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Your eyes widen as you look down a perfectly groomed halfpipe. Stoked from a sudden adrenaline surge, you kick over the lip and drop into the dragon. With total confidence you nail "Indy Air." Everything feels right …even your hair, as you glance down at the crowd gathered at the base. You're in a "flow state."
Training without restraints has turned your body into a machine. A combination of equipment, flesh and bone. You're able to instinctively calculate any corrective maneuver needed in a mille-second before disaster strikes.
It's like you're floating a foot above the ground as you approach the next pipe wall. No more flopping around like a 3-legged cat on a frozen pond. You explode through your 540 and land fakie. Can you hammer out this next 720 for the hat trick? Of course you can. Time stands still when you launch… two complete turns later, you own that that 720. No problem….
Except that all balance boards aren't the same. A true snowboarding balance board has a unique capabilitiy. It gets you places you never even knew existed. What is it?... We'll get to that in a minute; I'd rather get you right into why you're here. To learn how to use a Vew-Do Balance Board for snowboarding balance board training.
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 I want more information about the Vew-Do "Flow" Snowboard Balance Trainer pictured above. “If you have had knee, ankle or just about any other injury or surgery, using a Vew-Do Balance Board will speed your way to recovery.” - Lars Tribus, Mountain Bike, Masters World Champion |
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How to do Snowboard Heel Turns on a Vew-Do Balance Board - First, find your center of balance on the board. This is easily done by positioning your body evenly over the rock with your knees slightly bent and your back straight. (Photo 1)Then maneuver yourself into your snowboarding stance. (Photo 2) For heel turns, slightly shift your weight back on your heels by bending your knees and elevating your toes.
(Photo 1) (Photo 2)
When you do this, you will automatically engage the taper in the rock. (Photo 3) Careful Sparky, too much lean and you'll end up jumping off the board like a gymnast that just double-stepped a dismount. So keep yourself balanced.
Keep your body centered over the rock and bend either knee while simultaneously straightening the opposite leg. (Photo 4) Only a small amount of straightening is needed to set the board in motion. The board will start to move in the direction of the straightened leg to start.
(Photo 3) (Photo 4)
Proprioception will almost automatically induce you to roll your hips over the rock to maintain your balance on the board. Stay balanced over the rock, gravity will take over the physics of moving the board.
Simulating a snowboard heel turn on the balance board is activated by pushing the trailing foot heel in the direction you want to turn. The forward foot pulls into the direction of the turn and acts as a steering wheel to set the arc and angle of the turn. (Photo 5) The more you push-pull, the tighter the turn will be.
(Photo 5)
After reaching the stops at the end of the board, repeat the same sequence by straightening the opposite leg. Maybe without even realizing it, you're also teaching yourself how to correctly use your snowboard edges for carving.
Too much bite and you'll lose your balance and fall off the board. Not enough bite and you won't engage the taper in the rock. What you're doing is creating muscle memory in the best sport specific environment outside of actually being on a snowboard.
How to do Snowboard Toe Turns on a Vew-Do Balance Board - In the same way you did on the heel turn, find your center of balance on the board. (Photo 1) This is easily done by positioning your body evenly over the rock with your knees slightly bent and your back straight. Then again, maneuver yourself into your snowboarding stance. (Photo2)
(Photo 1) (Photo 2)
For toe turns, slightly shift your weight forward onto the balls of your feet by bending your knees and elevating your heels. (Photo 6) When you do this, you will automatically engage the taper in the rock. Keep your body centered over the rock and bend either knee while simultaneously straightening the opposite leg. (Photo 4) Just like the in the heel turn, only a small amount of straightening is needed to set the board in motion. The board will start to move in the direction of the straightened leg to start.
(Photo 6) (Photo 4)
Now, your hips will naturally roll over the rock as the board moves to help you maintain your balance. Stay balanced over the rock, gravity will take over the physics of moving the board.
Simulating a snowboard toe turn on the balance board is activated by pushing the trailing foot toes in the direction you want to turn. The forward foot pushes into the direction of the turn and acts as a steering wheel to set the arc and angle of the turn. (Photo 7) Again, the more you push-pull, the tighter the turn will be.
(Photo 7)
Reaching the end stops requires you to repeat the sequence to continue your roll across the rock. Too much bite from the toes and you'll lose your balance. Not enough bite and the rock won't engage.
The best way to get the most out of snowboard training on a Vew-Do balance board is to master this - Switch from a heel turn to an opposite stance toe turn each time the board spans the rock. Then switch from a toe turn to an opposite direction heel turn. Eventually, you will want to turn your head, eyes, shoulders and hands in the direction you want to travel thereby initiating the turn with your upper body. From there it's onto rotations but we will save that for another lesson.
There you have it. Snowboarding heel turns and toe turns on a Vew-Do Balance Board. That's the basics of snowboard balance board training. Now let's get back to that unique capability we were talking about earlier.
Vew-Do - The Snowboarders
Balance Board of Choice
You could shave with a hunting knife, but that doesn't make it a razor. By the same token, you could try to snowboard train on a simple entry level balance board, but that doesn't make it snowboard balance board trainer. It's true; all balance boards are not the same. What makes a Vew-Do Balance board unique among balance boards? It's simply and unarguably this: The tapered "rock." That's why Vew-Do Balance Boards are the World's 1st "Patented" multi-directional balance training devices. Let's find out why.
In 5 minutes I'm going to show you the difference between a Vew-Do Balance Board and simple lateral motion balance boards. Go grab your board and boots out of your basement or closet and meet me in the living room. Got your gear?… Good. Now clear a small area where you can strap on the board. Put on your snowboarding boots and strap yourself into the bindings like you're ready to rock n' roll. Now, with your knees slightly bent, push down on the balls of your feet and lift your heels. With some decent balance skills, you should be able to tilt the board onto its edge. What you are doing is simulating a static toe turn on your snowboard. This is the exact same body positioning you'll experience on a Vew-Do Balance Board. But wait, there's more. On your Vew-Do Balance Board, you'll simulate carving and edging while in motion. You'll be sharpening your snowboard carving skills along with your balance skills across every axis. This is all possible because of the taper in the rock. Now let's see what happens when you're on a simple balance board trainer. First, release your feet by fully opening up your bindings. Stand up and bend your knees slightly. Now push down on the balls of your feet and lift your heels. What happened?...Absolutely nothing, except that now you're standing on your tippy-toes while the board is still flat on the ground. Some common sense tells us that you don't snowboard on the balls of your feet while the board is still flat on the ground, right? So how can you get snowboard balance board training on a balance board that doesn't pitch the board under your feet and allow you to carve and edge? Unfortunately balance board trainers without tapered rocks just aren't able to simulate the characteristics of snowboarding. That's because you can't get the unlimited heel/toe capabilities that you get on a Vew-Do Balance Board with its tapered rock. Snowboarding requires edging, pressuring, balance adjustments and carving. Snowboard balance board training must give you the ability to develop the carving and edging skills you'll need to dominate a snowboard. Limited range of motion bongo board type balance boards cannot give you that. They never have, and never will. By: Rick Contrata Why not just add this page to your bookmarking links now?  Furl -
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