Snowboard binding adjustment: Highback rotation

Highback rotation on a snowboard binding is for greater efficiency when pushing the knees towards the heel edge in a heel turn. The rotated highbacks offer more surface to push into and therewith bring more pressure to the heel edge.
From any binding angle greater than 6° or 9° this adjustment makes a difference - but it depends a bit on the shape of the highback: Some highbacks out there come pre-curved and rotation is not or less needed.
Another thing to play with... Bring a screw driver!

[@_tom_p]

This video explains exactly why I've liked Burton bindings since the 90s

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

They do that very, very well! For sure!

[@PascalFlamand]

I love your videos… In few weeks I understood more about snowboarding adjustments than ever before. Thank you!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

That is such an amazing thing to hear!! Thank you very much!! Share the love! 😊👍🙏

[@t.blaschke7461]

Absolutely, same here!!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@t.blaschke7461 Awesome! 🙂

[@user-vz1uk7gn2q]

Just found your channel today and indulged in boots series, stance series and highback episode. Some of the most comprehensive and well explained I have seen. I am adding your channel to my recommendations for both newer and experienced riders. Keep up the great work. The joys of snowboarding increase by magnitudes with the right gear setup and technique.👍

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

You got it!! Thank you so much!!

[@DubKicker101]

Wtf was just thinking about how boot wasn't flush because of the angle. Incredible, thank you

[@steveroberts5366]

The camber hight on the Biru is legit!! That's a great looking board.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

That board rides so well.....

[@binghamhumber]

"Ohh... right. *That's* what those thing as for." (Discovering this 20 years into snowboarding; massive face-palm.) But really: thanks.

[@jonschlottig9584]

I dig the channel! I've always rode duck but will be playing around with more naturally athletic angles 🤙

[@nemaemanema3940]

All hail the the youtube algorithm! Keep 'em coming!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Hahahaha.... Epic! Thanks!!!

[@pinteraje]

Love the video! This is the main reason I am hesitating getting the 'infamous' Clew binding because they do not (or cannot) have the highback rotation due to their binding design.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Good point. I could come up with 10 more reasons to stay away from Clew... But that's just my narrow mind... I just don't like how they solved the step in issue. Nidecker Supermatic has nailed it!! No rotation either. Can't have it all unfortunately. I'll stick to strap bindings until I can't bend over anymore, and then I'll be in hardboots with F2 Intec system, hahaha.....

[@user-lb9du4vt6x]

Great explanation! Like others have mentioned, I stopped rotating highbacks because of my Boa dial (Ride Fuse boots). I may go back to a full lace boot because of this. Maybe boot companies should consider putting Boa dials on the medial side of the the shell.

[@m4nap4rt20]

Check out the Nitro Capital TLS if you like stiffer boots. I've ridden a half dozen different model, but their the best I've ever ridden

[@user-lb9du4vt6x]

Nitro has some good looking boots, and I like the Team Lace. Not sure if they will fit my foot shape but I want to give them a try! Ride boots fit me really well with my wide forefoot and skinny ankle.@@m4nap4rt20

[@xbttrader8451]

I used to rotate my highbacks to line up with the edge until I started riding NOW bindings. 😂🤙🏼

[@peterjacobs6290]

Ok this has been my thing for a long time. I ride hard boots but ride soft boots with my kids but want to still drag my hip. I use to use 110% on my back binding to “ hack” my heel edge. It helped turn my hips backside but still left me wanting more. The I deformed my front highback by heating it up then zip tying it down to deform and hold my boot from sneaking around it. That gained more power to the edge going hard on the heel edge. My final “ hack” was taking a voile strap and wrapping my front boot cuff and highback together to totally support that boot cuff driving hard to the heel edge but also foreword to stay on the front of the board and not blow by the highback with 36 degree angle binding. Yes the highback is rotated as much as possible but it’s still not wrapped far enough forward to keep me from going past it in an icy late day euro carve.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

I hear ya!!! The Voile strap on the front foot is not that uncommon among people like yourself, and I've thought of it more than once. 36° is cut off for me. That's when I really feel the need for a strap there... I'm talking about that stuff in one of the 'stance' videos I made here. Great comment! Thank you!!

[@LagmasterB]

Thanks as usual brother. I have a high back rotation video on my KZbin. Yours is so much better.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Thanks as usual ;-) Hahaha...

[@jerryb63]

I’m a life-long Flow binding user. My current bindings have fixed pivot points so can’t be rotated, but the top section on the high-backs is adjustable to a degree and quite curved, with a slight assymetric design extending further inwards toward the centre on both bindings. For posi/posi I found that buying a second pair of high back tops and using a left foot top on both sides means I get a little extra support on the right foot (goofy rider) which helps a bit, especially useful since I have more angle on the front binding at 27-30 degrees. Hope that makes sense!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Yup! Great solution! Been doing that for years with the old NOW Drive highbacks, double left!! They didn't have enough curve on the inside. The new ones are amazing, though.

[@Gorbothy]

It makes me so happy to see some high quality content related to posi stance carving, totally unrelated but do you think you'd be able to drink a smoothie that has 8 banana's?

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

If you fill it with 2 litres of liquid and I have all day, sure!

