I find my ability to surf top to bottom goes to crap when waves get overhead'ish and steeper. My bottom turn slips when I try to get more vertical and I do weak turns. I could mitigate this a bit by putting back foot on rail to dig harder.
I focused on bending knees, banking board, reaching forward more with paddle. But the trick for me was just waiting longer to initiate turn. I wasn't adjusting my timing so I was turning in a different part of wave when surf was bigger. I recently focused on waiting to hit flats, it was wild what a difference it made, night and day! Hope this helps for anyone in a similar spot. Hard to get reps on good waves so I surfed an empty area that was closing out and sent the turns over the back of wave.
I also was having trouble turning on bigger waves until I put smaller fins on .when the surf got bigger ..
Select to expand quoteTardy said..
I also was having trouble turning on bigger waves until I put smaller fins on .when the surf got bigger ..
I thought it might be my center fin position but I set it where Dave Boehne/board shaper said he puts it for 90% of waves (front of base 2" behind back edge of side fins) and figured I'm not surfing 10% waves:)
Im still at the user error more than dialing in fin phase I think, my next thing to work on is placing this turn on bigger waves, which are often fast (by my standards) where I surf. if I start with more vertical bottom turn I get behind section but If I pump down line I usually get tunnel vision and don't turn until way on shoulder, do cutback. Love what a crazy challenge this all is
Im thinking you need to be more patient with your bottom turn. As you already pointed out, the bigger the wave, the faster you're going. So your turn will take a little
linger to rangeland complete. Just like going round a corner or bend in a car that's going faster. Compress, lean on and engage your rail and wait..
That sounds right, need to adjust my timing in more ways than one. Excited to experiment more. Thanks
Because i have a few boards ,I tend to take my faster boards out in bigger surf ,since i've had the flow which has a flatter rocker and very thin rails
I bottom hand turning a lot quicker ,but I always try and make sure my foot is close to the rear ..and i dig my paddle in too ..some times ..
it really is the best part of the wave the bottom hand turn ..
Select to expand quoteTardy said..
Because i have a few boards ,I tend to take my faster boards out in bigger surf ,since i've had the flow which has a flatter rocker and very thin rails
I bottom hand turning a lot quicker ,but I always try and make sure my foot is close to the rear ..and i dig my paddle in too ..some times ..
it really is the best part of the wave the bottom hand turn ..
Great shot! One of my surf friends has Flow (red Casey one), charges big surf on it. Agree the bottom turn is so much fun! One thing I'm still working out is how much weight on back foot. On smaller waves im focusing on not stalling cause of too much weight on tail. But when I felt dialed in on bigger waves, making a U shaped turn on flats, my tail would grip hard in second half of turn, but an exhilarating carving feel rather than the deceleration feeling I've struggled with trying to make more vertical turns on small waves.
