Last Updated23 May 2022

The Movements of Snowboarding explores how snowboarders balance and move on their equipment, the different movement options, and the methods in which these movements can be applied. As an instructor it is important to understand how to balance and move efficiently in order to achieve specific outcomes.

Basic Stance

Every first-time snowboarder needs to find a position on their snowboard that they feel comfortable standing and balancing in. This will often be a reflection of how they have learned to stand and balance in everyday life.

Encourage a position that students can easily move from and back to, once they are in motion. This is known as a basic stance. It is very slightly lower and more flexed than a normal standing position, with the feet spread at a typical binding’s width. An efficient basic stance will put a student’s centre of mass in balance.

Stance and Balance

A rider’s stance is not a stationary position on the snowboard, rather a position they move through whilst making efficient movements when riding. Think of them as a starting point that is moved into and through while riding.

The centre of mass (COM) is the balance point within a rider that has equal weight in all directions. Gravity acts on the centre of mass, constantly pulling us towards the ground. The COM is not a fixed point and it will alter as the rider moves and changes their position on the board. When it’s aligned over the edge that’s being ridden it will be easier to balance, if it’s away from the edge being ridden then balancing becomes more difficult.

An efficient basic stance consists of:

Even weight on both feet.

Ankles, knees and hip joints all relaxed and slightly flexed.

Hips and shoulders aligned with the nose and tail of the board.

Torso upright with the arms relaxed by the sides.

Head turned and eyes looking in the direction of travel.

Example

Centre of mass: An efficient snowboarder manages their COM smoothly as they move through their turns. Imagine that it’s a small ball inside a rider. As they’re riding they’re aiming to move their COM in a perfectly fluid path in sync with their movements, the edge they are balanced on and the task they are trying to achieve.

The neutral position shown above will change if the rider is balancing on their toe edge or heel edge as the COM will have shifted.

Heelside Stance

To balance over the heel edge the rider will need to:

Balance hips and COM over the heelside edge by flexing through ankles, knees and hips.

Toeside Stance

To balance over the toe edge the rider will need to:

Balance hips and COM over the toeside edge by flexing more through the ankles and knees and less flex in the hips to maintain an upright position over the toeside edge.

It should be noted that all individuals are unique and, for this reason, everyone’s basic stance will be slightly different with differing amounts of flex in their joints.

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