Snowboard Stance

A friend asked me to write up something on stance in my blog…so once I had time I figured it would be a good thing to post up with some pictures.

Measuring Stance Width
Stance Width is the distance between your bindings. To measure your stance width, it’s best to use a measuring tape from the center of each binding. Height does play a key role in stance width. Generally the taller you are, the longer the legs…the wider the stance. Today with a lot of the freestyle riding a wider stance is more common. If you want to test each, spend a day on the mountain with a narrow stance and a wide stance. For me, a wider stance offers more stability. If I ride too narrow a stance, I feel as though I have no torsional flex over the board.

Stance width is all preference. Some people tell you to use your shoulder width to determine stance width but I determine stance width by how you stand in your athletic position (with your knees bent like you are snowboarding).
If I used my shoulder width (19 inches) I wouldn’t be very comfortable compared to what I use when I’m standing in my natural athletic position (22 inches). I am 5’6″. I don’t follow any of the reference charts for stance width because if I did, I would be riding a narrower width which isn’t my preference.

You can also measure the length of your nose and tail of your snowboard to determine if you want your stance to be centered on the snowboard or have a set-back on the snowboard. I like to have my bindings centered on my snowboard.

Insert Patterns

My Never Summer Premier has 4×4 inserts. However since my 07/08 premier was one of the first in production it was before they changed the rest of the 07/08 premiers to 4×2 pattern. I don’t mind having the 4×4 pattern since it still allows me to have the stance and width I like. It is more limiting than a 4×2 pattern.

My Bataleon Hero has the 4×2 pattern which allows for more stance options than the 4×4 option.

My Capita BSOD has the Freedom Groove system which I love because it allows for unlimited stance options. See how I have 4 inserts but in this picture they are not lined up…I can move them in the freedom groove to where ever I would like my stance to be.

Stance Angles

When you here someone say what angles do you ride, now you’ll be able to give a response. I am a regular rider. My stance angles are +15, -15.
Here is my Rome Disc up-close and personal. In the center is zero degrees. To the left is positive and to the right is negative. I am a regular rider (left foot forward). If you are goofy (right foot forward) it would be the opposite on the disc. You would have a positive angle on the right and a negative angle on the left.
Since I ride +15 degrees and -15 Degrees (Duck), I just make sure I moved the disc to the correct degree mark and place it in my binding.
One mistake people make is going into a aggressive stance too early on( take baby steps to find the right angle for you). Then they make the mistake of keeping their knees over their old stance. If your binding is set up at +15 degrees but your knee is angled at +5 degrees you will start to feel some pain. You want to be aligned over your binding, your knees and ankles. I naturally stand duck footed so when I ride, my knees are already naturally comfortable at the angle. Don’t force an angle that doesn’t fit your body alignment…you’ll start to feel pain if you do.

Once you match up the disc to the right degree mark, then your binding is ready to be mounted to your snowboard.
Mounting your bindings
You want your bindings to be centered on your board. In the two pictures below, I turned the discs to different angles. Since I am a size 8 boot I can keep my discs horizontal with the inserts on my snowboard. But in some cases, you might need to keep the discs vertical to the inserts so you can center them better on the snowboard.

Then take your four screws, match the binding up to the holes selected (at the stance width you would like) and screw in your bindings. Make sure you use the right size screws: longer screws than needed can puncture through the base and shorter screws will allow your bindings to move (not good).

Good rule of thumb…after every couple days of riding, check to make sure your screws are tight.