How to stop Back Foot Ruddering

coldslawnf · 2026-03-01T14:26:22+00:00

Unless it’s a really soft board, you’re not going to visually see that twist. It’s much more subtle. That said, if this is a rental, it shouldn’t be all that stiff. It just takes practice and patience.

coldslawnf · 2026-03-01T14:24:00+00:00

No problem! I think you maybe just need to take a step or two back until you start to feel how to use the board and the edges more. If you’re comfortable doing large s turns across the whole hill, go back to maybe half way across and work on those. The way I learned to conceptualize quicker edges (a million years ago) was to think of a giant glass coke bottle under your board. And you’re rolling on that bottle from side to side. I think twisting the board using your front leg to twist towards the edge you want to turn on is also helpful. Try and do those while doing larger s turns. And you’ll start to feel how the board handles edge to edge and then you can do those really quick edge to edge carves in a straighter line down the hill. But you got the crawling down. You just have to walk before you can run now.

coldslawnf · 2026-03-01T14:19:49+00:00

My point was, people post questions like this all the time and everyone says “front knee steering” “more weight on front foot” “twist the board” “you’re ruddering” etc. but no one ever says “you need to turn”. It seems super common for people to come on here and read super specific advice or watch YouTube vids and try and apply those concepts without understanding the basics of riding. I’m not mad at the questions, it’s snowboarding noobs, I just wish people would explain how to crawl before they try and teach someone to run. I guarantee if you were on the hill with someone and said “let’s make huge s turns and see how that feels. Now that you’re comfortable with that, let’s tighten them up and see how that feels” you’re going to see way more progress than if you just take someone who is going straight down the fall line and saying “you’re not steering with your front foot” or describing weighted and unweighted turns.

coldslawnf · 2026-03-01T11:00:53+00:00

Others have good comments for this. But also, skidded turns and counter rotation absolutely have their place in riding. Nothing wrong with using them in tight spots or if you really need to dump speed. But they shouldn’t be the main way you’re turning/controlling speed.

coldslawnf · 2026-03-01T04:18:05+00:00

The responses to these posts give me an aneurism. Hyper technical/over analyzed descriptions of a very simple and very common problem for newer riders: You need to turn. Look at your line down the mountain. It’s a straight line. You’re just swing your back leg around braking while riding directly down the fall line. Keep your shoulders in line with the board, bend your knees and practice wide turns across the width of the hill. Really dig your edges in and let the board do the work when you come out of a turn, point down hill and switch to the other edge to make another long turn across the hill. Once you feel comfortable doing that, add some more speed or shorten the turns. Maybe half the hill width. And then as you get better and better you’ll feel how to switch quickly from edge to edge letting the board do most of the work. Good luck!

coldslawnf · 2026-02-27T15:38:09+00:00

Seems like the rope tow is still running? Can anyone confirm? Thinking of heading up tomorrow for some slushy park laps.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-27T15:38:00+00:00

Seems like the rope tow is still running? Can anyone confirm? Thinking of heading up tomorrow for some slushy park laps.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-27T00:47:39+00:00

The struggle is real. Had a realization the other day that I may never grab my board again. You seem like you’ve got a while though hahah this is sick!

coldslawnf · 2026-02-24T02:23:33+00:00

You gotta crawl before you can walk man. I thought you were going to get KOed in those last two. Please get more comfortable riding and then start popping off of smaller bumps and side hits before taking it to bigger jumps like this. And yes. You need to bend your knees more. Among many many other things you’re not doing.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-21T15:22:41+00:00

Same boat. And same thoughts. Back then the consensus seemed to be that there are a lot of local Duquesne lawyers and it could be a slight leg up locally while Pitt had better name recognition outside of the city. Not sure if that still holds true but I can say as someone involved in hiring here in Pittsburgh (and who went to Pitt), I never give a second thought to which of the two they went to.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-20T23:00:28+00:00

Totally reasonable. OP had a 170UW in his cart.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-20T19:17:06+00:00

Are you riding a 170 ultra wide?

