# Riding Switch / Duck Stance question..



## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Well first of all. When you ride duck, you need to bend your knees a lot more to get the same kind of edge pressure/angle compare to a very aggressive forward stance.
Also what board are you riding?


----------



## Sincraft (Sep 6, 2010)

Yea I noticed that....and even when I was forward stance Im more agressive with my knees when I ride at speeds...

My board is a Rossignol Storm. Probably about 4 to 5 years old. All mountain directional with a 1" setback.
I picked it up on clearance from evo for $140. I thought about trying other boards but, that's just it we dont have any demos days in my area so, I'm not sure if the board I am riding is decent or not. Seems to be.


----------



## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Went from +/+ to duck on some boards this season (the widest/stiffest one, I still ride with fwd).
Main difference between fwd and duck riding is IMO, that you work way more with your knees for the first and more with the hips for the later. 
Maybe you're trying to still ride with closed hip, maybe still turned slightly to the nose and pushing with your knees through a turn (I did at the beginning)? I'd imagine this misalignement could lead to your impression of imbalance and you'd loose force like this.

Try to check if you have your hip aligned with the edge, knees n hip open.


----------



## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

neni said:


> Went from +/+ to duck on some boards this season (the widest/stiffest one, I still ride with fwd).
> Main difference between fwd and duck riding is IMO, that you work way more with your knees for the furst and more with the hips for the later.
> Maybe you're trying to still ride with closed hip, maybe still turned slightly to the nose and pushing with your knees through a turn (I did at the beginning)? I'd imagine this misalignement coukd lead to your impression of imbalabce and you'd loose force like this.
> 
> Try to check if you have your hip aligned with the edge, knees n hip open.


I agree with the open shoulder.
Maybe he's used to the upper body facing forward stance now he's counter rotated causing heel edge wanting to wash out.


----------



## strycker (Jan 28, 2015)

speedjason said:


> I agree with the open shoulder.
> Maybe he's used to the upper body facing forward stance now he's counter rotated causing heel edge wanting to wash out.


I've been riding in a +12/-12 stance and have noticed it's hard to keep the board on edge. Toe side seems easier than heel and have noticed more scrubbing on the heel edge when trying to ride the edge as well.


----------



## Kenai (Dec 15, 2013)

strycker said:


> I've been riding in a +12/-12 stance and have noticed it's hard to keep the board on edge. Toe side seems easier than heel and have noticed more scrubbing on the heel edge when trying to ride the edge as well.


Good discussion of that effect and ways to fix it here. 
http://www.snowboardingforum.com/tips-tricks-snowboard-coaching/158649-heelside-woes.html


----------



## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

What really helped my heelside carving, is to sit/squat down hard, feels more locked in that way.


----------



## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

16gkid said:


> What really helped my heelside carving, is to sit/squat down hard, feels more locked in that way.


^ This. Also helps to power in/out of turns.


----------



## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

Friday night I finally took the plunge and changed my stance a bit. It was previously +15/-6. I moved the rear binding (right leg) to +6 and planned to leave the front binding (left leg) at +15. However, it felt uncomfortable standing with my foot/leg placed that way. I moved the front to +21 and that felt comfortable. I re-aligned my highbacks to make everything comfortable and as close to parallel with the heel edge as possible. So, my new stance this weekend was +21/+6.

It felt great! I was able to ride until 4pm on Saturday, getting in 19 runs. Sunday we finished up at 2pm to get home a little earlier. I got in 20 runs and could still have done a few more. Before, my body would be too tired normally to do 2 full days with that many runs. I think changing my stance allowed me to carve more comfortably. I also felt more stable, able to get in and out of turns better, handle speed better and just overall better balance and stability. It was great!

Using the Trace app my high speed before the weekend was 37 or 38 mph I believe. This past weekend on Sunday I was over 40 on 11 out of my 20 runs with the high being 47.7 mph! Not that top speed is the goal or most important thing, just one way to give an example. My average speeds and sustained speeds were both up as well.

If you are on the fence about switching up your stance to +/+, give it a shot! Try it out in your living room first to make it comfortable. The worst thing that will happen is you'll have to switch it back, so just bring a screw driver with you.


----------

