Does longboard fin position even matter? THE TEST! 

I’m trying to get back into surfing after an unsuccessful attempt 10 years ago. I’ve been binging your channel and I just wanna say I love the positive attitude, detailed breakdowns, and quality edits!

I too can feel a massive difference in fin placement and the type of fin, even at my novice level ;-), always fun to experiment and geek out, great episode buddy!

I just recently left the 2+1 setup on my longboard that it came with and moved to a single fin. First thing I did was move it as far forward as I could get it and it made a MASSIVE improvement to my turning.

Fin forward has less to do with stability while riding the nose and more to do with how your board feels the rest of the time when you're not in trim. When you are in trim and working up to the nose for a nose ride, it is your rail in the face of the wave that gives you stability. Your fin does do some work there, but not as much as you'd think. I think there's some videos of Tommy Witt and Corey Colapinto doing legit noserides finless or with only side bites. Fin placement as far as stability is concerned has much more effect when your rail is out of the water and you are making turns to setup that nose ride. Different fin placements can also drastically effect the drag in the water and can slow down your board a lot. Which can also be better or worse for nose riding depending on the board. I was also kind of bummed that you didn't actually switch your fin placement until the end of the video. You should have done all the way back, middle and all the way forward.

Grew up surfing a long board in the late 60s in dirty jersey just North of Belmar. Couple yrs later short boards came out along with adjustable fins. The practice was smaller fin foward for loosness in smaller waves, and longer fin all the way back for the few times a year it got overhead. Been in S. Ca. since late 70s. I enjoyed the stoke in your videos. All the best to you from another Jersey Boy.

I used to kayak surf and recently started sup boarding. I realize that I can't surf backside, and found your videos super helpful. I recently moved my center fin forward, and much prefer it. I found the difference hard to put into words though. It felt like a fairly subtle difference. The main difference I noticed was directing the board just after take off was way easier. On a side note, I was expecting a hard time from surfers, but most are accepting and are super chill.

Have a Brian Heritage 8’4” hybrid board from 1997, a beauty. Now in Blighty, and can’t wait to dust it off and try fin fully forwards. Thanks for inspiring videos with great technical low downs!!

Love the vibes of your videos man. Also fun fact, I live in Bali and here its the most crowded 6.30 - 10.30am in the moring...mostly because wind is kicking in after that. So early bird sadly does not help here :D.

I love ur vlogs buddy i surfed all my life and i never thought to move up my Skagg or fin

I have been shaping boards for 3 years. As a 69 year old in Hawaii, I am always in search of more volume in a board that still performs. I do sometimes laugh to myself at shortboarders on their 5-xx boards, and they don't catch a wave in an hour, while imagining they are KS11.

I surf a 9' board with 1+2 configuration and I always place the central fin as forward as I can. The only time I putted the central fin back I felt I could barely turn my board. Maybe this "fin to the tail" configuration is interesting when you are surfing really big waves where speed is more important than doing fast turnings.

Super thoughtful and helpful!! Keep making videos! Love them

I'vr spent 2 summers in NJ in Wildwood 12 years ago... If I knew, that surfing exists those days, my life would go so different lol)) Very interesting!

Nice I went longboarding for the first time in 2 months and I was getting 30 second wave which is very rare for my spot

Thanks for the videos! I think a great video that I would be definitely interested in is the difference between surfing a fiberglass and epoxy, and what is the best type for nose riding. My Modern Retro is soo heavy but my epoxy is too light/ narrow for nose riding.

Thanks for testing this and making the vid lol something I've wondered as well but never tried

Well, I'll be moving my fin forward to test this out. I'll keep you posted!

Great personality dude! Thank you for the video

I love riding fin forward in my 10' wish my box was a little longer to go a little farther forward honestly. Also, SINGLE FIN THE WORLD

Back = stiff, forward= loose. Personally I have put my fin right forward on all my boards.

"Already 4". LOL!!! If you only knew how that statement would sound living here at Wrightsville Beach, NC. I paddle out at 6-6:30 am into a lineup of 25-30 or more sometimes, regularly. "Already 4" would definitely be more like "ITS ONLY 4!!! LETS GOOO!!!" lol

Love that bonky synth sound in the music when you surfed fin back. What's that song called?

Love the content. Still waiting to run into you at Belmar…or in Jackson lol. We’ll cross paths eventually!!

Ima jus say it like this my brother. Constantine or whatever his name is has been surfing since he was a kid, same as me. He’s a natural, grew up around other legit longboarders, same as me, and was a pro-level surfer since he was 15, unlike me…combine that with some genetic/athletic gifts from God, and you have him. You and I got athletic ability, I have a HUGE advantage on you as I’ve been surfing for almost 40 years, but as far as athletes go, you and I and most are almost the same. We will never be a pro, even if we had been surfing g since age 5… That being said… switching stuff around, new shapes, fins, styles, all that stuff makes for good videos, but you’re setting yourself back by doing it all. Stick with your stick, set your fin, put in the time, and you’ll become as good a surfer as the good lord intended you to be. Surf with your heart and you will be great in your mind… Anyone else’s view doesn’t even matter. Peace my brother…

Longboarding is definitely better than short boarding 😉 haha

Awesome tips!

Cross-stepping issue: leaning back?? BTW RU wasting too much time checking other sites? Grass is always greener?? Good vlog today. I'm shopping for logs!

waves look good in jersey 🤙🏻 yeew from florids

If your board has it throw some on some nice twinsies.. Makes the board turn like a shortboard.

new sub - sweet edits - shaping/glassing my own 9' board as we speak - stuck on the fin dilemma - my local break is Pipes in north San Diego County and I'm relatively new to longboards and surfing in general - goal is to nose ride - any suggestions?

Looks like you are not always centered on the stringer which is causing some imbalance when you step?

Nice vid man !

No kidding, just don't let the secret out to much.

In the center.

uneven spaced cross steps with too big of a step to the nose ?

Longboarders for the win!

Longboarding is better than shortboarding! Heyaah brotha! :D

Hey Guys any recommendations for wetsuits for the coming fall/winter season. Do most guys go 4mm or is the 5mm better?

I’m a small person so I’ve been thinking of moving my single fin forward more to help my turning, as there’s a lot of board between me (where I pop up) and the fin. I’ve also been watching a lot of pro longboarders and they seem to be able to control the board by not being back at all.. so maybe maybe not it’ll help 😅?

hey how big are the waves that you long board

Short answer: Yes

Everybody is so fixed on cross stepping, try cat walking, way lighter way faster way,way cooler Study Da Cat. AKA Mickey Dora.

Okay, I got the issue: Walking like an orangutan! ;)

It starts at about 5:45