Best Stance Angles - Snowboarding 101 - Proper Binding Set Up 

This is a question I get all the time and I will now reference this video as the answer. I saw it pop up and to be honest I expected it to be a bit of a snooze fest, I've just watched the whole thing and found it all very well put together, entertaining, and informative - not that you need my validation at all, you guys clearly have way more experience than me! Good work with the channel I look forward to following it and seeing what comes next!

I've been riding duck forever because...20 something year-old me made that decision and I stuck with it. It's been a couple decades since then and you guys inspired me to try out some posi posi this week and it was great. Just felt right. Turns felt noticeably stronger and it brought a smile to my face. Thanks for the video.

Fawcett’s face when Korua video is mentioned 😂

Radiology tech here. FYI, ducking your feet allows better mobility in hips for getting low and doing grabs easier. More zero angles will limits hip flexion. Since I just turned 40, I’m ducking my feet out more to compensate for loss of mobility

Great video guys. I would love to see a similar video about the positioning of the hole patterns on different boards, and mounting options of the bindings on them: ie reference stance, setback, stance width, typical measurements, etc. for different types of boards/conditions/riding styles. Keep up the good work!

This is what i have been waiting for! well done guys 🙌🙌

Spectacular video guys. Love the deep dives from guys that have lived this since the beginning!

love your shows thank you

Love this stuff. More of it please!

Most definitely appreciate this detailed content👍👍

One of the best discussions on the topic I have seen. Thanks!!

Great info 👍

Thanks for posting this. I've been riding +15 and -15 for the past two years learning switch and freestyle. My knees have been hurting after riding recently. I'm going to try +12 and -12 and experiment with other angles to see if it helps.

this has to be one of the best videos explaining stances and everything binding related. thanks guys!

Great Vid guys! Love a nice geek out on board set up

One of the best things about snowboarding is there are so many ways to enjoy it. The only governing bodies are fun and stoke. Great job in covering different styles with equal enthusiasm. Been doing this since the Sims yellow banana days and it’s still fresh, thanks to open minds like yours.

Such good and valuable info here! Thanks! 👊🏻👊🏻

Excellent video, super informativ! Extrem good explained!

Great Topic Well reviewed and super informative - Thanks for the info

Nice work on this vid. When I’m asked to help new riders I always start by having folks think about and play with binding angles and width. This is a great resource.

Excellent video guys! This helped me a lot.

This video is a life saver. OMG. Thank you!

Great video. Appreciate the free information!

Thanks very much. After all these years, learning new stuff about my snowboard is still super fun. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

INCREDIBLY useful video lads. Thanks for all of the info. I'm a CASI level 1 and learning new stuff every day. Take care and happy shreddin'!

Can’t even put into words how bad ass you two are!!!! Thank you!!!

This video is really well done.

Local Mt. Hood boarder who has been riding every season since 1987. Just found your channel and absolutely love it. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the fine details. Keep it up. Love, New Subscriber.

I work at a snowboard shop up in Washington, and man have I learned a lot from you guys, thanks for spreading the knowledge!!

Guys, I have been watching hours and days of videos and read articles on this exact subject and this vidéo you just made is the most outstanding, learning and genuine analysis I have seen. Very objective and also rich in options and ways to improve. Thank you very much 🙏🤟

Mark for the gold! I helped shaping up the lbs course. Way to hold it down. 👊

Overall great video guys! It is what it is, a great video!❤

Great video, I love Apex Mountain I grew up on it when the old Gun Barrel was there. Now rocking Mt Cain

Congrats on the win!

Would love to hear Mark's thoughts on cants and boot choices in the formula of stance set up.

FINALLY!!! BEST VIDEO!

I’ve been putting the Burton no-back on my rear binding on my powder boards for years. Love that slashy, surfy ankle mobility.

Great video, one of the best I've watched explained binding setup. I'm a fellow Posi/Posi rider @ 23/15 riding almost exclusively freeride/swallow tail boards. I'm thinking I might try a little less on my back foot for tree riding.👍 Also never thought a bout the highback rotation, I broke my leading one just as you'd describe. I run hard boots splitboarding now.

