If anyone can recommend the best way to determine the best setting for the footpad position (distance between pads) it would be appreciated. I have been riding with a narrow stance, which is comfortable, however it effects the amount of pop I can create as apposed to the wider stance. Problem is that my leading foot and knee feel uncomfortable on the wider stance. Being 6 ft 1, with long legs I would have thought wide stance would work for me, some of my mates are short and use a wide stance, so I must be doing something wrong.

Any recommendations would help.

Thanks Swazi

SWAZAAAAA

The old jump off a building chair & see where your feet naturally land seems to be a fair indicator.

Play with all your adjustment settings, in out upside down, untill there are no more - then decide which is most comfortable for YOU & your riding style.

Dont be too worried about pop, it will all fall into place with a bit more aggression in your kite & board control unless you have 2 left feet

Keep styling dude

You want as much duck as you can take, and as narrow as you can go without falling over.

Definately try playing with the pad angle for those knees mate. I've found the wider the stance the more power I can hold down comfortably. And better pop but as stated I think it all came together once I got stance right.

Cheers Guys, good feedback, not sure about jumping of a Building , and great nuts, Kite Nutt.

Swazi

Like everyone is saying WIDE is the way forward. More control, lower centre of gravity, easier to do grabs and makes you bend your knees more, especially when landing jumps.

And with the width it is obviously more comfortable to have more duck.

Jump up and down and figure out how you take off and land......that should be a clue.

SaveTheWhales said...

Paul1 said...

Wider the better really, but general rule for reducing injury is the distance between the pads should be roughly the distance from the centre of your knee to the floor.

Hey Paul - I am very interested how your general rule came about, am playing with a few ideas of how to virtually eliminate knee soreness and re-invent the tops of TT kiteboards forever - if I can figure out the mechanical & bio mechanical engineering side of it

Cheers

Not my general rule mate, but done a fair amount of snowboarding around the world and have very good mates that are top instructors and this is what has always been said amongst the people in the know, over the last 15 years or so. I guess they must have some theory behind it?

Don't know anything about moguls mate, but they go real wide for freestyle comps, but for day to day riding, to reduce injury, they use the knee to floor width.

I ride a wide stance and used to ride alot of duck and kept getting sore knees, I had changed it a few times to be a bit straighter and found it to be little difference. I recently changed it to just about dead straight and found my knees get sore way less now.
You just gotta do what is right for you.

try some different footpads too, there is plenty of difference in shape, contour, hardness, and size between brands.

or better yet try some boots- much comfier, your feet are held in position so not so much twisting on the knees and ankles, and the pads are heaps softer.....plus all the riding advantages

Should go better upwind with a wider stance because of more rail in the water I would guess? Can't see it affecting low end though.

Not sure about that because you would be countering it with your other foot, I reckon it may even improve it as it gives you a bigger planing area, but don't quote me on that, just guessing.