# Dominant foot forward or back?



## Gianter (May 9, 2015)

Do you like one foot or another forward when in attack position? Trying to work on my bunny hop skillz so I have been keeping my dominant foot back but saw somewhere that it should be forward to more easily pedal should the need arise. 

I dont really hop on the fly much so its probably a waste to keep it back. Whats your preference and why? Sometimes it feels more natural to have the dominant foot forward but I'm getting over that. 

Also, a funny video i was watching talking about having the outside foot down on turns. It seems awkward to try and have a foot somewhere on turns but I'll keep trying to get in the habit unless there are compelling reasons not to.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

Dominant, "comfort" foot should be forward. On downhills, I always make sure it is this way.


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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

I find dominant forward works more of the time but I do the other way too (particularly when I am tired). I ride snow and skate boards goofy so your mileage may vary :thumbsup:

Outside foot down (6 o'clock position) provides more clearance for your inside foot, lowers your center of mass and will provide better traction/control when you are "railing" turns at high speed. At less than full bore speeds, level foot position (3 o'clock and 9 o'clock) while moving your torso up and down (e.g. pumping) is another good habit to maintain "controlled chaos" and keep you alert.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

My answer would be "yes". It's nice if you can train yourself to be comfortable either way. If you can't then dominant foot forward seems best.


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## Impetus (Aug 10, 2014)

On straights, I don't know that I have a preference, it's wherever I stop pedaling. I might hazard a guess my dominant foot ends up forward more than vice-versa.

On twisty or technical bits I always plan for the next turn and have my 'inside' foot back, ready for a quarter turn forward to get that foot up. I make an effort to not backpedal.


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## tehllama (Jul 18, 2013)

My dominant foot prefers being forward, but on tamer trails I do deliberately practice - I'd like to be an ambi-turner.

There is an overlap region, especially on windy-flowy stuff where I find myself sometimes backpedaling, but other times putting down power in order to swap between the ideal mid-corner attack positions.

[EDIT - since this is ZBeginner's Corner]
By mid-corner attack position, I mean getting the outside pedal down, and moving my arse off the seat away from the inside up-pedal so that I can lean the bike without leaning myself as far. No matter how, for sustained corners it's a good habit to start getting into to get the outside pedal down and weight it, then 'drive' through the turn with your hips.


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## HKVACA7804 (Mar 28, 2015)

I'm right handed therefore I leap with my left foot (like when going in for a layup) so I guess that would be my dominant foot. My left foot is always forward on the bike. Feels awkward to have the right foot foward.


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## targnik (Jan 11, 2014)

Right handed/footed, always lead left foot forward... Only issue is my left glute can become fatigued. So, now I make a point to do a lite turn/spin on left leg before fully cranking down

NB, right leg is stronger of two

Sent from my Kin[G]_Pad ™


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## Gianter (May 9, 2015)

"I make an effort to not backpedal."

Agreed, waste of motion but sometimes its just easier.

"I'm right handed therefore I leap with my left foot (like when going in for a layup)"

Odd, I'm righty and I think I jump with my right foot. Though I've never been taught that or made any conscious decision to do so. Skipping around just now it feels like jumping with the left isn't so bad.


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## Impetus (Aug 10, 2014)

Gianter said:


> "I make an effort to not backpedal."
> 
> Agreed, waste of motion but sometimes its just easier.


chain-drop, too. almost always happens when it's rough and I backpedal to setup for a corner while on the 11 or 13T cog.


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## Procter (Feb 3, 2012)

Typical is dominant foot back. For example when snowboarding, wakeboarding or skateboarding, right handed, right footed, means right foot back. Same is true with bikes.


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## inonjoey (Jul 19, 2011)

Procter said:


> Typical is dominant foot back. For example when snowboarding, wakeboarding or skateboarding, right handed, right footed, means right foot back. Same is true with bikes.


I come from a skateboarding background, so this is natural.

Honestly, it doesn't really matter. Even with outside foot down cornering, it makes sense and may be optimal, but watch pro-level riders and many of them will switch it up or do the opposite of what is "correct" much of the time. Vital or PB has a "how to" series that I think is excellent, in part because they're not dogmatic and don't preach absolutes (e.g., outside foot down through corners, don't brake in corners, etc.).


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## nightvisionmiami (Dec 29, 2014)

Right is my dominant but I prefer having my dominant foot on the back. It feel very awkward when I have it in the front.


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

right hand/foot dominant, right foot back. 

interesting question, and equally interesting that it seems fairly evenly split. never really though about it before. 

i've tried doing both because i think it would be a useful skill on trails but never really stuck with it. 

seems it just comes down to personal preference.


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## targnik (Jan 11, 2014)

when I use to skateboard as a kid I was right foot forward ^^

I also hold fork in right hand and knife in left 0_o

-------------------------------------
Opinions are like A-holes... everybody 
has one & they're usually full of...??


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## tehllama (Jul 18, 2013)

inonjoey said:


> Honestly, it doesn't really matter. Even with outside foot down cornering, it makes sense and may be optimal, but watch pro-level riders and many of them will switch it up or do the opposite of what is "correct" much of the time. Vital or PB has a "how to" series that I think is excellent, in part because they're not dogmatic and don't preach absolutes (e.g., outside foot down through corners, don't brake in corners, etc.).


That was the starting point for me - again, a lot like learning an instrument, learn the formal dogmatic version of it to grasp and understand what that gains, and once mastery is achieved more options start to open up. I read that article too, and it's a good one, I'll try and find it, just to give it another read; I still stand by learning the initial form just because it reinforces leaning the bike, which for beginner to intermediate riders on appropriate trails is the most applicable skill.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Dominant foot forward for me. That's my right foot. I also snowboard goofy-footed. Never tried surfing and I've not spent enough time on a skateboard to say I do it.

