Snowboarding is one of the most amazing things you can do in your life.
Nothing beats the exhilarating sense of freedom of floating through powder, seeing a kicker, knowing with absolute confidence that you are going to hit it and nail that trick you've been working up to.
You hear the sound of the board on the snow, your adrenaline is pumping, then silence as you spin through the air, your friends cheer as they watch you land easily and sense of profound satisfaction wells up in you as you look for the next line and maybe a drop off this time.
It sounds so easy, but progression in snowboarding involves a lot of falling over and hard landings.
So how do you get to that place where you can confidently do what you want to do on a snowboard every time? What is the best way to progress your riding to the next level? What techniques can most help in mastering 360's, 540's, grinding rails, riding pipe and park, or even for some people starting to ride in the first place? It's important to understand how we learn and that we all prefer to learn in different ways.
Just like a computer has a keyboard and mouse for taking in data, our brains have channels for taking in information, specifically sound (auditory), sight (visual) and actually doing things (kinaesthetic).
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) has been used thousands of times to help athletes improve their performance and tells us that we each prefer certain channels (auditory, visual or kinaesthetic), but the best way of getting information into our heads is to stimulate all three of the channels.
This is why instructors are a good way to learn.
A good instructor explains the technique to you (audio), demonstrates it (visual) and then you give it a go (kinaesthetic).
We can't use instructors all the time but there are ways of feeding your channels with the data your brains needs on your own.
Watch as much snowboarding as you can, but really watch.
Grab some videos and watch every detail, over and over, imagine you are the doing the trick, imagine what it feels like, imagine the sounds, even practice some of the movements.
If you do it right your brain will start to just know what to do.
Riding with friends who are better than you is another way of progressing.
Follow their lines, watch what they do, do what they do.
Your subconscious mind will be picking stuff up all the time.
There are also some excellent specialist multimedia snowboard training websites on the market at the moment.
These sites have really clear videos (visual), that show you how to approach a jump, how to rotate and spot the landing.
They break it down step by step so that you can understand exactly what is going on.
These are much better than normal snowboarding DVDs because the show the approach and landing and are focused on helping you understand, not on making a pro rider look good for the sponsors.
These specialist sites also have exercises and drills that you can do at home to prepare your body (kinaesthetic) so that it knows what the movements feel like.
They even have audio guides for your iPod (auditory) to help you prepare on the slope.
Its important when watching these videos to imagine in as much detail what it feels like to be doing the tricks.
Then, when you are preparing for the actual jump, visualise as much in your mind's eye as you can.
Imagine what you see, hear and feel as you go up to the jump, as you launch, rotate and land.
Imagine doing it perfectly and will you amaze yourself when you actually go for it.
If you follow these steps, both the off-slope and pre-jump preparation, you will find that your riding will progress really quickly and learning new tricks will seem effortless and surprisingly easy.