The question of having the feet on a goofy or regular position does not really arise in kiteboarding or wingfoil as in surfing or snowboarding, as it is natural to ride on both stances. However, we always keep a favorite side, while on the other, called « switch » or « fakie« , everything is less comfortable. The stance remains an enigma for science, however it reveals amazing things about our bodies and we set out to find ways to improve the sensations on both sides. by Vincent Chanderot

Perhaps you have evacuated the problem by always riding with the same foot in front, which also allows savings on their inversion in the manoeuvres, but this remains true for everyone: we have a side on which we feel less at ease for jibing. On which we almost can’t jump, on which the surf is not even conceivable. By amplifying each parasitic movement and each imbalance, the beginnings with a foil remind us of our asymmetry. If the first tries on the natural stance go quickly very well, the foil exacerbates a lack of stability and agility in switch for the majority of riders, despite a long background in watersports. The laterality in our sport fades with the volume of practice and the mental plasticity, since we sail potentially as much starboard as port tack. It nevertheless persists, even among the pros, maintained by our preferences and the requirements of our spot, by surfing, jumping or performing certain maneuvers always on the same side. In the world of surfing, some pro-riders clearly benefit from a port side wave circuit (as in windsurfing), not only because they practice these conditions on a daily basis, but also because they fight on their best foot if they are regular. For tuition, having total beginners riding on their good side is one of the key factor of success, but it is not always easy to manage. Very few instructors wonder if their students are making their first rides on the natural or switch stance, yet goofy-footers are clearly favored by learning in a wind coming from the starboard (right), while these conditions will be more difficult to the regular ones.

« I’m not very comfortable on switch either, I feel a difference. This is even more true for riders who always jump on the same side as in Cape Town, where the wind always comes from the left. It doesn’t make sense to look for perfection on both sides, it’s better to develop a repertoire for each tack” Lasse Walker

Right-handed or left-handed

Laterality seems to be the fruit of the innate and the acquired. It results from a genetic determinism that learning can thwart. By conservatism in teaching or by mimicry, like when children reproduce the gestures of their elders, for example by drawing with the same hand or riding the same way on a skateboard the first time. This was probably also the case of tennis player Rafael Nadal, right-handed in life but left-handed on the courts! His deliberate choice of dominant hand might not be stranger to his terrible forehand, as he conveniently associates it with his dominant eye and pelvis. The whole body is lateralized and we also have a guiding eye, a stretcher hip and shoulder and still a strong foot. In tennis, the best dominance combinations are well documented and part of the performance analysis. For example, for a good forehand, a so-called « crossed » dominance of the eye and « homogeneous » dominance of the pelvis and the foot are very favorable: the ball is seen earlier, the trunk can screw deeper for more power and the anchoring is better. In our riding sports, the lateralization of each level (eye, neck, shoulders, pelvis, leg, foot) definitely also has an influence on the comfort of navigation for each stance.

Goofy vs Regular

In board-sports, we speak of regular-footer, when the left foot is naturally placed in front and of goofy-footer in the opposite case. The majority of the population is regular, they are more comfortable on port tacks and in surfing on right waves, which can be surfed frontside. The goofies were a small minority in the early days of surfing, considered as an originality. This name might be a reference to Mickey Mouse’s buddy in the 1936 cartoon « Hawaiian holiday », in which Goofy surfs with his right foot forward… The mystery remains complete, however, because we see him also attacking the wave in regular! The other big mystery is that while most riders maintain a similar stance whatever they do, some reverse it when switching from surfing to skateboarding or snowboarding. This suggests that the stance is not only determined by the foot: the morphology, the flexibility, the supports specific to each sport, as well as the learning of a technique, more or less good, can be involved. There is a part of innate and a part of acquired. Chances are high that children learning to surf always on a small leftie will instinctively (if not by their teachers) get up in a goofy position to be able to surf frontside, facing the wave.

