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SWBS 540

How to Switch Backside 540 on a Snowboard

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How to Switch Backside 540 on a Snowboard

Introduction

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It’s Christian from Shred School.

So you want to learn how to switch backside 540 on a snowboard?

DO you want to be an average shredder or the kind of ripper who goes where few men and women have gone before? That’s the question you have to ask yourself for today’s video, because sure, you could learn the tricks that everyone cares about…

The backflip…

The tamedog…

Maybe even a 360 or two.

But search almost any beginner to intermediate park trick on youtube, and there is an endless amount of tutorials promising to teach you how to do the trick… That is, except for this trick.

Today, we’re covering a trick that is a key trick to being a well-rounded rider who doesn’t ignore their weaknesses. It’s a trick that you’ll love once you learn it, and one that almost none of your friends will learn.

There are ZERO tutorials from the usual players on YouTube for this trick. The trick, is the switch backside 540.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we've got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

The Snowboard Switch BS 540

Ok, the switch backside 540, the last 540 I learned. I just woke up one day and realized my life was incomplete because I could only spin 3 out of 4 ways on a snowboard, so I finally decided to do something about it. 

Like every trick, I’m going to be straight with you. This trick is very simple IF and only if you have mastered the fundamentals.

For this trick, you’ll want to know how to 

  • Switch backside 180, as the approach and takeoff is exactly the same 
  • Frontside 360 as the spin and the landing is exactly the same 
  • Backside 540 so you understand the axis to spin on 

This trick should feel exactly like a switch backside 180 into a frontside 360. If you can do those two tricks, you can do the swbs540. 

how to backside 360

The Switch Backside 540 Tutorial

We’re going to take a heel to toe approach in to the jump, coming in switch on our heels on the left side if we’re regular, and riding up the jump on our toes. 

Open your shoulder up on the heelside carve for a counter rotation, and then swing your front shoulder closed as you go up the lip. 

For most of us, this is going to feel extremely blind. You have to trust yourself on this one.

Look down at your toes, keep a straight line off the jump, maintain upright posture, and pop hard. As soon as I leave the lip, I like to pick my feet up into my chest a bit for the grab.

Remember not to grab too early or you’ll slow down the spin.  I like to grab switch indy on this, but I initially learned it with a switch mute or a switch melon. Switch nose works well too, and so does switch stalefish. Pretty much all the grabs are great for backside 540s. 

We’re going to keep our axis such that at 270 degrees, our weight is over our front foot to set ourselves up at the right angle for the landing. By front foot, I mean your switch front foot, this would be your back foot riding regular, so for me, halfway through the spin, my body weight is over my right foot since I’m regular. 

At 270 you should be able to see the landing for the remainder of the trick, and coming down to stomp it will feel exactly like a frontside 360. 

Put your tail down to land, look up the landing until you’re on the ground, then open up your shoulders to see where you’re riding out. 

The most common thing that goes wrong on this trick is since you’re riding up the lip blind, some riders panic on the takeoff and prespin, or bend at the waist and put their hands in the snow. Just remember to hold a straight line, stand up tall and pop

You have to trust the blind takeoff, and you’ll be good. 

Switch BS 540 Trick Tips

This trick is a favorite of backcountry riders all over the world, but it works great on park jumps, and even side hits. 

If you’ve made it this far, seriously, I commend you. Most people will never learn the swbs540 in their lives.

But, it’s not that hard… 

If Bob Burnquist can do this on a skateboard, you can do it on a snowboard with your feet attached.  Just practice the basic building blocks, work your way up and you got this. 

One more tip. We tend to avoid the tricks that we don’t practice, to think they’re harder than the other tricks. If you’ve struggled with the swbs 540, I would ask you, how many times have you tried?

Go find a small safe jump and try it 50 times in a row, and I can almost guarantee you’ll like the trick by the end. If you’ve tried it less than 10 times in the last year, this trick is going to feel super awkward and you’ll avoid it like the pandemic. 

That’s it, the switch backside 540, it’s one and a half spins riding off the jump switch and landing regularly. It feels just like a switch backside 180 into a frontside 360.

