Perfecting the Cutback

Depending on whether you are going frontside or backside, riding a longboard or a shortboard your approach to a cutback will be slightly different. The dynamics of all cutbacks are the same. Your goal is to redirect your board and body back into the pocket of the wave and cut back around going back forward again smoothly, gracefully, and with as much style as you can pull off. The following steps should assist you in improving your cutbacks.

1) As you're going down the line and after hitting the lip a time or two or just cruising down the line look for the end of the wave where the wave weakens and shrinks. You will look at this spot as the point where you will transition your cutback to maintain this wave.

2) When approaching this section of the wave you will move your stance from narrow to slightly wider with your back foot farther back on the tail with more pressure.

3) While hitting the section you want to redirect perform a solid turn pressing deeply on the tail of your board keeping your legs bent and not bending your upper body over too much or sticking your butt out too much.

4) After pressing deeply on the tail and redirecting back into the peak of the wave you are looking back to rebound off of the whitewash if appropriate.

5) Release your weight from the board to perform another redirection as if you are hitting a lip that's crumbling on a normal wave.

6) Straighten your legs when redirecting and straighten your back so you can gain as much momentum off of the whitewash to get you back down the face to do more cutbacks, floaters, or off the lips.

Dylan and Clem Surf Lessons PB 9/18/05

After Drew's lesson I took out Dylan. We worked on turning and bending the knees more since he's really getting the paddling thing and popping up quickly technique down. He still will continue to work on paddling hard to get into waves. He's now doing some small turns which is cool. One wave he dropped in, went backside a little bit, recovered, then proceeded to turn going right (frontside for Dylan). Doing great man!

Clem seemed reluctant to come out but after overcoming the chilly water and a few spills after his fifth belly ride he got a sweet little wave and stood up riding it into the sand. He proceeded to give me a double high five, thought it was unreal to ride a wave in, and went to play with the other kids on the hill at Tourmo again. Fun times!

NewDrew Surf Lesson Revue Sunday 9/18/05

NewDrew followed up Loretta with a lesson where we worked on the outside waves. I didn't have as much impact on what NewDrew was doing since he had advanced so far in the "catching and paddling for a wave piece" of the puzzle. I was impressed during Loretta's lesson at how NewDrew could paddle for the outside waves. He's still having a bit of trouble with the standing up and riding piece but that will come in tide. With back and shoulder problems he's still coming along well. He needs to practice popups more on a regular basis even in the middle of the country doing business! This will increase his upper body strength and speed in getting up while the wave is at its fullest speed. Also, NewDrew's wave knowledge in deciding which waves he wants to catch has increased. I think he's on his way to having a good time and riding some fun waves on our trip to Costa Rica.

Loretta's PB Surf Lesson 9/18/05

Took Mike P's girlfriend Loretta out with the yellow soft tanker for a lesson today. Took a few minutes to get her lined up properly but after about 25 minutes she was riding waves well on her stomach, then on her knees, then towards the last 25 minutes she scored about 5 waves where she stood up. 4 of which she rode sideways with full balance. Very impressive and I think she's hooked and had a great time. Pretty stoked about how receptive she was to my advice and she followed it and got it really quickly. Cool!

Evan

Here's the latest photo of my baby boy Evan. He'll be taking over this blog soon Jeff to make sure the spammers stay clear. He may have ears like me but he's a lot better looking. :)

15th Street Del Mar Surf Lesson for Dylan 9/11/05

Took Dylan out on the 9 foot yellow softy. It was pretty dumpy in shorebreak but I had Dylan practice some popups and paddle a lot more when he's going for the wave rather than stop paddling right when the wave hits him. His success rate in standing up after catching on his own went way up and having a longboard also helped. He focused on bending his knees and was able to ride the board more in the shorebreak all the way to shore. All around I think it was very successful and he's made great strides in improving his surfing!

Perfecting the Duck Dive

This section is to assist the novice to intermediate surfer in improving their duckdiving skills so they are able to get past the inside waves faster with less energy expended. Take these steps to improve your duckdiving skills:

1) While paddling out ensure you are centered on your board and have found that sweet spot which streamlines and speeds up your paddling speed while paddling out. Move your chest up and down the board until you've found it.

2) When approaching a breaking wave try to time it so that the wave has already broken before you approach your duckdive.

3) As you are approaching the whitewash put both hands on the rails at the top third of the board and plunge the board down.

4) While pushing down with your upper body and the wave is beginning to pass immediately press on the tail with your knee or foot to push the back end of the board down.

5) When timed properly you will feel a plunge downward, then forward, knowing you've succeeded in a solid duckdive. When coming up through the back the wave you should feel that you have been propelled forward and past the wave.

This technique takes a lot of time to practice but when perfected it can really come in handy on bigger surf when you don't have the luxury of a channel at a reef or a pointbreak. Watch more advanced surfers to see how they are doing it. There are many variantions using the feet, the knees, and even the turtle to get past waves but they can all work depending on the size of your board and the size of the waves.

9/3 PB Surf Lesson with Keir

Took Keir from work out for a lesson and it was about 1 to 3 feet and really closing out. This guy is in really good physical shape so after doing some basic popups, reading the waves, covering paddling, I got him into some inside whitewash waves. After the first wave he stood up when he slowed down his pace and allowed the board to stabilize once he decided to stand up. His popups were really solid and he road about 6 to 8 waves in. He had a great time and seemed to want to take it up so he may go out and buy a board sometime. Good lesson.