Changing surfing stance

[Theriderdotcom]

Hey guys,

I've been surfing for about 10 years now, but I live in the city and it's hard for me to get to the beach each weekend so I feel this has hindered my surfing these past years.

I am an intermediate surfer getting those high snaps and cutbacks.

I ride my skateboard regular and feel that I am more comfortable with my right foot at the back when doing carves and snaps as it is my stronger and more confident foot. But when surfing my stance is goofy and my left foot at the back feels weird because I don't usually use it for anything. These past uears I've started to notice as I get older and want to improve my surfing foundation and techniques to become a better surfer that my stance does not allow me to improve as it feels weak and weird, leading to my snaps being poor and untidy.

I have given changing stance a good thought, what should I do ?

[Big H]

Skip rope using only you left leg for 10 min a day......you'll develop balance and muscle structure as well as train the muscles there to be more responsive to voluntary stimuli and input.......


....or you could try surfing regular footed then continue to surf the way that feels the most normal and natural.....my kids started surfing at 5 and 6 years old; they figured out what stance they were in the first five min; it comes naturally.

I read something one time about finding out what your true stance was....said to put socks on and run and slide on a polished wood or tile floor...said you would naturally slide one foot forward of the other....you could try that to put your mind at ease....a weekend warrior who is ripping snaps etc even with age creeping up on them isn't doing too badly; I wouldn't worry about stance too much and just have fun in the limited time you have.

[oldmansurfer]

I used to surf switch stance on days when it was small and uninteresting. This is what I did long ago, now I find switching stance I am completely incompetent as in I fall ever time. Surfing less than weekly is tough, I think you need to find a way to go more often or accept that you will progress slowly. I surf only an hour a week and have accepted that I won't be doing airs any time soon I am just happy to be surfing at 62. The stance thing is interesting to me. I skateboarded regular but used my front foot to push with and I surf regular footed. From listening to others on this forum stance preference can be different in skateboarding or snowboarding from surfing. Why? I have no clue.

[drowningbitbybit]

I'd go the other way around... change your stance on your skateboard.

Changing your stance on your surfboard and making it a habit is very hard to do - so much in surfing is just letting the body do the thing that it knows how to do.

Skateboarding, however, is a relatively easy transition from one to another. I used to skate goofy and surf natural, but I worked on it for a while and now skating natural seems... well... natural

[Theriderdotcom]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys.

I find that having my left foot, that is my weakest foot and less natural foot, at the back seems kind of weird and is not natural.

I remember when I would slide on soap, I would put my right foot at the back and slide with the left foward, I use this regular stance in all board sports (skating, wakeboard, snowboarding). I really want to have my right foot at the back because when I think of surfing in my head what comes to mind are hard snaps with my right foot - just like I do on the skateboard.

Do you have any exercises to help me switch?

Also Big H said that I should stick to goofy because of age, just wanted to add that im 17 so I have plenty of surfing to do.

[oldmansurfer]

Start surfing on small waves just like you are learning to surf all over again. Why did you ever surf goofy footed? I take it you haven't even tried to surf regular footed yet? Try it.

[oldmansurfer]

You can practice popping up regular footed on land

[dtc]

Although stance can be all over the place (I'm left handed and kick left footed, but am regular stance), it seems quite odd to be regular on snowboard and wakeboard (and skateboard) but goofy surfing. Possibly you put your right foot forward when you started surfing because your front foot is more the controller up until you are doing big turns eg just going down the line you just do little direction changes with the front foot. So you felt in more control back then with the right foot forward, but its now causing issues.

I think you should decide one way or the other - stay goofy but work on your left foot strength and co ordination (switch skateboard stance, do the skipping or single leg work) or switch to regular - practice popping up regular and in white water (if you can bear going back to white water) and start again on small waves. There is no right answer - make the call, do the work and stick with it for a few months and then decide whether there has been any improvement.

[BoMan]

You might have fun surfing both ways and be front side all the time.

