6.1.1 Bend your knees

Why should you bend your knees?

By shifting your center of gravity, you have the opportunity to snowboard more dynamically, build up pressure, push or take the weight off the snowboard on hills. By bending your knees, we don't mean bending your knees all the time, but using them dynamically. Thanks to your knees, the piste becomes your personal playground.

As a beginner, you often have the problem that instead of bending your knees, you simply bend down with your upper body while keeping your legs stretched. Your head is then closer to the ground and you have the feeling that you have assumed a low position. It can be very difficult to notice this yourself.

Squats in the traverse

To get a better feel for the change in your center of gravity, the easiest way is to ride in the traverse and try to do squats. The important thing here is to only bend your upper body over your knees as much as necessary. It is best if someone gives you feedback or takes pictures of your ride to see whether you are bending your knees more or leaning forward and keeping your legs straight.

Try to ride as straight a line as possible during the squats. This can be quite challenging, especially on the first few attempts.

Use your range of motion for more dynamics

In short, you now have two options for snowboarding more dynamically. You can either change the edge in a high or low position and use the resulting forces. Find out more about this in the following module 6.1.3 Release pressure or see here how you can steer your snowboard more actively using your knees 6.1.2 Knee steering