Riding Switch

So last year was my first year snowboarding. I got riding regular down pretty good. I currently have my bindings at +12/-3. Do I need to have more of a duck stance to successfully ride switch? Do I need to make my bindings even at +12/-12? Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

What ever stance works for you is what I would ride if I were you . Everyone has their own cup of tea they fancy. Just get out there with a screw driver and tweak your bindings till your comfortable. I would get a collapsible screw driver so you dont impale yourself.

I just started riding switch, and my feet arn't set at a complealty ducked out stance.  It really is all what your comfortable with.  I would advice that you measure how much board you have in the nose and tail respectivly though.  Its kind of hard to ride switch if you have a lot more in the nose cuz when you go switch, youll end up having a lot more in the tail and short in the nose, which makes riding kind of hard and awkward.

Originally posted by SLUSHIE I tried going switch a bit today, and while I was able to connect my turn pretty well I wasn't going fast at all. My board has a much longer nose than tail and a 1" offset makes it even harder. Its like trying to write left handed with a pen specially made for right handed people.

that's a really interesting analogy^^


my bindings are FAIRLY ducked and centered.  think about this though-not a TON of people ride true twins (since many twin shaped boards have different flex patterns in the nose and tail), and even fewer people ride an exactly mirrored, centered stance.  By contrast, tons of people can ride switch.  If you ride switch a ton it would probably be helpful to have a MORE centered and MORE ducked stance, but honestly, it's not absolutely necessary.  You will be able to ride switch with your stance the way it is now, although it MIGHT feel better if you ducked out your stance a little bit.

more important than your stance, the thing that helped my switch riding was really mentally committing to riding switch.  Instead of riding like you're riding switch, ride like you're regular instead of goofy (or goofy instead of regular).  try to rid yourself of the mental sensation that you're going backwards-pretend that whatever foot is forward, that's your front foot.  that helped me out.

It might help but it isn't essential. I found my body/switch foot preferred a different angle anyway.

In my opinion the hardest thing I had to over come when right switch is the timing of my knee bend.

i've been trying to do atleast one run switch and dang it sucks, feel like an absolute retard....

however, i have noticed an increased ability when carving and just fulling around...

It sucks going back to the short bus.  Been boarding for over 10 years riding anything and everything to going back to the green runs riding switch.  I just can't help becoming an amby turner when i try riding switch.  Dayam you muscle memory.

in the offseason i actually practiced on a skate board and on a balancing ball. just practice heel/toe with you other foot is all you need. then try to find a medium for your bindings. its takes practice. i second the bunny slopes idea.

Originally posted by zakk set your bindings duck, go back to the bunny slope, and do EVERYTHING switch.  skate switch, load/unload switch, ride switch.  Do this for 2-3 days and the amount of coordination and confidence you'll gain in your switch riding is insane.  It's like learning how to ride all over again, but now you know what feels right and the curve will be much more mellow as you learn.  just gotta put in the time.

i ride with +15/-12, before it was +15/-9 but the more switch i ride the more i want to change it. going to set mine as +15/-15.

Originally posted by insemnia My personal preference is to have my normal front side leg opened slightly for comfort.  My backside leg is straight (90 degree angle / perpendicular to the board).  This allows me to be very comfortable in my normal stance, and not uncomfortable in the reverse.  Obviously, it's more comfortable for me in my standard stance, but I don't want to sacrifice more than that since I'm only reversed for about 10% of my run.  I'm not an expert though, but I just adjusted it to what I felt comfortable with.

the idea is being ready to ride switch when you need to.  side hits are way easier on your toe edge, riding out of tricks in the park, getting out of hairy situations on the trees, traversing, etc. 

riding switch is much more helpful once you are off the groomers...

Yep, just gotta get out there and do it.  Over and over and over again.

it difficult for me cuase my right foot is domanint and i usally use that as my power foot to kick the board it to carves and my left foot as a lead foot to angle my self so to switch it up to me is really hard cuase i try use tomuch power in my front foot when rideing switch so i start to use my wieght and get lower and digg that edge in and steer with my wieght

there is great advice in this thread. Commitment is the best. Focus on rocking switch for a full couple days, don't puss out, and you'll be impressed with how quickly it becomes more easy. I agree that once you can do it, its fun, flopping back and forth...landing switch and riding out clean is a good feeling. I found that spinning on the snow (i.e., linked 180's or back-to-back rotations) really helped with my edge control, and improved my switch riding tons. Not sure if im being clear...just spin as long as you can while riding down mellow slopes, keeping your uphill edge in contact with the snow.

EDIT: sorry, forgot the main question. 21, -9, thinking about balancing it out a little bit, but can ride either way fine.

i ride +15, -8 and its just fine riding switch. im probly gunna bump it down a little to 12 

I just practice when I am with beginners.. usually best time..

my bindings are at +15 -10 (approximately) and goofy

I am learning to ride switch to, and i had to make it a more ducked stance; mine were set at +15 -3 before

if u most, don't go as far as -12 in the back if your front is 12. do like 12/-9.

take a friend who is a noob and while they try to learn how to board, u can learn switch.

riding "more duck" l think if your going to be easier on your body and neck simply becauseyou have to counter rotate more. l had a sore neck once because l was praticing switch on a pretty direction stance. might wanna take that into consideration

Not to threadjack...but I have a question. I have mine set up +21/+6. Does that sound alright? Not for switch, but basically carving?

the angles are a matter of preference to the rider.  The ducked out stance does help with riding switch for me and most people, but for some it may not.  I just kept completely comitting to riding switch and started like I was a beginner hitting the easy slopes.  I advanced from there

Learn to ride switch, then worry about binding position. Of course make sure you can ride, but just like you needed to learn to board before you knew the position you wanted to ride regular, you need to learn to board switch to learn to ride switch. I learned switch by simply turning my board around, bindings at +10/-5

Originally posted by SLUSHIE My board has a much longer nose than tail and a 1" offset makes it even harder.