I had to take some time off, but now I'm back.

What a story.

Anyway, today I want to talk about how to make short turns and how to achieve something that I'm calling the slingshot effect.

There's a lot to cover, a lot of movements that we need to be making.

Let's dive right in, starting with some dolphin turns. The reason I've started with these is because a dolphin turn acts as an exaggeration of the movements that you need to make for a short turn.

Even if you can't do them, they will help you visualize what you need to be doing in a short turn, starting with the ollie.

That is an exaggeration of aft movement, which means applying pressure through the back end of the board. Whilst we won't physically jump up for the edge change in our normal short turns, we will rise up and cross our center of board.

That there is an exaggeration of fore pressure.

In our normal short turns, we want to shift our weight towards the nose of the board at the initiation phase of the turn. Getting short turns done properly is all about getting our fore and our aft movement correct.

As the board pulls us through the arc of the turn, we want to progressively shift our weight from the nose to the tail of the board.

Starting up here at the top of the turn, we want to engage the top of the board near the nose of the board. As we come through the middle of the turn, our weight should be more centered in the middle of the board.

At the end of the turn, we want to have weight to the back of the board that is aft pressure through the tail of the board.

Before, as you go into your next turn, shifting from the aft, from the back of your board, to then suddenly having fore pressure once again at the top of the board for the start of the next turn. Through the middle, throughout the middle of the turn, and to the end, aft pressure at the end of the turn.

By making this weight shift, we are really utilizing the full side cut of the board, from tip to tail.

You will notice this is not a carved turn, but it is what is called a gripped turn.

By shifting our weight through the length of the board, we are able to have parts of the board to turn in and create a tighter arc than what would be possible in a true carved turn.

It also allows you to manage grip better than just slamming the board in at a high edge angle, which is especially useful in less than ideal snow conditions.

That's the weight shift, fore to aft throughout the turn. At every edge change, not only do we need to get the pressure from the back end of the board to the front end of the board, but also over the top of the board with a lateral movement.

For me, to properly get fore and aft movement done correctly, you need to unite it with the idea of independent knee steering. Let's start off right here.

We've just come around on our heel edge.

We're at the end of a heel side turn.

I'm applying aft pressure through the tail of the board by pushing down through the heel on my back foot.

As I push into that heel, I actually extend that leg.

That's going to give me the push that I need to make the lateral movement over the top of the board. Pushing through that back heel, and then it's going to shift my weight towards the front of the board where I land it, bam, there with my front knee bending and my front shin pressing into the front of my boot, which is going to start applying pressure on my toe edge to the top part of the board where we want it, right there after the edge change at the top of the toe side turn. As soon as I've landed my weight there, I have that fore pressure.

Then the back knee, it's just going to start coming over the top of the board as well.

As soon as my back shin starts pressing into the front of the boot, that will start shifting my board.

When I end up with both knees equally bent, I have equal pressure through both feet.

Therefore, my weight is centered in the middle of the board where I want it, right there at the middle of the turn. Coming through the bottom part of the turn, I keep pushing into that back knee, driving that back knee down towards the snow, feeding my back shin, pressing into the front of the boot.

The more I push into that, that's going to then shift the weight to the aft of the board.

Right to the end of the turn, I'm going to start pushing off of that back leg.

This time, weight shift again, back of the board to the front of the board, but also laterally across. I'm going to push off that back leg and land on my front heel.

Imagine you're trying to click your heel into a set of step-in bindings.

That's the kind of feeling you want to go for.

Front heel clicks in, bam, you land with the forepressure on the heel edge at the top of your next turn right there, sending your weight down where you want it. As soon as that front knee has come over the top of the board and you've landed with your weight there, once again, the back knee can come over.

As it starts coming across, your weight is going to be more centered through the middle of the turn.

Then once again, at the end of the turn, really feel that weight driving through your back heel and we're right where we started at the end of that heel side turn just a moment ago. The reason this is so effective is because when you're pushing off of your back foot, that is when your front knee is passing over the top of the board, which is rolling your foot from heels to toes.

You don't want there to be lots of weight going through that front foot whilst you roll it.

As soon as it's in position, bam, land with the weight there, then your back foot is weightless, your back knee passes over the top of the board, rolling your back foot from heel to toe.

Then we repeat the process from toes to heels. Weight is through the back end of the board, I roll my front foot over, click it in, weight is there, back foot is now weightless, I can roll the back foot over, it lands, it starts applying pressure through the middle and then the back end of the board.

That is fore movement tied in with independent knee steering, which is the most effective way to get it done. All right, now that you've got all the movements, let me explain to you something that I'm dubbing the slingshot effect.

Because these turns are so small, you can effectively place your center of mass right there where that red dot is at the center point of every turn and you really feel the board turn around you.

You need to make this big movement every edge change.

You need to come up over the top of the board so you get it right and it won't be every turn, but when you do, you really feel that board slingshot around you and turn into the next.

It's a really fun way of riding, but it's also very effective too. Because your center of mass isn't moving down the slope, it's staying relatively still at the middle of each turn, you don't have to fight for grip quite so much because your body, because your center of mass isn't pressing against the board.

Oh, yes.

That's how you make those short turns.

It's all the movements that were there in the dolphin turn, but just not exaggerated quite to that extent. I do think it's a useful tool.

When I'm making short turns, I like to visualize the dolphin turns because that clear image of jumping off the back foot and landing on the front, it's much easier to me than thinking about, okay, aft pressure, back foot, knee steering, front foot, lateral movement over the top of the board.

It's too much to think about if you break it down into every single step like that.

The movements, they happen all at once, not in a linear fashion one after the other. Give the dolphin turns a go, give those short turns a go, and I really hope this helps you to have a great day.