[Closed] can you change the foot you lead with??

I have wondered similar. Like you I ride left forward but am right footed, and doing it the other way feels weird.

Great question! I was discussing with this with my cycling buddy recently. I'm right handed but lead with my left foot, my mate is the same. Recently tried to lead my right foot, it was all wrong and I felt weighted differently when going over tech, consequently fell off! never again

right footed and lead with my right

I can bunny hop ad ride moderately technical trails - say a 7 out of 10 in the reverse position - only because i practised- and never drops.

i have no idea what advantage it has beyond which end you can flick out when you hop

I'm very right-handed but, can switch my lead foot no problem - wouldn't do it for jumps or anything more than a few feet of drop though.

My left leg is the manager and the right the worker; I can balance on the left way better, but couldn't possibly kick a football with it. The thought of trying to ollie a skateboard regular doesn't compute at all

Right handed and lead with my right foot.
It can make right hand corners difficult I have to force myself to swap feet.

Yup. Right footed but lead with the left, just like skateboarding. Stronger leg stays back for balance.

How can this possibly matter?

My left leg is the manager;

so does that you are leading with it? or what are you maganing? genuine question.

i have no idea what advantage it has beyond which end you can flick out when you hop

this is the only down side ive found, i can flick the bike out on corners with me right foot when turning right or kick it out when getting air for bonus points, but other than that not sure if theres an advantage??

right footed and lead with my right

see my logical brain says this is all wrong. if youre left footed your left leg will be stronger. more weight and support goes into the trailing pedal, therefore right footed as trailng pedal - or is it just what your used to (or iv'e gott terrible body position!)

Have always been right handed left footed anyway but it is normal for right handed people will lead with their left foot on a bike so they stay balanced pulling the bars with the right arm.

How can this possibly matter?

not sure it does, just interested, hence the last line of my post

not a big thing, but intrigued

it is normal for right handed people will lead with their left foot on a bike so they stay balanced pulling the bars with the right arm.

good point, not thought of that. would want to bth leading limbs taking prevalence

When I learnt to snowboard the instructor told me that it's the rear leg that does all of the work and I think it's the same on a bike (or skateboard). I think most right handed and footed people lead with the left leg as the rear leg is used to change direction much more (especially in the air). I'm right handed and footed but ride with my left leg back, snow/skate/wake board goofy and have a dominant left eye.

The one time I had golf lessons the instructor told me being cross dominant was an advantage as your dominant eye was the lead one with no nose in the way, but I was crap so unsure this is true!

I think most right handed and footed people lead with the left leg as the rear leg is used to change direction much more

must just be the guys i ride with that are weird then. 4 out of 5 of them (all right handed and footed) lead with their right foot. i always suspected they were odd!

I lead with right foot, am right handed. Leading with left foot doesn't inspire confidence.

I would advise practicing with the other foot. I say so as on first day of an Alps holiday I tweaked the hamstring of my right leg and then had to ride the rest of the holiday the other way around. Not the best place to start practicing.

I did a coaching session with uncle Tony earlier in the year

Rolling up to a jump I realised my feet were the wrong way round and I panicked a bit, buggered about backpedalling just before it and made a hash of the jump. When I said what had gone wrong he told me that every other time I'd gone over a jump I'd led with what I thought was my back foot

So apparently I lead with my "back" foot 😯 🙄

this question is similar to 'which leg do you swing over?'

Right handed, lead with my right foot on a bike, lead with my left on a snowboard, swing my right leg over the bike, dress to the left.

this question is similar to 'which leg do you swing over?'

yeh, but it isn't really is it. more interested to see if there any advantage / benefit of changing foot on the trails for balance etc for example leading with your left foot potentially makes it easier turn your hips when going round a tight right hander / hairpin. as i say above just interested as always done what ive done. but thanks for your input

I'm right handed and right footed but lead with the left leg.

The real trouble come when I jump. My instinct is to push the bars to the right, but that doesn't work!

I'm right handed but left legged and lead with my left. Prefer right turns as well

If you're left footed, it makes sense that you prefer right turns, especially if you corner feet flat. Turning towards your lead legs actually locks the hips up and reduces body rotation.

Try it without the bike.

As a canoe paddler, we practice using our less favoured side, as regularly on moving water you may need to be able to use complex strokes powerfully and quickly.

I see no reason why you cannot retrain the body.

What is fun is to work out what foot, hand and eye you are. I'm left eyed, right hand and footed. Some simple excercises can tell you.

[quote=Tiger6791 ]How can this possibly matter?

