EVERY EFOIL STANCE IS UNIQUE TO THE RIDER
We say this every day to our students because it’s true.
If you are learning to ride your efoil, or have been riding for less than a year, you probably have dealt with turning and pitch control issues. The solution is in your stance. While it is true that every stance is unique to the rider, there are some commonalities to all stances on this incredible water toy.
Your stance will be determined by your riding style and your riding conditions. Most new efoil riders start on relatively calm water like a lake or harbor. Most riders are also smart to start slow and easy. As your confidence in riding the efoil increases, your stance evolves to fit your riding style. There are three categories of riders that we have noticed.
SPEED DEMON: these riders love the speed of the board, and the smooth flight that keeps them hovering just inches above the water. With speed, we notice that the stance of the speed demon is wide, and the body is lunging forward to keep the board from blasting into the sky.
SUP CRUISER: these are the guys/gals that just love being in nature, in the elements, with complete freedom to express their joy of riding the efoil. With cruisers, they take the slower speeds and the groovy turns. They tend to keep their feet either close together, or close to the rails.
MR/MS VERSATILITY: this is the rider who spends way too much time on their efoil. The stoke of this rider is endless and highly contagious. They ride their efoil so much that they have developed a stance for every occasion. They even have the sit-down-and-drag-your-feet-on-top-of-the-water stance.
No matter which type of rider you identify with, the common link is the need to keep the board level. A level board equates to a level foil. And a level foil is the most efficient way to fly the efoil. A nose-up or nose-down attitude will create more drag on the foil, and nobody wants to shorten their ride. Our suggestion for every rider is to find the balance point, what we instructors call the straddle line, of their board. This is a line across the board where you can evenly straddle your feet forward and back from, keep 50/50 pressure between the front and back feet, and keep the board level on foil. This line can vary slightly depending on your speed and source of power (waver power or motor power). When you can keep even pressure on your feet and can fly level over water, you have perfect alignment… and that provides some of the best riding experiences on any type of water.
Our hope is to share our experience on the efoil with everyone so that more and more people can enjoy this truly amazing water toy that has taken the world by storm. Aloha.