Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

Anyone else have this issue?

Going left - better top turns -snaps - tail slides - roundhouse cutbacks
Going right - better tube-rider - better off the top - better airs - better close-out reos/floaters

I always put this down to my skateboarding - I skated natural and have always felt I was surfing backhand on lefts, forehand on rights. My turns seem to have a totally different style either way. Maybe its just a natural left/right bias.

I've spoken to other kneelos and they too have different biases.

Interested to know if anyone else has this experience in left/right bias and how they have overcome it if possible.

Cheers

I think this topic has come up before... long, long ago.

Yes, biased here too... although goofy-foot. My biases are almost the perfect mirror image of yours.

That, and my left knee is in a lot worse shape than my right knee. It's the difference in flexion first and difference in strength second.

I do remember this topic from awhile ago Anyways,My left knee is forward of my right knee...Because the top of my right foot is crossed over the bottom of my left foot centered on the stringer,as versus spread on each side of the stringer.
Da feets don't/won't sit flush on the deck,thats why.
Go left,go right,makes no difference,its all good,just different.,no fret-no sweat.''Sit on the floor and try it''... Tried flippers drove me crazy,no like!
cheers

I mostly knee ride 'goofy-foot'. My right knee is slighly forward of my right knee...when I ride lefts. Going right, I sometimes keep that stance ('backside') or sometime have my left knee slightly forward ('switch stance to regular foot').

I'm a mess...but having fun. I snowboard, stand-up and skate board goofy and this is probably why I prefer lefts and tend to ride them better.

It's interesting to study the KB'er pic's on our site. I've noticed that most of the Aussies have a very perpendicular (to the stringer) and wide stance. They rotate at the waist to turn and face the wave. And of course they rip. I've tried it, but fall into my old habit.

now you guys got me thinking about it.... so I went and looked at my Blast deck pads and.... I'm a "regular knee".... left knee forward....but I don't see that it affects my "style" or lack there of....

I am a goofy foot but I put my leash on my right leg. Maybe thats why I don't stand up well

I have noticed this for years. People who ride with their back to the wave have great cut backs. People that face the wave, when they ride, tube ride well.

If the outside knee (the one away from the wave) is even half an inch ahead of the inside knee it allows you to open your hips and face the wave. It is much easier to bury the rail on a bottom turn if you are facing the wave. It is easier to lean into a tube if you are facing the wave. Your off the tops will be much better if your back is to the wave.

I ride rights facing the wave, but I ride mushy lefts backside and hollow, fast lefts swithstance or facing the wave. I only have to move my knee about one to two inches to change and can actually do it while riding, although I never notice that I did it.

Most stand ups think kneeboarders all surf the same. They think we all face forward on our boards with our knees exactly side by side.

The kneeriders that I see are so different from each other.

That is the beauty of it.

I to have that slight left knee forward stance - I can see when I look at the knee depressions on my boards. Its almost negligible but definitely there.

I must try the "switchknee" stance on both lefts and rights - and see what difference it makes. Its hard to adjust these things especially after 20+ years in the water, but I've fixed tech flaws in the past.

Thanks guys for your comments.

P.S Just a comment on the Aussie knees wide stance. Its what I was told to do as a grommet - wide stance - better balance - more potential energy can be created by winding up the hips through the turns. Also it stops you from riding with that kooky gaylord seagull style - which results from having a narrow base - because then you need to use your arms to balance not unlike a tight-rope walker.

I've notice this for a long time also. I started stand-up when I first learned how to surf, so I was a goofy footer. I'm left handed, and I mostly kneeboard left breaks where I kneeboard at, so it just feels like I'm facing the wave. On rights, this feels like my backside to me.

..

Mark interesting point as I am left handed also and definately prefer going left, although it's not all that important and it helps that 80% of the waves where I am are lefts!!

A backhand cuttie is the same as a forehand bottom turn

I don`t understand the goofy foot thing when it comes to KBing. But for me, I have no problem going either way. I don`t mean for that to be a cocky statement. But what I do notice is that when I go left, i`m more aggressive. When I go right, I can do stronger power moves. I have surfed with other KBers and 99 % of the time, they only want to go one way. Thats fine, i`ll go the other... Would it be fair to say that each of us has a strong and a weak side ??

toofast3 wrote:I don`t understand the goofy foot thing when it comes to KBing.

Either do I. When I surfed standup I pretty much only went left as a goofyfoot. That's one of the reasons I love kneeboarding, double the wave choice Going left I can ride the barrel better, going right I can get the fins loose easier. Both are good though.

Have learned to at least survive going left living here in the OC. Formative years in SB made me much more comfortable and competent on rights.