Dang, this was a gold nugget for binding setup! Never saw anyone do this for the highback. Explained very well and advising to have those high back adjusted in alignment with the board. I didnt even think about it because as an beginner youd figure it would automatically work as it should out of the box for those high backs. Now time to really dial in my bindings.

nice vid! enjoyed it

Couldn't like this video enough! Super informative! Thanks guys! Subbed

This is video is what boarders need to see! Really well done explanation styles of stances and how it works for different aspects of snowboarding. I’d like to hear more about the high back critiques for carving, upper body motion and edge engagement from the body to board with different mods of a high back and maybe binding riser pads or canted binding foot beds. Recently I cut my front high back in half and I usually run a 0 to +20ish and so far its allowing for me to sit back while in a heel side carve but I’ve yet to try no rear high back but seems like a good option for pow?? Anyhow it seems that subject could also have some light shown onto.

Wow! I've been riding since mid '80s. I never knew about adjusting the high back to be parallel to the board! I've always noticed the adjustment on my Cartels, but never thought anything of it. I will be making that change! Great video!

Love the vid guys I come from a same background as you with stance being from the UK so riding in Europe most of my early days then went to lake louise in 99 for the 12 week Casi course and changed my stance amd riding style totally 😀 😊

best one I have seen on stance ever...

Any negative back foot angle causes me knee pain and has for years. These days I stick with +30 +12. Sucks for riding switch of course but looking after my knees is the higher priority. Posi posi with a directional all mountain board is still a riot and I'm happy with my setup.

I run +30/+9 as well, standard on all boards, all terrain & conditions in AK. On my more dedicated carving board (Stranda cheater) I bump up a hair to 33/12. Mild lean on front highback, high lean on the rear. Further, on my NOW drives, I use front highbacks for both feet - helps line up better with the rear positive angle. Started on a forward stance in the 90s, ventured to duck for years, and got back to +/+ in 2013. For my style, all those years on duck were a waste! Love that positive angles have made such a comeback in recent years, even if just to normalize the idea of it again. As always, to each their own, and experimenting is great - especially when you do so with basic knowledge of the reasoning behind different options.

This is so inspiring, gonna adjust my bindings now and find out the difference tomorrow. Great content!

Learnt some stuff, cheers!

I've been +15 -15 for as long as I can remember, I don't ride switch much on my Solomon sickstick, so thought I'd try something different. This evening I tried +21 +6 at Seymour, game changer. Thank you guys

This was a big help. Moved my bindings around angle, front to back and the high back for my super pig. Made a big difference! Thank you for a great video

Best video for this newbie about angles. I'm definitely one of those people that just put +15 -15. Excited to try your suggestions. Thanks guys.

Just tried your Kung fu posi posi googy style, +30 +9 I've been heading that way for some time, needed the extra push to go past +21. Really worked well until lunchtime when it all went to slush, found I was to nose heavy. Defo gonna experiment with this more next season. Thanks guys

The CASI "+15 / -15 stance was a baseline for beginners. A beginner could do the early stages of the lesson like straight running, "falling leaf" and traverse to a turn very easily. Even if they thought they would ride with one foot forward over the other, then realize at a point during the lesson that they were better off with the opposite foot forward, they were ready for that. If this rider ever went past a beginner lesson, they would be encouraged to try other stances, based on the type of riding they wanted to do. Much like this video, a rider could only discover this idea of varying angles to stance IF they went past the initial stage of a basic beginner outing and progressed on to wanting to learn more. As the presenters say, these angles are very close to what most top park riders run at single-digit, equal angle, centre-stance, + front, - rear setups. That said and like the presenters, after almost 40 years of riding, I have less than 30 degrees of splay and have pretty much settled on +28 / 0. A big factor in being able to stay with a flatter back foot (which will always be better for any non-carved turn) while ALSO being able to carve like a demon is to own a WIDE board. The industry is certainly catching on, but boards minimally above 27 cm waist widths are an absolute necessity for any rider with a boot size above a US 9. Builders like Stranda, Donek and Yes (with the Optimistic) make wide board that also have decent effective edge. Most wide boards by main stream manufacturers are also short... This loss of effective edge means less support in a carved turn. They are easy to flick around, but if you are heavier and taller, a longer board is better for carving. To maintain manouverability boards with shorter tails and bigger noses are the ideal. The short tail gets out of the way for a quick turn, while the longer nose holds you up in powder and at the start of a powerful turn.

