Some Snowboard Basics

So you’ve bought your swanky new board set up with boots, board and bindings and you’re ready to shred the gnarl. The guy in the shops put your binding on for you but you’re still unsure about a few things. Let us help…

Firstly, what on earth does this mean? Regular or goofy simply refers to what foot you lead with. Regular riders lead with their left foot and goofy riders lead with their right. If you’re wondering where the term goofy originated from then this is a matter of some debate, however one popular theory is that it came from an old Disney film called Hawaiian Holiday featuring Goofy the dog riding a surfboard with his ride foot forward.

So how do I tell what foot I lead with?

The Big Push

Have a buddy give you a push forward without warning the foot that naturally steps out first will be you lead foot.

The slip and slide

Run and slide on some ice or on a polish floor the foot that you naturally lead with will be you snowboard lead foot

Drop Kick

Drop kick a football, rugby ball or skier (preferable a skier!). Your natural standing leg will be your lead leg.

What angles should my bindings be?

Stance angles refer to the angle the bindings are mounted at relative to the snowboard, and are always expressed as degrees, either positive or negative. Bindings mounted perpendicular to the board, therefore, would be mounted at 0/0 (0 degrees in front, 0 in back). Let’s look at some common setups for angles:

Forward Stance: A forward stance is ideal for carving, beginners, and all-mountain riding. Common angles are +20°/+6°.

Duck Stance: A duck stance is ideal for freestyle riding. Common angles are +15°/-15° (known as mirrored), or +18°/-6°.

A duck stance or + on the Front foot and – on back tend to be the most common angles.

How wide to I go?

The width of the stance

The stance width is the distance from you’re the centre of your front foot to the centre of your back foot a rough guide for this is the distance from the back of your knee to the heel of your foot, width is really only based on your high, you can make slight tweaks depending on the your style of riding.

Summary

We will expand on set up of high backs, straps and set ups for different riding styles in future blogs but if you need any help and advice why  not pop in the store, call or email us and we will be glad to help.