Wing Foil: Stance Tips and Mistakes

[@dma2067Red-O3]

This video was a game changer for me. I was riding off set towards toeside on front foot and heelside on back foot somehow semi successfully jibing but afraid to switch feet due to sketchy wipeouts. Now after getting used to a centered stance (which took some time) I am riding with way more speed and ready to tackle tacks and footswitches. Thanks so much!!!

[@PeterGogolin]

Super great explanation 😊 I think that the stance is my key factor to a better and more stable flight. Still struggling with jibes due to bad stance. Will work on this. Thanks a lot! ❤

[@visskiss]

This was actually really useful. I always thought I needed to have the stance with the back foot over the center line. I started moving over the centerline and sure enough, everything got easier. Most noticeable was …foot switching! Of all things…

[@CineSoar]

Great rule of thumb, that's easy to remember: "Move _toward_ the leg that is 'burning'".

[@jeromeserre]

Fan-tas-tic! Thank you for your great videos. I've watched many times your kitesurfing tutorials and now start watching your wingfoiling tutorials as I'm learning this new sport. Man you really amplify my life as you address all the pain points I'm struggling with! Thank you!

[@kitesurfcollege]

Hi Jerome, thanks so much for saying so, I'm really happy to be a help

[@rogeramoore1951]

such good common sense ---- I've been having the front foot a cm or two too much too heel-side ---- thank you!!!

[@flowstatehandle]

Thank you so much for explaining WHY this is the superior stance to offset stance. One teacher told me to be on the center line, 2 other teachers told me to be offset.... I couldn't really figure out who to believe. I've been riding offset & about to start learning to jibe and was stuck with the idea that the offset stance would be extra challenging for riding toe-side. Thanks for confirming that

[@giuliap3444]

Great video! I’m having some balance problems at the stage where I’m at, but couldn’t figure out the correct stance. This video is very helpful!

[@rpspam8016]

Love your guides - best in the business. Keep it up!

[@kitesurfcollege]

Cheers, much appreciated!

[@maartendeleeuw8930]

Thank you, another excellent video!! Been winging for a while now, more recently with footstraps, and came to the same conclusion as to foot placement. This position feels the most balanced and comfortable for me. Cheers!

[@pawelnajdzion7283]

Excellent material. Thx for putting it together ‼️👍 Very informative and helpful

[@MichaelHuber-b1h]

Awesome! Very clear... explains a lot of my current misery :'))

[@mhary2]

Thank you for confirming this! 👍There are so many videos of pros jibing with an extreme offset stance. At the same time at my level I can only jibe correctly with the centerline stance. I can only suspect it's about how much time I spent without being powered so my stance on foil needs to be super dialed vs. how efficient the pros are.

[@kitesurfcollege]

When you see pros riding hard, you'll see they are very centered (i'll pop some links below). It's probably worth noting that looking at their jibes is probably not helpful because for a good foiler or pro, a jibe no effort whatsoever. I'm nowhere near the skill of the youngsters, and I can jibe while sitting, while kneeling, with feet in full ski stance etc, but that doesn't mean those stances give a good range of control. But when good riders mean business they use stance with the most control:

[@kitesurfcollege]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5nclKuCZa1saaMsi=eZ_p3IW6eimhFdfB&t=247

[@kitesurfcollege]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqKToJeKmLRmbqMsi=NhOmOO_EuyzAyMFq&t=29

[@marcoadelporto]

Perfect video! OMG, it's all I need.

[@manfranz]

Great video! Thanks!

[@wiepkjedegroot]

Thanks for the excellent video! I often teach beginners to have a offset stance (heel still on the center line) and then change to a more centered stance when they progress. My experience is that this helps with the roll control in the beginning and also to have more balance on the board when they are not on foil. Also the first meters on foil seem to go easier with an offset stance. Do you agree?

[@paddleboarddog]

Thanks for this. When I go out, I've just been winging it ;)

[@kitesurfcollege]

@@paddleboarddog glad i foiled your plan

[@adamosgood]

Great video thank you.

[@stephensinnhuber8401]

Awesome as always.

