Toe and Heel Drag 101

Chanel Snowboard

The Culprit

A major issue many riders will face when hitting the slopes is toe or heel drag. The problem arises when the size of your boot from toe to heel is larger than the width of your board at the waist. What ends up happening here is you have the front part of your boot hanging over the toe edge of the board and/or the back of the boot hanging over the heel edge of your board.

This is a snowboarder’s nightmare since you experience a sort of “draginess” feeling when you use either edge of your board to carve or stop. Instead of pulling nice and tight S-shaped turns down the slope, it takes a little more effort to put your board through the turn since the overhang from your toes or heel is preventing the board’s edges from making proper contact with the snow or ice. Stopping also becomes more difficult since you need to press harder with your toes or heel to make the most of the decreased board edge-snow contact.

One of my first boards was an ’05 Burton Raven 152. A short, stiff board with deep sidecuts that gave it a very narrow waist. I wear a size 9.5 boot, so right off the bat there was some serious toe AND heel overhang. I would never really come to know how much toe and heel drag limited by snowboarding experience until I purchased my first proper board that was a 156 and had a much wider waist. I did my research, seated the bindings properly onto the board, and strapped in with my booths, there was zero overhang. It makes such a huge difference on the snow. Turning became much smoother and seemingly effortless. Stopping on either edge was a breeze. For the first time, I was letting the board do most of the work than having to dig the edge into the snow with every muscle fiber in my body. The best part about having no drag was that I wiped out much less. With my old board, sometimes either edge wouldn’t catch the snow properly at higher speeds and I would end up having to bail or being tossed across the slope like a rag doll.

The Solution

Make a purchase decision on a new board while taking the size of your feet into consideration. A lot of companies are now offering their same boards in a “wide” version for people with larger feet. If you’re a first time buyer, make sure the person helping you out is aware of all these issues, so they can fit you with the best boots/bindings/board setup.

My recommendation would be to choose a board then pick your boots/bindings combination. Strap the boots into the bindings and place them on top of the board where they would sit if they were mounted. A lot of bindings will have a few options that lets you move them around a bit when mounting. Play with this a little and see if there is any way to mount the bindings without having the toes or heel from the boot hanging over the edges of the board. Now it’s important to keep in mind that it’s normal for the front part of your boots to hang slightly over the edge but no more than 0.5 to 1 inches. What you really want to avoid is having any exposed grip from your boot hanging over the edge. This all applies to your heel edge as well. If the overhang is just too much no matter how you position the bindings, then it might be time to consider a wider board or a wide version of that same one.

Unless the sizing of your board with respect to your boots/bindings is all wrong, then you really shouldn’t have any drag. Most people experience drag from not positioning their bindings properly. The most common thing you see is people pushing their bindings all the way forward and creating a lot of toe overhang. Educate yourself on your equipment and see what options you have when it comes to mounting. Seat the bindings properly on the board with the boots strapped in to visualize how to minimize or completely eliminate overhang.

Surf’s up bizatches!