Tell me how much I suck

NH_OPERATOR

NH_OPERATOR

Active member
So, I am opening myself up to a world of hurt here probably, but I would love it if you guys could give me some tips on what I am doing wrong on my rail technique here. Im not really sure which forum this belongs in, but the build-a-jib one is awful slow, and it doesn't seem to fit anything else. I always seem to be way too upright, but when I try to land with my feet wider apart, all my shit falls apart. Id prefer it if you could keep the criticism constructive. +K to all helpful hints! I also managed to slam my face into my rail in this video a couple times, so that adds some humor to the mix. Thanks alot guys!

/images/flash_video_placeholder.png
 
jesus put the rail closer to the lip. all I can say is just keep practicing, and once you know you've gotten the basic slide down go for some tricks. only way to progress
 
Ya that rail is waaay to far away, just come in with knees bent, give a good pop, land on the rail with a wide stance hands relaxed, keep looking at the end of the rail and then just come of. Practice makes perfect man, keep it up!!
 
Problem 1: You don't have full tilts or a XXXL Level 1 T.

Just kidding, it looks like your not fully committing to the 90 degree hop and your feet are a tad to close together, other than that, practice a shat ton
 
Im not one to talk but if you put the rail closer you dont have to worry about the jump onto the rail as much, itll make it easier to get onto
 
Looks like me when I first started so don't worry about it. My problem was that I was afraid to actually give it a good jump and actually get perpendicular to the rail. Once you get over that, pretty much any rail is yours my g (within reason lol)
 
Your inrun definitely doesn't help, so when the winter comes it should start to be easier because you can make a nicer lip and everything. But for now since it's the summer, what you need to practice is commit the full 90 degrees to go onto the rail. Try having your right foot be a little farther ahead than you are while on the rail and keep a shoulders width stance (yours is too close in), I know you said you had trouble doing this but really the only thing you can do is to just keep practicing it. Get some smaller poles it can sorta help.
 
1) Line trunk of car or truckbed with tarp

2) Head down to your local ice arena with a large snow shovel3) Find out where they put ice scraped from the Zamboni. (ask or look around)

4) Put in vehicle

5) Put on run in and landing
 
This^Also what really help me get my switchups and 270s out is to really focus on what jumping feels like on skis. Honestly I landed my first switchup just because I kept jumping up and down on the flat ground as high as I could to get the feel for what it's like to jump on skis. It looks like you have your pretzel down so just execute a pretzel, pop hard and turn, it should come to you quickly.
 
Just have fun with it dude, style comes with practice. Id just say bring the rail a little closer so you can focus more on spinning 90 than actually jumping

Also, a wider stance helps with balance and just try to be relaxed cuz thats where your stiffness is coming from.

And from the thread title, no you dont suck. Everyone starts somewhere
 
You look as if you are not getting fully sideways, try to slide to switch this could help you get more prepedicluar to the rail.
 
just make sure you focus on getting an even pop and making it the full 90 around. wide stance a bend your knees. the more you practice the better it will start to look, i promise.
 
huge thing I noticed: try to keep you upper body and shoulders completely turned 90 degrees onto the rail as well as your feet. You are kind of keeping your chest open to the end of the rail, which will throw off your balance. Just have your head looking at the end of the rail with the rest of your body a full 90 degrees and it will come much easier
 
Wow got a bunch of great feedback guys! Thanks alot!

As far as my poles are concerned, I do have some sick mad owl ones, but they are brand new and I didnt want to fuck them up day one using them for summer practice, silly I know, Ill try them next time. DGskis, what did you mean by the momentum is all wrong?

As far as the rail being too far away from the lip, I can definitly see that, Im going to have to rework the lip/tranny on my setup because right now if the lip is high enough to put the rail any closer, the tranny would be too steep. If anyone has any suggestions on that I would love to hear em.

B-Right-On, the XXL Ski The East Tee isnt steezy enough eh? Lol.

SamuraiAlex, I am perfectly comforatable jumping all around the mountain, I ride switch everywhere and butter all day, I feel like I am pretty comfortable with that. As far as having my pretzel down, I know by looking at it it seems like I do have it, but Im not ever really doing it on purpose, which is bad =/

SnoMaster, the tarp is there more so I dont fuck up my skis on shit more than anything else. I got that pair two weeks before the season ended so I am still kind of attached to them not getting fucked completely quite yet lol. Also keeps the grass stains down which is nice.

Pikachu, this is probably the best tip so far I think, I was wondering about that myself. Whenever I am on the rail it seems very natural to rotate the body down the hill, which obviously fucks everything up.

Thanks for all the help guys, this thread went way better than expected! Heres a great screencap that I pulled, thought it was pretty funny.

View attachment 652023

 
Try to point at the end of the tail when you get on it. Your weight is too far back partly because your hands are a bit high. If you attempt to point at the end of the rail it gets your weight forward and hand down. It really helps a lot of people when they start learning rails. As others have said you need the tail closer to the take off. You could try making it a side on if the jump is too low. Overall though your getting it. As other have said though if you improve your overall skiing on the mountain your park game will improve hugely.
 
yea man, get super small poles so you can't get enough speed for your setup. great idea everyone.
 
Definitely try to land switch out of the rail. I think this will help you turn all 90 degrees onto the rail and it is also the next step in progression of other tricks.
 
