Balance techniques
Stance width
Let’s start with stance width, and the urban legend that
wider is more stable. It’s not. A wide stance gives you the
impression of being more stable, more planted, but this is a
false impression. While in fact you ARE more planted, this
very fact leads to a rapid downward spiral in stability once
the board starts to buck about.
If you’re standing close to the outer edge of a
board (regardless of it’s width), and the board
is tilted 20 degrees, your foot travels a
long way upwards as the rail lifts
(several inches). Along with this
instability caused by this rising
high foot trying to shift your
‘centreline pole’ off the
centreline of the board
that comes from raising
your foot a half dozen
inches upwards, comes
the added instability
(further travel away from
centreline) of your lower foot
going downwards by as many inches.
This has a tendency to move your entire body out of
position with the centreline of the board, and your centre of
gravity shifts to one side.
This shift of your centre of gravity will then apply force to
the lower foot. The wider your stance, the more leverage you
have. Less force is required to drive that low foot lower than
with a narrower stance. So the shift of 20 or 30 pounds of
body weight applies a large force on the lower foot, and the
board tilts even further, moving your centre of gravity even
further off the centreline… by now you get the picture.
Usually it’s all over, and you fall in. But as frequently, you
valiantly try to save it, arching your upper body over your
raised foot, shifting your imaginary vertical pole off vertical,
or possibly bending it (by bending your waist). More often
than not this results in the board making a violent
correction and you end up in the same precarious position
you were just in, but on the other side. This compounds as
you rock from side to side before falling in.
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