Rails on a Snowboard course 

Lesson 9

Lesson 1

The Set up:

Goal:
To understand what you need to do physically and mentally before you Grind a Rail or Box

Basic Stance:
You Basic stance should be relaxed and in alignment with your snowboard. You should be soft in the knees and in most cases have a low Center of mass on the snowboard.

Jump Technique:
Before Grinding a Rail or Box, it is important to know what jump style is needed to get onto the feature safely?

Ollie:
This where we lift our front foot up first, followed by the back foot and pop off the tail of our snowboard.

Nollie:
This where we transfer the weight over the front foot and pop off our nose of the snowboard.

Hop Jump:
This where we have even weight on both feet and pop off our Toe edge of our snowboard.

In most cases, the hop jump will be sufficient to get yourself onto rails or boxes. As you become more confident, you will naturally start wanting to become more technical with the jumping style onto the feature.

NOTE: When first Learning, I recommend you stick to the Hop Jump

The Trick:

Before trying a Grind on A Rail or Box, it is EXTREMELY important you visualize the trick in your head first. DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY TRICK WITHOUT THE VISUALIZATION OF IT FIRST!

See yourself completing the trick safely and confidently even before your'e on the feature. (See yourself relaxed, soft in the knees and making to the end of the feature)

Speed:

Speed is your friend when learning how to grind rails and boxes for the first time.Try not to go slow too slow when trying tricks, it is easier to lose balance or catch an edge. (With the right amount of speed, even if you stuff up, it will carry you off the rail safely.)

Pro Tip: Watch someone who is already good at rails/Boxes and mimic the speed (roughly) of what they take into the box.

IMPORTANT:

Take your time learning boxes and rails, once you have the basic foundation down, your progression will come naturally...

Lesson Resources

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