STANCE

The stance used for longboarding varies quite a bit from what you're used to when watching traditional shortboarding.

The differences are subtle, but very important.


WHY THE CORRECT STANCE IS IMPORTANT

There are some obvious big differences between a longboarding and shortboarding, and as such, the way that you stand is very different too.

The correct stance is important to keep your centre of gravity in the right place, help you to turn and trim, and in longboarding it just looks damn cool too.


WHAT IS THE RIGHT WAY?

Ok, in shortboarding the focus is all about speed and drive, whereas in longboarding we don't have to worry about either of these things all too much.

We've got plenty of speed because the board is super buoyant, and we're not worried about doing big vertical turns either - so we can do away with the drive aspect too.

Instead what we're focused on is speed control, style, and flow.

And when it comes to the above, less is more.

COMPACT SHORTBOARD STANCE

UPRIGHT LONGBOARD STANCE


LONGBOARD STANCE DONE RIGHT

Stand tall...

Yup, you've got to do away with the crouched stance that you may have inherited from your initial stages of learning to surf, and you've got to stretch it all out.

Feet close together, standing tall with minimum body movement, plus you want your hips & shoulders to be more square to the board, rather than shoulders aligned down the stringer.

Here's what I mean.

  • Feet should be roughly shoulder width apart.
  • Leg bend is kept to a minimum.
  • Little to no bending at the waist.
  • Torso remains upright, with minimum movement.

WHY WE DO IT LIKE THIS

Because we don't need to worry about drive, there's little need to bend the knees. This is what makes longboarding so hypnotic and poetic to watch.

The grace and elegance of riding the waves, the dance of the surfer and the waves in unison together.

That's what makes longboarding so damn cool.


WRAPPING IT UP

So it's time to kiss goodbye to the crouched aggressive stance of the shortboard world and embrace the view from high up, standing tall and proud.

Get this step dialled, then move onto the next lesson.

 Mark lesson complete