Improve Dynamic and Aggressive Snowboarding

Dynamic snowboarding isn’t just fun, but the extra rhythm gives you more control and helps you aggressively tackle variable terrain like ice, crud, moguls and powder.

Since dynamic snowboarding is all about the rhythm that comes naturally from your personal style, in this video we’ll give you some tips to help discover your own rhythm and confident riding style.

Before trying to improve your dynamic riding, you should have mastered basic turns on green and blue terrain. In this episode we’ll teach you to be more aggressive and dynamic.

Dynamic snowboarding means your body takes a different path than your snowboard— so your legs flex up and down and your snowboard seems to spring underneath you. Unlike basic turns, where your body stays relatively quiet, you’ll be bouncy and lively in dynamic riding.

There are all sorts of boring, technical drills you can do to practice dynamic. They emphasize timing and form and even the best riders have to concentrate really hard to do them right. Our favorite method is below:

Step #1—Find your snowboard rhythm
Head to a flat area and practice bouncing up and down. Keep your back upright while bending and straightening your legs (no bending at the waist…that’s just silly looking). To get even lower, imagine your ankles are lazy and just let your boots support your weight.

Step #2—Snowboard music
Now that you’re springy, head to a steep, narrow hill and turn on your MP3 music device. If you got coal for Christmas and have no such device, think of the dancing-ist song you know and hum along.

Step #3—Bounce while snowboarding
Bounce up and down at the top and begin heading downhill. Go straight for as long as you comfortably can without getting too much speed, bouncing all the while. As you begin making turns, the up/down rhythm should carry over into your riding and the steep, narrow run will help you naturally be more dynamic.

Don’t overthink it. Hum your song and just let it happen.

Snowboard drill—Dynamic falling leaf & garlands
If you want more practice, here’s a couple of those boring drills we talked about early on. On an intermediate run, do a falling leaf across the hill while adding your own up/down rhythm. You’ll link a series of regular and switch turn beginnings and it should feel like you are getting low in the beginning and standing tall towards the end of each. Then do the same thing while doing garlands, again, low at the beginning and tall at the end. Kind of like using your legs to spring out of each turn. Try it both toe and heelside.

You’ll look dumb doing this drill, but your friends will stop teasing when they see the sweet turns you’ve just made.

If you want more riding tips, stay tuned for our upcoming intermediate episodes.

Next: How to Carve a Snowboard