I’m in my 5th month of prone foiling and starting to think about style. In my mind while foiling, I feel like everything is happening much faster and I feel somewhat loose but when I watch footage it looks like I’m an old man - so stiff.
Any tips on how to add more style/flow to my turns (and improve my stance)?
Here’s a clip from the other day - all feedback is welcome!
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Following, I like to think of my current style as Frankenstein on stilts, despite how much flow I feel on the water I think the reality is very upright and stiff.
haha well that makes me feel better - appreciate you chiming in. Glad I’m not the only one.
I will add that I am working on twisting more by leading with shoulders and arms in turns and I also work to get low in turns and to relax my arms when I can.
Not sure if it helps, but I’ve noticed the most stylish riders generally have a narrow stance and position their feet more towards the tail of the board. I’ve also noticed from my own riding that a narrow stance allows you to make corrections with less body movement.
From the video it looks like most of your weight is on your back foot - maybe try moving your position back on the board?
Btw that wave looks amazing!
Similarly, I feel like I’m taking aggressive lines and hitting the lip. Then I look at video and I’m nowhere near taking the lines I think I’m taking. Video is always humbling, but it really helps to see the reality!
Get better balance, more time on foil, video yourself & watch later. Watch videos of keahi de aboitiz and break down what he’s doing and try to do that 
I’m winging, but one thing that really helped me make (relatively) more aggressive turns in waves was focusing on opening up the upper body (hips and shoulders) ahead of the turn. It looks like you keep your upper body pretty square to the direction you are going. Try to find some separation between upper and lower body. Something to play with at least.
I’m riding the progression 125 here, also have the 140. I guess I could buy one of the smaller vypers on sale or wait for whatever comes out soon? Interesting idea though!
Small foils let you work on carving for sure - you have access to a boat? A great way to consistently work on style is a boat wake.
Totally agree with @Velocicraptor on the importance of hips and shoulders. I made this video of myself riding the Lift 90 the other day, watching it showed me how I initiate a turn with my arms / upper body.
I don’t have access to a boat unfortunately.
I did just chat w/ Patrick at Uni and he suggessted chopping my stabilizer first. Going to give that a go and report back!
Before you chop your stabilizer, have you tried laying it over and going for a round house cutback? From the video, it looks like you’re safety surfing.
If you’re not falling, you’re not trying hard enough!
I’m definitely not stylish, but I’m MORE stylish than I was when I started So…
I found the following helpful:
I don’t think my points are a by any means a “lesson on style”, but I do think it helps to build confidence in what the foil can do - which in turn should loosen you up?
Lastly, as a few others have mentioned, just limit-test the shit out of it. @JonnieTyler put it nicely - it looks like you’re “safety surfing”. Try new things, crash, see what works.
Edit: If all else fails, just go straight and throw a massive soul arch 
I’ll add one more comment… It’s never your gear. Too many people try to buy their way out of problems. It’s the archer not the arrow.
Here’s foil wizard on 4 generations old takuma 1300 lol with 220 tail:
Here’s Keahi on the OG Neil Pryde, basically one of the first surf foils ever 
:
One secret the industry doesn’t want you to know!!
This is the best thread title yet.
I agree on the gear sentiment. But to that note, not everyone devotes all their time to foiling. These athletes are not only talented but devote significant water time.
For the rest of us, gear can help. But shouldn’t be the answer all the time. I found shimming and playing with tails helped changed the dynamics of my rig and allowed me to make lines I didn’t think I could make prior.
I used to snowboard, surf, kite surf a lot and draw on those sports for what I can do on foil.
Open your torso up. Try and disassociate your torso from your lower body, lead with your eyes and head, your body tends to follow. narrow that stance little by little.
You look good at 5 months. Much better than me, and that wave looks awesome!!!
@Zarb has good advice in trying out those wiggle turns to explore what you can do with side to side yaw. focus on building speed by wiggling up and down the face instead of pumping to generate speed. As you increase the amplitude of the wiggles it will start to feel natural to finish a big wiggle up the wave with a roundhouse carve down and around.
Along with what everyone mentions, take a different line on the waves. After watching the likes of all the foiling greats, they move up and down the wave generating speed much like surfing. I am guilty of this too. The whole flying sensation keeps a big smile on my face. But use the speed down the wave and then cutback up the wave rather than just cruising making the occasional turn back. Yep, gonna fall learning the handle the speed, but as others have mentioned bend the knees and use the shoulders.
wake foiling video gives a good example of wrong form, because you never turn your head
This is the correct approach to learn to turn. Emphasise learning to twist your upper body and hold that twist, leading with your head, your shoulders follow
Touché. On a wake I keep my head straight to setup for the following turn. Its hard to do a cutback on wave that short.