4.0 Basicturn skidded, the first turns

Frontside basic turn

First slide along the backside edge in your direction of travel and make sure that the front foot is slightly more loaded. As soon as you are ready to make the turn, point your front hand into the turn so that your body turns slightly in the desired direction. The snowboard should then start to turn, meaning the nose turns towards the valley. Now you will speed up, which you must allow. As soon as you notice that the snowboard is turning, you can lean slightly into the turn and the snowboard will follow you nicely. The best way to do this is to memorize the following sequence.

• Turn in
• Wait for the snowboard to turn
• Finish

A helper is helpful to get a feel for the turns. The helper should only make sure that you don't get stuck and intervene minimally. You should not hold on to the helper and rely on the board and not the helper. Jerky movements should not be made, because once you get used to them, it's hard to get rid of them.

It is important that you don't look at the ground and have good body tension. You can encourage this by riding the turn with your arms outstretched. At the end of the turn, you should look towards the side of the slope and also point to the side so that you don't turn to much.

Backside basic turn

Although the backside turn has the same structure, it feels like a completely different turn. In theory, you can also point your hand to the inside of the turn. However, it is easier to look around you into the turn, as you are then almost forced to turn your upper body with it. At the beginning, it is important that you complete the basic turns, so you can stop completely. This will give you confidence for the blue or even more difficult slopes, because then you know that you can always stop after the turn.

What exactly happens?

By pointing to the inside of the turn, the upper body turns in slightly with the hips. This increases the pressure on the front foot at the toes during the frontside turn. During backside turns, the pressure on the front foot at the heel increases due to the rotation of the upper body. Both lead to the snowboard starting to turn, as it brakes less in the front, due to the torsion. This allows us to turn the snowboard into a safe position for changing edges.

If this is not the case, try it 1-2 times without riding. The torsion required for the turns is only minimal and you may not feel any pressure at all.

Weight distribution during turns

Beginners are often told to put more weight on the front foot. Note that this is mainly said if you are standing too firmly on your back foot. It can then happen that you learn the basic turn with an exaggerated load on the front foot. If this is the case, you have to be careful that this does not become a general riding style. So if you are centered and don't put too much weight on the front or back foot and the turns work out, that's very good, because then you can always play with the weight distribution later. As a general rule, you can say that 60% of your weight should be on the front foot at the start of the turn and 60% on the back at the end, whereby it is not necessary to shift your hips towards the nose and tail.

Reasons why it doesn't work

Most of the time it's down to a lack of patience. You really want to make the turn and don't wait until the snowboard starts to turn, but stand directly on the other edge yourself. As you're in a position at this point where you can't turn, you tilt. 

Another point is that at the beginning you can't judge whether what is happening is good or not. Depending on the person, this can lead to blockages. It is therefore essential to start with a helper. 

The third point is that you have shifted your weight too much onto the back foot, which makes it difficult to change the pressure on the front foot. 

If nothing works, take a look at 3.1 Sliding to fullbase, where problems are discussed in more detail.

Is it already working?

Once you have mastered the basic turns, it's time to leave the "Kinderland" and head for the big blue slopes. Most ski resorts have T-bar lifts with easy blue runs. The advantage of these is that there are usually fewer people in the way than on the chairlifts. Next, you could take a look at 4.1 Standard turn skidded