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Effective Rider Analysis explores how to effectively analyse a student’s riding. This chapter will provide useful information for what analysis is, why it’s useful and guidance on how best to develop analysis skills.

Within the world of instructing, the skill of analysing a student’s riding is essential to their future progression and achievements. The first step to providing the most effective feedback and formulating a suitable lesson plan that will bring out efficient changes in a student’s riding, is accurately analysing their riding.

Understanding Cause & Effect

To further develop effective rider analysis it is helpful to communicate the relationship between body movements and how the snowboard responds in terms of a cause and an effect.

The cause is the movement the body makes and the effect is the response within the snowboard or the turn/trick itself. When applied accurately, this can be a very effective method of analysis to establish efficiency of movements and desired performance of the snowboard.

Take the time to build a strong understanding of the movements possible on a snowboard and how these movements differ between the toe and heelside turn. This will help to identify if the snowboard is edging, pressuring or steering as a performance response.

Continue to work systematically through each student’s movements to take in the complete picture and identify which of the snowboard’s responses are evident. With more practice tying the movements (cause) and snowboard performance (effect) together becomes second nature.

Here are some simple examples of questions to help develop this skill:

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“Did the rider's vertical movement create desirable pressure management or distribution?”
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“Did the rider's rotational movement help to create desirable steering?”
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“Did the rider's lateral movement create desirable edging, be it tilt of the board or torsional twist?”

The Answers

The answer to these questions reveals that there is not enough performance in the board, or that the performance is used too quickly or slowly, or even that the performance is used too gently or powerfully. This additional information provides detail in the application of each board performance when riding a task.

Confidently establishing cause and effect generates a deeper understanding on the efficiency of movements being used and whether or not they create a desirable board performance.

As an instructor starts questioning whether or not the effect is desirable for the task being ridden, they are now challenging their analysis skills beyond simply looking at movements.

With a rounded and thorough understanding of cause and effect it’s probable that there is more than one board performance that is not as desirable as it could be for the benefit of the task. Now begins the enjoyable challenge of deciding which of those cause and effect relationships is more important for the benefit of the task being ridden.

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