Poster: A snowHead
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i board regular but am thinking of changing to goofy.
tried a couple of the little tests you do to find your lead foot ie which foot do you put forward first when sliding on a slippery floor and which foot forward first to stop yourself falling over .... the answer to both is right foot.
Has anybody any tips or thoughts on this please
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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duck?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Those tests don't find your lead foot, they find your dominant foot which should be the tail foot. You are naturally regular and will find it awkward trying to ride goofy. It would be like trying to write with the wrong hand
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andybabes, what are you like riding switch? if you haven't tried it already, give it a go, then you'll be able to suss how well you'll get on with riding the other way.
or am i just being boring and sensible ?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You are naturally regular
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I slide left foot forward, did cartwheels (in the days when I did such daft things) left hand first and am DEFINITELY naturally regular (ie left foot forward). I haven't done much snowboarding, and am useless at it, but I have no doubt about that.
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Most of the "tests" are pretty meaningless and just a last-resort for when people don't have any clue which way they should ride (i.e. they've never skateboarded, surfed, wakeboarded, kicked a football, etc.).
If you're really struggling to progress, being left behind by those you learned with, it might be worth trying the other way round. However, most of the steps taught to beginners to teach them edge control and allow them to progress towards making turns can be done equally well either way round (regardless of board setup) so people tend to realise pretty quickly if one way feels better than the other.
I'd suggest just sticking with it. There's no right or wrong way for any individual to ride a snowboard.
Most British dryslopes/domes should give out beginner boards set up with a duck stance (BASI advice) which makes it a lot easier to figure out which way you prefer. A lot of places on the continent (France especially) will set them up in a forward-angled stance.
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Quote: |
You are naturally regular
Puzzled I slide left foot forward, did cartwheels (in the days when I did such daft things) left hand first and am DEFINITELY naturally regular (ie left foot forward). I haven't done much snowboarding, and am useless at it, but I have no doubt about that.
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Someone who puts their right foot forwards when being pushed, only really works if they are not expecting it, is almost certainly regular, the slidey thing is a lot less certain.
andybabes, are you naturally right footed? if so you will be regular. As stevomcd, says as simple a thing as kicking a football will tell you this
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rambotion, i am right handed/ footed . i always thought your lead foot was at the front. your comments have boosted my confidence in staying the way i am.
Never had any lessons other than the ones to qaulify to use the slope in my local fridge.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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why whats coming lol
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sherlock235 wrote: |
andybabes, what are you like riding switch? if you haven't tried it already, give it a go, then you'll be able to suss how well you'll get on with riding the other way.
or am i just being boring and sensible ? |
never really tried switch, but just bought new all mountain board so will give it a go
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Never had any lessons other than the ones to qaulify to use the slope in my local fridge.
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Then maybe that's the next step - there are some great McNab clinics - I'd be up for one of those if I were 40 years younger
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You know it makes sense.
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This is quite a reassuring thread, as I ride regular and had wondered if I was doing it wrong.
Is right-footedness like right-handedness - i.e. the majority case? I think I see probably about 50/50 regular and goofy when on the hill, surely loads of people are riding goofy when they shouldn't?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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If you are unsure strap your left foot in only and try to skate... That normally confirms which way you are round. Skating with the wrong foot feels REALLY bad.
Someone said the dominant foot should be on the back... that is wrong! The dominant foot is the foot/leg with more attuned control and hence will be easier to steer the board when learning.
tux
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I am a right handed regular.
Last year a mate was learning and was struggling. He got it into his head to change to goofy and after that was just useless. Its hard to learn and it all feels quite unnatural to start with.
Most right handed people will stand balanced with their left foot forward (rifle shooting, cricket, karate). The left foot should be the prop/power foot and the right foot the stabiliser. The same forces apply to turning a board.
Skating a board (or even a skate board) is a good indicator. You need to push with your stabiliser leg so or you will apply the force wrong and tip yourself over.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Quote: |
Someone said the dominant foot should be on the back... that is wrong! The dominant foot is the foot/leg with more attuned control and hence will be easier to steer the board when learning.
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No, dominant foot is definitely the back foot, to provide strength and stability. As this topic proves though, there's no right and wrong and whatever works for you is best - I'm open to the idea that there's a reasonable argument for the dominant foot to be the front (steering) foot.
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My dominant foot is definately my right and I am definately goofy.
I kick with my right, skid on ice right foot forward (yes i still do this in my thirties ), wakeboard right foot forward,skateboard right foot forward, heely right foot forward, surf right foot forward, can stand on my right foot longer, can hop better on my right foot.
So for me, dominant foot is definately forward.
