Longboard: Cross-stepping

Let’s go straight to the point: you just HAVE TO cross-step on a longboard.

This post aims to encourage beginner longboarders to walk up to the nose of their board by cross-stepping. 

HOW to cross-step is easy… and difficult at the same time, since another key factor comes into play at this point: WHEN to cross-step (i.e. when and in what section of a wave).  

If you’ve followed our Free Online Surfing Course, you know that to gain speed and momentum (and to walk up to the nose) you have to move forward on your board, to slow down (or execute a maneuver) you move back. Cross-stepping is easy (in theory): bring your back foot in front of your front foot and cross-step over it (or bring your front foot behind your back foot – if you want to walk backwards), as if you were stepping over your front foot, maintaining your feet angled, then swing your front foot around the back of your back foot (heelside) and into your normal stance.      

Basically to (literally) take your first baby steps, it’s very useful to slightly turn your front foot toward the nose of your board: it will make it much easier for you to take your first steps. You’ll find out that cross-stepping forward is pretty easy, while walking backwards is a bit more complicated!! (In fact even good surfers sometimes ‘hop’ their way back in critical situations).

Once you gain experience and you get used to it, you’ll see that there is a huge difference in terms of performance between, for example, four short steps and two long steps. But what matters is that you put your mind to it. Try to practice cross-stepping on the ground (at home) first, to familiarize with it.

Surfers generally hate rules. Why get obsessed with this then? First of all, it’s a question of style and who loves longboarding knows style’s key. Otherwise he’d use a shortboard. 

Secondly, because there’s no feeling like cross-stepping and feeling your board gradually, smoothly but definitely gaining momentum.

Any other way to walk up and down your board will inevitably affect the board’s trim and gliding.   

Cross-stepping, on the other hand, doesn’t. In no way does it affect the way water flows under your board nor does it break the spell of a longboard gliding smoothly. That’s why you should cross-step, no matter what.  

Green Ocean Surfing

www.greenoceansurfing.com

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.  

Green Ocean Surfing

The first totally free interactive online surfing course

www.greenoceansurfing.com

Stretching exercise no. 1

Hi guys, today we’re going to start with a set of stretching exercises, to loosen up tight leg muscles. Get into the initial position, which means sit down on the floor with your back straight and your legs stretched out in front of you.  

We’ll start with one leg, then we’ll stretch the other. Let’s start stretching the left leg: bend your right leg and place the sole of your right foot on your left inner thigh. Make sure your butt is on the floor. It’s very important.    

Take a deep breath, bring your palms together and raise your arms above your head, then slowly lean forward, with your back straight; hold your breath and clasp your left foot with your hands, you’re still holding your breath. 

Andrea Bonfili - surfing instructor - Green Ocean Surfing

Exhale and bring your head toward your left knee and pull your left foot toward you. Hold this stretch for as long as it takes you to take 3 deep breaths. Make sure you keep constant tension. Don’t jerk back and forth, maintain a constant stretch. If you feel pain, stop; concentrate on the part of your body where you feel tension and start breathing. It will help release tension and the pain will slowly go away. This means your muscle is stretching.   

Return to the initial position: slowly straighten your right leg and place it next to your left leg. Switch legs and repeat this exercise. Then slowly place your left leg next to your right leg, exhale, inhale, now we’ll stretch both legs. Slowly lift your back up, take a deep breath and let the air out. The exercise is over. Remember: 3 deep breaths on one side, start with your right leg, then do it with your left leg, then both. This exercise will take you less than 5 minutes but it will help you loosen your tight leg muscles after a surf session. 

Warning: the contents of our training lessons must NOT be considered as being prescriptive, they shall only be for information and cultural purposes. Our “tips” require an authorization from your personal doctor. 

edited by: GOS
www.greenoceansurfing.com

Explosive power – exercise no. 1

Hi guys, today I’ll show you some strength training and workout exercises specifically for surfing.

We’ll talk about “explosive leg power”.

