What Are “Goofy” and “Regular” Stances?

There are a lot of terms specific to just surfing (check out the surf slang page for more), but “goofy” and “regular” are used across every board sport.

Regular

A “regular” stance is left foot forward, right foot back. This tends to be anyone with a dominant right foot. If you kick a football with your right foot, you’re probably regular.

Stick Man surfing Regular (left foot forward)

Goofy

A “goofy” stance is right foot forward, left foot back. A “goofy footer” is less common than someone with a regular stance, in the same way that less people are left handed.

Stick Man surfing Goofy (right foot forward)

In sports like skateboarding and snowboarding you might find your stance reversed (right foot forward in the case of a regular stance). This is called “riding switch”. It does happen in surfing, but not much. You might see people spinning around to surf switch.

How do I know if I’m Regular or Goofy?

One simple trick is to grab a broom (or pretend you’re holding one) and start sweeping. Whichever way around you find yourself, this will tend to be your stance.

Left foot forward is regular, right foot forward is goofy.

Stance is a preference thing, so the best way is to get the “feel” of what you’re doing. Some people know straight away, others might take longer. The rarest surfer can ride just as well either way.

Did you get all that?

Hopefully that sums up regular and goofy! If you’ve picked it up, you should be able to tell whether Stick Man is surfing Goofy or Regular below… Check out the comments section to see if you got it right.

Which stance is Stick Man using here?