Finding your natural snowboard stance is indeed key to maximizing comfort, control, and performance on the slopes. Let's break down the fundamentals to help you get there.
1. Regular vs. Goofy Stance
- Regular: Left foot forward.
- Goofy: Right foot forward.
- Finding Yours: Stand naturally and have someone give you a gentle push from behind. Whichever foot you naturally step forward with to catch yourself is likely your leading foot on a snowboard.
2. Stance Width
- General Guide: A good starting point is setting your stance width to about the same width as your shoulders. You can adjust wider or narrower from there, based on comfort and riding style.
- Effects of Stance Width:
- Narrow Stance: Easier to pivot and spin, which is great for freestyle.
- Wider Stance: Offers more stability and control, especially for freeride or all-mountain styles.
3. Stance Angles
- Beginner Recommendation: Start with a “duck stance” (e.g., +15° front foot, -12° back foot). This stance is balanced and works well across all riding styles.
- Freeride Stance: If you prefer carving or riding forward more often, try a more forward stance angle like +18° / +6°.
- Freestyle Stance: Riders who like riding switch and park tricks might go with a symmetrical duck stance, like +12° / -12°, for easy switch riding and balance.
4. Experimenting and Adjusting
- Start Small: Once you have a basic setup, ride a few runs to feel how your body responds. Small adjustments in angle and width can make a big difference.
- Common Issues:
- Turning Difficulty: A stance that's too wide or too forward can make it harder to initiate turns.
- Lack of Balance: A narrow stance may make balancing harder, especially on rough terrain.
5. Try and Tweak!
- Take a few runs with each adjustment, note how it feels, and keep adjusting until you find the stance that feels natural.
Goofy or regular?
If you are new to snowboarding your first decision to make is whether you are goofy footed (right foot forward) or regular footed (left foot forward). **Your dominant foot is typically your back foot as the back foot provides the power steering.** The front foot provides balance and direction and is usually your less dominant foot.
Which foot do you step up a flight of stairs with first? Which foot do you naturally kick a soccer ball with? The answer to these questions is likely your back foot.
Choosing a stance width
**Stance width plays a critical role in your balance and turning ability on a snowboard.** There are several different theories as to how wide of a stance is best. What width will work best for you will come down to personal preference. Longboard, surf style riders tend to prefer a narrower stance as it keeps your hips in and allows you to pivot your weight quicker edge to edge than if your legs were spread wider. Technical freeriders and terrain park riders often prefer a wider stance that offers added balance stomping airs and holding it together bombing through rough terrain.
Until you develop a defined favorite riding style, most riders will find a slightly wider than shoulder width stance to be a good starting point. **A just wider than shoulder width stance offers good stability and a powerful jumping position.** Use this chart to find a stance width range that traditionally works for riders of these heights.
| Height | Recommended Stance |
| < 5'1" / 155 cm | 17-19 in / 43-48 cm |
| 5'2" - 5'4" / 156-163 cm | 19-21 in / 48-54 cm |
| 5'5" - 5'8" / 164-172 cm | 20-22 in / 48-56 cm |
| 5'9" - 6' / 173-184 cm | 21-23 in / 53-58 cm |
| 6'1" - 6'4" / 185-193 cm | 22-24 in / 56-61 cm |
| > 6'4" / 193 cm | 23-25 in / 58-63.5 cm |
For most boards, your ideal stance width should be within an inch of your board’s reference stance. Reference stance is the stance location that the dimensions of a given model/size board are designed around. You’ll find the reference stance location and width measurement printed on the topsheet inside the insert packs. With your bindings set on the Reference Stance you are positioned with the intended stance setback relative to the effective edge. Stance setback varies by model from 0-3 cm.
**If you prefer a narrower or wider stance than the Reference Stance, you must move each binding in or out the same amount of holes.** If you move one binding in and one binding out from the marked reference stance positions you will be riding the same stance width, but you will not be centered in the board’s sidecut. Riding in the Reference Stance is not critical, but it unlocks the intended board performance.
The maximum stance width of a board model/size is 1.6 inches (4 cm) wider than the Reference Stance. The minimum stance width of a board model is 3.1 inches (8 cm) narrower than the Reference Stance.
Choosing stance angles
**The angles of your front and back binding play a huge role in how you can move your body over your snowboard.** Your hips and knees align and move in different ways depending on which direction your feet are pointing.
It’s safe to say every rider will want their front foot angled toward the nose of the board. **Angling your front foot towards the nose allows you to keep front foot pressure driving into a turn.** The baseplate of your binding or splitboard hardware will have angle markings that read 0-30 degrees in two directions. **Angling your binding toward the nose is referred to as a positive angle relative to setting your binding at zero.** Setting your binding at zero aligns it completely perpendicular to the edge. **Most riders will find a front binding angle of +15-21 degrees is ideal.** Racers and more surf style, turn focused riders often run a more aggressive front foot angle (+21 degree or more) as it opens up your hips toward the fall line and allows you to rock deeper into toe side turns.
While all riders benefit from angling their front binding toward the nose, there are several different schools of thought on the best direction to angle your back binding. Your personal riding style and anatomy will determine what back binding angle club you belong to. The three back binding angle styles are:
Positive / positive (+/+)
If you angle your front and back bindings toward the nose you are riding positive/positive (+/+). Riders who run +/+ typically run only a few degrees of positive angle in the back binding (+3-6 degrees). By slightly turning your back binding toward the nose it aligns both your knees into the same plane and makes it easier for you to dive into toe side turns more aggressively. Running positive angle on your back foot does make riding switch more challenging but the “crossed-up” feeling can be overcome with experience. Running +/+ angles on directional board models is ideal as these board shapes aren’t designed to ride switch.
Positive / zero (+/0)
If you angle your front binding toward the nose and keep your back binding set perpendicular to your edge at zero degrees you are riding positive/zero (+/0). Setting your back binding at zero is a very common back binding stance angle. By keeping your foot straight across the board you can lean into front side carves and ride switch without cross loading your knee. Setting your back foot at zero is a great place to start as you experiment with the angle of your front binding and stance width.
Positive / negative (duck)
If you angle your front binding toward the nose and angle your back binding toward the tail you are riding positive/negative, otherwise known as a “duck” stance. Terrain park rippers who ride switch a lot and freeriders who like to run a wide stance for added balance often prefer a duck stance. These riders typically run only a few degrees of negative angle in the back binding (-3 to 6 degrees). That little bit of negative angle can drastically improve your stability landing switch and will help your body look less “crossed-up” riding switch.
Setting back stance for powder days
On deep powder days keeping your nose afloat is critical. Setting your stance back so that your board is set up with more nose than tail can definitely help on the deep days and especially if you are riding a twin or directional twin shape. Start by setting your stance back 1-2 in (2-5cm) and try to setback each binding the same amount relative to the reference stance.
Nov 11, 2024