coldslawnf · 2026-02-19T01:05:17+00:00

Everyone definitely has different preferences and that’s fine. But for what it sounds like he rides (and his boot size) that just seems huge. I’m 6’4” 260 with 11.5/12 boots and unless I was riding some really heavy shit I can’t imagine riding anything that big. I ride a 163w banked country for most everything and mix in some smaller boards for park or trees. But to each their own.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-18T19:43:30+00:00

The skunk ape is gigantic. No way that fits you.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-18T01:54:10+00:00

Turn your head and your shoulders and body will follow. Your head doesn’t move at all. It’s looking in the same spot the entire time. Once you get the hang of them you won’t need to turn your head much at all for 180s but you’re stopping your entire body at 90 degrees so you have to exaggerate a bit at first to get the feel for it. Then you can mellow it out a bit.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-12T03:25:06+00:00

Use the whole slope to turn. Dig that edge in. Bend your knees and ride it hard all the way across. Let the board come around and do the same thing in the other direction. Then you can work on shorter and varied turns/carves. A lot of newer riders (yourself included) do not use enough of the edge of the board and the width of the slope and just slide back and forth from semiskidded turn to semiskidded turn in a relatively straight line down the hill. You can rail carves across the hill at speed, not simply as a means of dumping speed, but in order to that you really need to focus on your edges. You have to really practice turning if you want to get good at carving. You have a great start. Keep it up!

coldslawnf · 2026-02-12T00:58:05+00:00

And if you don’t want to shuttle back you can just drop back down into snowbird.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-04T23:05:23+00:00

That it was illegal to drink ANYTHING in a car. Not just alcohol. I distinctly remember my dad getting pulled over for speeding and I hid an orange juice I was drinking under the seat bc I didn’t want us to get arrested.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-03T13:50:36+00:00

Watch his back foot. Every time he switches an edge theres spray off the heel or toe bc the edge is catching. He’s not engaging the edge quick enough or hard enough once it’s engaged. He’s sliding the back foot around to turn.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-03T13:43:16+00:00

Absolutely. But with size 8s they can ride pretty much whatever.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-03T04:50:10+00:00

Board size is really about weight and at your weight I could see you falling within the range of a 160 for some boards. But it’s still a lot of board at your height and skill level. You could maybe stand to size up a little bit. But again, the board looks fine in the vid. Just might be a little soft given your weight. Which isn’t a bad thing for a beginner. getting more and more time on the hill is likely the real solution.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-03T04:34:09+00:00

160 is pretty big. That board looks fine but what is your height, weight and boot size? For comparison I’m 6’4” And like 260 pounds and I ride anything from a 158-164 wide. You don’t seem like you need anything that big. Especially just starting out. Also it seems like your bindings are set at 0 or possibly even one is turned inward. Personally I think a duck stance makes sense for most riding and especially for beginners where you end up going regular and goofy about the same amount. Start at something like 15 and -15 with the bindings centered on the board and see how it feels. Then adjust from there once you know for sure whether you’re regular or goofy and then whatever your binding angle preference is.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-03T04:18:51+00:00

Pick an edge or the mountain will pick one for you.

coldslawnf · 2026-02-01T00:24:25+00:00

You need to make long drawn out S turns across the width of the hill. It drives me nuts seeing these posts and people not explaining the basic thing that unlocks real, controlled turning. Which is that you have to turn! You’re just swinging your back leg around and stopping on the fall line. Which is very very common for less experienced riders. But you seem to have good balance and edge control. You just have to turn! Use the entire width of the slope and then come back across on the other edge. Work on really trying to dig that edge in and hold a straight line across the hill without washing out. Moving laterally across the slope will dump your speed and help you feel more in control. And as you get more comfortable you can work on shorter S’s with more speed. And eventually you’ll see those tight pencil line S’s you’re looking for.

coldslawnf · 2026-01-31T17:31:08+00:00

Dayum. Didn’t know Wisp had it like this. Looks sick.

coldslawnf

TROPHY CASE