Heel-Side and Toe-Side Side-Slip

1Goal

By the end of this lesson you can slip straight downhill on your heel edge and on your toe edge, board held across the fall line, using only your ankles to control your speed. You can start and stop the slip smoothly without the board turning into the fall line.

2Why it matters

Side-slipping isolates edge control (F5, F6) from steering. It teaches your ankles, not your hips or shoulders, to control speed, and that skill is the foundation of every stop, traverse, and turn you learn after this. If your ankles cannot manage edge angle here, they will not manage it in a turn either.

3How to do it

1. Start across the slope, board flat. Both feet strapped in, board perpendicular to the fall line, weight centered evenly between your feet.
2. Flex your ankles to engage the heel edge. Lift your toes slightly and press your shins forward, bringing the heel edge to about 15 to 20 degrees. The board should stop sliding.
3. Release your ankles slightly to slip. Reduce the edge angle to about 5 to 10 degrees so the board slides straight downhill without the nose or tail leading.
4. Modulate speed with small ankle movements. A small increase in edge angle slows you down; a small decrease speeds you up. Keep your shoulders level and facing across the slope, not down it.
5. Switch to a toe-side slip. Rotate to face the slope, put your weight onto the balls of your feet, and drive your knees slightly into the hill. Use the same flex-and-release pattern as heel-side.
6. Keep your hips centered over the board. Avoid leaning your hips back on heel-side or too far forward on toe-side.

Coach's note: if your board starts to drift into a turn, your shoulders probably rotated. Bring them back square across the slope and the slip will straighten out.

4Common mistakes

• Leaning with the hips instead of flexing the ankles (excessive inclination). The upper body tips into or away from the hill instead of the ankles doing the work. Fix: keep your torso upright and let your ankles and knees change the edge angle.
• Board drifting into a turn. The nose or tail starts to lead instead of the board staying across the fall line. Fix: keep your shoulders and hips square to the slope, not rotated toward the fall line.
• Catching an edge from a sudden, big angle change. The rider jerks the edge angle and trips or falls. Fix: make small, gradual ankle movements, a few degrees at a time.
• Looking down at your feet instead of ahead. This delays your reaction to speed changes. Fix: keep your eyes on a point across the slope at eye level.

5Drill

Heel-side ladder slip. Terrain: gentle green slope. Reps: 8 slips of about 10 meters each. Feel: the edge biting gradually as you flex your ankles. Move on once you can start and stop the slip smoothly 3 times in a row.

Toe-side mirror slip. Terrain: gentle green slope. Reps: 8 slips. Feel: your knees driving into the hill as you flex. Move on once your toe-side control matches your heel-side control.

6Self-check

• I can start and stop a heel-side slip using only my ankles.
• I can start and stop a toe-side slip using only my ankles.
• My board stays across the fall line without the nose or tail leading.
• I control my speed with small edge angle changes, not big, sudden ones.
• My hips stay centered, not leaning back or too far forward.

7Verify it on video

Film from the front or side, across the slope, so both the heel-side and toe-side slip are visible with your full body and board in frame.