Re-Center Your Stance - Cowboy-Knee Drill for Clean Heel Side Turns

Re-center your stance early season:    • Hip Drive vs Shoulders - Fix Your Turn Tra...  

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Early in the season your riding can feel off — too much weight on the front foot, weak heel-edge grip and a wide turn. In this video I analyze my heelside apex (the point when the board points straight down) and show the simple “cowboy-knee” exercise that helped me re-center my stance, get better heel-edge grip and ride a much cleaner line.

What you’ll learn:

How to spot being too far forward at the apex of the turn (center of mass cues).

Why the back (heel) edge fails to grip when your weight is forward.

The cowboy-knee drill (visual cue: imagine a ball between your knees) to push the back knee out, bring your skeleton closer to stance center and narrow your track.

How to use self video analysis to find and fix position errors early in the season.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro — why early-season checks matter.


00:13 What I’m looking for at the heelside apex.
00:47 Checking skeleton / center of mass & front-foot bias.
02:01 Where to look—head & eyes to finish the turn.
02:26 The cowboy-knee exercise explained.
03:08 After focusing on it — cleaner line & grip.
04:11 How this helps early-season fundamentals and transitions.

Filming / analysis tips (quick):

Film from the side (perpendicular to your line) so you can see skeleton alignment and where your weight is.

Slow the clip and pause at the apex (board pointing down) to analyze center of mass.

Look for: upper body stability, knee position, and how thin/wide your track is.

Want the handout / checklist? Comment “CHECKLIST” and I’ll pin it.

SUBSCRIBE for more video analysis & drills to get your riding dialed each season ▶️

#snowboarding #earlyseason #heelsideturn #cowboyknee #videoanalysis #selftape #snowboardtips

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I am a snowboarder, kiteboarder, and snowkiter, living and teaching these passions as an experienced instructor settled in Yuzawa, Niigata, Japan. I teach snowboarding full-time through a local ski school across the 18 local ski resorts, including popular destinations like Ishiuchi Maruyama, Yuzawa Iwappara, and Prince Hotel Naeba.

To learn more and book your lesson, please check my website and social media.

Website: https://www.glidentity.com/
Find Me Online: https://lnk.glidentity.com/

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Music by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay