One of the most important aspects that directly affects you kitesurfing ability and style is your stance on the board. We encourage you this weekend to analyze your foot straps or boot settings on your board and even experiment with slight changes using the tips of the Ras Sudr kitesurfing riders.
Every rider at Ras Sudr has a specific style that he enjoys more than the other, for example: airstyle, wakestyle, freeride and racing. Therefore it’s smart to adjust your kitesurfing board stance towards the style you enjoy the most.
Let’s take a look at our Ras Sudr kitesurfing riders and their choice of stance!
Lina Gvazdauskaite
Stance: Middle
Angle: Duck
“I think stance is a very personal decision – I’m quite tall, so naturally it doesn’t feel right for me having feet too close.
Wider stance makes me feel more comfortable & balanced; I feel more in control going for any trick and landing as well. At the same time I don’t make it too duck, so it feels right for my knees, bending them doesn’t feel awkward, but just right.”
Sherif Abouzeid
Stance: Wide
Angle: Duck
“I set my boots to the widest stance possible with my feet pointing slightly outwards so that it feels comfortable.
By setting my boots to the widest possible stance, it makes it a lot easier for me to control the edge of my board when I’m riding upwind or going for a pop.
Landings are easier that way, gives me a sense of where I am in the air really in respect to the direction and angle of my board. That’s my 2 cents, not necessarily the right way to set yourself up but as long as your comfortable riding that’s all that matters.”
Omar Abdel-Fattah
Stance: Narrow
Angle: Middle
“I ride a narrow stance as I’m more into air style. This stance makes it easier to slip my feet back in the foot straps after a board off trick since your feet have a natural tendency to come together when bending your knees mid air.
I prefer a neutral angle stance which is usually the middle setting on your foot straps. I mainly keep the straps very loose to ease putting my feet in and out during air style tricks.
With the straps loose basically you have plenty of angle to play with. This allows me to lock or wedge my feet in the side of the foot straps when i need more control.”
Ahmed Soliman
Stance: Middle
Angle: Duck
“I ride duck for sure… Already had a torn ACL from wakeboarding with straight boots. So I don’t suggest straight angle to anyone for softer landings.
Usually I like riding not too narrow nor too wide, in between. I feel in control of the board in this position.
Also riding narrow is pure old school, but its always fun to mix. Each rider gets comfortable in a board position depends on his style of riding.”
Ahmed Awn
Stance: Narrow
Angle: Straight
” I choose to ride this style because it helps me with airstyle. the narrow stance is key for board-off. I also ride straight to hold as much power torque possible.”
Mohamed Selim
Stance: Narrow
Angle: Straight
“Narrow, seems more natural to me. I think the best idea is jumping off something a bit higher than the ground for a couple of times and how you land is how you should ride.
Definitely straight angle as it allows me to edge better and control more power. I tried a few stances and this worked best for me.”
We hope that this article will help Ras Sudr kitesurfers analyze their stance and ultimately improve your kitesurfing. See you at the kite buzz!
