Feet parallel and shoulder-width beside the carry handle in the middle of the board — the fastest fix for wobbly beginners.
The carry handle sits at the board's balance point, and that's exactly where your feet belong — either side of it, parallel, shoulder-width, knees soft. Stand too far back and you push the tail into the water and brake; too far forward and the nose digs in. Both feel like a lack of balance but are actually a positioning error. The second lever costs nothing and works instantly: look at the horizon, not at the board. Your balance system stabilises far better against a fixed distant reference than against your own feet — the same rule that applies on a slackline.