Good Snowboarding vs. Quick Snowboarding
When you spend time round a coaching hill, you’ll hear coaches say, “Ski properly,” “Clear it up,” or “Make good turns.” For younger racers, this will create a misunderstanding that lasts for years, typically a whole profession:
Good snowboarding and quick snowboarding will not be the identical factor.
You possibly can ski superbly, in steadiness, and with technically flawless turns—and nonetheless be sluggish. Conversely, the quickest run of the day hardly ever appears to be like excellent. The world’s greatest ski proper on the sting of management, settle for errors, and tolerate discomfort as a result of they know perfection isn’t quick.
Understanding the distinction between “good snowboarding” and “quick snowboarding” is a turning level in an athlete’s improvement.
What Is Good Snowboarding?
Good snowboarding is constructed on stable technical and tactical fundamentals. It’s outlined by:
Robust approach and sound mechanics
Steady steadiness and alignment over the surface ski
Management of stress, edge angles, and line
Easy, clear arcs with few seen errors
A cushty rhythm and movement
Security, predictability, and consistency
Good snowboarding appears to be like like one thing you’d movie for a way clinic. It’s polished, aesthetically pleasing, and infrequently comfy for the skier.Nevertheless, good snowboarding just isn’t mechanically quick snowboarding.
In actual fact, good snowboarding can develop into a consolation zone. Many racers keep there as a result of it feels secure, managed, and acquainted. They execute clear turns however keep away from the chance and depth required to generate true pace.
What Is Quick Snowboarding?
Quick snowboarding contains good snowboarding—approach and techniques nonetheless matter—but it surely calls for extra. It means:
Snowboarding on the fringe of management, not inside it
Accepting small errors as a result of the online pace gained outweighs them
Processing gates, terrain, and rhythm quicker than feels comfy
Pondering much less; counting on instincts and preparation
Absorbing threat for the sake of pace
Bringing a degree of bodily and psychological depth that feels uncomfortable
Quick snowboarding appears to be like chaotic. Even World Cup winners make seen errors of their quickest runs. Watch Mikaela Shiffrin’s dominant GS victories, Marco Odermatt in Adelboden, or Henrik Kristoffersen in a wild second slalom run—the snowboarding is sensible, however by no means excellent. They’re driving the sting.
Quick snowboarding isn’t reckless. It’s calculated depth that pushes a skier past “clear” and into “aggressive.”
Why Racers Get Caught in Good Snowboarding
Many athletes plateau as a result of they spend seasons perfecting good snowboarding with out studying how you can make it quick. The principle limitations embrace:
Want for management.Good snowboarding feels orderly. Quick snowboarding feels unpredictable. Letting go of full management is difficult, particularly for detail-oriented or perfection-driven athletes.
Desire for consolation.Quick snowboarding is bodily and mentally uncomfortable. Many racers keep the place they really feel competent.
Overthinking.You possibly can’t assume your technique to quick. Pondering slows response time. Racing quick requires belief and intuition—constructed via repetition and preparation.
Find out how to Shift from Good to Quick Snowboarding
Create coaching environments that demand pace.Use timing, head-to-head runs, “quickest line wins” sections, and programs that reward risk-taking. If coaching by no means calls for quick snowboarding, athletes received’t study it.
Decide to “full ship.”Quick snowboarding begins with a choice: “As we speak, I’m pushing it.” Athletes should apply the sensation of committing, not simply snowboarding properly.
Use imagery centered on pace, not approach.Image the sensations—acceleration, noise, stress, skis operating, fast reactions. This psychological shift strikes athletes from “managed” to “attacking.”
Undertake an attacking mindset.Quick snowboarding requires intent. The mindset modifications from “execute” to “cost.” Racers like Sofia Goggia, Clément Noël, and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde don’t ski to keep away from errors; they ski to win.
Improve bodily depth.Quick snowboarding just isn’t relaxed snowboarding. It calls for energy, energy, and vitality from begin to end—particularly on the backside, the place many athletes fade and revert to “good snowboarding mode.”
Bringing It Collectively
The aim in ski racing isn’t to ski the cleanest run—it’s to ski the quickest run. And the quickest run is sort of by no means the prettiest.
Good snowboarding is the muse. Quick snowboarding is a alternative.
Athletes who step past the consolation of “good” and embrace the managed chaos of “quick” unlock efficiency that approach alone can by no means ship.
So subsequent time you prepare or race, ask your self:
Am I snowboarding properly—or am I snowboarding quick?
That distinction often is the single most vital step in your evolution as a racer.