[@1Flyingfist]

Thanks, I've never understood why this was necessary until now. I guess +15 / -15 isn't extreme enough for it to make a difference though. Maybe it would have been, when I used to have +21 on my front foot.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Thanks for the comment!! I would rotate from anything 9° an upwards. Definitely at 15°.

[@Daz555Daz]

My current high backs don't rotate but one thing I'd add is that you have very stiff boots it is somewhat less important. It is still the right thing to do if you have the available setting of course regardless of boot stiffness.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

I hear ya! I ride a very stiff boot and sometimes wish I had more lateral support.... Hahaha! :-) It is more about the pushing into something. A stiff boot will still move around under the ankle strap.

[@m4nap4rt20]

Question for you. I know you ride Now Drive Pros. Can I ask if you've tried the Jones Mercury or Apollo? Or the Drive CX? Just curious how these all compare and stack up. I was going to get another set of Rome bindings, but your previous video sold me on Skate Tech and I'm excited to give them a try. I prefer stiff, and my daily driver is the Rome Cleaver, which is stuff but isn't as stiff as some make it out to be. Anyway, I don't have access to any of these models locally, so trying or even touching them is not possible without spending some money. Anyway, any help is much appreciated. Love your videos!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Sorry, I have not tried any Jones! The Drive CX is brick stiff... The highbacks are too much for me.

[@xSTNo]

You said for the heel side turn, knees would be pushing outwards. What I felt worked best for me to improve my carving is actually having more pressure inwards to load the camber of the board through the turn. Am I doing it wrong? I really thought I made a breakthrough in my riding when I noticed how much smother my turns became lol.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

I get where you're coming from! I assume you're riding some form of a duck stance?! pushing the knees inwards while the toes point outwards is quite counter productive to good joint alignment and overall biomechanics of your legs. This is one reason - IMO - why duck is not good for carving... In a +/+ stance your rear knee contributes to exactly what you've described!! And it does so while being in line with the foot.... Anyhow, keeping the knees apart in a duck stance is somewhat the general way this style is being taught and it has pressure control in mind.

[@xSTNo]

@@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel I forgot to mention that I ride +18/-6. I will experiment with outward pressure and see how it goes. Thanks :)

[@martinz8908]

I ride double posi with 27° on the front foot, but I noticed an issue: with the highbacks of my Rome Katanas aligned as parallel to the edge as possible, due to the fore/aft movement when riding, the edge of the highback would pop open the BOA on the outside of my boot. Sadly, I had ro go less parallel to avoid the issue.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Oh no!! What a bummer!! Never heard that before, but makes perfect sense that that could happen. That's unfortunate! More evidence that the snowboarding industry doesn't look at the whole picture in most cases....

[@MinamiX3]

... I have the katanas as well and always wondered why my lead foot's outside boa always popped out... Thought it was just the boot getting worn down

[@sp3llb]

Don‘t you have problems with the fixation of the rotated highback eating away your boots? My nitro binding and boots get damaged quite badly.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Had that once 20 years ago with some Salomon bindings. Took the highback off, dipped the corner where the holes are into boiling water and bent the piece into a shape that doesn't poke into the boot anymore. Haven't experienced this ever since.

[@Phos9]

Hey where are stranda’s made?

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

GP87, small facility in China. Focussing mostly on high end boutique / niche brands. Most Gentemsticks are being produced there and Cardiff. But then also Kemper, who are more interested in keeping prices lower and hence also don't come with the same materials. Craftsmanship and quality control from that place is excellent, however!

[@XAVIERZAX]

Not possible to rotate the Now highbacks.... On strong backside pushs, even with my very stiff Fitwell boots (with competition alpine ski inner boots), sometimes, i loose the support. The new Fuse2 straps are also great for a good support, but more for frontside turns. With the cx model, it's very reactive.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Yes, I know. NOW highbacks don't rotate. As I say in the video, they are pre-curved t a larger degree than most other bindings so that you don't need the rotation anymore. For angles over 30° I would still want more rotation, but otherwise I think they're ok. Fitwell boots seem great! Never tried them.

[@XAVIERZAX]

@@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel for me, and i tried some good boots (Ride Inferno, Deeluxe XV, Jones 42...). I mean not trying one day, but for the whole winter. the Fitwell are really a step upon all the other in term of reliability. Generally boots can't last me a winter, cause a break the sole, sewings, they crack everywhere and then come too soft very quickly. Not the case with Fitwell boots. Of course the fact of putting a very good ski competition inner boot added with a lacing system around is a great enhancement too. And i don't speak about the efficiency for walking/hiking and climbing with a real vibram sole with good relief instead of all the ridiculous soles of other brands. Unfortunatly, they stop producing the Atop lacing ones (Boa copy) which was very convenient and you can only find the traditionnal laced ones in shops. Fortunatly i had bought 2 pairs of Atop ones several years ago :) I THINK I CAN SAY : it changes my ride (a bit). I really "find the boot for my foot" (french expression, don't know if it exists in english). Fitwell is a small italian boots factory, they still work in Italy with real craftmans, i guess that's the big difference with all other brands. TRY THEM....

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@XAVIERZAX Awesome! Yeah, I will.