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How to Surfskate: A Beginner’s Guide
If stepping onto a surfskate is new to you, this guide provides an excellent start for understanding the basics. You'll discover how to shift your weight to generate forward momentum without the need to push like on a skateboard. You'll learn the art of linking smooth turns and how to position your body for optimal control. These movements directly correspond to surfing techniques like “bottom turns” or “cutbacks”.
Surfskating serves as a land-based method to hone the fluid turns, body control, and balance familiar from surfing. It utilises a special surf skateboard with a front truck designed in a completely unique manner compared to standard skateboard trucks. If you're inland or the sea is calm, surfskating enables you to refine your surf skills, build leg strength, and perfect your timing.
Overview
Beginning Your Surfskate Journey: Posture and Balance
Surfskate trucks are responsive to even the slightest changes in foot positioning, feeling quite distinct from regular skateboard or longboard trucks. Instead of pushing your foot repeatedly, a single push will set you in motion. Thereafter, all movement relies on the surfskate pumping technique.
Your stance is pivotal for all surfskate movements. Position your front foot just behind the front truck bolts with a slight forward angle. Your back foot should be placed over the rear truck with your toes pointing more to the side. Bend your knees, relax your shoulders, and keep your gaze in the intended direction. Maintaining a low, balanced posture allows you to adapt swiftly to directional changes.
How to Pump for Speed on a Surfskate
Contrary to traditional skateboarding, gaining speed on a surfskate doesn't require foot pushing. Instead, you create momentum by smoothly shifting your weight from heel to toe rhythmically.
The “pumping” motion in surfskating involves:
- Pressing through your toes and leaning your upper body into the curve.
- Synchronising the rotation of your shoulders and hips with the board's movement.
- Extending your legs upon exiting the turn to produce forward drive.
Visualise sketching an S-shape on the ground. Every curve represents an opportunity to build speed and prepare for the subsequent manoeuvre.
Executing Bottom & Top Turns
Bottom and Top Turns are integral aspects of surfing, and surfskating provides a unique platform to practice them.
The Bottom Turn occurs at the wave's base, redirecting the surfer back towards the wave's peak (known as "The Lip"). The Top Turn takes place near the lip, guiding the surfer back down the wave.
Seamlessly linking these two turns forms the core of fluid surfing. They repeat consistently during a wave, vital for surfing proficiency.
Move forward, bend your knees, and carve a deep turn in one direction (Bottom Turn). Then rise into the next arc going the opposite way (Top Turn). Connecting these turns creates a smooth path akin to gliding on an actual wave.
Tips for Halting on a Surfskate
In surfskating, stopping techniques need to adapt to the surfskate's distinct front truck system. If you're accustomed to slowing down by dragging a shoe on a traditional skateboard, you may find the surfskate trucks' reaction surprising.
In short, the high agility of surfskate trucks facilitates effortless carving and sharp turns, but braking requires a different method.
Luckily, stopping on a surfskate is straightforward. Here are three secure methods to bring your board to a standstill:
- Step Off Into a Run - At a low to moderate speed, step off with your back foot first and jog forward to disperse your momentum. Always look ahead and choose a clear landing area.
- Grass or Rough Surface Stop - If accessible, guide your surfskate onto grass or a rougher surface. The increased friction will decelerate you quickly without stressing the trucks or wheels.
- Carve to Reduce Speed - Execute a series of wide, controlled turns to gradually slow down. This technique is best used when you have ample space and is not effective for instant stops.
By practicing these techniques, you'll gain confidence and maintain control over your surfskate consistently. Mastering how to stop early in your surfskate adventure will provide the freedom to practice turns, pumping, and other moves without the concern of how to decelerate.