Practice your fundamentals, take a heel to toe approach, wind up, stand up tall, pop, pick your legs up into your chest and spot the landing exactly like a frontside 360.

Ride away and go rub it in your friends faces that you can do a trick that they can’t.

That’s all for today. 

Peace out shredder

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SWBS180

How to Switch BS 180 on a Snowboard

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How to Switch BS 180 on a Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school 

It’s Christian from Shred School.

You know those things you know you’re supposed to be doing, because they’re good for you… but you just can’t get yourself to do them…  like eating vegetables at every meal, putting away your phone a couple hours before bed… or practicing your switch backside 180’s.

Yes, that’s right, the switch backside 180 is the “Eating vegetables” of snowboard training. It’s a foundational move that is the key to amazing frontside 360’s, 720’s and switch backside 5’s, yet almost no shredder consistently practices the trick.

The good news is, just like vegetables, it’s an acquired taste, and once you start to dial in your switch backside 180, you’ll love doing it, and the rest of your riding will get so much better. It’s even been described as “the gateway trick” 

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we've got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

The Snowboard Switch Backside 180

christian ollie

Switch backside 180. I bet some of you are going to tune out right now. I don’t know why more people don’t love the sw backside 180.

It’s one of the most fun tricks ever. Since the day I saw Devon Walsh float one of a whistler cliff in Forum’s first movie, The Resistance, one of the greatest videos ever made, it’s been talked about in my group of friends as a trick that commands respect. 

Before you get started on this one, you should be able to ride a switch, and have your backside 180’s dialed in. 

How to do a BS 180 While Riding Switch

To do the swbs 180, take a heel to toe approach up to the jump. As you’re riding up the jump, stare straight down at your toes, and keep your edge straight. Focus on getting a good pop, and standing up tall as you takeoff. Don’t bend over at the waist. 

You want to favor your back foot here. The #1 mistake I see people make it to put their body weight over their front foot, which is usually their back foot riding regular.

Practice your switch ollies, and make sure you use your tail to pop.

Pop off your toes as you take off and turn your shoulders backside, staring straight down at the ground.

It helps to reach down and grab indy. Remember, your body weight stays over the back foot, not the front.

If you lean too far in to your front foot, you’ll wash out in the backseat when you land.

Focus on landing just like you would a fs 360, staring straight down at your tail, looking up the mountain.

Once you stomp the trick open your shoulders to the landing so you can see.

You’ll notice that pretty much this entire trick is blind.

I stare at my feet the entire time and just focus on maintaining upright posture. 

It’s really a pretty simple trick. It doesn’t even feel like you’re spinning. It almost feels like a blind straight air once you take off. 

Switch BS 180 Trick Tips

This is a great trick to try on a side hit before taking it to a jump. 

You can also do this with pretty much any grab you want. I like indy nosebone, but you can do switch melon, switch method, really whatever you want. 

Use a heel to toe approach, stare straight down at your feet the entire time, focus on a straight line off the takeoff, keep upright posture, and stare straight down at your back foot to land. Once you’re on the ground, look up, ride away and go eat your vegetables.

That’s the swbs 180, a super fun trick that you should do every time you go to the mountain if you want amazing frontside 360s, swbs 540s and the admiration of your friends. 

That’s all for today.

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Backside lipslide

How to BS Lipslide on a Snowboard

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How to BS Lipslide on a Snowboard

Introduction

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What up Shredder?

It’s Christian from Shred School.

You know you’re not a beginner anymore when you’re throwing around terms like backlip.

Built on the back of some of the basics, the backside lipslide is a more advanced trick, with more advanced consequences.

The good news is, once you have the building blocks, you’ll have no problem adding this trick to your arsenal. That’s what you’re going to learn today.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we've got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

The Beginner's Snowboard BS Lipslide

rail sliding

The backside lipslide, also called a “back lip” is when you approach a rail on your heelside edge, bring your back foot up and over the rail, and land in what looks like a frontside boardslide.

It’s actually a mix between a backside 50-50 and a frontside boardslide, as you approach and ollie exactly as you would for a backside 50-50, and you slide the rail exactly as you would in a frontside boardslide.

If you haven’t checked out those tutorials yet, I recommend you do it now.