Why do we need “explosive leg power” in surfing? If you are a surfer you know that surfing involves a lot of extensions, keeping your legs flexible and bending your knees. Explosive power is the “power” than allows your muscle to gain maximum strength in very little time.   

The exercise I’m going to show you today is very simple but very effective; we’ll jump in place, making sure not to perform too many jumps per set. I suggest you start with 3 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions. Today I’ll use a brick for this exercise, but you can use any object you like, as long as it’s safe to use. Remember, safety comes first.      

This is your initial position: keep your feet slightly apart, your arms stretched out in front of you to help you keep your balance; now bend your knees and jump up on the brick, land on the ground with your knees bent, then up and down again. Repeat 6 to 8 times in a row.   

Why are we performing such short sets? Because if you perform sets of up to 6 to 8 jumps you build explosive power, while sets of over 8 repetitions are resistance training exercises.     

Rest for 20/30 seconds between sets, then start again. 

Warning: the contents of our training lessons must NOT be considered as being prescriptive, they shall only be for information and cultural purposes. Our “tips” require an authorization from your personal doctor.

edited by: GOS
www.greenoceansurfing.com

Trim and surfing stance

In today’s lesson we’ll deal with the toughest and most important part of surfing, which is how to trim the board, i.e. hold the correct surfing stance. We’ll start by holding the correct position while lying down on the board.

This is a lesson you have to pay very close attention to. How do you trim a board, how do you find the correct position on a board?

In the video you can see how you have to keep the surfboard in the water, its tail and nose should stay out of the water.

Place your hands on the edges of the surfboard, put one foot on the board first; it will help you find your balance.

Then place your chest and then your other foot and look what happens to your board.

If you see the nose sinking under the water, it means you’re holding the wrong position. What do you do to make the nose come out of the water? Place your hands under your chest and start moving your whole body slightly backwards.

Andrea Bonfili - surfing instructor - Green Ocean Surfing

Same thing if you see that the nose sticks out of the water too much; it means that you’re too far back. To move forward stretch out your arms and, while still holding on to the rails of the board, push your body slightly forward helping yourself with your toes. It’s important that you move slowly, an inch at a time.

When you feel you found the correct position of the board on the water you can start focusing on the correct body position.

At the beginning, if you feel your board moving under you, wobbling to the right and to the left, place both feet off the board.

Remember to always keep your hands near your shoulders, to arch your back and lift your chest high off the board, never put your chin on the board, and keep your head and eyes forward, face the nose of the board.

If you feel the board tends to roll to one side, you can find your balance again by automatically moving a little to the other side of the board. Slowly place your feet on the surfboard, keep you ankles close together.

Use the point of the nose for reference and keep your eyes and nose in line with the nose of your surfboard; if you do that, you’ll be exactly in the middle of the board.

This is the toughest thing to do. The easiest thing is to stand up. As soon as you feel the board is stable on the water, you’re ready to start paddling. To paddle correctly on a surfboard, you need to have a deep, short stoke. 

Remember: if you have a long stroke, you’ll move your whole body and your surfboard sideways. If you have a deep, short stoke, your body will stay still and only your arms will move. 

edited by: GOS
www.greenoceansurfing.com     

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 

Board features

There are three main features to consider: length, width and thickness.

Length is important, as a longer board allows a fast take off: the longer the board the easier for it to gain momentum; the shorter the board the harder to catch waves on.

Width is also important, as it affects how stable the board is. The wider the board, the more stable, and the easier for you to find your balance. A beginner will find it hard to lie down and stand up on a narrow board.

Thickness or depth: the thicker a surfboard is the more volume the surfboard will have and the better it will float.

Learning how to stand up on your surfboard is NOT the hardest thing to do when you learn how to surf: the hardest thing is to learn how to paddle correctly.

A surfboard with more volume will help you paddle correctly. The more volume a board will have, the better it will float and the easier it will be for you to paddle on it. 

edited by: GOS
www.greenoceansurfing.com