The heirarchy of PSIA

[jim-ratliff]

Yeah, your better approach may be just that.

I've heard the shoulder width guide from 8 year old baseball all the way through high school basketball, baseball and football.

And I never heard anyone get corrected for having too wide a stance.  A very interesting thought. Thanks.

[ToddW]

Dan,

You might get a kick out of what Jay uses as a stance width guide.  The finger.  Two finger widths or less between boots.  The boots can touch, but they can't be locked together into a uni-boot configuration.

So shoulders, hips, or fingers to govern stance.  Take your pick 

[HighAngles]

When I allow my legs to hang freely and then set them down on the floor there is less than 6" measured between my feet (taken between the balls of my feet).  Once you put on ski boots and take into account the thickness of the liner and boots you can easily be down to 2"-3" between your boots.  I can see why Jay can use finger widths to judge the distance between your feet when skiing.

[dan.boisvert]

Jim,

I played baseball, basketball, and soccer as a kid, and always heard the same as well, though did hear periodic corrections for kids who got too wide.  It wasn't until I got into full-contact martial arts that I learned about the usefulness of narrower stances and uneven weight distribution, and then later dancing that I learned about the mechanics behind it.  Fascinating stuff.  Maybe someday if I have kids I'll try coaching a team or two using my ideas on this and see what happens.



Todd,

The fingers wouldn't be my choice, but at least they can be used without much parallax.  Ever tried to look at the width of your own shoulders and then match your feet to them?  I used to help out with coaching kids' soccer, and have seen plenty of them halfway into a straddle, trying to line up their feet behind their shoulders from the perspective of their line of sight. 

[Gary]

I too am of the school of...."where the feet hang naturally". To me, this also represents where the soles of your feet (assuming ankles are neutral) are flat on the ground. Makes moving edge to edge is SOOOOO much easier.

Mine happen to fall in that finger or 2 category..but the tell tale are the edge cuts on along the inside of both boots. New boots look pretty used up after 10 times out..ha!

Wide or tight....if hang there naturally, why work harder to move them around...messes too much with the kinetic chain!

Best, G