If you ever get to the Alps and try riding really tight switchbacks then it will be clear why it matters. Day one of a guided course there involves learning to lead with opposite feet according to the direction of the turn. After 3 trips to the Alps I can just about manage it naturally and find myself automatically changing lead foot now according to the direction of turn, even when not as tight as a proper switchback. Just makes balance and turn-in easier.

You don't need to go to the alps to train it...

In BMX this is a thing , like doing a bunnyhop opposite (wrong foot forward) and I guess it's like snowboarding etc , switch riding.

Can lead with either on a bike but probably stronger with the left forward as on a skateboard.

Switch trackstands?

Onzadog - Member
If you're left footed, it makes sense that you prefer right turns, especially if you corner feet flat. Turning towards your lead legs actually locks the hips up and reduces body rotation.

This, I never really notice what foot is first, except for beamed corners or any other level cranked cornering, I try to remember to have outside pedal first. Feel it gives better weight distribution too.

As welshfarmer says - it's on tight switchbacks where it's most useful to be able to switch. I never used to bother until I started to ride steeper, rockier stuff in Greece and found that it's a big advantage being able to lead with the left foot on tight RH turns.
It also made me realise that not switching leading foot was why I could do LH endo turns half reasonably but not RH turns.
Obvious, when you think about it but I'm a bit slow sometimes......

Yeah it's useful in certain circumstances - eg if you have to hop in a hurry mid-pedal. I find it really hard though. It feels as if my feet are a mile apart!

I guess it's a bit like snowboarding - I can ride switch comfortably in all but the most tech situations, but only because I've practised loads. It'feels all wrong at first.

I'm not convincEd this hand anything to do with what handed you are.

You have a foot you favour forward in lots of circumstances. One way to find out which it should be is to stand feet slightly apart and get someone to shove you from behind, you will naturally put one foot forward and it will always be the same foot.

That foot should then be your tenancy when putting it forward on a bike/skateboard etc.

Right handed people and left handed people can favour one foot or the other.

What welshfarmer says. I lead with right (and lead foot slightly lower) on a left corner and vice versa. It only goes out the window when I'm pumped, then I lead with right foot.

Right footed and lead right footed. I can do both reasonably well but it's more comfortable to lead with the right. Oddly, I much prefer to track stand with my left foot forward.

Right handed, right footed for cycling, goofy for skateboarding and snowboarding. I reckon with practice you can change it, but it'll take a looooooooooooot of practice!!! 😉

Right handed and right foot forward. Thing is I never really thought about it and even told a mate I rode left foot forward when trying to work out why left foot was a lot wetter than the right. He noticed when following me I am RFF.

Good thread and something I need to be more aware of when riding.

But I'm puzzled by putting more weight on the back leg. Physics says that if your pedals are level you must have equal weight on each foot?

For the last 3years I've been working on switching my lead foot in tight turns!

Didn't really work at first, just made me slower whenever I had my 'wrong foot' forward. But i feel comfortable enough now to push equally as hard in the turns with either foot forward as the turn dictates. Still fees odd occasionally. But when it all clicks into place on a few consecutive or one fast turn, core does it feel good!

Riding a fixie off road broke my preference for leading with the left foot. It broke a few other things too but that's another story.

Left footed/handed but lead with right foot on bike but left foot on snowboard. Have no problem riding switch on the board and getting the hang of it on the bike (i deliberately go for rides and lead with wrong foot - nothing extreme mind you - just trying to get it to feel more natural).

How can this possibly matter?

For just riding about it probably doesn't. Switchbacks and steep corners it really does. Fast corners it does too - everyone have a favoured direction, for me i'm more comfortable turning left and hitting left handed hip jumps. Years of carving ramps and spinning airs/jumps on the bmx made me super confident going left. Airing right still feels weird and the first time i hit a big right hipped dirt jump i went straight on hit a tree. After half a dozen goes and failing each time i went and built a smaller right hip to practice on (with a right hand berm for good measure). Still feels odd but i don't hit trees anymore, so it can matter.

Riding motorbikes is an slightly different one. Completely different technique and i still prefer fast lefthanders (on the track for the speed nazis 😛 ) but with so many roundabouts you get comfortable going both ways. So, you can retrain your brain somewhat and it can save your bacon so it can matter.

lol had to edit my post..i'm one of those people who struggle to tell left from right

double edit. On the subject of building stuff to practice on. My right foot is my lead when shoveling. Once i noticed this i made the effort to switch over. I'm convinced it helped me get the hang of carving/hipping right. A the twisting action maybe helped the muscle memory/strengthening thing?

On my motorbike I can get my LH knee down fine, but not the RH one. Consequently I love French roundabouts.

On my MTB I ride Left foot forward and I'm right handed, but can swop if the technical trail needs it.

