Proper Snowboard Heelside and Toeside Turn Technique 101 

What a great video, clearly explained, clearly demonstrated, brilliant. Thanks Tommie.

Oh men, i can’t be more excited to take my trip to north caroline and practice all what I’ve seen in your videos. Thank you for the videos.

This is ONE OF THE BEST COACHING FILMS EVER!!!

Bro that was so well explained. Keep it coming

thank you!! Indeed, there’s a LOT of talk about knee steering but like no one actually explains how to do it. Thanks to you, I finally get it

first person i've seen take a fall for teaching purposes, appreciate it haha

I will certainly practice this critical technique on gentle, terrain and focus on keeping my hands and upper body still, like you demonstrate, mr. T… I also learned that this is a terrific technique to make tight controlled, turns in narrow spaces and steeper terrain. PLEASE, consider doing some video where you teach a particular technique to beginner/intermediate/advance snowboarders, noting progression, improvement and success in your students.

Perfect video & demo Tommy! Been preaching that 60%/40% weight distribution for 25 yrs. Every new rider, new instructor and back, fishtailing leg rider needs to see this video. Superb breakdown with static, simple, complex, freeride teaching model! 💪🤙💯

Wish I met your RU-vid channel 3 years ago! Thank you so much Jedi master for all these awesome tutorial 😍. Taking my snowboarding to the next level since I follow you. Your hoodies are georgeous btw

This video FINALLY got me to fix my toe side turns! Thanks!

Haven't been boarding for 12 years and I'm going in Jan 2024, Tommy's vids have been brilliant to watch, he's instructions are exactly how I was taught over 20 years ago....there's no school like the old school.

You are a savior! I've been learning how to snowboard for some time and had gotten good results, but then one day caught a very painful toe edge and hit my head hard. After that, I couldn't bring myself to make proper turns, but after watching your videos and this one in particular I got over my fear because I gained more control over the board❤. Guys, put that pressure on the front leg!!!

Thanks for the video! Going to snowboard for the first time ever in a few weeks.

Thank you, love the video. I’m an old guy still trying to figure this out and I appreciate the instruction.

I've been trying understand and learn how to do this. Thanks for simplifying and teaching. Winter is here and its time to practice

Thank you Professor Tommie , I’m still struggling with toe side and how to make s turns connect better. Can’t wait to apply this on my next trip !

I'm her son watching this is going to help a ton you rock man!!!!

Best description for proper turns out there 🎉 Also, analogy, use your knees like a torch 😂

literally solved my switch riding problem, thank you so much

This was so helpful today! Had an indoor session today (I’m From the Netherlands and we don’t have mountains, so the indoor with actual snow will have to do until my holiday to the mountains) but this knee steaming was such a game changer to get off the lift and get the super small turns and better speed checks going! Thanks!

I wish I had seen this video a few years ago before the mountain kicked my ass as I scorpioned my way through learning the fundamentals. This is perfect to show my man of whom I am not attempting to teach. Thank you!!!

Your website looks great!

Love to see it - I'm still a mega beginner (as admitted in our IG chat), but this is helpful. I think a key takeaway too is removing the fear and just sending it.. when I get in my own head, I start thinking about things too much and not letting my body flow.

Best video ever.

Dude, golden advice. Thank you. Too bad snow season is almost over in Japan

I love the explanation of letting your shin lean on your front boot for toe Edge. Someone asked me if my calves get sore from toe side carves turns etc.. if you do this like Tommy says, they should not be doing the majority of the work. Thanks Tommy.

Watched the first 5 minutes of this and was already learning a lot. I’m a more beginner/ intermediate rider. 6 season of only several trips to Vermont a year at the most. This is great advice as I sometimes forget what I’m doing lol Ride mostly blues.

Hey Tommie youre my inspiration i did my first backside 360 yesterday!

1) i ordered some gear from Benetek and used it today on the slopes and it was awesome. 2) I have been watching your videos for weeks now, saving them all, and this video specifically I have seen over 30 times. 3) I appreciate you teaching, you’re masterful at it. I applied these techniques today and by the end of the night the combinations were coming together. Truly unbelievable what good technique does. Again, thank you!!! I appreciate you big dawg 🤙🏽

Brilliant….. thank you….