“I never surf on my switch stance, I better surf backside” Matchu Lopes

The dominant foot

The lateralities of the foot follow the same proportions as those of the hand: 90% of the population is right-handed for the foot as for the hand ⁽¹⁾. We could expect to find the same distribution on the stance, but the regulars are only 60 to 70%, we cannot therefore be satisfied with the idea that the dominant foot is placed at the back ⁽²⁾. But what is a dominant foot? We generally consider it’s the one who juggles and kicks a ball or the one that is thrown while jumping. He’s the one who manipulates, who moves nimbly in space. The other foot is devoted to stabilization, to balance. This function is however so essential that this foot doesn’t deserve such a dominated status: what would a huge kick in a ball be without a solid anchoring, or a jump without a powerful impulse? Several scientific studies therefore underline that the concept of dominance is defined with regard to the task to be performed: Spry and his team at the University of Kansas ⁽³⁾ noted that there is a preferred foot, most often the right one, for manipulations or tasks requiring precision and agility, and a preferred one (often left) for tasks that require seat and balance. They also measured in this study that “the so-called dominant leg is not the stronger of the two”.

« One school would prefer a precise turn while the other would prefer a stable turn? »

The enigma of the stance

So here is a surprise, assuming the approximation that almost everyone is agile with their right foot : for the same sport, requiring the same support, the goofy-footers put their stable and strong foot in the back, while the more numerous, the regular-footers favor the stable foot in front. Does this suggest that one school prefers a precise turn while the other favors a stable turn? Here again, the role of each support must be sought, and this always arise to long debates. Probably because there are as many sensibilities as riders, with regard to the morphologies of each. Surfing champion Mark Richards estimated, without unanimous support, that “the front foot does not intervene at all in the initiation of turns, it is there to balance. The board cannot turn without pressure from the heel or the rear toes. I am flabbergasted to hear shapers talk about special boards for “front foot surfers”. Many others rather visualize the role of the pivot leg and the importance of front-to-back weight transfers, which is even more true in foiling. Indeed the control of the board cannot be limited to the only actions of the feet at the interface of the board. It is a whole muscular chain that intervenes, because the turn begins with the gaze, with the neck and the shoulders, then the pelvis, which transmits the support towards the feet and the board. The center of gravity of the body is located above the pelvis and it is its translation by hip movements that allows the supports to be transferred to the foil and to make it yaw or roll.

Become more comfortable in switch-stance

If you are struggling to initiate a good jibe in switch-stance, it may be that your feet are unable to resolve it or that their morphology is not favorable (pronation / supination). But your pelvis also probably won’t help. The way the body works in a complex movement is never binary. Take the test: the stretch of your two hips is never equal on each side. The pelvic plane can also pivot spontaneously (and close or open the angle with the board) to compensate a difference in leg length found in 80% of the population called anisomelia. Here, we are confronted to one of the fundamentals of martial arts: the release of the pelvis makes possible to increase the amplitudes and to find strong anchorages. It allows a more obvious correction of supports and imbalances.

The causes of lateralization are multiple, however, working on the flexibility of the pelvis, making each foot more versatile and having good sheathing seem to be efficient ways to perform better. The agility of the stable foot and the seat of the maneuverable one can be improved. This is perhaps what we are lacking during all switch-stance maneuvers. With this in mind, we can only advise to force yourself to practice more maneuvers on your wrong tack: don’t wait to fall to jibe on you switch-stance! Jump also on this less comfortable side, surf the same wave frontside and backside.  Over time, a muscular imbalance can establish by always favouring the same side and it becomes difficult to come back from it. According to French Dr Barrucq, author of “Surf-Prevention”, asymmetric sports pros need to remedy this in the gym, as it generates injuries and even loss of performance on the natural stance. We see how difficult it is for surfoilers, who have been practicing for years all the time on the same stance, to make the return tack when they get into the wing.