That said you should force yourself to ride both ways. Theres a school of thought that says when learning something new, learn it switch first, then you'll pick it up "the right way round" much easier.
G
PS. Goofy is right. Non-goofy people are marmmite haters, and are blatently wrong.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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stevomcd wrote: |
Quote: |
Someone said the dominant foot should be on the back... that is wrong! The dominant foot is the foot/leg with more attuned control and hence will be easier to steer the board when learning.
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No, dominant foot is definitely the back foot, to provide strength and stability. As this topic proves though, there's no right and wrong and whatever works for you is best - I'm open to the idea that there's a reasonable argument for the dominant foot to be the front (steering) foot. |
only if you are a 'skid the back end around' type of boarder
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stevomcd wrote: |
Quote: |
Someone said the dominant foot should be on the back... that is wrong! The dominant foot is the foot/leg with more attuned control and hence will be easier to steer the board when learning.
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No, dominant foot is definitely the back foot, to provide strength and stability. As this topic proves though, there's no right and wrong and whatever works for you is best - I'm open to the idea that there's a reasonable argument for the dominant foot to be the front (steering) foot. |
To get in the XMAS spirit...
"oh no it isnt!"
You can come back with..
"its behind you"
Seriously, You are better at balancing on your dominant foot. Standing on one foot is easier on that foot. As snowboarding is about balancing on your leading foot (mostly) it makes 100% sense to have the better foot on the front.
I dont know about you, but I steer with my front foot and pressure that foot whilst making a turn and then using the back foot as control for before and after the turn.
I dont balance on my back foot (even in powder).
Tux
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i don't fit the mould very well. i started goofy cos it seemed natural to me at the time, but when i do all the tests i come up regular. i have to say i think it matters a lot less than some people would have you believe. Once you get any way competent you're going to want to ride switch every now and again so you need to know both.
What harm is there in trying, Andy?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Quote: |
Seriously, You are better at balancing on your dominant foot. Standing on one foot is easier on that foot. As snowboarding is about balancing on your leading foot (mostly) it makes 100% sense to have the better foot on the front.
I dont know about you, but I steer with my front foot and pressure that foot whilst making a turn and then using the back foot as control for before and after the turn.
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Ah, but at the start of the turn (weight on your front foot) you should have un-weighted the board, to make the turn initiation quicker and edge-change easier so really there's minimal weight on that feeble, non-dominant front foot. Then when you drive your weight down through the turn, you're also shifting your weight backwards so that's when you need your almighty dominant back foot the most.
How long do you reckon we can keep this up for?
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hopefully not as long as the bleeding "inner tip lead" malarky down in one of them strange forums them there skiers use....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Its nothing to do with dominant leg, its all about dominant eye! I am right eye dominant so I ride goofy.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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snowrider, My right eye is hugely better than my left and I ride regular
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I was confidently diagnosed as 'Goofy positive' at my first lesson in MK sooo many years ago now. Not knowing any better (and that all my riding friends were all goofs too) i struggled on with it and got nowhere fast. As soon as i tried riding regular it all made sense and the rest is history. One up side to it was that I can ride switch without thinking too much about it thanks to hours learning the wrong-way-round.
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You know it makes sense.
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snowrider, My left eye is massivley better than the right eye and im goofy.
stevomcd, TBH it should not make an difference, I think if you learn switch on the same day as normal and keep 50/50 then it prob would not make much difference.
It probably would be a good idea for beginners to have twin tip boards set 15/15 duck and have learning both ways as part of beginner lessons.
Im crap a switch not because im goofy and reg is hard, but im lazy and going slow again to build up switch speed is so dam boring!
I have an injury in my back leg (lots of titanium from knee to ankle) and used to complain that the flexibly of my ankle was keeping me back from switch, But a girl last year demonstrated that she had LESS movement in BOTH ankles... she was doing 360s on the black jumps.
I also think once you have decided on an stance the ankle/legs learn the movements that way and a non domininant leg will become dominant for snowboarding regardless.
I will remain a proud member of Judean Riders Front and enemy of Rider's Front of Judean and the French (what have the ever done for us? apart from ski resorts, wine, great cheese, baguettes, mountains, great trains, strong coffee, women, fashion, perfume... ).
Tux
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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stevomcd, TBH it should not make an difference
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Totally agree, learn, progress, go with it. There's pros and cons either way.
Long live the Riders' Front of Judea!
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Poster: A snowHead
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stick to what you know, unless you fancy the challenge.
when i slide on a slippy floor my right foot goes first, but those first few slides on the indoor at hemel recently started me off regular which i am more than comfy with so i'll stick with that.
Do you feel the need to take off bindings and spend all that time setting up again,, only to fall flat on your ass the first time out?
