Best board for a front footed surfer?

I'm very comfortable on my front foot and when riding short, fat and wide boards in the summer it fits. In the winter I go back to a more traditional board and the transition is always a waste of a couple of good days to get back onto my rear foot. Not sure of what board to recommend other than fish and alternative shapes, wide fat quads etc.

 

Front footed surfer here too....

I've been riding for my HPSB a 6'2" x 18 5/8" x 2 3/8" Remix (Channel Islands) for about 3-4 years. Absolutely love the board.

I'm 5'10" and depending on the season, anywhere between 175 and 195 pounds. The board is a little sluggish when I'm approaching 190lbs and up, and an absolute skate board when I'm in shape.

Whether you try this board or not, you want something where the wide point is going to be in the front half of the board. The traditional HPSB has the wide point in the back half of the board. That's why I love the Remix, wide point is up front, nose is a hair wider, same with the tail, but its still more of a traditional shortboard versus some of the other boards out there (its a more high performance version of the Fred Rubble, but a little more user friendly than the Proton). If you are putting all the weight on that front foot, and pumping off it, you need the foam up there as well.

Board has Futures in it. Head high and under I put Blackstix AM1's in it. They give the board a little speed and are very loose. When the surf juices up a little I switch to the WCT. They don't do much for speed generation or lift, but with good waves, you don't need the help. The do keep the board grounded to the wave more, so your not skipping down the face. And the turns are much tighter/smoother, and you come out of them with more drive.

Hope this helps.

 

Sd2, ci mx, flyer....boards with wide point forward of center. what are you into alt, trad. thrusters, etc.?

 

SD2 is my all time favorite.

 

displacement hull surfboards cannot be beat if you surf off of your front foot.

 

http://www.redbull.com/us/en/surfin...56/10-things-you-should-know-about-surfboards <-- wisdom from a master shaper, Matt Biolos. particularly, #4:

"4. I don’t buy into the whole back-foot/front-foot surfer thing. We’re all surfing from the back foot. You’re either a weak back-foot surfer or a strong back-foot surfer. You push hard or you don’t."

i've also heard it described that you trim & pump off your front foot & turn off your back foot. nobody turns w/ their front foot. i agree 100%.

 

I transition my weight as needed to whichever foot needs it. I don't think about it any more then that.
I also have no preference on rights or lefts. I skated and snowboarded switch without a second thought and occasionally surf switch on smaller waves. IMO, you should be open to whatever works in the moment, always.

 

Lol, that's actually true, hmm have to rethink this.

 

switch foot

if you are a front foot surfer and choose instead to be a back foot surfer, well, spend
5 or 10 sessions on a sb single fin. its possible that if one applies what they learn here to
a standard hpsb it could improve ones' performance.

 

I hear that's great for your surfing.

 

surfing a single fin is also a good way to learn how to PROPERLY turn a shortboard...w/ the rail.

 

single fin sb's

i always liked a good single fin. the only thing i didn't like about them was how much better
the standard hpsb went (you know , simons' child - da thruster). other than that i like 'em.

 

no such thing as "front footed or back footed surfers". You need to throw your weight back and forth to and from both feet to surf properly.

Its an out of date saying that was once used in the '70's (b/c of board design and abad way to describe the differing styles) but has been hanging around archaically for no reason at all.

If you're either front or back, you're not doing it right.

 

still fun to mix it up & get on one from time to time. i keep one in the quiver for just that reason...it's nice to change pace from time to time. it's also so easy to get into bad habits surfing just a thruster all the time, getting on a single fin is kind of like a reset button.

 

whats a front foot surfer?i don't get it.your either regular,left foot forward,or goofy with your right foot forward.

the front foot tho plays an important role in surfing.from pumping through barrels or setting up your turns,the front foot guides you,and your back foot is the pressure cooker that u punch through the lip as u turn.watch footage of the hobgoods and they literally ride on their noses.

u want to stall,u do the tom carrol wheelie.u want to go fast,put more weight on your front foot and pump.want to do a wicked carve,hit that lip and push as hard as u could with the backfoot.for airs,u want to pump on the front foot and hit the section doing an Ollie,like on a skateboard.thats why skaters are the best aerialists.the front foot is the most crucial thing to progressive surfing.if u keep all ur weight on the backfoot,u will go nowhere and the wave will knock u right off.

in other news,anyone selling a wide 6'6'' or 6'8''.i normally ride a 6'2'' which comes up to my chin for some reason,im 6 ft so idk.iv put on some weight and the 6'2'' aint working how it should when I was 30lbs lighter

 

[video=youtube;_guolUgBU88]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_guolUgBU88[/video]

just listen to ian walsh describe the hobgoods in te first minute

 

There can be no doubt that riding alternative shapes, wide, flat etc requires more of a weight forward or front foot weighted approach to get the board going and to keep it going. You do still need to go to the tail and the rail to carve a turn. I have a few boards that refuse to go unless your weighted heavily forward and a few that refuse to go unless your applying more neutral pressure front to back. All do require heel and toe pressure on the tail to turn.

 

I guess you just need to make sure that you are weighted out correctly. Like cepriano said, each foot has its own job. Obviously you can't just go and stand straight up with equal weight. You need to pick the right time. Longboarding taught me that (longboarding on concrete, that is). It's all repetition and muscle memory. And always going ham on every wave...

 

You're more talking planing. Of course a wide, thick board requires front foot pressure WHILE PLANING. But see what happens when you use your front foot on that board to execute a steep carve or hack, or even an aggressive cut back for that matter. The pros call it parallel weight shift: pulling or pushing your weight front to back along the stringer depending on the part of the maneuver.

There's just no way your doing anything more than minor fades and climbs with primarily your front foot.