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Am I weird? Stance question.

I skate and snowboard goofy but I surf natural. I’ve never quite understood it myself, but it’s just how it happens.

Does anyone ese use different stances for surfing, skate or snowboarding??

 
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Ive had numerous students from Hawaii ,  barbados ( even vancouver) who grew up surfing have this “issue”.. I know like one dude who skates regular but rides goofy.

You should be stoked, your legs are prolly going to be suuuper strong on both sides,,, start ridin switch lots!

 
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Rad. - 04 July 2009 08:19 AM

I skate and snowboard goofy but I surf natural. I’ve never quite understood it myself, but it’s just how it happens.

Does anyone ese use different stances for surfing, skate or snowboarding??

Yes rad… Your a freak of nature…

But i agree with shredlife… Your legs would be super strong and you can shred it switch, from what i have seen..

 

Ill definitely have to try lots of switch riding, i have never really focused on it. thanks for the tip!
whats the best way to hit booters switch?

 
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Switch straight airs are one the hardest things to do off booters. Of course the key to hitting jumps switch is getting very solid at riding switch. The more cofortable you are riding switch the easier it will be to take off and land switch. I know you can ride switch, so I would recommend challenging your skills by trying to ride over bumps switch. Riding bumps switch will force you to focus on switch pressure control and this will help your progression.

 
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When surfing you use both legs, of course, but dont you use the front leg to steer more than the back leg?
On this train of thought, in snowboarding since you are moving down hill, we know a beginner usually learns turns by using the back leg more than the front leg.
Could this be the reason that this may happen?

Now I would normally try to come off as being more confident and state something as THE reason why. But I must admit that I have never surfed (but, I have wake surfed behind a boat) so I dont think I have much to compare it to. I would imagine this could be the reason.

Regardless, you understand the sensation of traveling sideways in BOTH directions, and this will easily transfer to your snowboarding and make you an excellent rider in the days to come!

 
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I don’t think their is a solid reason for this because everyone is different. I skate, surf, snowboard, and wakeboard all regular - Rad doesn’t. Some snowboarders use their dominant foot on the back, others use their dominant foot on the front, some prefer spinning frontside, others prefer spinning backside. There is no rule that applies to everyone, as much as I have tried to find one. It goes down to the way the individual’s body and brain works. I have always found this subject very interesting.

 
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moi aussi! its really neat to try to figure out a students dominant side, and have all your ‘tride and true’ excercises (what foot d oyou kick a soccer ball with, the behind push etc) fail! hilarious.

anyway, honestly the easiest way for me to hit ‘booters’ (all size jumps we’ll say, bumps to fat tables) was to spin right off the bat… get your cab 1s dialed and have them REALLLLLY pressed out when you pop, allowing you to get used to the full pressure youll need for a bigger spin (cab 3,5,7 etc) and making you NOT have to land switch yet… then I found it was easier to progress to landing switch on an edge (I learned cab3s before switch straight airs). i dunno, you let me know what works for you!

 

You’re weird.

 
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interesting posts so far, the whole skate/surf/shred with differing lead feet is a total enigma to me,  but hey my best mate does it…..anyways the comments on the switch airs and that kind of thing provoked a question.  shredlife, you mention about doing switch frontside 180s as an early trick on a booter. to me that trick and frontside 180s are pretty damn scary and consequently a trick i never do on jumps, give me front 3 or 5 anytime or any backside spin!  I always find with that trick if you under spin it you can never escape your weight being back and sliding out on your heel edge with sometimes nasty tweakage of the ankles, or much worse if you over cook it a little but not enough for a 3 then the heel edge catch is well on the cards and i don’t think i have to say too much about that! 
does anyone else have fs 180s and half cabs as park tricks they find hard or just never do?

 
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Aidy - 07 July 2009 09:11 AM

interesting posts so far, the whole skate/surf/shred with differing lead feet is a total enigma to me,  but hey my best mate does it…..anyways the comments on the switch airs and that kind of thing provoked a question.  shredlife, you mention about doing switch frontside 180s as an early trick on a booter. to me that trick and frontside 180s are pretty damn scary and consequently a trick i never do on jumps, give me front 3 or 5 anytime or any backside spin!  I always find with that trick if you under spin it you can never escape your weight being back and sliding out on your heel edge with sometimes nasty tweakage of the ankles, or much worse if you over cook it a little but not enough for a 3 then the heel edge catch is well on the cards and i don’t think i have to say too much about that! 
does anyone else have fs 180s and half cabs as park tricks they find hard or just never do?

