Riding Stance and Your Knees!!!

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Jan 23, 2006 9:45 pm Post subject: Riding Stance and Your Knees!!!

So, Ive searched for this and couldnt find what I was looking for. You see, I have this ever-growing fear of getting a knee injury from landing funny. I assume that most injuries come from unanticipated landings, causing your knees to close in on themselves too fast, with no muscular support. This in effect will tear stuff up. Is this right? If so, would this be a good idea to try: Sit with your butt flat on the ground and the board flat as well, then with your feet in the bindings adjust your stance until your knees are perfectly straight and comfortable??? I mean, it makes sense to me since this is most likely where you'll end up. If your bindings arent ducked enough, or too much, it will cause your knees to twist more, increasing the risk of tearing something. Correct me if im wrong in any of this. I need to know. Thanks for the time.

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Jan 23, 2006 10:12 pm Post subject:

Oh ya, I forgot to mention, Im riding with LF transits with the FAST system. So the stance width and the angle are seperate.

Ruune · Posted: Jan 23, 2006 10:16 pm Post subject:

not quite... when your legs are in the air, there is no pressure on them. What you want to do is stand on a clear, flat floor. Then look straight ahead- DO NOT look down... Jump as high as you can, raising your knees to your chest. Again- do not look down. When you land, you should have good footing. At that point, look down and take note of where your feet are. This is your natural landing stance, and is where your bindings should be.

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Jan 23, 2006 10:43 pm Post subject:

alright, Ive done all that before, but Ill try the whole knees to the chest thing, and maybe jump from my bed or something. thanks.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Ruune, I think that's a good starting point but RufioSwashbuckle's right about stance and knee injuries.

You want your knees to be over your toes when you bend them. That means if you have a very wide stance you need to duck your bindings out more to keep your legs straight, the best way to minimise risk to your knees. If you have a very narrow stance you don't want to duck very much. What I would do is figure out the width and then adjust the angle. If it's too much angle then move your stance in.

Hollywood · Posted: Jan 24, 2006 8:29 am Post subject:

But if you're a wrestler, it's all different... Laughing

Ruune · Posted: Jan 24, 2006 9:07 am Post subject:

Wakebrad- as you land, you will be in your natural crouching position... wrestler or not. Laughing

This is the position you want your feet in during a hard landing, and is how your specific joints move naturally- providing optimal joint stabilization and support.

Go ahead and argue with me, but this is what my sports medicine doctor (also the same for the US Olympic teams) and my orthopedic surgeon advised -after I tore most of the ligaments holding my right ankle together.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Ruune, I think your sports medicine doctor is an idiot or you misunderstood him. Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's optimal. The knee is best supported when pressure is evenly distributed on the muscles, or when the leg is straight. Not when pressure is put on the knee laterally. Yes, sometimes this will be the natural crouching position but for some it might not be.

drdubie · Outlaw Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 161 City: Lucedale, MS

The jumping up and landing is the best way to decide. But yall forget when you are wakeboarding you are not facing forward but to one side or the other. You also land sometimes with one and sometimes with two hands on the rope. This playes a huge role in how much waight is on what knee. If something bad is going to happen to you I don't think the little changes make that much of a difference. I have learned never to have your toes out to much though, can realy jack up your back and hips, know this from experiance.

Liquidmx · Addict Joined: 26 Jul 2004 Posts: 755 City: San Jose

I think it is both comfort and form for this reason: If you are unfcomfortable but your form is perfect you may not stick those sketchy landings due to either a lack of stability (too narrow a stance) or it just feeling plain weird. I would consider falling on landings just as dangerous as the impact of the landing itself. Catching an edge the wrong way when you land can do just as much damage as landing hard IMHO.

With that said I would say my natural stance is narrower than I ride, however I feel like my "natural" stance is off kelter and a "tippy" due to a lack of stability. When I crouch and touch by butt to my calf/ankle my stance is wider but form isnt correct. I believe that in this scenario it is safer to have a little too wide a stance and be more stable when butting out a trick, than narrow and less stable.