I learned alot from this, stokalation

Hi guys, was nice to listen to you.

Awesome video guys. Just bought my first board NITRO TEAM True Camber after renting for 10 years. I guess rental set up is always duck. I mostly like carving hard so I will defenetelly try posi posi maube +21 / +6, plus I will rotate the high backs. Cheers from Argentina ;)

I remember at some point, I probably was still a teen, they said „we now ride duck-stance (negativ-positive) and I just went with it. Got into surfing a few years ago and always wondered about this stance on my snowboard, but never changed it!!! I think this stance is big part of the reason I lost my love for snowboarding (going like 4-5 days a season max. and I live in the middle of Switzerland, so I would have paradise). Rode posi-posi last weekend while testing a new board and it felt like… like falling in love all over again after 10 rough years

I run +13, -13 and I actually enjoy it even for carving, which is my primary riding style. I’ve tried setting up positive positive, positive zero, but the posi negative just feels right for me.

I switched to posi posi this year and it made a huge difference in my carving. +25 / +5. Can’t believe it took me 30 years to figure that out. Haha

Love your stance on stances! Riding my first boardercross this weekend, usually I run +15/-6 for freeriding, but will be running +30/+9 for better turning and (hopefully) speed!

Noice. I keep telling my kids, simply having a Dad(or mom, or buddy) that can set up your bindings correctly early on makes all the difference in the world i the beginning, and even as you progress. The mysterious art of binding setups. The Well done, dudes.

Cool video with lots of info. Good to know 15/-15 is no longer a thing. I’m using a new board that more all mtn freestyle vs my old freeride and that board I had figured out I like 21/-9 so I tried 15/-15 on new to start and it was good on hard pack but too hard to look forward on groomers so maybe I’ll try an 18/-12 or -9. I’m quiet duck footed so maybe that why I like a 30 degree total but my stance is a little wider on new board too so I should try bringing it in as well.

25 minute tribute video? I’m here for it. Would love to hear more on stance width for each condition (powder vs groomers vs all mountain etc.)

great info. been riding +15/-6 my whole life and it def works great for all conditions. just getting into more carving on groomer days so ill have to try a posi posi one of these days

I’m an old racer gone snow surfer, and like Mark, I move my stance around a lot. Different boards respond better to more or less stance angle, and different conditions also require that. Generally I vary from +45/15 on my directional groomer carver, to about +35/10 for open powder bowls, and closer to about +25/5 for trees and steep terrain. I also like a super flex boot, and very flexible binding almost always so I can have ankle rock and roll on the board like a surfer. Even my stance width will vary from between 20.5” to 20” depending on boot angles. But even on the same board, I might start the day with more angle, and as conditions deteriorate during the day, I might relax the angles in the lift line to handle more challenging terrain. I only ever ride duck in park on a true twin.

Kevin jones one The greats in my books. Something like +15 front - 21back. And was sick too. Just watch any of his part’s 🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼

Killer video! ScrApex for life.

I do have a lot of problems on my heel edge and I ride 9°, -9°. I didn't know that it could be due to that negative back foot. I made it a point to always switch the direction each ride/trick/etc. and I'm still keeping it this way. But it's cool to at least know that it could be the reason why it's so difficult.

I went pos/pos on my antigravity and thought for sure I would hate it. That board rips now.

Thanks a lot for the great video! I'm riding quite a bit and fairly steep technical stuff here in the alps.. mosty +21-15 / -0/9 Yet I farily often mess up my outer calf tendons next to the achilles (Fibularis Longus & brevis) Maybe someone had some similar issues and found a fix along the way Otherwise it's more testing testing testing Once more, Thanks a lot for the video!

Great discussion. Doesn't Terje Håkonsen often use 24/9? Which for a freestyler was considered crazy.

Thank you, you have no idea how helpful it is! +Follow!

This is the best vid I've found to discuss angles, thank you. I'm mostly hardpack riding and trying to learn switch, and I'm currently set up with +12 & -6 but I might start playing around given all this new knowledge. Next, I'm off to look for content about women's all mountain boards. I'm wondering if the new feelgoods differ much from the old ones.

Damn it, wish I found this video during my season in Australia. I've been running -12 +15 since the beginning but now I'm wanting to practice carving properly. I'll need to try posiposi next time!!