[@kitesurfcollege]

Cheers Stephen, all the best, Alex

[@watermancallum]

I stagger my feet a lot. My back foot toes almost hang off the board. Gives me a more leverage over the foil. I ride just as good with an offset stance. It’s all personal preference. The offset stance also makes riding twisted much more comfortable.

[@dma2067Red-O3]

@@watermancallum I agree, but would add if you can get centered stance dialed and comfortable, your top speed will increase. Mine went from 19MPH to 26 on day one.

[@Victor-lc6hw]

Thanks for another as always very informative video! A question though: if the front foot is not just touching the centre line with the toe but is positioned above the centre line as suggested does it make it less comfortable to change stance with the nose hold method? How would you recommend to address this issue?

[@kitesurfcollege]

Hello Victor, there's a few options. You could begin by moving your front foot towards heelside, leaving space for a better placement for the new front foot when you swap. Or, typically, during the swap I just move my back foot up so it touches the front foot. Then that new front foot might not be perfectly placed but it's close enough to be able to foil with. Then I shuffle my new front foot into a better position later. With footstraps it's pretty simple, as you just aim for the straps.

[@kshred3043]

The other variable is the position of the mast. On small sinky boards, there is only a small sweet spot for where you can place your feet without sinking the nose or tail when not on foil. Consequently, the mast position has to be adjusted to maintain everything in balance when on the foil.

[@nicolasboudet9302]

Hi Alex Thank you for this very useful tutorial, coming in the right moment for me. I have a side question about the knees. On most pictures they are just slightly bended, on some a little more, but never too much. On the vid on pumping you exaggerated the bending at the lower point of the wing pumping. What are your views on it, especially when we start to takeoff without pumping or with a poor pumping technique? 😎

[@kitesurfcollege]

Hi Nicolas. For general foiling a slight bend of the knees works very well. That's because it makes weight shifting easy. With bent knees you can easily shift your core/chest towards front or back foot for pitch control. And you can easily lunge toeside or drop towards heelside for roll control. With straight legs you're more locked and you can't move your core and chest as freely. With very bent legs, however, you'll get tired. So the slight knee bend is a good idea. Pumping is a whole different thing. If you're just pumping the hand wing, then you don't need to worry about your leg bend. But if you're doing the full pump take off technique, you need to be shifting your weight/chest up and down significantly - ideally dropping your weight as you pull in and power the wing, and raising your weight up as you release the wing, but the videos on that explain this concept more clearly than I could in words. Good luck Nicolas.

[@kitesurfcollege]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHmUiHRqgMx8qacsi=PzvsOM6QAFZKODSB

[@kitesurfcollege]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6HJaWquoJiMfqssi=mtCeWDxciml56n7b

[@dobotube]

Thanks!

[@kitesurfcollege]

Thanks for supporting my work. All the best, Alex

[@vabrial]

Great video and topic, the visuals are really nice. For me the basic stance don't give enough control on the lateral balance of the board for beginners, except if your put the front strap but i don't like it. With big board (beginners board) i recommanded to my students to use the diagonal stance and i get so much good result from this. During the take off, 90 % of the fails is cause the board loose the lateral balance and turn downwind (cause the wing pulling you on toeside) . With the front foot more on the heelside, i give to them the control they need. I'm maybe wrong or right, i don't care, i just wanna explore few things and learn more about this fantastic sport =)

[@dcmackintosh]

What do you think about shifting your back foot towards the toeside rail for gybing and riding toeside?

[@kitesurfcollege]

Hi, good question, yes a little shift of the feet towards toeside can help you ride upwind well when in toeside. Also turning your toes more towards the nose can also help with toeside, as it's then easier to power the wing. I talk about that in the toeside tutorial:

[@kitesurfcollege]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGmxfayQn56od5osi=tbiRHbrWgUXLHCtX

[@joostgolsteyn3193]

Don't overthink it to much i stand sometimes with my parallel to the front and feel very comfortable and then i think oh no i stand wrong so i adjust but honestly i don't think there is no wrong or just stands