I realized I have a pretty narrow stance. And I think it will get narrower as I get older due to decreasing flexibilty.
Are there any design considerations one can make to accomodate different stances?
This thought came to my mind when I noticed a picture of Jamie Obrian and how he was almost doing the splits on his board and that’s when I noticed a lot of pro shortboarders have pretty wide stances.
I have the same problem but its from learning to surf in the 60s-70s and having BK and Terry F as my heros. Combined with small feet it can be a real problem.
Watch BK surf sunset and you’ll see the problem.
I find narrow tails and overall narrower designs help with the control factor
bonzers and singles seem to do well as do griffin’s 5 fin concept for narrower stances. Its harder with thrusters or twins where you have to have more of the modern stink bug stance.
BTW the problem us retirement agers run into is having our arms go out after a long session. Nothing like not being able to push up to get up to your feet or falling flat on your face at a really bad time when your arms just give up on you… I always admired uncle grants technique which used your legs alot more to get up but it’s tricky getting to one knee first. I think Grant Kauhane is like in his late 70’s and still surfs the big ones, one knee at a time
To keep the same maneuverability, you would shorten the board length to match the shortened stance. If you go wider to compensate for the shorter length, you would loose out on the responsiveness, so instead add a little thickness and concave. Maybe change the bottom rocker to put more bend between your feet. If the board is flat between your stance, you won’t be able to vary the board trim with your weighting. I like to have a definite pivot point under me.
Better than adapting the board, get into yoga or karate and limber yourself back up!
i find poo stance works for me
You beat me to it.
Thanks Onuela and Everysurfer.
Your answers echoed each other and reflected my intuition as well- narrower boards. I’ve been going a little wider to get shorter and it doesn’t work right for me. Also, Everysurfer, what you said about the apex of rocker between the feet sounds like the advice Greg Griffin gave me about rocker pulling gradually from the mid point . It sounded like he was against “kicks” in the rocker and bumps in the outline.
Now I just have to find out from Greg what’s the narrowest tail I can go with with the 5 fin design.
Paul and Deanbo, you guys must have just woke up when you read my post and had other things on your mind.
Jeff…you’re not that old…it’s all in your head.
Let’s see some 360’s out there next time, k?
i’m currently discovering that narrower, longer boards have worked better for me as opposed to the shorter wider shapes which i always thought would be more beneficial to my narrower stance. 2 boards(6’ & 6’2") in particular that i obtained used both at 18 1/4" wide have been faves of mine.
my griffin 5 modfish at 20 1/4" wide has worked best performance wise out of all the wider shorter boards i’ve had but i kinda wish i ordered a ≤19" wide shortboard instead.
used to have the same problem, now i am at the opposite end of the spectrum. It depends on where you surf. Small godawful quick beach break needs a wider stance than say J Bay where you have all that space to draw your lines.
Now I just have to find out from Greg what’s the narrowest tail I can go with with the 5 fin design.
I weigh 205 lbs and like a 15 1/2 inch wide tail, with bumps for turning in small waves and clean rails for smooth long speed lines.
Look at the deck dents in your old boards. If the dents are forward of the fins, you can go wider in the tail, and keep the old wide-point. This will shift you and your stance back to where it should be.
What do you mean by wide or narrow?
Looking at pictures, I stand with my feet about under my shoulders or within a couple of inches wider.
Exceptions would be when I move forward to get through flat spots, or when I step back to make a hard cutback, or take a late drop.
Seems like I move my feet around a lot, so I’m not so concerned about how wide or narrow the stance is. This is on any size board. It’s probably a result of learning to surf long ago when you had to move back and forth to get the board to turn or accelerate down the line. And yes my brother and I lived through the feet close, knees apart era. You know… the bow legged stance.
I agree about the new kids having wide stances, Slater has a wide stance, but it seems to me that it’s all relative to what you’re doing. Like if you’re making an extreme drop or turn, you probably want a wide stance. If you’re cruising along in between the turns, you can bring it in. I think guys with really wide stances all the time look wierd. Like they’re stuck in one position. I think it looks cooler if your stance is similar to what you look like standing on the ground.
I find the most useful perfect stance width is the same as it is in ninjitsu when in good kamae. stand and drop to one knee, it is perfect when you have the length of a fist between your knee and other ankle. if that makes sense