Carving Stance width?

[mattronald]

Hey Girls and Guys,

Not sure if this is the correct category, or if it has been discussed before, but I am trying to research the stance width for my Alpine board.

Here is a little bit about me and my gear:

I am 6'4 and 175ish Pounds. I ride a 177cm Prior WCRM with TD3 Step-in and I just recently upgraded from a 28.0 Deeluxe Track 225 to a 27.0 Track 700 with blue or red BTS kit. I think my angles are just below 60 and 60 degrees on both feet. I mainly just carve early morning groomers, and some afternoon slush plus the odd race course. On my soft boot setup i have 21/-3 degrees 24" wide stance on a 165 Wide or 164 Wide board, and I am super stoked on that stance.

I was just wondering if any one can shred some light on my stance width and what would be optimal.

Thanks for your help!

Matt.

[Chris Houghton]

Optimal would be what feels best and works well for you. The actual width may be more or less depending on the lift and cant that you're using. For example, riding flat would probably mean a smaller optimal width, rear heel lift and front toe lift would allow a larger stance width. Shoulder width is a good place to start, say 19 inches? Try that for a while and then go bigger/smaller as you feel appropriate. There are no rules regarding this, but I'm sure there are lots of opinions.

[scrutton]

I'm riding a 20" width stance on a 185 now - before that I was riding 19.5" and was told it looked too narrow.

My soft boot stance width is about 22".

I'm 6' tall, 33" inseam.

I normally just put the bindings in the center position and adjust from there until things feel right, although I may go out a setting or two from the center, as I have probably an above average inseam.

[mattronald]

Thanks guys.

I do have 3 degree cants on both feet, but I am not 100% how they are set.

I was just wondering if anybody has some great tips. I have very Tall and skinny with a long leg, so my original stance of 19" did look too narrow.

Cheers.

[John H]

You may want to do a search on stance width. Lots of discussion on this in the past couple of months.

[lowrider]

Heel lift ! Heel lift ! Had this drilled into me more than once. From a standing position (normal riding stance) slowly squat and watch what happens to your rear heel.(it lifts off the floor). If you want a normally neutral stance when you are on your board in a slight squat and don't want to be favouring toe or heel edge get this addressed first then the rest comes with trial and error. More than 3 degees may be required toe and heel. With your 6'4 i can't give you advice on stance but at 5'11 i'm 21". Whatever you find comfortable.

[BlueB]

Carpet carving is the best! Set yourself on the board and just stand there watch TV for a while. If the things are strating to hurt, something is not right.

Ohterwise, your inseam length * 0.6 is an ok place to start and work your way up.

[Jack M]

Ohterwise, your inseam length * 0.6 is an ok place to start and work your way up.

I usually use inseam length divided by 1.62 (roughly the golden ratio) as the starting point. Use that width, and toe lift on the front foot, heel lift on the back foot, and experiment from there.

[mattronald]

Thanks BlueB and Jack.

Looks like my inseam is about 33 - 34 inches. So that would put my stance between 20 - 20.5 inches, which sounds about right.

I am sure your stance width would chance depending on what angles you roll.

I am thinking about getting a wider board (Prior 4WD 174 or ATV 171) which would allow for mellower angles, and hence a wider stance?

It took me 5 years of riding 200 days a year to work out my preferred soft boot stance, so I suppose I have a long way to go on the hardboots.

Thanks for the input.

[ktv]

Jack,

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of being wider than recommended by the formula you state? I've seen that stated, and wondering.

I'm 5'5", 150lbs, and just about to start hard boot carving. I've bought a board (Prior 159 4WD), bindings, and boots, and about to try for the first time when I go to Vail in two weeks (Ohio snow is pretty gone, and I just bought the equipment, because I booked my trip to Vail).

I just measured my inseam, and I'm 27". So that would make me 16.7 with that formula. On my current board (Rossignol One Magtek), I ride with the narrowest stance width, which is about 20". I can carve decently with this width, and it feels fine, but I've never felt a narrower stance.

So, I've currently set up the Prior with a 19" stance. I have a 3 degree front and 6 degree rear cant disc (TD2), with another 3 degree on the way in case I want to try it.

If I set up the width narrower, would this give me any advantages? Or if I'm already used to the wider stance because of my current board, will that work well? Any disadvantages to going wider, or is it user preference? I guess I just wonder if a narrower stance with hard boots allows pulling/flexing the board more for tighter turn radius, versus wider stance? Or is that just what you'd think switching to hard boots (since I haven't ridden with them yet, I don't know).

Thanks.

Khanh

[Jack M]

Another guideline is shoulder width plus an inch or two. I agree the golden ratio does not work for all. With your heel/toe lift you should be able to go wider. Play around.

[tufty]

(since I haven't ridden with them yet, I don't know)

For starters, go with what's comfortable. That will probably end up being around the sizes quoted anyway.

Generally speaking, wider stance is more stable (up to a point, obviously), but isn't as fast edge to edge. This may not hold on "modern shaped" boards, and optimum stance definitely differs between boards. For some boards, taking a super-wide or even "a bit wide" stance will stop you from being able to turn the bastarding thing (the super-giant lacroix I tried last year was like this - setting up with the same stance as I have on my slalom deck resulted in a plank I could only straightline and fall off of, pulling the stance "in" got rid of the straightlining).