Specific halfpipe tips?
Michael
suggestions.
1) What do I do as I am going up the face? Do I jump (push off) at
some point or do I just let my speed carry me off? If I should jump,
is the motion up or out (out meaning pushing away from the face back
into the pipe)?
2) How do I land? The few times I have had enough speed to catch some
air, I seem to be too vertical and I slide down the entire face on the
back of my board. Is this an air problem (too vertical) or a landing
problem (perhaps I should be pulling in my back leg or something)?
BTW, I am just trying to do a basic 180 on both sides.
Anyway, specific suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks.
Cheers, Michael
Arvin Chang
of the pipe and will give you some basic starting points.
kis...@twcny.rr.com (Michael) wrote in message news:<8e9760cf.03022...@posting.google.com>...
> I am just starting to try out the halfpipe and I need some
> suggestions.
>
> 1) What do I do as I am going up the face? Do I jump (push off) at
> some point or do I just let my speed carry me off? If I should jump,
> is the motion up or out (out meaning pushing away from the face back
> into the pipe)?
When going up the face, you want to be looking *above* the lip of the
wall since you tend to go in the direction you are looking in. If you
look at the wall itself, you are likely to "run into" the wall. You
will want to jump "out" and do a little hop turn when you reach the
zenith of your arc (basically when you run out of steam going up the
wall). I stress jumping only enough to get you board clear of the wall
to turn it, if you jump too hard and you will push yourself away from
the wall and into the flat. Try not to jump to early and land "higher"
on the pipe than when you left it.
> 2) How do I land? The few times I have had enough speed to catch some
> air, I seem to be too vertical and I slide down the entire face on the
> back of my board. Is this an air problem (too vertical) or a landing
> problem (perhaps I should be pulling in my back leg or something)?
You basically want to land with your board in line with the direction
of travel (diagonally down). In the beginning, try to go up the wall
at around a 45-60 degree angle (the optimal angle varies based on the
pipe and the rider's personal perference - just don't try to go
straight up the wall). As you go up the wall, start turning your lead
shoulder "down" into the pipe as you go up the wall (some find it
helpful pointing down into the pipe with their lead arm) when you do
you little hop, you will find that you hip/legs will simply "untwist"
and follow your shoulders.
> BTW, I am just trying to do a basic 180 on both sides.
>
> Anyway, specific suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks.
I think those will be enough to get you started. For those of you how
already have the basic figured out here are some more advanced tips on
how to get more speed in the pipe (which leads to bigger airs). The
most obvious thing is you should never speed check or slide your
board, you will need to be brave because in order to get some height
at the top of the wall, you will need to be going *fast* along of the
bottom between the walls. However to achieve this, you will need to do
some thing that seemed a little "counter-intuitive" (at least they
were to me when my instructor told them to me).
1. While cutting across the flat bottom, you want to be grooved in a
carve. This (not riding flat) is the most efficient way to convert the
downward pull of gravity into the speed you need going "sideways" to
each wall.
2. When going up the wall, you will actually want to try and go flat.
"But how do I go up the wall?" you ask... by having *lots* of speed,
so much so that you momentum "pushes" you up the wall on a flat board.
Basically, when you try and carve "up" the wall, you will inevitably
skid a little because you will not be able to apply enough force on
you edge as the force vector approaches horizontal (I can draw a force
vector diagram if you want, but will avoid it for now). That skidding
means lost speed.
3. Finally, something that I initially thought was weird, and slightly
dangerous... but it is tremendously effective works. When you land,
you want to land immediately on what "was" your downhill edge and
carve straight at the next wall. What people tend to do is land on
their original "uphill" edge and kind of scrape down the rest of the
wall... doing that or "landing flat" (which usually still is on the
uphill edge you just don't know it) will burn off precious speed.
