Pros and Cons of stance width

Posted: 21 March 2010 07:50 PM

What are the pros and cons of having a wider stance vs a shorter stance…?

Will it be easier to handle the board either way,  pulling of 180’s or 360’s…?

I was pulling up to a Quad when a lift operator asked me why I rode with such a short stance…  I didn’t realize I was….

As the end of the season nears in my neck of the woods,  I figured I would slowly tweak my stance and
see what happens.

Thanks for any insight.

Posted: 22 March 2010 02:52 AM

A wide stance is more stable for balance but you would lose a bit of hip strength for rotating your board around say intense moguls or setting up spins.

I personally ride with a wide (24”+) stance.  When I get my park board this week (woot!) I will play with a shorter stance to see if I can strike the right balance for the park.

Best thing you can do is pack a screwdriver in your kit and tweak the board around a couple of runs.  Play with the angles and widths until you hit it just right for yourself.

Posted: 22 March 2010 03:28 PM

Yeah Reloaded has pretty much covered all bases there. Wider stances are better for balance when you’re landing or boardsliding on rails, and it’s also much easier for pressing grinds on rails… oh and wide stances seem to make riding more stylish… hense they got ridiculous in the Forum 8 days.

Narrow stances tend to be more popular with freeriders.. don’t ask me why? I’d take Reloaded’s explanation! Back in the day freestylers used to run quite narrow stances as it helped reduce spin inertia (i.e weight away from the centre of the spin axis), now people hit bigger jumps and so naturally have more time to rotate and need a large stance width to stomp landings.

I’d say the minimum stance width should be the instep of your boot at the width of your shoulders… then playabout with it ‘til your happy. If someone is suggesting your stance width is too narrow, i’d give a wider stance a go. I do my stance width by view so I’m afraid i can’t tell you what it is… if I feel like I’m doing star jumps when I pop an ollie it’s too wide!

rich