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Snowboarding Course - Sideslipping (Heelside)
As mentioned in our Sideslipping (Toeside) section, Sideslipping is sliding along the fall line of the slope. This exercise will teach you how to use your Snowboard's edges to control your speed in going downhill.
In this section, know what Sideslipping (heelside) is all about and learn how to use the heel edge of your Snowboard in controlling your descent:
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STEP 1: When starting out, learn on a moderate slope. Your feet should be attached to your Snowboard Bindings. Then, face downhill and sit on the ground. Your legs should be bent and your snowboard should be on its heel edge. Make sure to keep your balance. |
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STEP 2: Dig your heel edge deeper into the snow. This will give you a firm hold or a stable position before you continue. Plant your hands into the snow to support your upper body. |
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STEP 3: Move your hands toward your body. Use them to balance yourself while you lift yourself gradually from the ground. Distribute your weight evenly to your knees to help maintain your balance. |
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STEP 4: Finally, try to stand up. This is quite a difficult position to make but it can be mastered through practice. Just find your balance and hold your upright position while the board is on its heel edge. |
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STEP 5: Know how to control your Snowboard and the speed of your descent using your heel edge. Your speed in going downhill increases as you decrease your edge angle. Push your Snowboard further down for more speed. |
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STEP 6: In the previous step, you learned that you will gain more speed if you decrease your edge angle. This time, increase the edge angle of your Snowboard. You will notice that there is a decrease in your speed. Keep on slowing down by continuously increasing the angle of your Snowboard heel edge. Soon, you will come to a halt.
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STEP 7: You have finally reached the last step of the exercise. Keep your board on its heel edge while gradually lowering your body. Put your hands on the ground to support your body.
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Users who read this article also read the following articles:
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See related products in our Snowboarding Shop:
| Snowboards Hot Picks  | Snowboard Boots Hot Picks  | Snowboard Bindings Hot Picks  |
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Lessons Overview
Below you can find all the lessons of our Learn Snowboarding Online Course:
| 1: | Snowboard Basics |
| 2: | Carrying your Snowboard |
| 3: | Skating |
| 4: | Switching Edges |
| 5: | Gliding |
| 6: | Moving Up the Slope |
| 7: | Sideslipping (Heelside) |
| 8: | Sideslipping (Toeside) |
| 9: | Traversing (Heelside) |
| 10: | Traversing (Toeside) |
| 11: | Falling Leaf |
| 12: | Garlands |
| 13: | Linking Turns |
Done? Try our Snowboarding Tricks section.
© 2003-2008 ABC of Snowboarding, part of MaxLifestyle International Inc. All rights reserved.
Thursday 26th July 2007 at 3:18:41 PM
not to be rode but isnt it snow plowing
Sunday 30th September 2007 at 4:53:33 AM
A better edging is based on using of lower legs as levers. That means lower legs permanently push to the front or back sides of boots and thus move the power from the body through the boots next trough the bindings to the board and so standing the board on the edge.
That involves the lower legs muscles action to the opposite direction than on the pictures above.
Monday 22nd December 2008 at 6:43:51 PM
Please add something about how the heck you keep the edge perpendicular with the slope without gliding down with crazy speed!
Sunday 25th January 2009 at 11:54:37 AM
got my first snowboard lesson 2 months ago. I can't wait doing level 1 and 2. Anyone got more tips? pls.
Thursday 5th February 2009 at 6:32:25 PM
sbeginner~If you start out (standing up after strapping in) from the beginning with your board already perpendicular it's not too hard to keep it that way. If you feel one side/foot is getting head of the other simply place a little more weight or pressure on that side. The extra friction will slow it down to stay even. Just don't get crazy with leaning and try to keep your center of gravity by staying low! Good luck :)
Saturday 28th February 2009 at 5:21:43 AM
Lisa, I will have to keep that in mind. That is one issue that I found was a constant the first day I went out... Anything else you can recommend to keep the board perpendicular to the slope?
Monday 9th March 2009 at 7:45:20 PM
I'm 6'01'' 250 lbs. and I have the worst balance ever, I've never been able to stand on any kind of board before and I can't seem to do this exercise, every time I lean back to the heel edge I fall backwards, tried for hours and simply couldn't get in balance, I'm gonna try again tomorrow so any tips (I do bend my knees and all of that, I do everything it says in here), on how a person like me could get balance would be greatly appreciated, I''m not giving up so yeah...
Keep in mind that I do everything correctly up to the 5th step (sometimes I fall backwards when I stand up on the heel side in step 4) but its when I try to slow down that I always fall backwards.
Wednesday 18th March 2009 at 11:06:36 AM
Groco, at first I have the some problem as you but I found out that I just have to lean forward when snowboarding. So im not sure if this will help but it did help me :) So whenever you're trying to do this suggestion, try leaning forward a little bit. If you do feel like you are going to fall over forward then try leaning backwards. But i would say the most important tip of all is just keep trying and if you just can't ever seem to get this style then try something else and come back to this one. ~_^
Tuesday 5th January 2010 at 10:44:01 AM
Do these comments actually work?
