Both Goofy and Regular

I'm goofy, and Delaware is all about rights. I've spent my entire life driving 45 mins. to maryland to surf lefts.

Dropping in on a steep wave backside and pumping off the bottom for speed / projection out onto the shoulder is harder. Your heels are a lot less useful of a tool than toes. It is pretty easy to gouge a satisfying, bucket throwing turn backside.

Gaffer...if your arent standing up switch, then you arent getting the full-on humbling experience. I like trying it once in a while on a fun-shape sized board in small clean waves just to realize how completely disconnected your circuitry actually is for something you only attempt 10 times a year.

 

http://www.surfline.com/video/locals/austin-in-sc_77806 intro will blow your mind

 

I can hop to switch foot and take off and stand up switch foot but once I'm up I'm about at the level I was 1 year into surfing. I'm sure you could do it but it would take a lot of practice. I'm a regular foot but just the other day I took off on a right goofy foot just for fun. The strange thing was I could surf back side on a right almost as we'll as I can surf back side on a left, which is not very good. I thought that was interesting since if I had taken off goofy foot on a left I would have been barely able to turn but on the right with the same footing I jammed a nice bottom turn into a pretty solid top turn.

 

I learned to surf backside (I'm a regular foot) in Cape May and other South Jersey spots, and it wasn't until I moved up here to Monmouth County that I got to surf rights with any consistency. Today I'm glad I cut my teeth on lefts, because I'm a lot more comfortable going backside than most of the guys I know who grew up surfing frontside rights almost exclusively.

I say don't try to re-train yourself. You never know where you'll end up living or traveling to, and you'll want to make the most of it. Besides, doing old school laybacks or dragging a$$ in the tube is fun!

 

In VB it depends on the swell direction. I am goofy and pretty much am better at making bigger turns backside than frontside because i learned how to surf on rights mostly. but it really comes down to swell direction. for N- ENE swells, lefts are usually better so I go to a spot that the left works better and for ESE-S swells viceversa.
But to the original question. I love trying to go regular. it's like learning how to surf again! i can take off regular on my funboard decently (i actually made my first decent turn regular the other day). It just takes a lot of practice.

JOB is literally the best person i have seen at switch stance. he's doing that **** at pipe and waves of consequence!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RzuDTUWzyg

 

You can't really re-train yourself. You can learn to ride switch, but you'll never turn from goofy to reg or vice versa...
I do think there will be a lot more switch stance surfing in the future. Just like snowboarding and skating. You have to have the full bag of tricks natural and switch to compete... I bet in 15 years there will be guys on tour pulling everything switch.

 

Heard kelly Slater quote that the guy that can switch stance will push the sport forward. Its hard but not impossible just requires a differerent use of muscles and focus.

 

I try skating switch in order to walk the board and ride goofy when I'm riding the log. I can do it for a bit goofy but it's mainly just trimming and holding on.

 

if you have trouble riding backside, one of those asymmetrical boards like Ekstrom's design at hydronamica might help

 

Keep working on riding backside. Im a regular foot and ride a lot of lefts in mass takes a lot longer to learn than going frontside but there's a lot more nice lefts up this way now my backside riding is as good as my frontside. If you do try switchfoot start on a longboard I've messed around a few times with it definitly takes some getting used to. Check out matt meola's innersections video he has some great switchfoot rides some of them he switches mid air. Good luck

 

I surf goofy and skate regular but have never had much luck switching it up on either board, maybe I'm just weird though.

 

That is kinda strange, i skated goofy and when i transitioned to surfing it was only natural to stick with it, never even considered going regular. Seeing as you can do both (surf goofy / skate regular) i'd think you could go switch no problem (on both skate and surf boards), but i could be wrong. Just a little practice is probably all it would take.

 

You are super weird! That makes no sense. You are either regular or goofy... You're a freak of nature!

 

surf goofy...skate regular...actually used to surf regular as well till I was 18 or 19 and had some major ear surgery and balance issues...switched to goofy because it felt more normal on the 1st street rights in rode in High school and college

 

Ha, thanks nynj but that's what I do and it works for me. I started surfing before skating and don't really know why I switched but that's just what worked for me. Maybe I'll start practicing switch at both and eventually make it work.

 

i surf and skate regular but i push mongo skateboarding. i learned to snowboard goofy and tried snowboarding regular which i can do but am more comfortable riding goofy snowboarding. when i surf my backside is on point but when i try to throw a frontside hack i just cant seem to get it. therefore i just try to find barrels frontside whenever i can and just hack it backside. cheers

 

That's pretty wild, not sure I've ever met anyone who skated (goofy/reg) and surfed the opposite.

I have seen some amazing footage of Jamie O'Brien surfing switch at Pipe. I can ride switch on a longboard, but only after popping up (goofy). A good friend of mine likes to snowboard switch-stance, just for a new feeling or whatever, though she also used to base-jump, so she's a little fringey (in a hardcore kinda way). Personally, I haven't progressed sufficiently in surfing that I need a new challenge.