so i just started surfing last summer but really got into it during the fall. so needless to say i bought some thicker rubber and am giving winter a go. now i have turned a few times before by putting pressure backfoot/toeside but i am very shakey with it. and by that i mean i can barely ever do it!! any good tips for a bottom turn or just turning in general? and is it much different when your surfing heavier waves?? cause i went out yesterday(my spot was like 6-8ft) and got tottally worked. it was sad. help pleasee??!!
turning is all about balance. If your dont have proper weight distribution and a good stance, your going to have a lot of trouble turning. On a big bottom turn I make the drop, take my ninja stance, and lean that baby into the wave. It comes natural. On smaller waves I generally skip the bottom turn and set my rail during the take-off.
good question watch some surf videos and take note on the way the pro's use their arms to turn. Sounds funny but you swing your arms or I call it corking and uncorking, that will either open your hips or close them and your legs will follow. This advice is more for setting yourself up for an off the lip after your bottom turn. Are you goofy or regular? For example, I'm goofy and dropping in on a left (frontside) once I'm up I've got my slight angle headed down the line. I bring my right arm (leading arm) across the nose of my board to the wave side (as opposed to the beach side) this is the corking I mentioned. My weight will be on my front foot toe side rail is set. My hips will "close" and my front foot will direct the board up the face of the wave. Then, when I eye up my spot, I uncork my front arm by swinging it back across the nose of my board to the beach side, my hips will open up and my right foot will direct the board back towards the beach. combine that with shifting the weight to my back foot pushing the tail through the lip and the right angle of my heel for my heel side rail and you just threw a spray. Confusing I know, it's hard to put this into words but watch a surf video and you'll seee what I mean.
Like wally said watch some video and try to copy it. But you have to commit to the turn and totally engage the rail. and use the power in your legs to cause thrust/leverage, speed and power. Little side note. there is a lot of talk in the surf industry about flex of surf boards. When you do you first real strong bottom turn, you will finally know what they are talking about.
Like everyone said watch video , and take notes. Its gonna be alot of trial and error but when you get it you will know and feel it.
As told by Brad Gerlach... Frontside Bottom Turn Backside Bottom Turn A nice read. You can try and understand the concepts and figure out what he's talking about. Maybe even stand in your living room (or on a skateboard) and go through the motions/visualize. But, ultimately you're just going to have to go out there and keep trying and feel it for yourself. 'Cause when you're dropping in, you don't really have time to think about it. Another link... Pete Devries trick tips: Frontside Bottom Turn
You could try longboard skateboarding - might help you with weight distribution and learning how to use your body to help you lean into a turn. Other than that, practice practice practice. Good luck.
As soon as you stand up on a wave your thoughts disappear and your surfing instinct kicks in ... so start doing some downhill skating, it forsure helped me. And as important it is to put weight on your tail and gaz you must turn your SHOULDERS! and keep your eyes on the lip . I like to surf with my legs but I'm starting to realize everything Is a lot smoother when I put an emphasis on twisting my upper to where I want to go.
bro love yr handle idsmashh 2 if u kno wut i mean HAHA practice bro it's muscle memory and **** the more u do it, the better u get you gotta develop that balance and agility surfing is alotta trials n errors but once u learn u never 4get, like a bike i quote: "sometimes u just tear it up - straight droppin b-turns like hot chicks turnin 2 my bod, n sumtimes u get worked like the cumdown from a week long bender" - president obama, after a bodysurfing sesh in hawaii, 2001.
This is your best advise. If you can slide out your longboard on pavement, you WILL develop a strong bottom turn and top turn. Although, nothing can simulate surfing, Longboarding will help with style, strength, and technique. I ride a 37" Sector Nine and can say it inproved my surfing 10 fold while having fun and keeping my legs in shape. If you Longboard surf buy a longer skateboard and you can even practice cross stepping
Good thread with a lot of good info. Practice, practice, practice. Foot placement and knowing how to shift your weight. Also dont get discouraged if you took a beating yesterday. Remember your probabally not acustomed to surfing 6-8 ft waves daily. A 2-3 ft wave is much more foregiving when your trying to learn turns; if you place your feet in wrong place you can usually adjust. At 6-8 ft you were more than likely hanging on for dear life.
is it just me or do anyone else seem that bottom turns are a lot easier on your front side. My front side bottom turns i do no promblem, but struggle a little on my backside. I get them done but its a little more sloppy and have little less control
Remember that on your frontside, you have more control per say because your vision is more "Right in front of you" meaning that your using both eyes as you ride down the face. With Backside, your vision is limited (in the beginning stages of learning) because your viewing out of one eye and trying the twist and contort your body in ways your not completely used to yet. Think of it as your a ninja, and you have 2 people around you...One in front, the other behind. Now it's easier to land a blow on the one in front because your vision allows you to land the blow where you want. While with the person behind you, your swing has a "Proximity area" and it's more difficult to land an exact blow. The same basic concept applies here
I know everybody's different but my biggest problem with my bottom turns was not bending my knees enough when I was dropping in so I couldn't push hard enough to make a solid turn. Once I started really concentrating on staying low form the begining everything else came a lot easier. I dont know if that would help you but It helped me a lot. Also doinr burpees but modifying them a little so its more like hopping up on a board (look them up on youtube if you've never done them.) They help me be a little more balanced when I' drop in.
A lot of good tips here... To throw in another thought, keep in mind that all boards are not created equal. Widepoint, hips, fin configs, bottom contours, flex... a bunch of different design elements play a role, too. To get the most out of your turns, you need to figure out how your board responds to changes in foot placement and pressure, leverage, etc. Trying to do the same turn on a HPSB and a retro fish just won't get everything out of the turn you expect. Some boards are meant to be put on a rail with even weight distribution between your feet. Some are meant to be turned from the back foot, and some from the front foot. So... try different approaches to your turns. Try shifting your feet... or your weight. See how the board responds. On a shortboard, I find I get the most thrust out of a bottom turn when I unweight slightly at the drop (at this point the board has a natural rocker), then compress at the bottom while put the board on a rail (setting my line for the turn), then extend through the turn (flexing the board), then unweighting again as I come out of the turn (flex return). It's not three separate motions, but a smooth, linked transition of weighting, unweighting, and weighting the board to use the flex of the board and fins to create speed.
Another thing is once you get you're bottom turns consistent and you start learning carves and eventually trying snaps, you gotta go vert to get good snaps... don't focus too much about it now, but later on you'll be like "why can't I stay over my board on a snap?," and going vertical on your bottom turns gets your board directly between the lip and your center of gravity, greatly increasing the ease and effectiveness of the snap. Going vertical is weird at first b/c you can't really tell at first how vertical you're going (video yourself!)... so you just sorta gotta take it a step farther, you know. Once you realize it, you'll be stoked. But focus on you bottom turns from now. Then carves and cutbacks, and floaters.
