fooby wrote:
Just wondering if it's a local thing, but has anybody else who's been riding for a while noticed that almost everybody seems ...more
fooby wrote:
Just wondering if it's a local thing, but has anybody else who's been riding for a while noticed that almost everybody seems to ride right foot forward? It used to be that almost everybody rode left foot forward and LHD wheels were pretty rare. Always assumed it was down to most people being right handed and it was the lefties that rode right foot.
Me and bunch of guys just had this discussion (SW Missouri riders).
It seems riders are using the same word for two different scenarios.
To my understanding:
There are two stances, this depends on which foot is your dominate foot.
If your Right handed, and your right foot is dominate, then you would ride with your Left foot forward.
That is considered "Regular Stance" emphasis on STANCE.
If you are Right handed, and your Left foot is dominate, then you would ride with your Right foot forward.
That would be considered "Goofy Stance" still, emphasis on STANCE.
Now, the issue that I am seeing is that most BMX riders consider "Goofy Footed" is when you spin the same direction as your front foot and that feels "Normal" to the rider. I can see why people would call that "Goofy" but really it is just "Opposite"
The BMX community has referred to "Goofy Footed" the incorrect way for so long, that the definition they use technically isn't wrong, but it is inaccurate (BMX/MTB is the only sport that refers to it this way).
here is an example of my scenario:
I am Right Handed
My right foot is Dominate (Super important)
That means: naturally my non-dominate foot will be forward.
So, on a bike I will have my left foot forward which means i have a "Regular Stance"
I naturally spin to my right, which is natural for most left foot forward riders.
If I was to intentionally spin to my left, that would be considered "Opposite"
Now for the confusing part:
If I naturally spun to the left, with my left foot forward, then I would be considered "Goofy Footed" by todays definition.
Again, this isn't wrong. This is in fact 100% "Goofy/abnormal"
What makes this so difficult to explain is that "Goofy Footed" and "Goofy Stance" are different things.
Another problem is that BMX is backward compared to every other sports definition, which doesn't help at all.
Easy way to see which foot is dominate:
Run fast in a pair of socks, then slide across the floor. the foot that supports your weight (rear foot) is your dominate foot. The fact that everyone is unique makes it hard to generalize "goofy footed" riders.