Footedness

Boardsports such as skateboarding, surfing, wakeboarding and snowboarding essentially involve the body's being oriented sideways relative to its overall motion. This requires that either the left or the right foot be placed in front. Most riders find one of these positions much easier and more natural than the other. Footedness refers to this preference. The term is also sometimes applied to which foot a footballer prefers to kick with. Like handedness, footedness is a laterality phenomenon.

Regular and switch

Regular stance, regular foot or simply reg refers to a skateboarder, surfer, snowboarder or wakeboarder for whom it feels natural to ride with his left foot in front. It is called regular because it is more common to favor this stance. The opposite of regular stance is called goofy foot, where one prefers to lead with his right foot.

Although it is common for a rider who practices more than one board sport to favor the same foot in the different sports, it is not unheard of to encounter a rider who might ride goofy in one sport and regular in another.

Testing for footedness

Several informal tests exist to determine whether someone is goofy or regular-footed. Often the subject is directed to imagine sliding across an icy pond, and asked which foot he or she would prefer in front. Sometimes the subject is pushed gently from behind to see which foot he or she will put forward to balance himself. Another test includes seeing which foot one steps up to climb steps with first. Ultimately, though, one's footedness is just an intuitive feeling; a beginner who tries both stances over a period of time will eventually know which one is right for him or her.

Other varieties in footedness

When a rider rides in other than his preferred stance, he is said to ride switch stance. "Riding switch" adds to the degree of difficulty of any move, and hence often to its perceived aesthetic value. This is so particularly in trick-oriented boardsports. Many experts manage to gain some amount of ambidexterity in their stance, but this is typically not an easy process.

In skateboarding, if the foot in the middle of the board moves to the nose and the foot on the tail moves to the middle in the preferred stance, it is called "nollie stance". This is usually done to perform tricks while nolling, not to ride. While doing this in switch it is called "fakie stance". This is relatively easier because it is as if you're riding normally but backwards.

In skateboarding, when a rider pushes and the foot that isn't pushing is on the back of the board it is called "pushing mongo". This is an uncommon way to ride.

To minimize on the dissonance between switch and regular stance, a snowboarder may adopt a "duck stance", which orients each foot outward, so a front foot will always be facing forward.

"Switch stance" in freestyle skiing is riding backward (facing top of hill).

In BMX, regular is when the front foot is in the left, and back foot in the right. Goofy is when the front foot is in the right, and back foot is in the left. If one is goofy he may have to switch his chain and sprocket from the right side to the left side to prevent damage from occurring while grinding. Regular stance riders generally spin to the right and grind on the left, and goofy stanced generally grind on the right and spin to the left. However some people spin opposite or grind opposite of their stance. This does not effect one's riding though, just his direction. Aaron Ross, for example, is goofy stanced but grinds on the left, and Allistar Whitton is vice versa.

Competitions

Some competitions such as "etnies GvR" involve pitting Regular skaters vs Goofy skaters, and seeing who comes out on top at the end. [http://gvr.etnies.com]

ee also

*Mongo foot - a variety of footedness while pushing in skateboarding