«I really work in switch-stance. It’s important to manage to pass tricks on both sides and in the end to be a complete rider» Giel Vlugt

In your head

We can take advantage of mental tools: If you manage to fly with a foil on your natural stance, then you will also succeed in switch stance, because you have already managed this same thing without flying. Remember that if you manage to break down a maneuver to skillfully lead it on one side, you already have the tools to do it on the other, with a few adjustments. The brain is plastic, it can incorporate new gestures at all ages. Through training, disabilities can be overcome in order to pass the various stages of learning. You may now be in “conscious incompetence” (“I know I don’t know how to do this in switch”), but you will come to the conscious skill (“I know I can do it, but it requires total concentration”). You will finally reach the unconscious skill: you will ride switch even while sleeping, and score in backside and frontside surf like a pro. ⁽⁴⁾

Concrete exercises to improve in switch stance

(with physiotherapists Carla Gutierrez and Julien Bertrand)

In the water: we will focus on maneuvers in switch stance trying to become aware of its supports, the role held by each foot, the most appropriate position of the pelvis, the shoulders and the look.

On land: we will not hesitate to ride in switch anything that slips. The supports will often be different, but useful muscle chains can be activated. So do a bit of skateboarding or waveboarding in switch, snowboarding. Even on skis, be aware of your favorite supports: there too, you have a powerful turn, a foot around which you always brake and a foot that you prefer to put in front to skid an icy steep slope.

At home: you can strengthen the agile limb and boost your balance thanks to proprioception exercises in front of the TV on a physio set (to make yourself or find in the fitness department) or an indo-board. Always take care to maintain a balance: Julien Bertrand, Waterman and physiotherapist-osteopath reminds us that one of the bases of rehabilitation is to always also train your “healthy” side. Stretching is always beneficial because flexibility is fundamental. Simple exercises from Tai-chi release the pelvis.

Proprioception plateau or bosu cushion: support stability and proprioception

On one foot, knee slightly bent:

• Maintain balance. Eyes open then closed (fig 1)

• Maintain balance by causing imbalances (jostling, catching a ball, hanging from a rope) (fig 2)

• Same plus turning the gaze from the floor to the ceiling and to the sides, while listening to sound

One foot on the ground, the other on the cushion or a ball:

• Maintain balance by transferring the weight to the foot on the ball (fig 3)

Both feet on board, eyes closed:

• Try to maintain balance

• Mentally visualize (internal or external) switch maneuvers (fig 4)

Balance-board (Indo-board): general balance of supports and transfers

• Transfer your switch presses to natural and vice-versa

• Mental visualization and simulation of the switch turn (fig 5)

Pistol: power and balance of supports

• Gently lower the buttocks on one foot, if necessary using a stick

Gradually increase the series of 5 repetitions, rest 1min30 (fig 6)

Ladders or rings on the ground: agility of the foot

• Place targets close together on the ground (rings, drawing on the sand, ladder) and run by quickly slaloming the less agile foot and the other too as long as necessary (fig 7)

• Juggle with this same foot with a sand or soccer ball

Tai chi: release of the pelvis

• Knees slightly bent, put the pelvis in rotation by transferring the weight from one leg to the other. 10 minutes a day every day while waiting for the bus or at the beach.

   o Weight on the leg towards which the pelvis turns (fig 8)

   o Weight on the opposite leg (if no problems with the dorsal vertebrae)

• Lying on the back, bring the knees to the stomach (you can also squeeze a ball). Tilt to the right then to the left without taking off the shoulders, exhaling and looking in the other direction. (fig 9)

« I wouldn’t add a thing » – Cash Berzolla 🙂

1. Asymmetry in muscle weight and one-sided dominance in the human lower limbs. Chhiber & Singh, Journal of Anatomy (1970)

Relationship between leg dominance tests and type of task, Jessica Velotta et al. Journal of Sports Science (2011)

2. Evaluation of laterality in the snowboard basic position. Staniszewski et al. Human Movement (2016)

3. What is leg dominance? Spry et al. International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports (1993)

4. Goofy Vs Regular: laterality effects in surfing, Phil Furley, Laterality 2018