"Longboarding - Stance (Goofy or Regular?)"

Longboarding - Stance (Goofy or Regular?)

Next you need to figure out your longboarding stance - as in, which foot you will put forward while longboarding. There are two stances - Regular (left foot forward) and Goofy (right foot forward). If you already skateboard, snowboard, surf or wakeboard, then go with the same stance you already use. Otherwise, here are some tricks to see which longboarding stance you might want to use: ONE
- go get a ball or something like that, and sit it on the ground in front of you. Now kick it. Whichever foot you kicked it with will likely be your back foot. You want the balancing foot in the front, and the kicking foot in the back.

TWO
- go to a staircase, and walk up it. What foot did you use to step up the FIRST step? That's likely your back foot.

THREE
- this one's hard, because once you read it you'll know the trick. So just read this first spot and then stop when I tell you to stop. Go find someone, stand with both your feet close together, and ask them to shove you from behind. Go do this now -- STOP READING! Ok, so hopefully you didn't just fall over. You should have caught yourself with one foot. The foot you used to catch yourself is likely the foot you'd put in back.

Just like most people are right handed, most people are regular footed. That's why it's called regular. Just remember that there's no RIGHT way to do it. If all of these tricks tell you that you are regular, but you just like riding goofy, then ride goofy!

There are just about as many different longboards available as there are longboarders to ride them. Since longboarding doesn't destroy the board in the same way as trick skateboarding, your board doesn't have to be quite so tough. This leads to piles of longboarders making their own longboards! Making your own longboard is a great idea, but this article is aimed at beginners. Besides, there are so many cool longboards on the market to choose from!

What's Your Longboarding Style?
Do you see yourself longboarding around campus? Longboarding to work? Do you see yourself trying big hills? Do you see yourself trying insane hills? Do you want to try riding in bowls? Do you want a smooth, soulful ride, or a quick, agile ride? Take a minuet and think about what you want to do.

Basically, the longer a longboard is, the more stable it will be. However, longer boards are less agile - meaning, they don't turn as quickly or as easily. Shorter longboards are more agile, but less stable. So, keeping this in mind, figure out where you want to be on the longboarding spectrum. If you plan to ride bowls, then you will need a much shorter board.

I recommend borrowing a longboard from a friend, or at least standing on one at a skateboarding shop to see how you feel on it before buying one.