1) i ordered some gear from Benetek and used it today on the slopes and it was awesome. 2) I have been watching your videos for weeks now, saving them all, and this video specifically I have seen over 30 times. 3) I appreciate you teaching, you’re masterful at it. I applied these techniques today and by the end of the night the combinations were coming together. Truly unbelievable what good technique does. Again, thank you!!! I appreciate you big dawg

Yooo i just started linking turns today (with a lot of falling because it's hella steep in the swiss alps) and this will help a lot for tomorrow!!

Nice vid!! Im a beginner with 6 days of Snowboaring and now I'm able to do short turns right and left, but away smoother then these u are doing ... actually the pressure on Ur lead foot it's very important, but beginner has me avoid that because of the speed u get. I only put that pressure on flat surfaces, not on slops....next year this is my goal, try to do more energetic turn's !!!! Thanks

Cant wait for the season

Superb teacher

Excellent.

Great video very helpful 👍🤟

great vid

So I didn't have any particular explainable method to HOW I was turning and stopping on my board, I just did falling leaf on both edges and then into large S traversals as a beginner till I got the feel for switching from heel to toe, but I watched another video on this method and decided to try it rather than just riding how I normally did, and the control and edge engagement I got out of it was phenomenal, and I have no way of knowing how clean my lines were, but I definitely think it helps with carving as well, felt so much smoother and cleaner, at least it did for me, combining it with how I normally ride.

Thank you so much

I was having the hardest time on heelside definitely trying this

I could not stop falling trying to figure this out so I will try again with these tips 😤

The new surf oriented boards have nose bottom convex and side cut set back for less front end initiation and more backfoont pressure as well as set back binding stance! Way more fun!

Your awesome ❤

thank you. I can't wait til i try this next time 'im on the slope.

Thanks!

Good lesson! Were you an instructor before?

There is a yaw type motion with any snowboard just like dutch roll on an airplane. If you get too aggressive stomping the rudder down it will spin. It works the same way the knee is like the rudder and the edges are like the ailerons

Watched about 4 of you vids today (plus loads of other instructional snowboard RU-vidrs) your instruction is way way better than anyone else I've watched so far.👏👏👏

I described this as torsional turn initiation. Technically what is happening is the board is having its shape manipulated drag and lighten different aspects of the board edge. Torsion twist needs to be more or less depending on body core weight distribution too. It’s all about manipulation drag characteristics to manipulate a change in angle of travel.

i think this video best describes how to turn on a snowboard, no one teaches this!

Awesome technique ! Should I be starting the turn by rotating the chest just before knee steering? Thanks a lot! Love your videos!

You mentioned carving would be different technique than knee steering? Could you elaborate in a new video for this?

This is a nice snowboard for the money. The kids like it because it has the sturdy foot straps.

Great stuff Tommy. Textbook breakdowns. When asked "Why 60%/40%?" I provide a teeter-totter analogy, drawing it in the snow. Heavier end will ALWAYS end up going downhill. Thus how backseat riders end up unintentionally going downhill switch. 🤙

shoutout the goat

Can I ride w you this year? Are you ever on the east coast?

I've been snowboarding for over a year but have only got out on the snow for around 9 hours. I find your videos extremely helpful. This weekend we were away to an indoor slope England and have found that im starting to pick up on how to turn and this video has been extremely helpful. Roll on the next trip 🎉🎉

Tommy ! May I ask what’s your stance angle is how how far apart the bindings are ?!

Nice vid, is next one gonna be about board torsional twist turn? 😀

Definitely hard to get good at snowboarding when u live up in the north east of Pennsylvania don’t think we had more then 5 ft of snow last season

Homie lying down behind you was just soaking in the advice lol

I am very beginner and I'm really struggling to steer my plank. In one attempt I put all my strength to steer it and I injured my knee slightly.If I play more with Toes and Heels maybe I could steer it easier? You said on the vid that the plank needs to be on the edge to turn.

Where is this place,the slope trail is long for practicing

Can surf, skate, and kiteboard np but after a few nasty toe to heel wipeouts, am nervous and have lost confidence. How do you go from toe, then to flat board, then to heel to carve the other way, without going from toe side to immediate heel and eating it? Any tips appriciated

I caught the edge just by watching it

When you say 60% on the fron foot...is that just in the moment when you want to initiate turn, or all the time wjile you are riding? It looks to me that 60% rule is when you want to initiate turn, and when you are on the other edge, you than go back to that stacked position. Is that correct?