[Theriderdotcom]

I completely agree with dtc, I think that at the beginning, just for smaller waves I was used to puting the right foot foward for steering and now when progressing and wanting to do bigger turn and bigger waves I would need my stronger and more co ordinated - natural foot.

I think that the persuit for always wanting to surf better never stops, and i think that if I did not gove switching stance a go, I will never know if my left foot at the back is what really hinders my surfing progress.

Thanks for all the help.

Now could any of you give me exercises for switching stance ??

[Big H]

Indo Board is a good one....either way you want to surf it promotes active muscle response to keep in balance.....you can't balance an indo board (esp. on tile or wood floors) riding it front or back footed.....I was a front footed skateboarder and started surfing trying to steer with my front foot.....Indo board had as much as anything to do with breaking the habit....I would (and still do) focus on returning weight to the back foot then finding a central balance, back foot then stabilise over and over (and one footed exercises including hopping up and back down off of one step, one legged jump roping and one legged squats (using a chair to help keep balance and pushing)....also put your foot on a towel while seated and use your toes to scrunch up the towel and drag it under your foot with only moving your toes......

i was a soccer player who was mainly right footed for a long time....when you kick a ball right footed you balance on your left, when you lunge for a tackle with your right foot, it is your left that you use to balance and push off of....so in that way the fact that I am goofy footed makes sense, but I still had to learn to make the left leg more active and get a finer degree of control over those muscle groups via exercises that mimic physical therapy for gross and fine motor function rebuilding.

I would think that skateboarding would be a natural one....cruise around in the stance you want on the waves should translate.....big one would be your pop up....I don't think about it really anymore especially during the movement....., it just happens much like a reflex..... I think that holds true for pretty much everyone....you're going to have to re-train your "reflex" action of popping up to happen for the stance you choose.....lots & lots of dry land pop up reps and a couple of awkward months in the water would be my guess....

[Claris]

I'm having the same problem on my skateboard. I've been skating for 4 months now. I'm right-handed and my dominant leg is definitely the right one. Still, I started skating goofy because at first everyone told me I shouldn't care about my dominant hand or leg but I should just go with what felt more comfortable. I guess balancing on my front (right) leg felt way more comfortable, so I chose goofy, but in the long run it was a disaster. I can't ollie nor manual properly because, really, most tricks need your dominant (or at least a strong) leg in the back.
But there's more.
I tried a carver skate (the one surfers use to emulate surf moves. it's so damn fun, you should try it) and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pump goofy. So I tried the regular stance and managed to pump almost instantly. At the moment, I ride my carver skate regular and my "classic" skate goofy. Also, this winter I tried snowboarding and it felt more comfortable riding regular.
Sooo I guess I was a moron because I've always been regular!
I've decided to change my stance and I'm practicing riding regular on my skateboard too. It's initially frustrating because you gotta re-learn all the things you can already do with the other stance but it still feels like the right thing to do (and I feel like I'm improving faster than I improved when I started skating goofy, but maybe it's because I'm already -more- confident on my board). I've thought about quitting in general. Still, every time I decide to "give up" and come back to my goofy stance, I can see that something's not right and I'll probably never be able to ollie properly because I'm missing that speed in the execution, I sense a surprising lack of strength in my left leg (consider I've ALWAYS practiced sport since I was a child, so it's not like I don't have muscles). Also, I know people will say that everyone can learn tricks switch so why shouldn't I keep skating goofy...etc... but I can only skate like 3 times a week, 1h at best each time, so I really don't have enough time to train my left leg to do the hard work (obviously, not on my skateboard).

I wish I could be more helpful and say stuff like "I've changed my stance AND it resulted in..." but I guess I'll have to wait a couple of months of practice before knowing if it was worth it.
I suggest you don't lie to yourself and do what you think is right. Maybe it's the annoying thing to do at first, but I'm confident it will reward you in the long run.
(also, if you learn at least to stand on your board with both stances, if you ever decide to go back to your initial stance, you'll be more comfortable riding out of a trick switch )(oh and you're young, don't listen to anyone. I feel like I'm super old, starting skating at 21 and yeah, maybe I'll never land a treflip, but who cares when you have fun)