Any Foot Placement Drills for better Turns?

[MexicoLivin]

A while ago i met a guy out in the lineup who gave me a bunch of helpful tips about re-entries, snaps, and airs. Basically what it had come down to was that i needed better foot placement. I have been surfing for about 5 years, and i would say that im a decent shortboarder, and have all the basics down, and i just want to go bigger, stronger, and have some more fins free maneuvers. He told me that i needed a wide stance, and upon closer inspection we noticed that my back foot needed to be on the very back part of my stomp pad, against the tail arch, and to keep my front foot where it was. He said that this could be solved with some drills on shore. He dipped out before i had a chance to ask him to show me, so i was wondering if someone on here would have some tips.

Thanks,
Cam

[Aloha]

On the boards I ride, I would stall with my foot that far back. I would have to balance it out with a very wide stance which would look strange and make turning more difficult. Ozzie Wright has that kind of stance as he does a lot of airs but a lot of guys here in Aus say his stance is like a kook even though he's a hot surfer. (also his boards are shaped very differently from the norm)

My foot is generally slightly forward of the middle of the pad. If I was going to put my foot that far back it's only going to be momentarily, I'm usually only back there on steep drops. I tend to only play with my front foot placement and I'm not too aware of what I do with my back foot. When I was starting out, I tried to learn proper stance by looking at photos/videos of pros but couldn't draw any conclusions. I'm interested to see what other people have to say about this as well.

[MexicoLivin]

quote:
"On the boards I ride, I would stall with my foot that far back. I would have to balance it out with a very wide stance which would look strange and make turning more difficult."

Really? what size boards do you ride? on every picture of a pro throwing a good shwack his stance is wide with is back foot right on the tail arch. I understand and use a narrower and more relaxed stance for pumping and carving and such. I feel like when i take the time after take off and adjust my back foot that i surf a lot better, or my turns are a lot looser, but i can still carry speed. I ride either a 5'9, 5'11, or a 6'2 and im about 6 foot and never really stall out unless i just stand on the back haha. I do know what you mean about Ozzie Wright, he surfs of his front foot (apparently bad technique) just like Dane Reynolds. The both rip and are definitely 2 of my favorite surfers. I'm not sure whether I surf of my front or back foot though. Maybe a combination of both. Oh well haha. Thanks for your ideas, now i just need some way to get my back foot perfect off of takeoff.

[Aloha]

Yeah that's what I meant by momentarily, it might go back for a quick turn but generally that far back while I'm driving and I'd stall out. I don't really pay attention to where it is but I do feel it against the kick once in a while. My stance could be height related I'm 5'5" so my wide stance isn't going to be as wide as someone taller. I ride 5'11", 6'0" most of the time. Going by what you're saying though I'm going to consciously try it out next time, if only we'd get some decent swell...... it's been a terrible summer so far.

[MexicoLivin]

Yeah it's probably a height thing then, or just personal preference. Bummer about the waves bro. It's been apparently a good winter here but its flat right now. Swell is supposed to pick up this weekend though.

[naniekso]

this has caught my attention as recently i discovered my front foot is almost too far up the board, and my back foot is in need of some fine tuning. I usualy pop right up and fight for my way out of the wall of death thats behind me. In order to do that both feet should be alittle more forward than normal, and thats just what I"m use to. However, when I visited another break recently, I moved my front foot alittle bit behind the middle section, and instead of standing my feet completely sideways i rotate my front foot alittle to point in teh direction of forward. I find that this puts more of the weight on the back of the foot(for me at least) and I was able to turn like I have never thought possible. Fine tuning your stance could really alter the way you ride your board.

SO LONG STORY SHORT:

To slow down but turn fast, move front foot back. To speed up and drive through, move back foot forward.

Also look at where your board is getting dented at from feet pressure. front? back? or both?

[Forage]

I don't know if this is really a "drill" but this worked for me.

Whenever you go out on those small mushy bad days, start moving your feet around. Experiment with all different kinds of foot placement. Because of the slow speed on waves like that you won't get any kind of proper feel, but you will get used to moving your feet around on the board. Eventually you won't have to think so hard about it and it'll feel a lot more natural to adjust your foot position. Eventually you'll find that when you pop with the back foot a bit far forward it will naturally start to "hunt" for the tailpad.