You have a decent set up there. Just keep practicing. Get comfortable on the rail and then when you are ready try some 270s out.
 
to me it looked like you were always looking like you were going to fall backwards onto the rail. partly because your feet were so close together and partly because you were putting your weight too far back. while you're learning, try keeping your feet a bit further apart and put a bit more weight on your front foot. you should be 10x more stable right away which should solve the arms waving problem too.
 
also watch a lot of edits! thats where you can see things you want to emulate and then try them. i know "make your own style" blah blah blah. 99% of NS copys other peoples style so just do it
 
I meant like the poles are just really big and it seems hard to like ski with them, you know?
 
arms and it wouldnt hurt to try to scizor the rail, also you seem to be thinking too much about your pop, just let it come naturally.
 
onesly i stink to but i have lerned how to do lots of types of rail. what i was noticing was that you look alittle afraid of the rail. heres a few steps that may or may not help you but helped me and my buddies.

1. (just about every one said this) but keep that rail close! Maby try to keep the rail level to the jump then progressively make the jump lower/rail higher as you get more confident.

2. keep a nice shoulder with stance when on the rail. And please make shure both feet are at 90 degrees.

3. (everyone has there own way of doing this) but i try to not think much about the rail. (this helps me with making it to the end of the rail).

4. stay confident! you got it buddy.

5. keep practicing and have fun!
 
First of all that jump is too low with such a high rail.

With this set-up you have to jump like a maniac which makes you lose a lot of control, i.e balance.

Do it on snow man,

1. Pop

2. Spin those 90 degrees to place your feet on the rail sideways

3. Commit. This is just tooooo important to succeed.

4. Look at the end of the rail.

But have a better set up. Maaan.

-Lebowski
 
in your defense, you do have a pretty sketchy setup...

but, i would say

1: Make sure you turn a full 90 degrees onto the rail

2: keep your feet spread about shoulder width apart

3: put more weight on your front foot

4: keep your knees a little more bent

the more practice the better. youll get more comfortable with it as you keep workin at it
 
you look like you're forcing yourself on and off of the rail, let it come more naturally (if that makes sense)
 
Take off is important. Lean a little forward, keep your legs wide enough and don't let your upper body loosen up too much. I think you should practice landing fakie and maybe hitting the rail unnatural. The earlier you get familiar with unnatural sliding and spins, the easier it will be. I can't see any major problems with yout sliding. Just keep training and have fun with that great setup!
 
Video ans screenshot made me smile!

You have fun!!

I say fully commit to get on 90 degrees, your stand is not wide enough, and look at the end of the rail.

about the rail, It looked nice, as you nail it sometimes, i don't think you need to make it easier!

 
Commit to turning 90 degrees sideways

Your rail is way too far away from the ramp.

Your pole is so fucking long it's hilarious. Is it for ski ballet?

You lean backwards (up towards the hill) when you land on the rail with feet too close together. Think of jumping on to the rail with your regular shoes on.

You hop really really high but that might be because the rail is so far away from the jump.

 
Awesome thanks for even more responses guys!

tomPietrowski, this is probably the best tip I think I have heard yet, I cant wait to try it out. I assume you mean to point at the rail with the downhill hand, correct? I will definitly be reworking the ramp next time out too. As far as overall park ability, I am extremely good at everything non park related, and am actually an instructor.

Crispy, I was thinking of starting this, as I have done it before on the mountain on a small flat bar, but Im kind of concerned about landing on my shitty setup switch.

VinnieF, I definitely agree with you, I dont think I came off the rail frontside once the entire day, and I hit the thing like 30 times. I know I need more weight out front, and lower but I think as many have pointed out my jump is too small and far away from the rail, im really having to force the jump onto the rail.

Coolflash8s, I am so ontop of that already lol.

To all of you saying my poles look WAYYY too long for me, they are sized correctly for regular skiing lol! This is why we get so many people asking you why your poles are so short! They are not for ski ballet...

Question about the scissor as well. When you are trying to do it, do you just push each foot away from each other, or is there some other technique that I dont know about?

Miomo, I am 25. I guess I should take that as a compliment that I am aging well I suppose. Without my winter beard I do look quite young I suppose lol.
 
Yeah point at the end of the rail with your forward hand. If you keep pointing a you near the end it may also help you come off switch. It's a technique I used to use when teaching rails. Other then that try to think about all your general skiing technique, things you teach will all be relieve t to park too.
 
just don't be scared pop, turn 90, bend your knees, be confortable and look at the end of the rail. PRACTICE is the key word man

when you fell confortable with clearing the rail try some pretz 270 and some switch up
 
just commit to it you are scared of doing full 90. keep your arms at your side and knees bent you want your whole body to move together
 
You really just need to get completely sideways. You're landing diagonal on the rail because you're afraid to commit and it's just making it hard because your weight can't be set evenly. Just pop, turn 90, and land. Even if you do fall the first time you'll be better off for it because you'll know you committed.
 
I'm sure its already been said but your not really doing that bad. Thats an impressive gap to that rail, not to mention that its a summer setup which i find to be much more difficult to hit than something on snow. If you wanna get better just keep hitting it and get a good feel for the rail, like get comfortable with it... maybe take it out for a drink some time and ask it about its childhood.

Also lower center of gravity will help
 
id say the 2 key points to progress are: Feet wise: keep them a bit more spaced out (they should be in line with your shoulders)and put more weight on the front foot (without leaning into it too much)

Rotation wise: commit a bit more towards 90°, putting the jump closer could help you overcome the fear. Try unnatural, helped me, and land switch, without jumping off too much at first, it'll help you feel more comfortable moving on the rail.

I think your set-up is ok, a bit sketchy, but know that if you can land it there, you'll land it on the mountain.

As fore the poles, wtf? yeah there a bit big and I wouldn't ski with them, but for training on a jib setup, no problem, as long as they don't handicap you too much. You're actually not that bad and got the most difficult part done, which is actually just sliding the rail. So keep it up man!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top