Thought not!!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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all the "tests" pointed to my right foot being dominant and i was set-up with my left foot as lead. After a day and a half struggling with knee and ankle pain, i realised i spent my time mostly with the right foot leading, hence bindings set-up all wrong, hence pain. I switched and then it all felt natural at last...
Best thing is to try and see....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Whilst less important for free riding, sooner or later you're going to want to be able to ride switch pretty well even if you're a piste rider rather than a freestyler, in order to muck around more on the sides of the pistes or do even basic tricks and jumps etc.
The earlier you start, the better. The more competent you are at one stance, the harder it is to work at the other one knowing you could be having a lot more fun the other way around.
Incidentally, although I vaguely remember the "push forward" test, I could never remember which stance that was supposed to indicate, so I don't remember ever being influenced by the conventional wisdom; I just kind of discovered that I preferred goofy on my own.
What's more, I didn't even hear about the various other tests that people suggest until much later. So I have a pretty unbiased view about them, and I confirm that my right foot is indeed my preferred forward foot in all of the following without me ever having consciously compared my stance in each of them before: snowboarding, skateboarding/scooter, inline skating, surfing, kitesurfing; and I also freewheel a bike and slide/skid with right foot forward, and cartwheel to the right (a somewhat random and amusing test mentioned by someone on this forum, to which I have not yet found a counterexample amongst people who I've asked!). A straw poll of my mates indicates complete consensus with the freewheeling, sliding and cartwheeling tests. My gut feeling is that freewheeling a bike downhill should be the most accurate test that learner snowboarders can easily imagine doing.
As for learning to ride in the weaker stance, I now force myself to freewheel, scooter and inline skate (the only sports I do very regularly) in a regular stance, and I'm gradually getting over the totally freakish feeling of putting weight forward on my left foot whilst snowboarding!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hmmm all very interesting!
I write with my left hand and slide across the floor and skated in my teens (badly) right foot forward!
I've just one week of boarding to my name .. learnt in Tignes last year and struggled to figure out which way was best. The hire shop said i was goofy and had me setup that way. On the slopes goofy feels fine, but after struggling with toe turns i found it very easy to switch and do a heel turn till i got the toe turns sorted. I will happily head down a slope regular or goofy but find anything but a heel turn difficult in regular stance!
I'm off out to Snowbombing in a few months to see how much i remember ... I'm pretty sure goofy is the way forward for me, but think the fact i can easily switch on the move might prove useful when i get into sticky situations! I will work on my goofy stance and perfect my turns this year .. but i might attempt to see how well i fair riding regular towards the end of the week!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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stevomcd wrote: |
A lot of places on the continent (France especially) will set them up in a forward-angled stance. |
How the hell do you ride switch if you're forward-angled?
(Be gentle with me - I'm a two-planker and this is for curiosity only. I'm not about to dust off the board I've been storing for my bro-in-law for the last two years. Or am I...? )
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The way I learnt to board was very odd.
I could turn left-foot leading (toe-edge) and the opposite right-foot leading (heel-edge) (I think) !
But the other 2 ways of turning weren't comfortable at all. So I went back to how I'd been taught, leading with arms and practicing the turns I didn't like.
Now I've ended up riding regular (I'm right-leg dominant and use left-leg forward). But I'm very happy riding switch, which my more experienced boarder mates are very wary of. I know this is helped by having my bindings set in 15/15 duck.
The benefits are that I can easily swap to and from switch as a different leg gets tired, and that I'm told jumping/tricks will be easier to do. (Not mastered anything decent yet - I'm still trying to do very small 180's). The disadvantage was that I think it took me longer to learn as I had to learn 4 ways of turning, and it took me longer to build up confidence.
The problem is that last year I finally realised that the bindings aren't usually set in the middle of the board. But rather back a bit, so that there's usually more board towards the front? This didn't seem to affect my boarding as I don't think the difference is that great.
So a couple of questions:
1. Does this all make sense? It seems logical to me....
2. Is there such a thing as a symmetrical setup, where the bindings are set in the exact middle of the board?
Rich
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 15-01-10 13:52; edited 1 time in total
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Interesting .. sounds similar to the way i 'am' learning to board!
I'd def be interested in trying out the 15/15 duck setup ... i think this might suit my style better ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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andyph, You don't - the +/+ settings are almost exclusively used for steep alpine or single direction board. you'll see the downhillers and board slalom people with that setup as it'll give you the fastest control - tried the setup once and NEVER AGAIN. Heard stories of instructors in france resetting students bindings to +/+ from back-foot neg or neutral as they considered it wrong.
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lol ... i wish i knew what that meant ... I am a beginner ... i beleive i was set to 5/15 ... not because i know .. i think thats what I overheard
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