There are ten major criteria to consider when selecting your board.   By following this guide, it will help define the issues and take the guess work out of deciding what is best for you.  First, let's figure out what shape will match your style of riding. 

There are three basic riding shapes. Be honest with yourself when considering what style of riding you typically will be doing.

1) Directional: A purely directional board serves best for freeriding. It will have a softer nose for easier initiation into turns, a stiffer tail to snap you out of turns, allowing no loss of speed when entering the transition between turns, and the nose will be slightly wider than the tail. Also, the hole pattern will be offset back on the board to, along with the wider nose, increase the ease of turn initiation and offer better flotation in powder. This is a stable shape, but not one for a rider who rides backwards or fakie a lot.

Directional Shape.  Note the back stance.

2) True Twin Tip: A true twin tip is symmetrical in shape from the center of the board out towards the tip and tail. It is used by boarders who mainly freestyle in the park. A twin tip has a centered stance and a forgiving, softer flex all the way through. Both of these features make for a good board to ride fakie and spin in the air, but not to freeride on.









Twin Tip Shape.  Note the centered stance.

3) Directional Twin: This can be considered to be the hybrid of the other two shapes. A directional twin is more inclined for a boarder who likes to use the whole mountain while throwing in a bit of freestyle riding. It will usually have a soft nose and stiff tail, with a true twin tip shape. While not the best at straight freeriding, this shape works well as an all-purpose board.








Directional Twin.  Note back stance.