Snowboarding can be fun and an adventurous sport. It is a thrilling experience with a great adrenaline rush of sliding down a snowy hill and creating a snow powder in your wake.
It can be one of the best ways to spend a family vacation, and it is not just a tool made of wood and steel but a way for you to challenge your boundaries and test your limits. But before you go into snowboarding, you need to what size of snowboard do you need for your snowboarding.
For all those that might think that size of a snowboard doesn’t matter, well, you would be surprised to know that the right snowboard’ size can make things infinitely easier for you. Here are two reasons why does a snowboard’s size matters.
Why Does a Snowboard’s Size Matter?
A snowboard’s size is really important because the wrong size can make it extremely harder for you to control your snowboard as a rider while hindering your sliding down movement as well. For example, if a snowboard is too long for you, it can become difficult for you to change the direction of your movement. On the other hand, if it is too short, it can become unstable if you’re snowboarding from a white slope, with the worst-case scenario consisting of toppling you over.
So you must pick the right size of snowboard for yourself. But before you decide on finalizing a snowboard, here is what you should know what size of snowboard do you need.
3 Tips on What Snow Board Size Should You be getting
You may wonder that there are generally just two categories of snowboards; one for children or teenagers and the other for adults. But you’d be surprised to know that snowboards are made based on type, shape, height, weight, and the location you are going to using them at. But since, everyone has a different height, weight and prefers a different shape and feature, your snowboard’s size can vary greatly.
So here are 3 tips to get you starting on selecting the right size of a snowboard.
Tip 1: Know the Shape of your Snowboard and Its Flex Rating
So there are 4 types of shapes within snowboards that are designed to customize your snowboarding experience.
True Twin
This shape will have the snowboard’s tip and tail identical to each other. Even the flex is the same on both the nose and the tail, it comes with mounting inserts located at the center of the snowboard. This board shape is best if you want to ride backward or to switch. These types of boards are usually found in freestyle or mountain snowboards.
Skewed Twin
This shape of a snowboard is exactly like a True Twin except for one feature’s difference. This includes a deep sidecut on the edge of the underside to improve your grip on the snowboard’s edge.
Directional Twin
The tip is wider than the snowboard’s tail, and it consists of a fusion profile. A fusion profile is basically where more camber is present under the back binding and more rocker under the front. But the flex is still identical at both the tip and the tail.
Directional
This shape is the most different from its previous three counterparts. Here you will get a setback stance, harder flex in the tail, and a soft flex in the nose that much longer than the standard size. This type of snowboard can be twin or directional in shape. Most of these snowboards with this type of shape will be mountainboards suitable for other locations.
There are 4 flex ratings that you need to be aware of. There is soft flex (present only in directional shape), mid, mid-firm, and firm. The different types of flex ratings provide you with different features and options for controlling your snowboard.
Tip 2: Your Height
This is the most important and the easiest tip on choosing the correct size of snowboard for yourself. Height is the first thing that snowboarders usually think of when deciding which snowboard size to get.
The general rule of thumb for measuring the height of a snowboard is by making it stand vertically on its tail opposite to you. So the snowboard’s nose should be between your nose and chin. But to be more precise, you can even make use of size charts and a snowboard size calculator. For example, in the case of an online order, you can calculate a snowboard’s height using this formula:
Your Height (in inches) x 2.54x 0.88 = Snowboard’s Height
Tip 3: Your Weight
But height alone is not a good way of knowing the snowboard’s size. Your weight is another important component because it helps you in maintaining control while you’re snowboarding. If you get a size too short, you will lose control of your snowboard when you reach higher speeds. So it is not just your weight that you need to keep in mind but also the snowboard’s weight.
Our Final Thoughts
Snowboarding can become a hassle with the wrong size. It can result in an injury to yourself or to another person that may be sliding down the white slope with you. If you still feel you cannot get the hang of size and feel confused by a range of snowboards displayed in front of you, then decide based on the length you see. A smaller snowboard would be your best option if you are a beginner or near an intermediate level and have a short height. But for taller people who are more advanced, a longer board would be a much better option.
