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Table of Contents
How the Snowboard Performs explores the outcomes of blended movements through use of timing, power and range, and how the snowboard performs with edging, pressuring and steering. As well as the various movement options an instructor needs to understand how the snowboard should perform for specific tasks and outcomes.
Understanding Steering Angle
The steering angle of the board is measured through the path the nose and tail take on the snow surface. Put simply, a perfect carve has a steering angle of zero because the nose and tail are taking the same path. A skidded turn will have a degree of steering angle, because the nose and tail are taking different paths. The larger the steering angle applied, the more skid will be present.
The tracks left in the snow will show how the steering angle increases then decreases throughout a turn unless it is a pure carve. The width of the track left and where it increases and decreases shows the amount of steering being used, when it was used and the duration it was used for.
By understanding steering angle the instructor can use edge-pressure-steer to quantify and describe what is or should be happening with the performance of the board. This knowledge is then applied in relation to the snow conditions and terrain.