The simple strategy for becoming a snowboard prodigy

I love the time of year when all the new snowboard videos are released and I get to see them first at the premiers in Whistler. It always blows my mind at how far snowboarding has come and the ability these riders today have. I once was curious about how the hell they got so good but after years of trial and error I think I've come up with a pretty good formula for developing this ability You see there are 2 types of riders. The first group of riders are 'naturals', these people perform and learn snowboarding quickly because of past sports, mindset, or a combination of the two. The second group have to work to develop great snowboard ability. The best part is even the naturals have to work and even if you have no ability whatsoever hard work will always pay off!
Whether you are in group one or two your ability is about to skyrocket. Sounds good right? Well I'm about to share with you a strategy you can learn to start programming all the tricks you want to learn this season right into the very core of your being, the trick will be ingrained into your muscle tissues and mind. Before you continue reading remember the following equation
NO WORK = NO IMPROVEMENT
SOME WORK = SOME IMPROVEMENT
LOTS OF WORK = LOTS OF IMPROVEMENT
You choose, all you need is about 20 minutes a day. Stay consistent and you'll blow your mind!
Ok now if you've read this far I'm sure you're ready for the formula, so here it is!
STEP 1 "BODY": You must have the right body and flexibility to perform hard snowboard tricks. You train hard for hockey, football, soccer, basically all sports. Why not for snowboarding?
Here is a circuit I invented to give you all the muscles you need. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds before moving on to the next
a) High Knees: Jump up and down repeatedly bringing your knees as high as you can into your chest.
b) Situps
c) Burpees: Jump in the air, then squat and kick your feet all the way out like a pushup, bring your legs back underneath you, and explode up again.
d) Running on the spot: bring your knees as high as you can with every stride and keep your hands up to your face.
e) Jump 360's: both pretending to go switch and regular jumping into the air spinning a 360 rotation focusing on technique of spin and exploding through your legs. This is kind of a down time, do your spins properly with style.
***** Stretch for 10 minutes full body before and after *******
Step 2 "FOCUS": In order to start learning both easy and difficult tricks you need to first develop the base layer of skills to build off. The way you do this is to mimic the tricks as much as possible whenever you can. For example if you're learning rail tricks set down a broom pretending it's the rail and focus on proper technique jumping into the board slides. If you're learning to spin jump spins at home focusing on technique frontside and backside switch and regular. MIMIC THE MOVES OVER AND OVER on and off the hill. You can butter most tricks on the hill and start on small features. Doing this allows your body to begin programming all the muscles of your body and builds muscle memory needed to go from landing the trick for the first time to doing the trick without even thinking about it. Watching snowboard videos and analyzing their technique is a great way to learn the correct technique.
STEP 3 "MIND": Have you every heard the expression sports is 90% mental and 10% physical? I believe that but for snowboarding it's 95% mental and 5% physical. It's all in your head! When you try your first 360 you deal with fear, when you stare down a handrail your heart starts to race, when you hit the first jump of the day, when you get in the zone, when you feel that you can land any trick you want. Snowboarding without a doubt is all mental. Now with that said how do you develop a strong mental game? The first step is to start visualizing your tricks. If you have never visualized before don't worry it gets easier with practice. You should also visualize your tricks in 2 ways the first is to see yourself perform the trick as if you were a spectator watching yourself. The second is to "feel yourself" do the trick. It is important in all visualizations to imagine yourself doing the trick perfectly each time. Visualize before you go to bed, in the car, on the lift, as much as you can, and most importantly before you try the trick you want to do.
This is merely a quick and simple outline for developing incredible snowboard ability. It is short and simple and extremely powerful. Snowboarding is all about having a good time so make your training fun too and enjoy your progression!
- Matt
Matt Belair is Professional Snowboard Trainer and Creator of http://www.SnowboardAcademy.com and http://www.SnowboardJedi.com
Currently living in Whistler, British Columbia, Matt teaches his unique 3 step snowboard training system and techniques for harnessing the power of the mind for snowboarding.
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