# Stance Width Pros and Cons



## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

I've been riding for a 7-8 years and I have most of my settings pretty dialed in.

I'm 6'2" and I ride regular, +12/-12 about a 23 inch wide stance.

I've always had trouble getting low on my board. I'm wondering if adjusting my stance width will help or hinder that. I don't ride park so the ability to spin is something I'd be willing to compromise.

If I had to guess, I'd say a wider stance would get me lower but might make it harder to make quick short radius turns?

Thoughts?


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## Steezus Christ (Jul 29, 2013)

wider will be much more stable TO AN EXTENT, there is such thing as too wide, whereas narrower will allow for easier maneuverability. i've heard a lot of crazy calculations for correct stance width over the years eg. your height divided by pi, or the distance from the bottom of your heel to your knee, but at the end of the day its all personal preference and its best to experiment with a range of different stances to best find the one that suits you and ur style of riding.


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## kaborkian (Feb 1, 2010)

Try it. I went through stance widths last season. It was pretty immediately obvious when I was too wide or too narrow. Felt wrong, hurt, prevented certain motions, etc.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

I fully intend to play around and experiment.

I guess that I was more asking for what side affects I should be paying attention to. IE wider gives you more stability but will make it progressively harder to initiate or to finish turns or something like that.

Frankly, I just want to be able to drop my centre of gravity 2 or 3 inches more than I can now without feeling like I'm about to break at the waist.


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Im 6' and ride 12/-12 at 23.75. I can't imagine riding as narrow a stance as you have. I would recommend trying at least 24" for a couple of days. You give up a lot of ability to load your tip and tail as well as general stability for airs and more dynamic moves. I've ridden as wide as 25" for half a season and as narrow as 22.5 but there is a sweet spot in the middle where you get the right amount of maneuverability with general power and stability.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

I just measured it and I'm actually at 23" center to center.

Guess I'll open it up an inch and see what I think


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

It will definitely help you get lower. But what helps that even further is opening your angles a bit (which I hate doing.)

I think the thing you will notice most is that it helps you keep your body mass centered and more quiet so that you aren't moving out over your tip or tail too much when riding at full rip. I like to focus on riding with my feet, knees, and hips without moving my upper body out of position too much. A narrow stance makes that more difficult to accomplish.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

I had my angles out at 15\-15 for a few weeks, but I slowly started feeling it in my knees so I backed off to 12\-12.

Thanks for the tips, there isn't a great deal of info out there about stance width and its affects on riding.


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Yeah same here when going to 15/-15 especially with the back knee. Just as well it kept letting me open open my body too much anyhow.


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## readimag (Aug 10, 2011)

Yeah I ride 18 and -15 with a 22.5 to 23 ish I tried to go up to 24 ish and I felt like my board would do what ever it wanted. So I went back and I feel it is the best for me and how I like to ride my boards. Can I do a 23.5 - 24 and maybe get a little more stability out of the board sure, but once I get in the 23.5 - 24 range all hell brakes loose for me on the steeps and more technical terrain. Just try it out man you will know about half a day if you can’t live with it.


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Yeah you can "feel" when you've gone too wide because you start pushing the tip and tail and stop "riding" the sidecut. It's a feel thing, you will notice when you don't like it.


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