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I have a problem and I need your help!!!
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So I have been skiing for about 12 years and I would consider myself an advanced skier. I can the whole mountain. Except the park. Whenever I try to hit a box I bitch out and go straigh instead of 90 degrees. I can't go past 45 degrees without thinking I'm going to catch an edge and eat shit. I can hit jumps pretty well, but I want to get boxes and rails down. I see guys just hitting rails with ease and It looks so fun. Help.
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when I was young I never had trouble with boxes, but I was scared shitless of rails. to get a feel for a rail I would simply step onto it and slide it to get a feel for it.
as for not spinning 90deg onto boxes, you'll just have to man up! practice doing it on an icy slope first maybe?
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Should I go faster or start a little slower?
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Speed fosho. Youre on and off nice and quick and its easy
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I started hitting rails when i was pretty young because i always rode with the older kids, but you're probably going to fall a few times and then youll get the hang of it
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Spread your feet further apart than yo normally ski with, look at where you want to go (not where your feet are), and square your shoulders with where you want to go as well. Start practicing on a flat box, especially one that is close to the ground. Practice practice practice. Worse that'll happen is you get a couple bruises on your ass.
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Try hitting a box -> Fail -> Repeat -> Learning process kicks in. If you're scared, just force yourself to do it again and do it better. It will work, believe it or not. Knowing that if you won't try you'll NEVER learn is a good motivator for me. When I was 13 or 14 and got my first twin tips I struggled like a full month or so just getting my skis to a 90 degree angle on the rail without messing up too much, but kept trying and got better.
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I would add to above posts, keep your body weight centered and try to land with both feet at the same time flat on the box.
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+k guys, thanks for all the motivating tips. I've found it also helps if you ride with someone who's better than you, or if you have a friend to motivate you.
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extend your legs to meat the rail instead of letting the rail come to you, this way you are in control of when and how you set yourself up on the rail. I had the same issue my first year in the park, good luck man!
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When I first learned it felt like my weight was forward. I know it was centered but until I got the hang of it my thought was to just lean towards my front foot.
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Just find an easy rail and make sure to land in an athletic stance with your knees bent. You might fall but so what? Soon you'll stomp the shit out of it and be working on the next trick. Progression doesn't happen without failure
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You may be naturally inclined to hockey stop; you will fall. Just get the gorilla steeze going, wide stance, knees bent. You'll probably fall a few times, but it won't take long at all.
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Make sure to have your weight forward, a lot of people just learning tend to lean back and then slip out. If you keep your weight over your front sliding ski, it'll make the process a lot easier.
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