gentle pitches with even fall lines. Look for small natural features to jump off before heading into the park. Airing off cat tracks is great for focusing on the landing and run-out of a jump, but be aware of hazards/traffic and keep speed low. Remember to start small and let students increase speed and amplitude as they choose to do so.

Whilst gaining mileage in the park, continue to reference Park SMART. In a group, share this responsibility around and have students identify something relevant for each letter of SMART.

Corrective Teaching

Student lands sideways and catches their edge when jumping:

Encourage shoulder alignment with the board and in the direction of travel.

Ensure that the size of the feature is within your student’s comfort zone.

When they are successfully landing jumps and comfortably riding away, move them back to the original features they had trouble on.

Student flaps arms while in air:

Reinforce a low, disciplined hand position to aid balance.

Reduce the size of the jump or the speed your student is taking off with.

Focus on smooth extension of the legs at takeoff to achieve a more balanced position in the air.

Work on a strong controlled retraction of the legs up towards the body as the hands move down towards the snowboard.

Student leans back towards the tail while jumping:

Reinforce a centred stance at takeoff and landing.

Focus on smooth, active extension movements at takeoff to avoid passively absorbing the lip.

Encourage the retraction of both knees in the air.

Reduce the size of the jump or the speed your student is taking off with.

Use lots of mileage over a feature that the student feels confident on as it will allow them to practise good technique.

Student leans back over the heel edge in the air or when landing:

Spend time with flat base tasks to ensure the student can take off with the board flat.

Focus on keeping their COM directly over the board and ensure they are flexing evenly through ankles, knees and hips - during the approach, takeoff and when in the air.

Student lands sideways when shifty-ing:

Get mileage using counter-rotation and develop this movement pattern to ensure that the upper and lower body can be separated.

Ensure that the size of the feature is within your student’s comfort zone.

Ensure that students are showing confidence in straight airs before building basic air awareness.

Self Reflection

“Do my students look stable over their snowboard when they land from a natural feature before attempting a park jump?”

“Can my students project their COM upwards from the snow without travelling laterally sideways?”

“Can they maintain strength through the transition of the jump?”

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