stance and angle question

[yoon3606]

some ppl say the stance should be length frim your knee and ankle bone. others say from knee to floor. others say whatever feels natural for me. But i dont know whats "natural" since i never boarded before and gonna be taking a lesson this thursday. and i set the center of the stance like an inch back (thats what technine instruction said for freeride) and stance about 18 inches (im 5'3'')

and i dont know what binding angle i should start with. i set it to 0 and 28 but some says 28 is too much.

Any suggestions on stance length and binding angle for biginner?

[elex]

some ppl say the stance should be length frim your knee and ankle bone. others say from knee to floor. others say whatever feels natural for me. But i dont know whats "natural" since i never boarded before and gonna be taking a lesson this thursday. and i set the center of the stance like an inch back (thats what technine instruction said for freeride) and stance about 18 inches (im 5'3'')

and i dont know what binding angle i should start with. i set it to 0 and 28 but some says 28 is too much.

Any suggestions on stance length and binding angle for biginner?
The majority of boards already have the inserts set back,so I wouldn't recommend moving or setting back your stance an additional inch.
28 front & 0 back angles isn't a good stance. I would suggest 0 to 5(or whatever) for the back foot then go with 20 degrees or close to that for the front.
Stance width suggestion is difficult without seeing the person. Wider stances are more stable,which I think would be good for the beginner. I would suggest go a bit wider than your shoulder width.

[MARK]

some ppl say the stance should be length frim your knee and ankle bone. others say from knee to floor. others say whatever feels natural for me. But i dont know whats "natural" since i never boarded before and gonna be taking a lesson this thursday. and i set the center of the stance like an inch back (thats what technine instruction said for freeride) and stance about 18 inches (im 5'3'')

and i dont know what binding angle i should start with. i set it to 0 and 28 but some says 28 is too much.

Any suggestions on stance length and binding angle for biginner?
What board do you have? The majority of boards already have a set back insert pattern. If you bring your bindings even further back then you may risk being too far back on the board for your riding/type of snow. The easiest way to determine if your insert patern is already set back is too simply measure from both the tip and tail to the first set board inserts on each end. If the measurements are off then that tells you that the insert pattern is already set back(it likely already is). There isn't a true measurement for stance width. General rule of thumb actually is to go a couple inches outside of each shoulder, but "what feels most natural" is of course the way to eventually go. Assuming your board's insert pattern is already set back, mount each binding dead center on each insert pattern. It can always be changed later. Start off with angles that are generally the "norm" used for beginner riders, 0 degress on the rear and +15 on the front. This of course can also be changed later. You may want to take a pocket tool with you so you can play around with these throughout the day, just be sure to give each "trial" at least a few runs to truly determine if you like the angles, etc.

[MARK]

And the calls have got to stop as well :D

[elex]

That's pretty funny, I guess we both responded at the same time,almost. You were a little slow. The calls are for your mom,not you.
e

[mschwartz]

some ppl say the stance should be length frim your knee and ankle bone. others say from knee to floor. others say whatever feels natural for me. But i dont know whats "natural" since i never boarded before and gonna be taking a lesson this thursday. and i set the center of the stance like an inch back (thats what technine instruction said for freeride) and stance about 18 inches (im 5'3'')

and i dont know what binding angle i should start with. i set it to 0 and 28 but some says 28 is too much.

Any suggestions on stance length and binding angle for biginner?

My suggestion:

Centering: Make sure that your board has already been set slight back, if not, change it. If so, don't change anything.

Back Leg Angle: Set it as close to 0 degrees as possible. Once you start riding the intermediate runs you will be using your back leg more to control your board, and your front leg becomes more of a guide. That being the case you want an even balance with your back leg between front-side and back-side turns.

Front Leg Angle: I like it set between 10-20 degrees. Give's me a better sense of balance but that's just a personal feel. It's like when I shoot a basketball I usually have my left right leg out in front a bit.

The idea about what ever feels natural for you is that you keep adjusting until you find that out. Your stance should be always about making adjustments, until you find the right fit for how you are riding at the time. It's true, a slightly wider stance will help you balance as a beginner, but you have to realize that a wider stance force you to bend your knees more, which in turn forces you to bend your back as well. Once you get to the point that you feel you are comfortable riding harder terrain, you'll probably want to adjust back in to a more upright stance, which will take some pressure of your knees and back.

-Matt

[jlm28]

"Once you start riding the intermediate runs you will be using your back leg more to control your board, and your front leg becomes more of a guide."

Sounds interesting, that's an idea I'm not familiar with, can you explain more?

"It's true, a slightly wider stance will help you balance as a beginner, but you have to realize that a wider stance force you to bend your knees more, which in turn forces you to bend your back as well. "

How does bending your knees more force you to bend your back more? I'm not quite following you.

[mschwartz]

"Once you start riding the intermediate runs you will be using your back leg more to control your board, and your front leg becomes more of a guide."

Sounds interesting, that's an idea I'm not familiar with, can you explain more?

"It's true, a slightly wider stance will help you balance as a beginner, but you have to realize that a wider stance force you to bend your knees more, which in turn forces you to bend your back as well. "

How does bending your knees more force you to bend your back more? I'm not quite following you.

Sorry, that came out wrong...

What I meant was when your stance is wider, your back has a tendancy to bend over more WHEN you bend your knees. Try it. Stand up straight with your feet lined up past your shoulders so you have a "wider" stance. Then bend your knees down like you were going for a front side turn. Take note of how much pressure you feel on your back. Next, place your feet directly under you shoulders and do the same. See if you can feel a difference. You should feel a slight difference.

Now, if your a person who is very flexible, in good physical shape, or is younger, you might not feel that much different, but in the long run, once you get better, this will help you have better form regardless.

-Matt

[NoKnees]

This reminds me of a funny boarding video I have from 1990. The guys were riding with some crazy stances in the 24-28" range. You can see how their movements were restriced do to the width. More recently I think it was Dave Benedict who did this in one of the TB or Robotfood films. Basicall had a 30" stance and could hardly keep his balance. Quite amusing...

Anyway, most boards these days come with a reference stance width that they used and in theory based their sidecuts and flexpatterns on. I'm not sure what the reality of that is but it's in the 21-22" range. So when you see the reference marks on the inserts, keep in mind what the manufacturer was thinking when they put them on there.

[jlm28]

Sorry, that came out wrong...

What I meant was when your stance is wider, your back has a tendancy to bend over more WHEN you bend your knees. Try it. Stand up straight with your feet lined up past your shoulders so you have a "wider" stance. Then bend your knees down like you were going for a front side turn. Take note of how much pressure you feel on your back. Next, place your feet directly under you shoulders and do the same. See if you can feel a difference. You should feel a slight difference.

Now, if your a person who is very flexible, in good physical shape, or is younger, you might not feel that much different, but in the long run, once you get better, this will help you have better form regardless.

-Matt

Seems to me the only reason your back would have to bend more in either case is if you aren't bending your ankles as well when you bend your knees. Also, you seem to be hinting that a taller stance is preferable, which I don't quite follow. I always thought a more relaxed stance, with your knees and ankles flexed was preferable to a taller, straighter legged stance.
Also, I've been trying to use both my legs to guide and control the board, should I be focusing more on using my back leg for control and front as a guide? That seems kind of limiting to me.
James