Does this technique change with a direction board? I have a Cold Bree and sometimes it feels like my board is so slow to the turn. Is that too much weight on my back foot?

It is a video for beginner but as a beginner, turning the board to point straight to the slope from a standing-still position (either on heel side or toe side) is also difficult that the video does not mention how to. It would be better if you can show the movement from standing-still as a beginner.

set those high-backs nice and aggressive ... far to many novices boarders have far to much gap edge to edge ... when I flat board I want to be forced to have my knees bent...

U make turning look so locked in

I try to preach knee steering to everyone, it's vital

Hi Tommie great video! One question, during the turns you are not using the back leg at all? Only the front leg does the job?

Where is this please? What are are you skiing on? Slopes look lovely 🇮🇪

so this is a what not to do lol been snowboarding 30 years and this wouldnt have shown me how to do it. look where you want to go! job done.

Is it the front or back that should be the lead foot??

Ok when ur counting. Ur kinda going straight. Do u have your board flat or. Are u on ur heels a little.

Damn i followed this Channel since i started Boarding, its so helpful 👍 Cant afford the merch though😂

"squash the bug; open the door" - toeside to heelside. I learned how to ride switch so fast with this technique. Not sure why people teach that you steer with your rear foot. Simply not true

When you turn from your toe how how you do it without catching the edge of the board that where I’m bad at it

Any drills for building up confidence on putting weight on front leg? I found it’s really difficult to commit 😢

When you start to point your board down the fallline its looks like you're floating. Your board turns where you stand. When i want to turn my board into the fallline i start traversing. What am i doing wrong. Great video's. Thanx from The Netherlands

You need to do more hand gestures when explaining.. 🤣🤣

Can someone explain what happened in 12:57 in more detail? As a beginner snowboarder, this is my main problem with my heelside turns (surprisingly my toe sides are way more comfortable).

Do you use the back leg to apply pressure at any point through the turn ?

Going to try this. My toes are always killing me

What’s crazy is that I do this naturally never knew it was ground breaking

I think I need to put more weight over my front leg and a bit more knee bend, I checked the tape and I look slightly more in the back seat than this even though it doesn't feel like it when I'm riding.

Is that an ultra wide board !?

It feels scary when I lean forward. I know I'm supposed to but it feels like I'll go faster. How do I overcome that?

Where is this mountain?

What about powder steering

I can turn left to right easily. But im dreadful at turning right to left. I ride regular left foot forward. No idea why turns are like this for me. Is it normal?

Well what if im always carving

So technically you just bend your knees and lean into your toe side with your shins? And then heel side with your calves into your high backs? Seems pretty easy I was doing it wrong haha 😂

this video is 200% more effective if you apply it while riding switch 😂

I suck. Send help. Just 1 question. I ride Goofy. Sooo. Board is pointed down hill, I press my right knee down, it digs the front left of my board into the snow and I start to turn left. I am now facing up the mountain on my toe side slowing down to a stop. But now I need to point my board back down the mountain. How do I do that without catching a edge? I assume I take my right foot and press my heel down and this will turn my board to point back down. Is this correct? Pressing the right heel down puts my edge close to the snow and boom. I'm on my ass. If I'm on my heel edge going down the mountain I bend my right knee out to the side and I turn right..I'm now coming to a stop on my heel edge this time. To get the board pointed back down the mountain do I just use my right foot again and act like I'm "pressing a gas pedal"? Hopefully I have better luck on my up coming trip then my last one 2 weeks ago

I have been snowboarding for over 20 years, riding switch or regular in any terrain, but I have no clue what you are trying to explain. 😊

Is that Copper?

Speed is my problem; when I try to stop with my heelside edge, the board starts to bounce on the snow, and I end up falling to the ground (I keep my kness bent but doesn't work). This only occurs on ungroomed snow. The same doesn't happen on the toeside, and I don't know why the board doesn't bounce on the snow when I stop.. Anyone knows how to solve this because I'm creating a habit of only stopping toe side when I get a lot of speed and that's not good.