A surfboard’s component parts

The deck, bottom, rails, nose and tail.

In today’s lesson we’ll talk about a surfboard’s component parts. The top side of a surfboard is the deck: this is the side surfers lie on and the surfboard wax is applied to.

The bottom of the surfboard is simply called the bottom and it’s the side the fins are attached to.

The sides of a surfboard are the rails. The front part is the nose and the back part the tail.

Fins are found at the bottom of a surfboard. But what are fins used for? Fins are like a car’s wheels, they help surfers steer their surfboard and gain direction control.

A surfer executes a turn on the board by shifting his/her body position; fins help turns by keeping the surfboard from sliding sideways and allow the surfer to draw lines on the wave.

The lines drawn can be more or less sharp and radical; what do we mean by radical? We mean a surfer’s level of surfing and technical ability: the more radical a surfer is, the sharper and more vertical the turns he/she executes on a wave will be.

The leash or leg rope is the cord that attaches a surfboard to the surfer’s leg and is made up of many parts; it helps you keep your surfboard when you wipeout. Without a leash you will have a long swim to retrieve your surfboard.

The leash is made up of three parts:

- one end is attached to the surfboard’s tail;

- the middle part is made of elastic rubber having a limited stretching ability (and this is very important!).

- and the other end is an ankle strap that the surfer attaches to one ankle. Attach it to your back leg (the foot that is on the board’s tail).

In the video I’ll show you how to attach your leash. The first part of your leash is composed of overlapping and securing Velcro straps. At the end of your surfboard’s tail you’ll find a small hole, or leash plug. Create a loop in the leash cord. Thread the cord through the leash plug on your board. Now you need to attach the leash to the cord. Overlap the three Velcro patches and your leash’s attached to your board!

edited by: GOS
www.greenoceansurfing.com