Like I said, the backlip is a more advanced trick, and if you see someone doing it, you can pretty much assume they have a deep bag of tricks, and at least partially know what theyr’e doing on a snowboard.

Soon, that person will be you. 

The Snowboard BS Lipslide Tutorial

To do the back lip, ride up to the rail, with the rail behind you slightly on your heel edge, and slightly pointed towards the rail. 

We want to make a triangle with our approach, the rail and the distance between the two. In other words, point your nose towards the end of the rail, and leave a slight gap between you and the rail so you have room to ollie up without hitting your tail on the way up.

That’s the hard part about this trick. You need to ollie straight up, wait for your tail to clear the rail, and at the very last second, turn 90 degree backside, and land in a frontside boardslide position.

I literally Pretend I’m going to do a backside 50-50, and then change my mind just as I’m landing on the rail.

You can even land in a backside 50-50 the first couple tries and swivel it around to a backside lipslide for practice.

When you’re landing on the rail and ready to turn, push in to your front foot, and kick out your backfoot. The more you can focus on turning a full 90 degrees here, the less likely you are to catch an edge.

Push your board in to the rail to “catch the rail” and avoid going over the other side, which is what a lot of newbies do. You might want to lean to the “inside of the rail” to really lock it in. 

Look to the end of the rail either under or over your armpit.

You’ll use counter rotation here with your legs turning under you, and your arms staying parallel with the rail, especially if you want to come back to regular.

Stay flat on your base at the angle of the rail, come of the end and turn your legs back to land.

Advanced Snowboard BS Lisplide Trick Tips

You can also do this trick to fakie, although it’s going to be a little more blind. 

This trick is great to try on a down rail, as it’s easier to get up and over the rail as it drops away under you. 

It also works well on a C rail or box, as you can push in to your nose to stay on the ruce, and is super fun on wallrides.

Once you’ve mastered the back lip, try bringing it the whole way around, 270 out, or pretzel out the other direction. 

That’s the backside lipslide, also called a backlip, It’s a combination of the approach of a backside 50-50 and the slide of a frontside boardslide.

Ollie up and over the rail, push in to your front foot to catch the rail and lock in. Slide it to the end, give a little pop off and turn your legs back to regular.

Give it a try on a wallride, or C rail, and welcome to the club of advanced shredders. 

If you’re having trouble with it, practice your backside 50-50s and your frontside boardslides, and you’ll master the backside lipslide in no time. 

That’s all for today. 

Peace out shredder

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BS 540

How to Backside 540 on a Snowboard

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How to Backside 540 on a Snowboard

Introduction

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What up shredder? 

It’s Christian from Shred School. 

The backside 540 the very first 540 I learned, and what seemed to be the first “advanced” trick I knew, It was my go to for big air contests or video parts as a kid. 

See, it’s one thing to know how to 360, pretty much anyone can learn that, but to step it up to the 540 brings you to a whole new rank of snowboarder.

Today, you’re going to learn the tried and true backside 540 and step up your game, and join the ranks of advanced snowboarders.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we've got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

The Snowboard Backside 540 for Beginners

BS 540

The backside 540 is where you spin backside one and a half times, taking off regular and landing switch. It’s also a blind landing, which means it’s easier to get the last 180 around, and a little harder to land it. 

Before you step to the backside 5, you should obviously have backside 360’s down, but also backside 180’s and… here’s the one everyone forgets and they wonder why they can’t backside 5…

Cab 360s. That’s a fakie, or switch frontside 360, which is just the last 2/3 of a backside 540.

See, a lot of people will explain the backside 5 as a backside 360 with another backside 180 at the end, but that’s not true…

The backside 540 is done on a different axis than the backside 360.

It’s more like a backside 180 to a cab 360, rather than a backside 360 to a backside 180.

Don’t let me lose you here.

See, on the backside 360 when you come around 180, your body weight is over your back foot, looking at the landing.

At this same spot in the backside 540, your weight is actually over your front foot. You are on a whole different axis. If you were to land the backside 540 early, at 360, you would be wayyyy in the backseat.

Understanding different axis of rotation is the key to getting bigger and better spins, and realizing that the backside 360 and 540 are not the same trick with just one more 180, is the key to stylish, corked spins.