I'm trying to teach myself to do both. Preference to lead with left and it becomes an apparent issue on tight, steep RH alpine switchbacks, but is probably holding me back a bit in the uk too. Discussed it with Stevo at Whiteroom this year and he said he'd taught himself to lead with either over his first year guiding (obvs he got plenty of riding opportunities) and that it made riding alpine tech much easier.

I'm right handed and am regular (left foot forward) on a snow or surfboard. In windsurfing this translates as better on port tack. Which I studiously try to avoid thinking about as when you approach something tricky on starboard you think "shit, this is my bad side"
I was once in a cyclo-cross race which took in half a lap of a velodrome, but did it clockwise. Being used to riding a track it completely freaked me out and I pottered round it at walking pace.

I'm right handed/footed, but lead with my left foot. I snowboard/wakeboard 'goofy' (right foot forward) though, the opposite to most.

I was told a while ago that you want to be able to lead with both for berms, and you always want the outside foot forward. Consequently I've worked on this for the last year and a half, and am pretty comfortable both ways. Even after all that time, I automatically go left foot forward, and it still feels better, but the right isn't bad.

Right handed,left foot forward.But goofy footed for snowboarding.Better on starboard tack.
Coming from Bmx leading with the 'wrong' foot (sh1tfooted) will get you heckled (though some of the most stylish riders are...Aitken,Dugan,Priest etc)
Bizarrely when airing out of transitions or spinning over jumps I sneak in a half pedal to swap my feet (RFF),before changing back to hit the next jump (LFF).
Whips and proper clicked tables always look better with your top foot forward (and stops the dreaded dog piss whip stance).

How can this possibly matter?

If you don't want to progress as a rider, not at all. If you do, then it's a skill worth practicing for all the good points raised in a couple of the above posts.

Right handed, lead with my left foot, a bit like board-sports.

Happy to switch feet for a tight corner - it seems to help point my hips in the right direction, and in my head, if my hips are already pointing round the corner, I'm already half way round it. All that's left to do is persuade 13kg of bike to change direction, rather than 13kg of bike and 80kg of rider.

(At least, that's what feels like is happening...)

I'm right-handed but left-footed & my preference is to ride left foot forward, but as has been said above, tight switchbacks & carving berms, I always lead with the outside foot & turn my hips into the corner.
It's something I taught myself to do & it takes some getting used to, but it's now 2nd nature & just feels natural. So much easier than trying a switchback with your inside foot forward, which usually means overshooting the turn.

I used to be right foot dominant on everything, then I broke my hip and the left had to take over, now I can do most things dual footed. TBH I wouldn't recommend this as a way of changing but it can definitely be done.

I can second that, I was heavily right side biased but after breaking my knee cap I had to use the left a lot more and have become faster and more controlled for doing so. It's something worth practicing.

You can for surfing, snow and skate boarding so why not.

Definitely makes a big difference on tight switchbacks.

As Rondo mentioned above, I realised pretty early in my guiding career that I needed to get better at riding with the other foot forward, so I spent a good semi-consistently making an effort to use the "wrong" foot whenever I was out with a mellow group or just riding an easy trail.

Got the hang of it round switchbacks pretty quickly, but riding "switch" on technical trails took a bit longer. Now pretty happy either way, to the point that I often don't notice I'm leading with the wrong foot if there's, e.g. a long straight after a left-hander.

The only thing which still feels hideous is hitting jumps or drops, although I'm now just about getting away with that too.

I'm right-handed, right-footed and ride bikes, snowboards, wakeboards and surfboards Regular (left-foot forward). Now also pretty solid at riding a snowboard switch after a similarly enormous amount of practise. Doing straight airs switch on a snowboard is deeply unpleasant. Weirdly, it feels much worse than doing a cab 3 (that's a 360 where you take off switch, spin frontside and land switch for the uninitiated). Switch back 3's are evil though.

football left footed (terrible footballer tho), skateboard left forward

I trackstand when commuting left forward

I'm happy cornering outside foot down both sides

I ride offroad right foot forward

but this thread is making me think - I'm going to see if my recent change of hardtail has had a change in the lead foot, I was never confident descending so maybe I was leaning back, but I'm happier on the (slightly larger) newer bike

I always thought you were supposed to board with dominant at the front. That's the one the weight should be on thus has the control.

I'm a righty. and right forwards for everything.

been practising wrong (right) foot forward. not jumps though.

happy dropping kerbs etc fixed, and have ridden some off road fixed. don't know if this helps at all though.

I always thought you were supposed to board with dominant at the front. That's the one the weight should be on thus has the control.