Your videos get better and better! Loving the nerd wisdom of you fellas. Spittin truths in the lounge. P.S. I’m anywhere from 21/-6 for freestyle to 30/12 for carving. Stance gets progressively narrower too, and I custom select my stance every day based on board, conditions, and mood. ❤

Respect

This has got to be one of the most credible and highly engaging video on stances out there. Much appreciated! Over the years I've had 15-18 in the front and +3 to +6 in the back, and typically 18/+6. More recently I've been riding 18/-6 in the back to open up my "squat" (call it age-related). It has not overly affected my carving. I have 21/-6 and maybe 21/0 on the list. The only things I would have liked to hear more about is your thoughts on width. It was there when you talked about boarder-cross, but I'd love to hear more. (PS My second board, which I still own is that same tattoo Kelly 161.)

Glad Burton combined the channel disk and 4x4 disk to one re:flex disk. Centering the binding on a 4x4 board is easy but can be challenging on a channel board because the adjustment option on a re:flex disk is around 1/4” increment for channel while 4x4 is a much better 1/8” increment. I had to drill 2 channel holes on the older re:flex 4x4 disk to center large step on binding’s (boot size 11) on a Burton Skeleton Key XX.

This is a very interesting video. I have been riding 15/-15 forever from just riding a ton of park when i was younger. Having taken like 8-10 seasons of just going 1-2 timea thats just what i went to by default. But now im getting an all new setup (directional all mountain board) i think im goijng to change it up and test some different stance angles out

Great video. I am setting up my boards for this season (Oz) atm. I am wondering how much difference in overhang between heel and toe is still acceptable? I’m looking at my back foot which is 5mm more on the toe side compared to the heel side. Also what do you use as your measuring point? I am using the end of my boot ignoring binding components. Thanks for your help.

Great video. All mountain rider. Prefer the trees for powder. Front foot is 14 back foot is 0. Perhaps I should experiment with different snow. I do have the Orion RP roberts bundings. They do have the top strap that you can change.

Great Video! More like this would be awesome. I would love to hear your thoughts on CASI and/or PSIA-AASI more or less controlling snowboard instruction. I taught a little after a lifetime of riding and couldn't help but think that the way they want you to teach snowboarding just didn't feel right.

First off congrats on your Banked Slalom win this weekend Mark, as a past competitor of the LBS I know how much fun and challenging it can be. My buddies and I started riding Baker in ‘85 and some of us are still going strong today as recent retirees in our mid 50’s, keep up the good work representing us old rippers. My stance for the last 39 years has pretty much stayed at 18° - 0° (the Baker stance as you referenced), but I’m thinking of switching it up a little to 21° - 6°, as you stated our “freestyle” days are over as well, but I still love carving groomers and of course fresh powder bowls or tree runs. I’ve also recently due to knee injuries added more lean to my highbacks which felt like it relieved the pain in my knees and made me use more quad muscles. We are expecting a storm Tuesday night so we’re all heading up Wednesday, I’ll log back on later in the week and post my finds on the new angles. Congrats again and enjoy that duct tape trophy there aren’t many of those out there.

Moved to +15 -3 for Zermatt tomorrow a lot more positive than I’m used to so stocked to give it a go

I’ve read somewhere that Terje did his angles posi was due to his size 10.5 boots to avoid boot out, especially hard heel up a pipe wall. I guess we can only assume since he’s not watching this or commenting on the video. 😂

Fantastic video. I ride +18 +3 but going to check more aggressive forward stance. And I thought I knew everything about mounting bindings! Almost didn't watch that part lol. It didn't cross my mind to rotate the front highback to make it more parallel with the edge. Greta video. Btw, where would you say Union Force bindings sit in terms of smashing groomers in resorts? Just bombing down the slopes, no park. I have been riding them for a while but never really had a chance to try something else.

Just bought a new DOA 158, and I have 10.5 boot… typically rock around a 15-5 stance… 😬 a little concerned about heel/toe drag. Hopefully no issues when I get out there!

I was Pro in the 90's Riding 18-18 Duck foot. Big Cliffs and Deep Pow Pow. When you got to lean way back in the Deep you want your knees pointing over your toes.