So, take the time to go out and practice the cab 360… over and over again. Do it on the ground. Do it over jumps.

By the time you get to a backside 540, I promise if you’ve mastered the backsdie 360 and the cab 3 (which most people won’t do), you’re not going to have any problems.

How to BS 540 While Snowboarding

For the backside 540, we want to take a heel to toe approach, coming in on our heel on the side of the jump, and switching to our toes up the middle of the jump.

This is going to help us initiate the spin.

We can take a small windup, but if the jump is big, you don’t need much.

The challenge on this trick is standing up tall on the takeoffer without leaning over, or putting your hands in the snow.

Leaning too far into your toes is going to cause you to drift, which we definitely don’t want.

Go straight off the jump, dip your front shoulder and start to turn your shoulders backside.

On a backside 360, I typically throw my shoulders 90 degrees off the jump, and let the trick float around to the landing.

On a backside 540, I'm throwing my shoulders 270 off the jump, and floating the last 270.

See, 540s are all about getting the proper snap off the lip, and then just letting gravity do it’s work, floating yhou the rest of the way.

You don’t have to try to “spin” through the whole trick, just on the takeoff. 

Now if you’ve done this right, you should come around 270 almost sitting back like you’re in a recling with your feet out in front of you.

At this point you can see the landing for the rest of the trick. Keep your shoulders and your head turning backside, and get ready to set your board down in the landing.

You want to land heavy on your nose (whcih will be your switch tail), with your weight leaning back towards your tail (switch nose). This will get you leaning at the angle of the landing, without going nose heavy and tumbling.

When you’re landing blind, remember that you want to stare straight down at your feet, almost looking UP the hill, and don’t look up to see where you’re going until you’ve stomped the trick. 

If you come up short here, just lean in to your toes, and scrub it around. Be sure not to let your heel edge catch, because that could be very painful. 

Remember, if you can’t seem to land at the proper angle on this trick, you need to go out and practice your cab 360s over and over again, and it will take care of itself.

BS 540 Jumps and Advanced Tricks

Where can you do this trick – You can do this trick on a side hit, but it’s a really good trick for park jumps. 

So many grabs work well with the backside 540, the nose grab, indy, indy nosebone or tailbone, melon grab, stalefish is a great one.

So that’s it. The backside 540. Take a heel to toe approach, stand up tall off the takeoff, dip your shoulder to slightly cork the spin, keep your bodyweight over your front foot halfway through, spot the landing and bring it around to switch. Stare straight down at your feet until you’ve stomped it then look up to ride away.

Go give it a shot and join the ranks of advanced shredders who can 540 off a jump.

That’s all for today. 

Peace out shredder

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snowboarding goggle guide

Snowboarding Goggle Guide

December 7, 2020 No Comments

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how to backside handplant

How to Backside Handplant on a Snowboard

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How to Backside Handplant on a Snowboard

Introduction

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What up shredder… 

Ahh the handplant. Thank god for snowboarding because this would be a hard one to do on a skateboard, staring face first into a concrete bowl.

Lucky for you, you get to fall face first into a pile of slush instead, because that’s likely what will happen on your first try.

Don’t worry though, as long as you pick a soft or spring day to try it, you really won’t get very hurt on a handplant. It’s kind of like going sledding on your stomach.

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The Dave Andrecht Handplant, or Backside Handplant

How to handplant

Ok, the andrecht handplant, invented by dave andrecht on a skateboard.

Also called a backside handplant, because we’re turning backside, this is the easiest handplant to do, and the first one I learned.

The andrecht handplant is done by riding up the wall, planting your BACK hand, grabbing your heel edge with your front hand, and turning backside 180 back into the quarter pipe to land.

If you were to plant your front hand, which is a lot harder, that would be an eggplant which is a lot less common.

The backside handplant, or andrecht,  first of all, is one of the most fun tricks EVER. Handplants are like being a kid again, going upside down and seemingly magically returning to your feet.

They aren’t that hard, just a little scary at first, so even if you’re not a pro on the snowboard, as long as you can do a backside 180 on a quarterpipe, you can try a handplant.

