Do you narrow your stance on a tippy board?

[RATbeachrider]

I spent over an hour this morning SUS'ing knee to butt, onshore and bumpy waves.  The full surf stance (with the third leg being the paddle) was needed to maintain balance (8'2x29").  One heck of a legs workout!

[Zooport]

We are riding almost the same size board.  I agree, they are a workout when it's bumpy.  Seems like my back leg gets more tired than my front leg, don't know why. 

[supsurf-tw]

One thing I learned regarding balance is not to look at the water directly in front of the board. Look to the horizon or where you plan on ending up.

[Board Stiff]

Most of this discussion seems focused around balance in the surf, but what about stance for racing in rough conditions? When I've experimented with narrow stances, I feel like form goes out the window and I can't transfer power as effectively to accelerate or turn the board. Is this just part of the learning curve with a narrow stance, or is a slightly wider, closer to parallel stance necessary for a powerful, efficient stroke? If you use a narrow stance in rough water on narrow race boards, how do you position your feet?

[stoneaxe]

I'm an outlier in this. I know the common wisdom is to keep your feet close together on the centerline but with my extra crappy balance that's impossible. I always keep a wider stance and I move around a lot. I spend a lot of time in the slop for practice and its all about me learning what a  board will do in a given set of conditions. I'm constantly predicting what my board will do, I do a dance with the waves, the waves lead.  My hips, knees, and ankles are constantly adjusting. It's because of that that I also need to adjust how I watch the water. TW's advice of just watching the horizon is exactly what you need to do if you are on the centerline....its all about letting it happen, letting it roll under you. But I have to know what's going to happen. As important as the horizon is to me for balance I have to watch both the water approaching all around me and the horizon. It's also one of the reasons I struggle on downwinders. Getting hit from behind constantly is tough to predict.