SNOWBOARD STANCE

Photo 1

There are hundreds of ways to stand on a snowboard since there are hundreds of orientations of the bindings on the board. Typically the weight is over the center or slightly forward of the center of the board. The hands can be facing in the direction of travel and held in a relaxed position or can be placed along side the legs as shown in Photo 1 above. The above rider is in the regular foot stance, left foot forward. Shown below in Photo 2 is a static exercise where the student rocks backward and forward (Photo 3) to get a feeling of proper positioning on the board. The head is always looking in the direction of travel.

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Make sure the hips are aligned with the feet without body twist. Body twist can cause problems when unweighting or jumping.


The young rider above is on a freestyle board practicing weight shifting for riding switch or regular. As shown on the left the rider's shoulder leads the body as an exercise in keeping the weight toward the tip of the board. This rider is a goofy footer, or right foot forward rider. The image on the right shows the same rider in the switch position or riding the board backwards. The exercise of shifting the weight toward the back of the board helps stabilizes the board when ridingswitch.

The rider in the above two images is using an all around carving board. Notice that the hard boots are placed more in the direction of travel similar to that of a slalom water skier. Notice the different body position where the upper body is facing in the direction of travel. The image to the right shows the switch position which is very difficult with the hard binding system necessitating a large amount of body twist between the feet and shoulders. The instructor above is helping the beginning student attain the correct positioning. Learning proper positioning is often easiest when in a static condition as shown above. Then go up the hill and practice in the dynamic condition of riding down the hill.

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