# Stance question



## Cobra (Jan 26, 2011)

Its ALL about feel and preference man. I'm sorta the same way and have been riding Lead:Rear foot 14-16:0. Gonna try 15:-15 next day I go, but mostly for the sake of riding switch possibly more comfortably. Width is the same way, whatever feels better. I learned about shoulder width and sticking to that for now. So bring that phillips screwdriver and play around.


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## gjsnowboarder (Sep 1, 2009)

andrewdono said:


> Hey, newbie here, have been out 4 times over the past week, love the switch from skiing to boarding but have a stance/binding question:
> I am duck footed when standing normally in my everyday life (with both feet pointing out about 25 degrees in opposite directions). What binding setting/stance should I set my board up with to give me the best control for carving nicely? I am not riding half pipes, rails, etc, just looking to carve nice and smoothly, and hopefully get a bit more agressive carving in the near future. Should I go with the obvious "duck" setting with each binding pointing approx 20 to 25 degrees in opposite directions (front +25 and rear -25) or will that be bad for carving and control? Additionally, how wide should I set my stance (looking for optimal carving)? Thank you sooooo much for your input and help.
> Andrew


 25, -25 is a pretty big split and being in snowboarding boots might be a little too wide. You can start off with this but I'm willing to bet you will end up dialing it back. With beginners I usually start them off +12, -6. It sounds like you will be comfortable with a angles larger then this. Since you mainly want to only go in one direction setting up your lead foot angle greater than your back foot will help this. If all you want to do is race/carve then even going with a forward stance both angles positive could apply. Your angles will come down to comfort and preference over time so fiddle with it.

As far as width of stance this is usually dependent on several factors, your inseam, overall heigth, and style of riding. For instance I'm 6'0" with a 24 inch width on my 159W park board, but on my 164W All-mountain board I'm 23.5" to 23" for width. My angles on the duck board are set up 15, -15, on the all mountain they are +18, -12 or -15. The rule of thumb is width of bindings should be equal to or greater then your width of shoulders.


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## andrewdono (Jan 27, 2011)

*Cool*

Thanks for the opinions, please keep them coming.

As far as width goes, I am about 5'8", and would guess a wider stance is more stable but I dont really know what I am talking about. Does the width of the stance affect your ability to turn/carve etc? 

As far as having both feet set at positive angles, this would be really uncomfortable for my rear foot because I am naturally duck footed quite a bit. Again, thanks much for taking the time, greatly appreciated.

Andrew


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## gjsnowboarder (Sep 1, 2009)

andrewdono said:


> Thanks for the opinions, please keep them coming.
> 
> As far as width goes, I am about 5'8", and would guess a wider stance is more stable but I dont really know what I am talking about. Does the width of the stance affect your ability to turn/carve etc?
> 
> ...


Yes, you are correct, a wider stance is more stable because it lowers your CM(center of mass). As with anything it can be taken out too wide or too narrow. When this happens your range of motion is decreased to the point that it blocks your intended movements. I recommend buying a snowboarding tool and messing with your set-up every other run at the mountain till you get a stance that feels "dialed" in. Chanceswith being 5'8" you will be around the 22" width, but without physically seeing you in comparison to your board this is just a WAG(wild ass guess).


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## patongue (Feb 26, 2010)

Hi Andrew. I have ridden mostly duck stance in the last few years (+12, -12 or +18, -6). I recently switched to the standard forward stance of +21 +6, and I love it. I feel there's less strain on the knees for a mountain carving free riding day, as it allows you to look abit more forward than with duck. In my opinion, duck requires you to be more parallel with the board. I can still ride switch fairly easily after abit of practice. I would recommend to give forward chance a shot at some point in the future

This site is pretty good, check it out:
SNOWBOARD STANCE*-*360Guide


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## gjsnowboarder (Sep 1, 2009)

patongue said:


> Hi Andrew. I have ridden mostly duck stance in the last few years (+12, -12 or +18, -6). I recently switched to the standard forward stance of +21 +6, and I love it. I feel there's less strain on the knees for a mountain carving free riding day, as it allows you to look abit more forward than with duck, which in my opinion requires you to be more parallel with the board. I can still ride switch fairly easily after abit of practice. I would recommend to give forward chance a shot at some point in the future
> 
> This site is pretty good, check it out:
> SNOWBOARD STANCE*-*360Guide


Just needed to correct some info here. The further out your forward angle the less "parallel" to the nose of the board you are going to be. When we talk about being parallel to the board with our hips and shoulder we are actually trying to be perpindicular to the angle of the front foot. It is usually refered to as both left and right shoulder/hips/knees being over nose and tail of the board (or vise versa if goofy). The result is with a forward stance you will typically have higher angles and end up being more open to the front of the board. It typically assits with a more comfortable stance when euro/counter carving. It does limit the ability to ride switch comfortably.


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## patongue (Feb 26, 2010)

Hmm, re-reading what I posted, I realized that it sounded off. Editing it now.
But you are making the same point as me. With a forward stance, your shoulders will be less parallel with the board than riding duck stance. This would result in being more open to the front of the board, helping with carving. 

As for switch limitations, it takes some getting used to, but if you follow proper unweighting and downweighting principles, I honestly don't think angle of the feet matter. I do have a buddy who just can't do it though, so maybe this is individual.


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