Surf Simply's Quick Tips: Back Foot Position 

Hey Mark! We are so happy you like the videos!!! Yes, usually the longer the board the more the back foot has to come back! Have fun practicing ! -Head Coach of Surf Simply

Hey Diamonds! I could not agree with you more about the reason why people think they cant turn the board! It's all about hip and feet movement! - Head Coach of Surf Simply

So true, been told to look where I want to go, did that, nothing happened :)

Hey sniper, we are glad you like the videos! Head Coach of Surf Simply

Thank you for the kind words Ricardo :) Coach Will

Thank you Steven, thats very kind of you to say!

Thanks so much Steven. I really appreciate that.

Great to hear how excited you are Steve, and that source focused on drills to help progress. Good luck and keep us updated!

It’s our pleasure!

Hey Pablo ! The surfing to the targets video will be coming out soon.Probably in the next couple weeks. Im glad you like the videos! -Head Coach of Surf Simply

@@Jessiecarnes0622 then I'm looking forward to it! 😁👍🏼

It’s our pleasure Liiso, thanks for watching!

Let us know how it goes Peter.

We love that book! We had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Finnegan not too long ago, here is the link if you’re interested: surfsimply.com/podcast/ep-23-finnigan-interview/

@@SurfSimply Thank you so much! I'll definitely check it!!

Hey Dan ! I'm glad you like the videos, we look forward to your future visit with us ! -Head Coach of Surf Simply

No worries, we enjoy making these fun tutorials ! - Head Coach of Surf Simply

surely a purposeful, instructional wipe-out! ; )

you are welcome!!!

And thank you for watching !!! -Head Coach of Surf Simply

Thank you!

I think this is the typical most common case for intermediates. Same happens to me, and I totally agree, more than only moving the back foot right before the turn (which is quite difficult) we should try to land with both feet 10/15cm more towards the back. Cheers from Argentina.

Hi Rafael, you may have to loft your foot up a small amount. Using your hips to transfer a small weight off the foot is useful. We have a video on hip movement that might help: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hU-KGmToBlM.html

Great suggestion Vincent!

Thanks Alessandro!

I've got a question, I'm an intermidiate and when I surf small waves i feel like I have never been on a surfboard, hardly pull turns and struggle with proper take off. On the other hand, when swell is more consistent I take off easily, and I can pull turns, is that a normal pattern or there's something wrong with me??

It might be that you need a higher volume surfboard for when the waves get small. With more surface area of a bigger board, you can generate more lift and less drag so ultimate travel faster (which is hard to do in smaller waves) so having a larger board for smaller waves is important.

@@SurfSimply thanks for the answer🤙🤙🤙looking forward your new footage!!

Hi Robert, it depends on the length of the surfboard. Shorter boards make it easier to maintain a regular with between the feet by just moving the back foot only, where as on a longboard, for a comfortable and stable stance it is likely having to move both feet in order to access the controls at the rear. Try it on dry land and see where our foot width remains comfortable when moving the back foot. Your height/ leg length and board length will alter them personally.

