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Table of Contents
Advanced Freestyle takes a wider look at freestyle both in and out of the park, with a view to develop versatility and creative riding. This chapter shows a selection of tricks that are commonly performed at an advanced level and can be categorised into all-mountain, jumps, boxes/rails and halfpipe riding.
Park Jumps: Advanced Aerial Awareness
What, Why, How
Getting comfortable being able to move the body whilst in the air, trying different grabs and taking off on an edge.
To develop basic grabs and build familiarity and movement options in the air as well as simulating the approach and takeoff for spinning on jumps.
Shifty and Poke Variations:
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Warm up with straight airs and safety grabs to feel how much time there is in the air.
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Try pumping by extending and flexing both legs in the air to build towards grabs.
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Extend the back/front leg and flex the other leg to prepare for a nose/tail grab.
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During a frontside shifty, retract the legs to prepare for a stalefish.
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During a backside shifty, flex the back leg and extend the front to prepare for an indy nosebone.
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Explore any combination or variation of the above, plus the many more positions available to prepare for any grab desired.
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Take the same movements to bigger jumps, ensuring that speed is adjusted to suit.
Hot Tip
For those that have used a trampoline before, moving in the air can be quite similar; it’s important to takeoff the trampoline first before moving into a position in the air and keep the eyes up for stability while bouncing. It's also easy to recognise that a little more airtime can provide a little more time to make movements in the air.
Grab Variations:
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Explain where to look and where to place the arms/hands to meet the board for each grab.
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Consider explanations that help to bring parts of the lower body towards parts of the upper body, for example lifting the front knee towards the back shoulder for a melon grab.
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Consider having the students trying the grab with their board off stationary to get a sense of how to retract their legs towards their chest.
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When they’re ready highlight the need for a clean pop off the takeoff, then retracting the legs before grabbing.
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Develop by changing jump size or learning more grabs to increase the bag of tricks available to the student.
Edged Takeoffs:
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Use edging tasks outside the park, riding in the fall line focusing on efficient angulation and mellow direction change. Develop further by adding hops to prepare for takeoffs and landings, with a focus on being on an edge while the nose of the board is directly down the fall line.
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When inside the park, establish how long the approach and takeoff transition is for the feature being ridden.
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Explain the path of an edged takeoff for heelside and toeside. Start with a mellow edge set for takeoff, retract the legs in the air and encourage a flat base landing to begin with, moving to the opposite edge after landing.
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Build on this with an explanation of a set-up turn for spinning off park jumps. Focus on leaving the lip of the jump directly down the fall line.
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Develop edge awareness by landing on the opposite edge to takeoff.
Hot Tip
With the key focus of these tasks involving the use of edges, highlighting the students' tracks in the snow are a valuable tool to learn from. Tracks can be observed in the approach, takeoff and landing zones to help generate awareness.
VIDEO: Advanced Aerial Awareness with Guy McCully
Movements & Board Performance
Vertical & Longitudinal with Pressuring (Pop)
All flexion, extension and the independent combinations should be focused in the ankles, knees and hips underneath a stable upper body. Larger range of movement should be encouraged.
Lateral
Focus on neutral lateral alignment to allow the base of the board to remain flat throughout the trick. For edged takeoffs, balance over the edge is created through the ankles and knees on the toe edge and knees and hips on the heel edge. The edge angle of the board should be kept to a minimum. Flexion and extension should be used smoothly and evenly through both legs together at takeoff and landing to promote stability.
Rotational
Focus on rotational alignment associated with a more high performance stance for manoeuvres where the board remains aligned with the fall line. Allow the upper and lower body to separate when counter-rotation is used in manoeuvres such as shifties.
Terrain & Group Management
Ensure everyone is clear on SMART style and how to call their drop for your chosen jump. It’s important that students feel comfortable with the feature being ridden, they should be landing in the sweet spot consistently before introducing new movements. Focus on creating a group culture that looks out for each other in the park by ensuring that the rider who has just dropped is clear of the landing before the next rider calls their drop.
Hot Tip
Games such as SKATE or SHRED, where riders take it in turn to call a different grab for others to try, is a great way to experience new grabs that students haven’t tried before, instead of always trying their standard safety grabs.
Corrective Teaching
Rider catches tail on the lip of the jump performing a shifty (common for frontside shifty):
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Encourage patience and focus separating the takeoff and trick zones to ensure the board pivots after it has left the lip.
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Focus on a small range of rotational separation in the air to begin with to create the trick.
Rider waves their hands around and loses balance when attempting awareness movements on bigger jumps:
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Use a ‘follow me’ approach to ensure the rider is comfortable with the speed needed.
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Focus on keeping the hands low and smoothly retracting the legs in the air before moving out of this position.
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Ensure all awareness-based movements are done through the lower body, keeping the upper body quiet and relaxed.
Rider leans over or reaches down when grabbing, losing balance in the air:
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Review aerial awareness and movements that build towards the grab.
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Reduce the size of the feature to increase comfort levels.
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Encourage more pop as they take off to help retract the legs in the air.
Rider tries to grab too early, losing balance at takeoff:
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Focus on separating the takeoff and trick zones so the movement for a grab is not rushed.
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Reduce the size of the feature to increase comfort levels.
Rider’s snowboard turns 90 degrees in the air when taking off on an edge:
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Review the use of the side-cut to create a direction change in the fall line focusing on a rotationally neutral upper body.
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Practise releasing the hop with a rotationally quiet and stable upper body.
Self Reflection
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“Do my students have the confidence in the air to make smooth, secondary movements from a stable position?”
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“Does the task I’m using benefit the trick that they are working towards?”