Wednesday 13th January 2010 at 12:05:20 AM
Groco, I''m the same size as you. Same problem keep falling back when lifting toes trying to do slideslipping heelside. I took snowboarding lessons yesterday, still can''t do it. An instructor had me do it toeside. I didn''t fall as much. Instructor said that for people our side we feel more comfortable & have better balance leaning forward. I''m still trying to learn, eventually I''ll get it figured out, you will too.
Monday 18th January 2010 at 2:57:42 AM
I''m 6''2'''' 210lbs, so almost the same size as you, guys, and I was facing the same problem - how the heck am i supposed to stand up on this thing!
1) - instructor helps! at least for the first couple of times while your body learns the position, where you''re not falling either direction. at least s/he can give you a hand for the first couple of times.
2) - when you''re sitting down, facing down hill and are going to try to stand up - grab the front (toeside) edge of the board w/ one hand (middle, between bindings), pull yourself towards it slightly and push yourself up w/ another hand (hard to explain as English is not my native language but I hope you got it). Pulling yourself towards the toe side may give you that extra little something to stand up :).
w/o that I was either falling back or rolling over or sliding sideways, and during these first times, sliding even an inch on either side seems scary :D. I guess, once you''ll feel where the equlibrium point is, it will be much easier, like on bicycle :).
And get some protective gear! even if speeds are minor, being afraid of potential pain following an inevitable fall just locks your body up. I''d recommend to have knee pads, impact shorts and wrist protection, helmet also could help. Once you''re not afraid to fall, you''ll be able to relax and learning will be much easier.
Monday 15th February 2010 at 9:35:41 PM
I was taught NOT to put your hands down (especially if you are going fast and need to sit quickly)... not only does this end up hurting your wrists after a while but if you do it at the wrong time then u could end up with serious damage to your arm!!! Instead, when you go to sit, sit as low as you can, put your arms in front of you and ROLL back onto your back... This will keep you from hurting your tailbone and/or arm(s)
Wednesday 3rd March 2010 at 9:05:32 AM
As a 6ft2 200lb guy myself...my instructor pointed out I wouldn''t keep my knees bent enough, or stay low enough. So that helped. Second thing is that for us big-foooted folks we generally have leverage on the toe side so I actually found it easier to get the feel of the board doing toe-side slideslipping etc...and then built on that to do the other basics. Everynow and then I would relax and start to straighten my knees...and then topple over! So keep the knees bent till you''re stopped.
Monday 8th March 2010 at 2:57:10 AM
Like NR I found toe-side sideslipping MUCH easier than heel-side. In fact, to do this exercise I have to dig the toe side into the snow, ease forward to balance on the toe edge, then rock back onto the heel edge. EVERY time I try to stand after digging in the heel edge, I flat-board and the board slips downhill. Will go out for my 3rd day soon, so will try the suggestion of grabbing the toe edge with my hand between the bindings. I''m skeptical...any other suggestions? I''m 6''0" 190 in boots.
Wednesday 31st March 2010 at 6:39:02 PM
Im so glad to read these comments, im 6" girl and recently went boarding with two friends, they both picked up the getting up really easy - they are both about 5"5 and i still have problems,and find it virtually impossible to get up, i cant get my arm to lift off the ground once ive pushed myself up, any attempt and im dragging it behind me as i slide down the slope - gentle incline as it is, its so painful for days after. it would appear that us taller folk are slightly handicapped then. Im still having problems but willy try and remember some of these tips - if anyone has any tips for me, they would be greatly appreciated !
Friday 16th April 2010 at 3:07:24 AM
I've been trying to develop my balance by specifically training for balance and have seen some improvement as a result. For example there is a Yoga stance where you stand on one foot and place the other foot on the inside of your knee, arms raised over your head; skateboarding, especially on a Carveboard, is great cross-training, as is surfing or Standup Paddleboarding. I also ordered an Indo board balance trainer, looking forward to trying that out, have enjoyed the inflatable pad it's meant to sit on, just standing on the pad (these are sold at most sports stores for about $25 and I've noticed them sitting near the medicine balls at the local gym) really seems to get the stabilizer muscles firing off!
Thursday 13th May 2010 at 12:31:15 AM
If you are going down as demonstrated above and find yourself falling on your backside every single time.. don't dig your heels in as much. If you find you're falling forwards a lot, you are applying too much pressure on your toes, dig your heels in a little bit. There's a fine line between digging too much and not enough, you will eventually get the hang of this naturally. Bend your knees and try not to focus on your board, look ahead. Same with toe side.
Thursday 15th July 2010 at 5:10:56 AM
Nice website and cool animations. Don''t push your toes too far forward though, because when the front side touches the snow you''ll probably fall forward.
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