How to Get the Right Speed do a BS Handplant on a Snowboard

Step 1 is to find the right feature. This is easiest on a small to medium quarter pipe with some vertical at the top, also called vert.

You can also do this in a halfpipe but it’s a lot harder because you have to stay on an edge, and the wall falls away down the slope, so if possible, try this on a quarter ipe where you can ride straight up the wall.

Now, contrary to popular opinion, the hardest part about this trick is NOT the handplant.

It’s getting the speed right. If you do that, everything else is easy.

Before we start planting, let’s practice backside airs on the quarter pipe to get comfortable with the speed. 

We want the same speed as if we were going to air about 2 feet out of the quarter pipe. This is a little bit faster for this trick than most people would guess.

That’s because, we want to plant on the very top of the lip, and we want our feet to go above our heads, in an almost weightless manner.

If you go too slow, you’re not going to make it up the vert, and your full body weight will come crashing down.

If you go too fast, your hand will miss the plant and you might fly out of the quarter pipe.

If we get our speed JUST right, it’s the right amount to throw our feet over our head, and keep them weightless.

Remember, one more time, if you go too slow, you will feel the weight of your body. 

With the right speed, this trick feels weightless. That’s why you don’t need gymnast level strength to pull it off. 

How to Approach and Execute a Backside Boardslide

Ok, let’s talk about the approach. We’re going to come straight into the quarter pipe, and basically ride straight up the wall.

A lot of people try to do a huge backside carve here, but don’t. Ride straight up.

Since we are turning backside 180, a lot of people want to start turning early, and they try to plant their hand in front of them on the toe edge. That’s a recipe for a faceplant.

To do this right, You’re going to plant your hand DIRECTLY behind your tail and keep your shoulders in line with your board. Don’t turn towards your toe edge to plant your hand.

You’re not going to spin 180 at all, until  you're coming back into the QP.

So this trick is actually done, like an air to fakie, and then you just turn backside 180 to get OUT of the handplant. 

Notice that I didn’t say you turn backside 180 to get into the handplant. Turn to get out. 

Ride straight up the wall, look at your back foot, be patient, and just as you reach the lip, and not before then, heave your feet up and over your head, and reach directly behind you for your tail. PLant the hand on the QP, grab your heel edge with your front hand, also called a “melon” or “method” gab, and THEN turn your shoulders back side towards the landing.

Once you get the hand down, and turn your shoulders, you will pivot on your hand and just naturally fall back into the quarter pipe. Landing isn’t hard if you’ve gotten your speed and your pop right.

A quick note on pop. You don’t need to pop out from the quarter pipe unless the feature isn’t vertical at the top.

If it is vertical, popping OUT will send you to the flats, so take it nice and easy, and send your feet straight up rather than out. 

Now, a lot of people suggest you learn this with two hands first, and a lot of people can’t do proper handplants. I don’t recommend using two hands unless you have to mid trick to save yourself like this.

Improving Your Backside Boardslide

Using two hands is just teaching you poor form, and it’s going to mess up the trick.

Learn this right, and just learn it with one hand. I think it’s easier that way, I couldn’t do it with two hands if I wanted to. 

The handplant is all about confidence and speed. I think I learned this first or second try.

Just pick a slushy day so the landing is soft, and go for it.

The worst case scenario is you slide down the QP on your stomach, which isn’t too bad as long as you land at the top. Don’t pop out super hard or you might fall to the bottom.

This trick doesn’t require tons of pop, just simply replace your tail with your hand once you leave the lip and fall back in.  

The cool thing about this trick is, once you have them down, you can do them with all sorts of different grabs. Nose grabs, japan air and melon are the most popular.

That’s it, the handplant. Ride straight up the wall of a QP with just enough speed to air two feet out. As your tail leaves the lip, reach down directly behind your tail with your shoulders square to the board, and place your hand on the top of the QP. Grab your heel edge with your front hand. 

Turn your shoulders backside AFTER you’ve planted and fall back into the QP.

Find a slushy quarter pipe and Go give your first handplant a shot today.

That’s it. 

Peace out shredder

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how to tamedog on a snowboard

How to Tamedog on a Snowboard

May 19, 2020 No Comments

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