As far as feet in corners, for a long time, I was overthinking it. I'd try to approach corners a certain way, and end up with my outside foot at 6 o'clock as I got to the apex. I think I was making it harder on myself, actually. Thing is, when my foot's at 6 o'clock, I'm all out of flexibility - I can't put that foot any further down. But when the bike's chattering around, which they tend to on surfaces more interesting than asphalt, that range of motion's actually really important.

Now I just let my foot go wherever's comfortable. I do still try to dip my outside foot. But it could be a really little motion or a bigger motion - just whatever is right for my body at the time.

I think there's some utility to being able to ride a mountain bike with my non-dominant foot forward. (Would that be riding switch? Or does that only make sense on something one does sideways?) On a long descent, my hip can get pretty tired. On really chunky but slower trails, being able to do an obstacle on whatever foot was forward when I stopped pedaling is nice. On a long bench cut with some off camber bits and the downslope on the left, maybe there's some utility. I could see it being part of setting up a bigger trials move/series of moves. But I feel like I spent plenty of time forcing myself to approach every right-hander with my left foot front, and don't need to stress out about maintaining the skill now. I'll do it when I find myself doing it.


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## Procter (Feb 3, 2012)

AndrwSwitch said:


> Dominant foot forward for me. That's my right foot. I also snowboard goofy-footed. Never tried surfing and I've not spent enough time on a skateboard to say I do it.


Interesting. When you kick a soccer ball, what foot do you prefer?


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Right. But I was absolutely terrible at soccer. Really any sport involving eye-hand coordination.


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## Procter (Feb 3, 2012)

Interesting. So you are indeed dominant right, and dominant forward. That's rare.


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## TheGweed (Jan 30, 2010)

Someone posted on here a while back, I think the thread was "right foot agnostic" or something. Anyway, it was along these same lines and ever since then I've noticed that I'm right foot dominant and 'usually' my right foot is forward but when purposely putting my left foot forward it usually works out ok.


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## Legbacon (Jan 20, 2004)

Chocolate foot forward.


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## Samuryan (Sep 3, 2014)

I'm right handed, writing/throwing at least, shoot pool with right in front. Skateboard, surf, snowboard right foot forward. Feel most comfortable with left foot leading on a bike.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

I find myself favoring right foot forward. Never thought about a foot being dominant: just went by feel. I try to go the other way too, but it always feels a little forced.

As for "outside foot down" in turns, it is often the best way. Sometimes it isn't. Mainly it depends on any ground features that you might need to absorb or clear - or how close you are to a turn in the other direction.


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## Loadsled (Feb 27, 2015)

Procter said:


> Interesting. So you are indeed dominant right, and dominant forward. That's rare.


Hmmm, that's crazy how it's rare. I'm dominant right (hand/foot) and I skate goofy, kick right and dominant forward. My buddy always told me that I should skate regular but that always felt like missing teeth waiting to happen.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## GTscoob (Apr 27, 2009)

Using the soccer ball test mentioned above I'm right foot dominant, which is my rear foot on the bike. Riding the fixed CX bike on trails has made me a lot more comfortable with my dominant foot forward when riding bikes that can coast.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I'm definitely right hand dominant. My feet are far less clear. I have more power kicking a soccer ball with my right foot, but I'm more accurate with my left. I'm pretty close to ambidextrous with my feet in soccer. Harkens back to an old injury I had. I used to be heavily right foot dominant, but a lingering injury to my right foot strongly encouraged me to develop my left. Now I'm comfortable with either.

On the bike, I'm most comfortable left foot forward. I also skate and (try to) surf that way. I do make it a point to ride right foot forward as much as possible. That's become important on long downhills where I start to get tired and cramp, and switching feet alleviates the problem without stopping. I'm getting more comfortable right foot forward.


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## Ghost_HTX (Sep 19, 2014)

I can write with either hand, although the left is a little more scratchy. When I was younger I played a lot of snooker (pool's boring European cousin) and trained myself to shoot with either hand (it gives a great advantage when in confined positions and impresses the hell out of folks)...

I rode snowboard goofy, skateboard too.

For football (soccer for your continental types) I broke a bone in my right foot when I was a kid and had crazy growing pains because of it so I played as a lefty for most of my childhood only to figure out later that I was a righty. Sadly this didn't improve my performance much...

I do have crazy strong right eye dominance though, with a slight astigmatism in the left eye.

But for cycling I never even considered the whole "lefty vs righty" thing. I never learned to bunny hop - only jump using SPDs and after coming off my Raliegh Grifter big time when I was a youngster due to a inner pedal strike whilst cornering I ALWAYS have the outer pedal at 6 o'clock.

I guess this is a bigger deal for platform users?


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## MCHB (Jun 23, 2014)

I'm left handed and prefer having my right foot forward. :thumbsup:


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## EABiker (Jun 24, 2004)

I have been mountain biking for nearly 30 years, and I never even considered this to be something that even existed. On my first ride after reading this thread I paid attention to what I did, to get an un-biased opinion if you will. What I found that I do is just adapt to the situation at hand; neither foot took "dominance" from the other. Either foot ended up being forward at any given moment. A trap that many new rides fall into; myself at the time as well, is to over analyze and over think what they read is the proper technique. Sure, certain skills such as manuals or bunny hopping have a procedure that makes it work better, but in general when you are out there riding, clear your mind of what you are supposed to be "doing right", and just learn how you and your bike perform through experience.


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