I did looked at the Korua video and I can assure you that Mark Fawcett has a much better technique that the Korua guys. Please Mark, make a video on how to properly carve on a free ride board ! Thanks for these very interesting videos !

Hi guys 👋 love your videos. I am getting into carving and have now started riding posi posi. I ride Burton ion step ons and I love them but you can’t rotate the high back. Do you know what angles would be to much for the step on system? Thank you

Boys, I love your content. This was an awesome video. Really appreciate the insight into stance angles as a novice snowboarder. Wondering if the posi-posi (I’m thinking of trying +12/+6) angle is still ok to try the occasional 180 or linking a few switch turns? I’m really trying to get comfortable with either foot forward. Can’t wait to try this. Keep the vids coming!

Great video. Very thorough. I have always thought about binding angles from a biomechanical perspective. When I do a squat, I want my knees to point over my toes. If they don't, it puts a lot of stress on my knee joints. Whether my knees point over my toes depends on my natural turn-out, and how wide my stance is. You can try it for yourself: put your feet 12 inches apart, pointing at 0 degrees and do a squat. your knees will point straight forward. Now, rotate your feet out to +20 -20, and do another squat. Your knees probably still want to go straight forward, but it feels much more uncomfortable on the inside on your knee joint. Now, get your feet wide at 24 inches apart and try the same thing. With your feet pointing at 0, your knees will point outwards and stress the outside of your knee joint, but with your feet at +20 -20, your knees will point over your toes, and it will feel natural. Obviously, this is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point. So, for every individual, there will be different angles that feel perfect, depending on how wide you have your feet. You can use those angles to work out the "difference", and, like you said in the video, that should be used to workout what your back binding is at for a given front angle (posi/posi, duck stance etc). Everyone is different, so experimenting with stance is the best thing to do to get it dialed in. I had a friend that rode +12 on the front, -18 on the back, because he broke his ankle once, and the back foot healed crooked!

Thank you for this video guys, you helped me learning how to set up my bindings and understandings of it. i do have a question: i wanna learn how to ride switch and been riding +30/+15 before, which angles will i choose for this? will i go 12/-12 or something positive like +18/-9? considering the mentioned study with 30degrees.i tried 15/-6 today for the first time was a difference. thank you for your reply!

great vid, surprised you don't have bigger following, could turn that mounting segment into its on vid, great explanation

When your centering the boot and bindings on board do you measure all the way to the back of heel cup as part of heel overhang or is it just to the end of the boot?

Sick

Just some personal 2 cents... I'm convinced positive stance is the best way to learn snowboarding by ourself. I started snowboarding mid 90's so there wasn't any good snowboard school and I had to learn by my own. Also I'm European so hardboot + asymmetric slalom was a common option and that's what I chose. I had a narrow Nidecker Concept and large feet forcing me to go for extreme positive stance, so much so the experience was more like skwal than snowboard. With such a rig you don't need any instructor to make you understand how important it is to push your back knee behind your front's one, which is highly recommended in order to carve strong (now people call it eurocarve, for us it was just what Serge Vitelli inspired us to do), or just have a great control. All the other benefits mentioned here are also true, but this knee placement is such an important trick that everyone can benefit from having a rig screaming for it and leaving no other option than do it properly. Even with less extreme angles and soft boots, positive stance forces to learn pretty well how to turn and carve, which is the very first basic any beginner should focus on. To me freestyle has to come after this mastering : 1- Learn how to turn, stop and control your speed. 2- Learn serious carving. 3- Learn jumps and landings. 4- Then and only then, go for duck stance and learn how to do it switch, butter etc. To me positive stance is not just one of the possibilities we can pick, but the starting point any beginner should go for.

Question when adjusting the high back to the edge. I actually only adjust the rear at least for my directional days. My thought process is that my forward motion is pushing me backwards like when in a car, and I use the front foot high back to actually stay angled with the front binding as it creates a “seat” for the back of my leg and mass to be held by while charging forward. And I adjust the rear foot high back parallel to the edge for the softer play and to obviously help the negative angle of that back binding. Thoughts? Or always adjust both? Your mass may lean backwards yes but I find you’re also getting pulled backwards when picking up speed so I try to compensate and please both worlds

Recommended angles for riding a short, fatty pow board (Burton Bottom Feeder)? Also would you recommend a stiffer or softer binding, as i have both. Thanks