I'm not Ru, but can provide my experience. I learned to surf entirely on my own, which I do not recommend, but that is for another story. After a few years of just surfing, I was around an intermediate level. I learned about carver skateboards, and having way more places to ride it than surf, picked one up. After literally 2 months of riding, I went from a beginner intermediate to intermediate/advanced then even advanced with very little extra surf time in the water. The key to make carvers and similar skateboards useful is to understand a few things. The big idea is that you have to ride the skateboard like a surfboard, and not like a skateboard or how you always have been skating. I studied the pros closely, and performed drills that closely mimic their turns/maneuvers. The way we naturally turn on a skateboard and on a surfboard are quite different. From watching surf simply's videos or simply through your own experience, you've probably realized that we turn surfboards using our rear foot. I've skateboarded for years, and feel, at least for many if not most of us, we turn our skateboards with our front foot. This huge fundamental difference is one of the keys to training with a carver. I began doing everything I understood to do on a surfboard, on the carver. Essentially, driving with your back foot. This changed the way I carved, initiated turns, followed through on turns, finished them. My body movements began to more closely follow the ones we do on surfboards. I found 3-4 ft tall cement slopes that became a physical "concrete" wave to simulate everything, including dropping in to bottom turns. Steep slopes are great for getting a feel for a vertical section, and gentle slopes great for practicing wider turns, cutbacks, etc. I practiced both frontside and backside like this. I quickly even learned more advanced techniques like how to unweight my rear foot on a turn to simulate getting the rear fins loose off the top of a wave. I can't believe how much better I got. In literal months. It's a complete game changer if you have the analytical mind to understand some subtle but important differences. After teaching several people on carvers how to train for surfing on them, i noticed how unnatural it is for learners to really drive with their rear foot. Carvers are so easy to carve that it is easy to jump on them and carve well, but not in a way that trains surfing. I think it is completely possible to carve well on carver in a way that provides little to no actual translative benefit to surfing. With that said, for at least some people, carvers and similar will accelerate training and skill, maybe even faster than surfing at your local break. There is way more to carvers and cross training that I can go into than this, but this comment is already long. Godspeed

@@resistemptation4 Thanks for taking the time for the detailed response. You are right in saying that its not just a case of jumping on a Carver or Smoothstar and skate. I too have noticed a distinct change in how I behave on the water since using my Smoothstar. First of all, you do develop a greater feeling of comfort in just performing the maneuvers or attempting to, on a repetitive basis, secondly this seems in my view to give you greater confidence in surfing generally and encourages you to just have a go when you out on the water. The greatest down fall of surfing, and the rate at which you progress comes down to the number of waves you catch or have the opportunity to catch unfortunately. This is where the wave pools will come in to play if you have one locally. Repetition, practice and patience are the keys to success.

Use the white water waves for high repetition to learn a new skill. If the board isn't turning how you expect it to then we can narrow it down to weight position, back foot position, too tall with a lack of stability, or upper body is not rotating with the turn. Hopefully this will provide you some data to work from!

@@SurfSimply Thanks a lot. You guys analyse things so clearly. I wish I'd had this advice when I started surfing years ago.

You’ve almost answered you’re own question Jim. Ideally we want to only have just enough weight back to not catch the nose through a b’turn, as our speed is driven by maintaining rail length in the water through the turn. But the backfoot back will give you more of a option and quicker response should you need more weight back at any moment.

Its called the sweet spot depending on the your surfboard length and design. Some are abit forward some are abit back ward. Its trial and eror. As long as you dont tip over, step abit forward to go faster or backward to slowdown if you are to fast..

We’re working on it Mateus! Thanks for your support!

Stretch it out rotate it constantly shake it out before you want to go for a big maneuver there’s a comp where I forget who but some pro shakes his ankle out before he paddles for this wave that he stomps a big air on I think but the point is he was warming it up keep it warm keep it loose just like your arms don’t let it get locked up

Yes you can surf! Beginner surfers should always start with a big board (8ft softtop often) and because effective surfboard size depends on your size you'd want to get a 9ft. Bigger boards = more waves = quicker learning! Surfing might even help you get in shape. But remember to have fun! Thats the most important part, even if its hard to stand up at first, just enjoy it laying down then slowly progress to standing. I still love to ride big softtops, especially in smaller or mellow waves so never feel ashamed about your board size or feel like you should 'size down' to be cooler. Good luck!

@@tankimarkgraaf thank you so much and thank you for the tips. I do hope that surfing may help me lose weight but I really just want to have a really good time, like you said. Thanks again

Hey Dan ! When I am on my short board I have 3 different variations of where my back foot goes. front of the traction pad for drawn out turns, middle of the traction pad for cutbacks, and back on the kicker for really sharp turns like fins out or a deep bottom turns. So as long as it's back on the traction pad and close to the kicker of the traction pad it should be enough. But play around with different variations. -Head Coach of Surf Simply

@@Jessiecarnes0622 Doesn't having your back foot at the end of the traction pad slow you down in a deep bottom turn?

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bU7v6OxreEo.html

Ouch!