This is the most common stance setup used on regular freeride- and freestyle boards. The front angle can be between +40° and +15° degrees and the rear angle anywhere between +30° and 0° degrees. With the resulting snowboard style, both knees point forward and the shoulders are aligned with the feet. Anatomically, it is a good idea to make the difference between the front- and rear angle not too large, say, less than 21° degrees. A common all-mountain setup is +21° on the front and +6° on the rear. A common, more carve oriented, stance is +30°/+15° (and some people say that this is also a good stance for learning snowboarding).
This setup is not so common nowadays but it is seen frequently in the half-pipe. With duck stance, the front angle is anywhere between 30° and 0° degrees while the rear angle is negative, between -1° and -20°. With this snowboard style, the front knee points forward while the rear knee points backward. The upper body is aligned with the snowboard. Anatomically, one should keep the difference between both angles large enough, say, more than 10°, i.e. a 0°/0° degree setup is not very good for the knees since they are forced to point inward. Common setups are "laid back" +18°/-6° and "mirror" +15°/-15°.
The feet should be centered on the board -- this normally corresponds with the disks on the bindings being centered but that doesn't have to be the case. The best way to center the bindings is to put on your boots and bindings on and feel very carefully where your feet are with respect to the binding discs. Than, you can shift both bindings to center your feet on the board. Some bindings have a fixed heel cup (Burton, Flow) and you need to shift the discs. Other bindings have a heel cup which can be shifted forward or backward in order to change the position of the boot.
The stance width is the distance between the centers of both bindings. The stance width depends mostly on your height. The width should be roughly equal to the distance from the middle of your kneecap to the ground, or about 1 inch (2.5 cm) more than the width of your shoulders. If you have chosen the right board for your length (a board up to your chin!), this should be about the same as distance between the default holes on the board.
The stance width has quite some effect on your board control and you can feel even small differences in the stance width. A wider stance will give more stability but makes the turn transitions harder. The reverse holds for a smaller stance width. A wide stance is sometimes used by freestyle snowboarders while a narrow stance is often seen on alpine boards. My personal advice is to use your natural stance and to stick with the default holes on the board (if you have bought a snowboard that fits you well!). I recommend not to vary too much with the stance width unless you're an expert snowboarder.
| height (m) | height (feet) | width (inch) |
| < 1.54 | < 5'1" | 17-18 |
| 1.56 to 1.62 | 5'2" to 5'4" | 18-19 |
| 1.65 to 1.72 | 5'5" to 5'8" | 19-20 |
| 1.75 to 1.82 | 5'9" to 6' | 20-21 |
| > 1.82 | > 6' | 22-23 |
(source: Snow Board Canada magazine).
The stance offset is the distance between the center of both bindings and the logical center of your board. The logical center normally corresponds to the center of the effective edge of the board. The center of the effective edge is determined by taking the middle between the widest points of the board at the nose and the tail ( i.e. not the middle between the nose and tail of the board itself). The center of the bindings is determined by taking the middle between the centers of both bindings. Here is a quick way to determine the offset: measure the distance between the widest point at the nose with the center of the front binding (a), measure that distance for the rear too (b), and finally subtract those values (a-b) to get the offset.
An even better way to determine the offset is to take advantage of the default settings of the manufacturer. Normally the default holes are marked with their stance width and stance offset. If this is the case, you can check the stance width by measuring the distance beween the centers of the default holes. If this is correct, you take the middle between both holes. From here, you measure the default stance offset in the direction of the nose of your board. Now you mark this point on your board with some tape or a pencil. This point is the logical center of your board. With this point, you can now easily determine the stance offset when using other holes on your board. This method is better than the previous method, since modern boards sometimes use asymetrical flex patterns which leads to a difference between the center of your effective edges and the logical center of the board.
Now, the best way to set your stance offset (and stance width for that matter) is to look at the reference manual of your board. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers include one with their boards but if you have one, you normally find large tables with all the possible stance offsets (and widths) available on your board.
First of all, the offset should never be negative (i.e. the bindings should never be centered forward on the board). With a centered stance, the offset is zero. The board turns easily and you will have a good board control. If you stick to the default holes of the manufacturer, the bindings are normally set a bit backward on the board with an offset of about 1 inch (or 25mm) which is also called setback. The board will behave as if it has a shorter and stiffer tail. This means you can make more aggressive turns, ollie higher, and float more easily in the powder. People that ride a lot of powder sometimes even use a 2 inch setback to ride the powder in a more relaxed stance without worrying about a nosedive into the deep snow. However, setting the bindings too far backwards makes the turn initiation harder and should thus not be used by less advanced snowboarders.