Tips & Technique - Snowboarding

A strong snowboard stance is the foundation of good technique. When most people begin snowboarding, usually they use the stance that their local shop set up for them when they were buying their kit, or if hiring equipment they just use the board the way it is set up for them. The only thing that the shops tend to ask is which way do you ride, goofy or regular?

So how important is it to set up a stance that is right for you? Well the stance is the foundation building block of all technique whether it’s for riding piste, park or powder so it’s very important to get it set up just right for you.

It only takes about 15 minutes to set up a strong stance but the benefits in both the ability to balance and have strong directional control of your snowboard are greatly increased.

How to set up your stance:

• Stand upright in a relaxed posture with feet around shoulder width apart and feel how hard you can push against the ground one foot at a time, firstly with the toes then with the heel.
• Now make the distance between the feet around 1-2cm wider and repeat the process of pushing through the 4 areas. (toe’s then heel on left foot then the same on right foot)
• Repeat step 2 again and you should be feeling that as the distance between your feet increases the amount of pressure you are able to push through your toes and heels also increases. (this pressure is fundamental in developing board control) Keep repeating step 2.
• At a certain point the distance between your feet will start to become too much and will result in the feeling of your inner thigh / groin area being a little over stretched, when this occurs reduce the distance between the feet a little until it is a comfortable stance where no stretching or discomfort is felt but the ability to push through the feet is at its strongest.
• Now keeping the distance between the feet, gently move the knees out so they are directly over the feet and then looking at the direction that the thigh bone is pointing in, rotate each foot to match that direction. (from the top of the thigh bone to the toes of each foot should all be aligned). Now you should be able to bend and flex without any tension in the legs, ankles or knees. (bending and flexing are important movements in snowboarding to help balance)
• Lastly to ensure a good field of vision, increase the angle of the front foot by just a few degrees and decrease the angle of the back foot by the same few degrees. This should now orientate the stance with just a few degrees biased toward the front foot and reduce the need for upper body rotation to see where you are going but at the same time maintaining the angle difference between the feet to keep a strong stance.

With this new strong stance you should feel a bigger platform between your feet, which will greatly increase your ability to maintain a balanced posture and at the same time give you the ability to generate strong pressures through the board to maximise your control.

It is very important to try to maintain a relaxed posture with the upper body and shoulders in line with your snowboard, even the slightest upper body rotation will result in a rotation of the hips which pulls the back knee inside the rear foot. With the knee in this position it now creates a block in the stance where bending for balance is now very difficult.

With a strong stance set up and a good upper body posture (inline with the board) you can now focus on developing good board control technique using pressure through the outsides of the feet to turn the board.

Keith McIntosh is one of very few British snowboard teachers holding the international qualification that is required for working in France. He began his snowboarding career back in the 90’s riding at the west of Scotland resorts. Moving permanently to the Chamonix valley 6 years ago where he has spent the winters hiking in the backcountry and teaching snowboarding technique. 4 years ago he help set up Alpinelines and is now the head instructor in Chamonix. His passion for snowboarding is abundant on the mountain whether it be technique on the piste, freestyle in the park or hiking out of bounds to ride powder in some of the best freeride terrain on earth. As team manager and head coach for the McNab/Helly Hansen junior snowboard team he has taken several young riders to the British snowboard championships over the last 3 years, which saw them win almost 30 medals and numerous national titles in several snowboarding disciplines. If you would like some instruction or coaching to help improve your snowboarding then have a look at the Alpinelines website. We run sessions in Piste, Park or Powder technique for beginners through to advanced riders.