Jumping on a snowboard for the first time can be a little daunting. The tricks may look easy but as soon as you’re the one trying to pull them off, it’s a different story. It can be hard to know where to start. You’ll definitely want to practice your riding first before trying any tricks or jumps but once you’re ready, here’s how to jump on a snowboard.
Step 1 – Stand On The Slope At The Top Facing Downhill
Find a slope with a gentle incline and make sure that there is a small jump at the bottom. Place your snowboard on the ground parallel to the jump and stand on it, so you are facing downhill. Keep your feet parallel. Your weight should be on your back foot, and you can use both of your arms to help keep balance.
Step 2 – Put Your Weight On The Back Foot And Push Forward
The first thing you need to do when trying to jump on a snowboard is lean forward. Now, I don’t mean bend your knees and lean forward. This will cause you to go face first into the snow. What I mean is stand up straight, with your weight centered between both feet, and gradually move all of your weight onto your back foot, until it feels like it’s all the way back on the tail of the board. Once there, slowly start shifting more weight onto your lead foot until it feels like all of your weight is resting on that front leg.
As you do this, you’ll feel yourself start balancing on the nose of the board and pick up speed, until you are shifting from one edge to another as you try to stay balanced. This is perfectly normal while learning – just keep leaning forward and using small adjustments in pressure between each foot (gradually taking more off of your back foot) until you lose balance enough that the momentum pulls out from underneath you and into the air (think: going over a hill).
Step 3 – Keep Leaning Forward Until You Reach The Lip Of The Jump
Once you have a good grip on how to control your snowboard while riding down the jump, it’s important to learn the right way to approach the lip of the jump.
The best way to approach a jump is with speed and style. You want to always be in control of your board. When approaching the lip, it’s important you keep a few things in mind:
1) keep your knees bent,
2) keep your head up, and
3) keep leaning forward.
Once you reach the lip of the jump, you need to be committed—don’t shift back or brake at this point otherwise you will lose speed and fall behind the curve of the jump resulting in an awkward landing. Keep leaning forward until you reach the take-off point—this will help build momentum for when you leave off from the jump. If at any time during this process you feel like you are going too fast, slow down by sliding sideways with an edge on your board before reaching take-off.
Step 4 – When You Are At The Lip, Shift Your Weight To Your Front Foot And Bend Your Knees.
Before you hit the lip of the jump, shift your weight to your front foot and bend your knees. By doing this, you can prepare yourself for takeoff. Your board will come up a few inches above the snow as you approach the jump, so be sure to keep it level as you prep for takeoff.
Once you’re in the air, keep your arms forward and try not to pull them back toward your body. By doing this, it will prevent an awkward landing that could cause an injury if done incorrectly. As soon as you land on the ground again, make sure that you’re centered over your board with both feet firmly planted on it while keeping your knees bent in order to absorb any impact from landing.
Step 5 – Quickly Straighten Out Your Legs Over The Jump So That You Can Land Safely.
After you have taken off, quickly straighten out your legs over the jump so that you can land safely. If you land with bent knees, you could injure yourself.
It is also important to keep your arms and legs from flying about as you make your jump. Your body should be stable and straight throughout the entire process, which will help ensure that you make a clean landing when the time comes to touch down on the ground again.
Our Final Thoughts
With practice and careful instruction you will soon be landing jumps effortlessly
To jump on a snowboard, you first need to be able to ride the board. The ability to carve makes learning to jump much easier because you can control your speed and direction. You should also be comfortable riding down green (easy) or blue (intermediate) terrain before attempting jumps. Once you have learned how to turn and ride comfortably, jumping becomes much simpler.
Getting good advice is important as well. If you are a beginner, seek out an instructor who can walk through the process with you and keep you safe. If you are more advanced, watch videos of other riders doing what they do so you can learn from them.
Practice on small rollers and gradually work your way up to bigger jumps; it will allow you to master the technique before attempting a big drop or landing in a dangerous spot. Have others watch as well—if possible but only if they know what they are doing—and give pointers as needed. They will often see things that are hard for us to see ourselves, like subtle flaws in our form that we need practice correcting.
After reading this article, you should feel prepared and confident to jump on a snowboard for the first time. You’ve just learned some essential information from snowboard terminology to proper positioning on the snowboard. It’s not as hard as you think!
