since i just purchased my new board(thanks to rider), i was wondering what stance do you guys used and do you prefer duck stance of forward stance and what would you recommend for a beginner.

Stance is such a personal thing and it really depends on your intentions and also the snow conditions.

For an absolute beginner I would suggest a narrower stance, with zero degrees on the back foot. Why? Because the ultimate goal is to get them turning. A narrower stance makes it easier to pivot, and the directional angles make it easier to turn by opening their hips to the direction of travel.

As you improve, you will probably want to start riding switch and learning tricks. Here is becomes more important to widen the stance, for stability and pressability (I'm going to pretend that's a real word, hehe). It also becomes important to turn your back binding outwards AKA 'duck stance', to open your hips to travel in both directions.

Personally, I find duck stance to be by far the most comfortable and versatile stance - but each person is different. I like riding a lot of switch so it's important to me.

My preferred stance is 15 / -15, 22 to 23 inches wide (depending on the board), and centred.

thanks rider

been reading this http://wildyago.kr/422 , is it true that duck stance give you more knee problems i mean he is speaking in article in good way and bad way for duck stance and they recommend forward stance in many articles i have read at least for beginners.

also this is stupid question but may as well ask, in ur article http://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/stance-and-snowboard-setup/ when you talk about centred what exactly does that mean ?

In that first article, there's a bunch of things I don't agree with. But to answer your question, no, I highly doubt duck stance causes more knee problems. In fact, I would assume it's the opposite for what we consider 'normal' riding. It makes more sense to have a somewhat symmetrical stance, especially if you're riding switch. Although the article says 2009, it sounds very dated to me.

Centred or setback stance refers to your position on the board, in relation to the nose and tail. If you have a centred stance, that means the centre of your stance (exact halfway point between your two bindings), is also the exact centre of the board. If you shift both bindings back towards the tail, you now have a setback stance.

The more I read, the more I can say that first article is completely whack! I would disregard any information in there. Old, dated, and very off the mark.

If I went with their suggestions, I'd have a +15 /+5, 19 inch stance.

I ride +18/-9, 21 inches, 1/2 - 3/4 inch setback from center.

rider26 - 07 November 2011 04:27 PM

The more I read, the more I can say that first article is completely whack! I would disregard any information in there. Old, dated, and very off the mark.

If I went with their suggestions, I'd have a +15 /+5, 19 inch stance.

Thanks rider grr sometimes i hate internet the more you read the more either you get confused or the information is wrong but i guess i should of looked at date.

rider26 - 07 November 2011 04:23 PM

Centred or setback stance refers to your position on the board, in relation to the nose and tail. If you have a centred stance, that means the centre of your stance (exact halfway point between your two bindings), is also the exact centre of the board. If you shift both bindings back towards the tail, you now have a setback stance.

my new board says it has a set-back stance, which i take to mean the mid-point between the mounting holes is already set back 1cm from the board's true centre.

Yeah, if you use the reference stance, which should be somewhat marked at the inserts, you will have a setback stance.

Also, if you move both bindings out (one towards the nose and one towards the tail) by the same amount, your stance will still be set back.

Just say the reference stance is one inch back; if you move the front bindings two inches forward, your stance would now be centred.

So as long as ur nose and tail is same measurement it means it's centred, lol this seems so simple yet so confusing

That's where it can get a bit confusing. Sometimes the actual nose length, which is the perpendicular length from the contact points to the actual tip of the nose, can be longer than the tail length. However you can still be centred along the effective edge. Centred and setback is in reference to the length of the effective edge, not the length of the entire board. Technically this means you can have a centred stance, however the length from the centre of your stance to the tip of the nose can be longer than the centre of your stance to the tip of the tail.

I hope this isn't confusing you.

This is what I mean by 'nose length':



The above nose length could be longer than the tail length on some boards. However the stance setback does not take these parts of the board into account. It only counts the effective edge, which is the nose contact point to the tail contact point.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Yeah it makes sens to me but I am just confused as from where do u measure to make sure it's centerd, might get u to show me when I see you if you don't mind.

If you look at the mounting holes for the bindings you'll notices an X in the middle of them at each end.. from memory the distance between these two X's is 22" from memory and centred.

Personally I ride centred 24-24.5" wide with 15/-15.

Im +15/-12 at 25", centered.

When I first started riding it was something like +15/+5, 22ish and about 3" back. People that rode duck foot were weirdos...

A -neg rear foot setting will help your switch riding.

So I know this is personal preference but I am going to ask any way, for someone like me I can link turns etc, what stance would you recommend for me, I was thinking 15/-9 centered what do u think?