Footedness, similar to handedness, is the natural preference of one's left or right foot for various purposes. While purposes vary, such as applying the greatest force in a kick or stomp, footedness is most commonly associated with the preference of a particular foot in the leading position while engaging in surfing or other boardsports.
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When one must stand erect on a single, lightweight object that slides along the ground or on water, the need for balance causes one to position the body perpendicular to the direction of motion, with one foot leading the other. As with handedness, when this task is repetitively performed, one tends to naturally choose a particular foot for the leading position.
When first learning boardsports like skateboarding, riders tend to quickly choose a leading foot, establishing a preferred "stance" that generally becomes their permanently preferred stance.
Boardsport riders are "footed" in one of two stances, generally called "regular" and "goofy". E.g. a rider may be "goofy-footed", but this phrase may be abbreviated as "goofy foot" or simply "goofy".
To increase the difficulty, variety, and aesthetic value of tricks, riders can "ride switch stance" (or simply "ride switch"), where they assume whichever stance is opposite of their preferred stance. Tricks performed in this stance are described as "switch". For example, normally a goofy-footed skateboarder performs an ollie rolling towards the right foot and popping the tail with the left foot, but a "switch ollie" would have the rider roll towards the left foot and pop the tail with the right foot.
In sports where switch riding is common and expected, like street skateboarding, riders have the goal of appearing natural at, and performing the same tricks in, both regular and goofy stances.
Riding in one's preferred stance may be called "riding regular" or "riding in regular stance", but this is seldom noted, and presents a potential source of confusion: Here, "regular" means preferred, not left foot forward.
When a rider in his or her preferred stance rolls backwards, this is called "riding fakie". A "fakie trick" is one initiated while riding fakie, and a rider could "land fakie" from a trick where he or she rotated during the trick, ending up facing backwards. While there are some parallels between switch stance and fakie, riding fakie implies having the same posture used when riding forwards, while switch stance implies a reversal of posture so the torso faces away from the foot the rider usually leads with.
In skateboarding, most tricks performed riding backwards — with respect to the rider's preferred stance — are exclusively categorized as "switch" (in a switch stance) or as fakie, with the general rule that tricks off the tail are almost always described as fakie, and those off the nose are switch. E.g. a jump using the tail rolling backwards is a "fakie ollie" (not a "switch nollie"), and a jump off the nose is a "switch ollie" (not a "fakie nollie").
In Soccer, footedness may refer to the foot a player uses to kick with the greatest force.
In BMX, there is a de-facto relationship between footedness and preferences of grinding position and of mid-air turning direction. The terms "regular" and "goofy" do not indicate a foot preference as in boardsports, but rather they point out if the rider's footedness has the usual relationship with their grinding and mid-air turning preferences. For example, consider the following classes of riders:
Both classes are of equal size and would be considered "regular". "Goofy" would describe riders whose trick preferences do not match their footedness: a rider who prefers to grind on the opposite side as do most is considered a "goofy grinder"; one who prefers to turn the opposite direction in mid-air as do most is considered a "goofy spinner". Few riders have either goofy trait, but some riders may have both.
Like handedness, footedness can be difficult to predict, but some informal tests could help in this speculation.