So there are my tips... remember these tips are how to ride the pipe
and get a lot of speed and air. To implement them you already need to
know how to handle high speeds, carve cleanly, and be able to mentally
"handle" looking down 15-20 ft back into the pipe (takes a bit of time
and practice and you *will* crash a bit). I know my third tip sounds
like a great way to catch your edge, I thought so too... but after
doing it, I went from barely getting my board above the lip of the
superpipe, to going 4-5 feet up past the lip of the pipe (on a good
run). Go and watch some experts/pros ride the pipe... you will see
that they seem to be doing what I say (or more correctly what I say
seems to be what they are doing). Even more helpful, get someone to
video you and you will see that you are doing a lot of weird things
that you don't think you are.
--Arvin
Ede
"Arvin Chang" <loner...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7cbd7bd9.03022...@posting.google.com...
How about someone who is going into the pipe for the first time?
Are there excercises that are less extreme, allowing you to do what you say,
but without even getting to the lip at all?
Just curious... probably won't see the pipe this season.
(I can kinda do it with skis =/ )
Arvin Chang
bad things that are bad in the long run and I don't want to promote
bad habits, but yet at the same time I don't really know how to
suggest a good intermediary level. I guess you should fire try to ride
the wall like a wave, cutting back down when you run out of speed.
Obviously you still need to be use to a little bit of speed and have
good edge control. As you get better, you carve up higher and higher
into the wall... once you get you head near the lip of the wall
(meaing you need 4-5 feet more to clear the way) you can start hop
turning.
--Arvin
"Ede" <edmun...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<%bB6a.56924
Chris Johnson
drop, ride a little way up the wall until you're out of momentum, then
without turning your board around, ride the other way (switch) and up the
opposing wall until you lose momentum, and repeat all the way down. As
you're approaching the wall, bend your knees and throw both hands out in
front of you as you go up. This is just to get a feel for the pipe. The next
step is to do a 180 turn on each wall, then add grabs, then go bigger and do
spins etc.
Chris
"Arvin Chang" <loner...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7cbd7bd9.0302...@posting.google.com...
Arvin Chang
switch in the beginning. I mean it would be *awesome* in the very long
run if you could ride switch as well as regular, but the key to riding
the wall is learning how to transition you weight and edges to turn
back down the wall... I feel like doing a falling leaf won't give you
this. Furthermore, the other skill is learning how to choose a
diagonal along the wall to match the height of the pipe and your
current speed... again the falling leaf doesn't let you practice in
with falling leaf, it sounds like you are going almost straight up the
wall (perpendicular to the main fall line).
I think a really good way to start out is to ride some gullies and
just practice cutting back and forth across the two gully walls. The
"transitions" are less severe and you have a lot more distance to
practice on.
--Arvin
"Chris Johnson" <christoph...@hELp.com> wrote in message news:<3e5ba67c$1...@hpb10302.boi.hp.com>...
Michael
will give it a shot asap!
Cheers, Michael
Jay
> Hmm... my sense is that you won't get very much out of riding the wall
> switch in the beginning. I mean it would be *awesome* in the very long
> run if you could ride switch as well as regular, but the key to riding
> the wall is learning how to transition you weight and edges to turn
> back down the wall... I feel like doing a falling leaf won't give you
> this. Furthermore, the other skill is learning how to choose a
> diagonal along the wall to match the height of the pipe and your
> current speed... again the falling leaf doesn't let you practice in
> with falling leaf, it sounds like you are going almost straight up the
> wall (perpendicular to the main fall line).
>
> I think a really good way to start out is to ride some gullies and
> just practice cutting back and forth across the two gully walls. The
> "transitions" are less severe and you have a lot more distance to
> practice on.
>
I think there's a couple things you can do to start with and one of them is
doing the falling leaf. Ok, it won't teach you anything about turns but it
will teach you to maintain speed and more importantly how to be balanced
riding up the wall. You often see people trying to keep their body vertical
and, well, it looks hard work. You easily could learn this bit off season on
a skateboard. Just get used to having your body well past the vertical but
not falling. The next thing to learn is 180 jump turns. Pratice this on the
flat. Then go into the pipe and try a really slow run, hardly going up the
wall, jumping 180 each time. Concentrate on keeping your weight equal on
both feet, especially just before and after the jump. Remember to look in
the direction you want to turn. If you look at the wall you won't turn.
That should get you started. Then follow Arvin's advice once you get a bit
more confident.
Some good tips Arvin.