I'm a righty. and right forwards for everything

Most people are right-footed. Most people are 'regular' snowboard stance (I think it's about 70:30) I.e. left foot forward. So if anything the reverse of your theory is true. I was tauaght that in snowboarding your weight is on the front foot but turns are initiated by the back foot. In reality it's much more complicated than that and certainly when you can ride properly you'll have an even weight distribution (or even off the back in deep powder).

Many, many years ago I started a poll on Trials Forum for those who skate / surf / snowboard and ride bikes. The options were
Right foot forward (on bike) - Regular stance
Left foot forward - Regular
Right foot forward - Goofy
Left foot forward - Goofy

It was more or less an even split from what I recall. There certainly didn't seem to be any pattern I could see.

What I think is odd is that footballers can practise for years with their bad foot and it'll never be as good as their 'good' side (I guess it's similar to left-handers who were forced to write right-handed and never managed to write neatly). Whereas I think most people can learn to skate / surf / snowboard in switch without too much difficulty. Weird.

Whereas I think most people can learn to skate / surf / snowboard in switch without too much difficulty.

Left-handed but right foot dominant on a bike (FWIW pool, tennis, badminton, golf left-handed but archery and cricket right-handed). Not snowboarded much but when I did I struggled to find a preference there - equally happy with either foot forward.

On the bike I don't consciously try to swap feet but have been for a few sessions with Jedi so do switch for corners when necessary. On straight non-pedalling sections I'm pretty much always right foot forward...

Doesn't matter what foot you lead with one bit.

However advantageous to be able to ride either foot forward. There'll be instances in turn transitions or times you can only get in a half crank where it becomes useful

So just to add confusion. We've seen no real correlation between handedness and lead foot. But there does seem to be between lead foot and master eye (ocular dominance) only tried it on perhaps 100 people but not seen it not work yet.

Doesn't matter what foot you lead with one bit.

However advantageous to be able to ride either foot forward. There'll be instances in turn transitions or times you can only get in a half crank where it becomes useful

Self contradictory.

Spin nope. Statement says, leading foot doesn't matter being able to switch can be useful.
I can switch but right lead feels better. Until I come to a down slope right hand switchback. Swapping to left lead means I'm not all squashed. (handlebar, hand knee all in the same place) and the corner becomes easier.

I've been working on this again recently - a good bit of advice from one of Brian Lopes's celebrity riding buddies I was chatting to. I naturally ride right foot forwards (but left foot forwards on board sports), am right handed and right footed (and left eye dominant...)

I'll usually switch my lead foot to the inside when approaching a corner or to the uphill side when off-camber. Tight switchbacks are best with the outside foot forwards (opposite of other corners) but that fits with uphill forwards for the camber. With the inside foot leading you can drop the outside foot if needed to hold an edge harder. Inside foot forwards opens up the hips for better balance - I've noticed pros don't switch lead foot all that often but I'm sure they have better hip mobility and stability than the rest of us.

I'm not keen on riding jumps or larger drops switch foot but I don't think that matters much for me - I'm not good enough at jumping to be trying to hip one way or the other!

I'm not good enough at jumping to be trying to hip one way or the other!

It's a useful skill to have though chief, and translates well to trail riding. The ability to the bike turn mid air feels pretty good but that's just a bonus. Lots of trails have little natural features/bumps before a corner and you can pop off these and set up for the turn mid air. Obviously you can't do it on every corner and you need to pay attention to your landing but it can make for faster, more flowing riding with a bit of practice. Tbh i didn't even know i was doing it until a buddy pointed out that i do it all the time.

Don't need a dirt jump style hip to learn on too thankfully, as that's sore 😀

I always thought you were supposed to board with dominant at the front. That's the one the weight should be on thus has the control.

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!!!

This is one of the worst snowboard myths out there. "Weight on the front foot" is something you tell beginners to get them making their first turns. Unfortunately, too many people get this lodged in their heads as gospel and think this is the way they should ride forevermore.

Their should be a strong shift of weight to the front foot at the start of the turn, but this is brief and should be followed by a progressive move back to the tail of the board as you move through the turn. The second part of the turn requires the most power to control (as you're fighting gravity, whereas gravity works with you at the top of the turn). This is why the strong leg is generally at the back.

Fundamentally though, it's a 2-footed sport and there is no right or wrong answer as to whether you should be regular or goofy.

Had to do this years ago after some physio revealed a wildly over-developed RHS which was causing constant back problems.

It was quite difficult at first because my left leg had always been along for the ride and was incapable of doing the things I'd taken for granted with my right leg so it was like going back in time in terms of riding

Probably 18 months or so before the left leg felt strong enough but I still had to make a conscious effort to lead with it on the descents. It's involuntary now (5 years?) but I feel balanced on the bike (it's a curious sensation) and fingers crossed no back problems