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Goofy or Regular? Stance Guide for Snowboarding, Surfing & Wakeboarding

by Grant Draper
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This quick-fire guide (less than 3 minutes to read) is going to help you determine if you should be riding goofy foot or regular, and exactly what the two riding styles mean. 

Determining whether you are goofy is regular is essential for all board riders. You'll need to determine which stance you need to ride if you're getting involved with:

  • Snowboarding
  • Surfing
  • Wakeboarding
  • Skateboarding
  • Longboarding

And, as there seems to be some confusion, we’ll also explain how the goofy and regular riding stances differ from riding fakie (also known as riding switch).

Goofy and Regular Riding Definitions

Some people feel just as comfortable riding goofy as they do riding regular; much like some soccer players can play just as strong with their left or right foot. 

Whether you ride goofy or regular isn’t down to which one is best; it’s what your natural stance is. The more comfortable you are on the board (thanks to that natural stance), the better you’ll ride, and the quicker you’ll learn; whether that’s on snow, water or on tarmac.

What Goofy Foot Riding Means

Whether it’s snowboarding, surfing or wakeboarding, riding goofy doesn’t mean you look funny when you're boarding. 

Riding goofy simply means your right foot is your lead foot (the foot at the front of the board), and your left foot is at the back of the board. 

What Regular Foot Riding Means

As the name suggests, it’s more typical for boarders to be riding regular.

What does riding regular mean? Your left foot is your front foot (at the front of the board), and your right foot is your back foot, at the back of the board.

Are you Goofy or Regular?

So, how do you know if you are a goofy or regular rider?

Put simply, if you’re right handed and right footed, it’s likely you’ll be riding regular.

And if you're left handed and left footed, you’ll most likely feel more comfortable by riding goofy. 

For those that have done snowboarding, wakeboarding, surfing or skateboarding before, use that same stance for all riding. So, if you ride regular (left foot forward) on a skateboard, it’s almost certain that’s going to be the most comfortable stance on a snowboard, wakeboard and surfboard.

However...

There are people that ride regular, even though they are left footed. And, there are people that are right footed that ride goofy. Although this is uncommon, it’s worth trying both stances to see which one is more comfortable.

Understanding Riding Fakie (A.K.A Switch)

Riding fakie (or switch) is essentially riding the opposite way to the stance you’re most comfortable with. So, if you ride goofy (right foot forward), switching to regular (left foot forward) would be classed as riding switch. For regular riders, switching from a left foot forward position to a right foot forward position would be riding fakie.

Riding fakie adds a technical layer to performing tricks. A fakie 360 for instance, is much harder than a normal 360.

In Summary - Riding Stance

Hopefully that’s not overcomplicated things, and you know that riding stance isn’t a question of goofy vs regular (i.e. one isn’t better than the other). The way you ride, whether that’s on a snowboard, wakeboard, skate or even surfboard, is determined by what’s most comfortable for you. Neither is better than the other. And that's it...!

Like what you’ve read? Check out the other ride guides we’ve listed on Ski Surf Wake. And bookmark this page and pop back soon, we’re constantly posting up fresh articles to help our fellow riding junkies improve.