GOS PRO WAVES - FRONTSIDE BOTTOM TURN and OFF THE LIP

GOS PRO WAVES

But, apart from having fun watching some good surfing, how can we improve Our Surfing by watching pros? GOS knows how: we’ll teach you the best possible way to study pros surfing technique and analyze their surfing or yours. The best way to improve your surfing skills is to watch your surfing, understand what you’re doing wrong and learn from your mistakes! You can send us your videos and we’ll analyze them together! We’ll explore your strengths and weaknesses together, but we’ll also teach you how to analyze and learn by watching the pros – or you  – surfing… have fun with GOS and don’t forget to check out our GOS website for more pro waves!!!!       

Trick tips: FRONTSIDE BOTTOM TURN AND OFF THE LIP

Today we’re going to try to analyze some basic surfing maneuvers together.  We’re going to learn with the pros! We’ll watch a video, Mick Fanning versus Dane Reynolds (you can view the whole video on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42yAIWPNCfU), and we’ll try to explain the maneuvers Mick Fanning executes step by step.  Watch the video first, then read our comments while watching it again, pause it to really understand every move he makes. What we want to do is explain every single move he makes, and provide you with the exact timing, so you can easily check it out and learn how to improve your surfing skills! To achieve the best possible results, we suggest you watch the video, read our comments, and try to really understand what we’re telling you. Then  sit comfortably on a chair, close your eyes and picture it in your mind, try to repeat these moves in your mind and the next time you go surfing, try to concentrate on what you learned with GOS and do exactly what you did in your mind. One more thing: just enjoy your surfing!  

We’ll start with the frontside BOTTOM TURN and OFF THE LIP. 

The BOTTOM TURN involves riding to the bottom of the wave and curving; it’s the most important maneuver in surfing because it allows you to gain speed at the bottom of the wave to ride back up the face of the wave and hit the lip. 

The OFF THE LIP is a great maneuver which involves riding vertically up the face of the wave, hitting the lip, turning and releasing your fins, then re-entering. 

 
(0:30) when Mick Fanning takes off, he rides down to the bottom of the wave, leans forward toward the nose of the board and keeps his knees bent;  

(0:31) his right hand is almost touching the water, as if to use it as a pivot to hang on to and he’s looking at the section he wants to hit;  

(0:32) at this point his body is leaning forward on the inside rail of the board, knees still bent, he’s ready to extend his legs; he’s pushing down on his toes to tilt the board onto the rail;

(0:33) his right leg is pushing on the tail – explosive power – he’s rotating his left shoulder and arm towards right, he’s extending his legs and releasing power, his torso is still leaning forward toward the nose of the board while his head is turned toward the lip, as he’s looking at the section he wants to hit ; his board is not tilted on its rail but is now flat on the face of the wave as he’s starting to head upwards;

(0:34) his front foot helps the board go upwards vertically while he turns his head back down and he’s now looking at the bottom of the wave - always look to where you want to go and anticipate your next move -  he keeps his left arm down and raises his right arm to facilitate torso rotation later on; his knees are bent for balance - a low center of gravity provides better balance;

(0:35) the board comes over the lip, his torso and legs are totally bent forward on the board and the power is once again released on his back foot, on the tail of the board; the board turns, its nose is facing the bottom of the wave;  

(0:36) now he’s extending his legs again and pushing on the board to descend;

(0:37) he leans forward again, toward the nose of the board, he’s looking at the lip, ready to hit it again.

Now that we’ve watched and analyzed this video together step-by-step, we can say that the BOTTOM TURN is the most important maneuver in surfing and that it’s essential for any other maneuver.

If you want to get more RADICAL in your surfing, you have to learn to turn at the bottom of the wave.  

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