Am I Goofy or Regular? Finding Out Your Natural Snowboarding Stance

One of the first things you must know when you start snowboarding is what stance you are. Left foot forward (known as “regular foot”) or right foot forward (known as “goofy foot”)

Right Foot Forward           Left Foot Forward

How to Find Your Stance

It’s important to find out your natural stance right away. You will pick up snowboarding much faster if you do. Many riders have started out with the wrong stance and realized later on that the control they need of their board comes more naturally facing the other way.

The Wrong Way(s)

Finding your natural stance is easier than one might believe. First and foremost, regardless of what anyone else’s suggestion, whatever feels more comfortable is the stance for you. There are a lot of tips for finding your best foot stance but there’s only 1 method that is correct 99% of the time. These 3 are some of the most popular but are definitely NOT the ones to use.

1. Whichever foot you kick a soccer ball with will likely be your back foot. The foot still on the ground will be your balancing foot.
2. Walk up some steps. Whichever foot you stepped with first will be your front foot.
3. Stand with two feet together against a wall and fall forward, whichever foot you stepped forward with is likely your front foot

The Right Way

When it comes to figuring out your stance how you would slide on ice or a slippery floor is the 1 method that will most likely be the way you will want to ride (but again, even this method is only correct 99% of the time).

Origin of Goofy Foot

The most common assumption in the past was that most boardsport participants rode with their left foot forward. But in the 1937 Disney film “Hawaiian Holiday” the lovable character Goofy was portrayed surfing with his right foot in the front there by coining the term “Goofy Foot”.

What Does it mean to Ride Switch?

Ultimately you want to learn to ride both ways, regular AND goofy foot to expand your riding experience and double your bag of tricks. The term “switch” is used when one is riding with their non-dominant foot forward. Learning to ride switch on a snowboard is a basic skill that you’ll want to learn eventually and it’s not as hard as it sounds. Once you have a basic understanding of how to ride one way it’s very easy to take a day and teach yourself to ride switch.

Now that you know you’re regular or goofy it’s time to set up that board and ride! Here is a video to get you started setting up your snowboard. (If you have specific 4×2 or channel bindings click this link here)

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