snowboard question

first off
Canon rebel xt
sigma 17-70mm macro or 17-55 kit lens? is macro fine for snowboaring?

1. if i pre focus my shot will the snowboarder be in focus when he comes into the shot?

2. ive heard people talk about flash for snowboarding to bring out the colors. should i work on using my flash? i have a sunpak 383?

Thanks

Your 17-70 will be fine - you will just have to be selective as to placement and framing.

Prefocusing can work if you know how/when the boarder will pass the lens. I would use a fairly narrow aperture to get sufficient DOF (say f8 or 9). Definately not wide open. You will need a fairly high shutterspeed though which will probably entail raising your ISO to 800 or thereabouts. Panning can be easier and alows for a slower shutter speed (using AF servo as opposed to any of the other modes)

Flash can be effective in freezing the action as well and will probably help withthe overall exposure. However, not everyone will allow you to use flash (it can be very distracting!)

What I would do is try a practise shoot. Try Panning, static prefocused, flash etc and see what works best for you.

cool ill try it out this weekend thanks man