I feel the same way Shredlife does.
These are simple tricks for me.
I see a FS180 as all lower body movement, and the upper body doesnt even need to move at all.
If the upper body is twisted and facing forward before you take off (which is how a lot of people ride anyway), once the board leaves the snow, it’s all a lower body movement - the shoulders move maybe 10 or 15 degrees.

A SW FS 180 may be even easier because the rider lands in a comfortable position - their normal stance.
This is sometimes the first spin I teach for that very reason.

After struggling to teach switch and the rider gets frustrated from falling again and again, when if they just stayed in a normal stance they wouldnt fall. I introduce a FS180 of some sort. (usually a nose roll) and it takes them back from SW to normal, and this ‘baby-step into freestyle’ stokes them out to continue learning the sw turns, so they can do 180s in and out of switch.

 
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snowslider - 07 July 2009 12:49 PM
Aidy - 07 July 2009 09:11 AM

interesting posts so far, the whole skate/surf/shred with differing lead feet is a total enigma to me,  but hey my best mate does it…..anyways the comments on the switch airs and that kind of thing provoked a question.  shredlife, you mention about doing switch frontside 180s as an early trick on a booter. to me that trick and frontside 180s are pretty damn scary and consequently a trick i never do on jumps, give me front 3 or 5 anytime or any backside spin!  I always find with that trick if you under spin it you can never escape your weight being back and sliding out on your heel edge with sometimes nasty tweakage of the ankles, or much worse if you over cook it a little but not enough for a 3 then the heel edge catch is well on the cards and i don’t think i have to say too much about that! 
does anyone else have fs 180s and half cabs as park tricks they find hard or just never do?

I feel the same way Shredlife does.
These are simple tricks for me.
I see a FS180 as all lower body movement, and the upper body doesnt even need to move at all.
If the upper body is twisted and facing forward before you take off (which is how a lot of people ride anyway), once the board leaves the snow, it’s all a lower body movement - the shoulders move maybe 10 or 15 degrees.

A SW FS 180 may be even easier because the rider lands in a comfortable position - their normal stance.
This is sometimes the first spin I teach for that very reason.

After struggling to teach switch and the rider gets frustrated from falling again and again, when if they just stayed in a normal stance they wouldnt fall. I introduce a FS180 of some sort. (usually a nose roll) and it takes them back from SW to normal, and this ‘baby-step into freestyle’ stokes them out to continue learning the sw turns, so they can do 180s in and out of switch.


Yeah I agree about student progression using the front 1 / cab 1. I know why alot of people would claim 1s are scary off larger stuff , but I love the feeling of having my knees totally sucked up , just staring down the landing.. I’ve actually had moments where I swore time slowed down and I was able to consider my riding, take in the session, look up at the sun… such serene moments in the air..

Similar feelings are NOT envoked RE: any spin larger… all my 3s are like a constant bet to me.. “I bet i ll stomp this and not sweep out off my edge.. I think I can I think I can…” ... to the opint where if you run-in a jump with me youll actually hear me yelling just before take off “back 1, back 1, or front 3 front 3 front 3…” ,

My point is - the discussion was about ‘am I wierd, my stance is different in dif sports” - EVERYONE feels weird doing things ALOT OF PEOPLE feel comfy with. It’s what makes snowboarding so interesting! After this quick digression into spin discussion, we can all see everyones snowboardings different, discussions like this can only aid our progression.

 
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continuing with the topic’s digression…

Shredlife - 07 July 2009 02:56 PM

I’ve actually had moments where I swore time slowed down and I was able to consider my riding, take in the session, look up at the sun… such serene moments in the air..

I’ve always enjoyed how it seems so silent when in the air.

I think that if I was more comfortable with higher speeds, I could take larger jumps, and be in the air that much longer. straight air, spin, whatever, just more hang time is sweet. once I’m comfortable being up there, then I’ll be more comfortable spinning or whatever.

Shredlife - 07 July 2009 02:56 PM

we can all see everyones snowboardings different, discussions like this can only aid our progression.

Perhaps with that we can back on topic.