Been surfing for over a year. Really into it, have surfed SW WA uncountable times, bali and goldcoast.

Being from WA and being a goofy footer I have been more susceptible to surfing left hand waves.

A recent trip down to margs in a notoriously heavy right hander in gracetown I noticed that my backside just feels so so weird.

Like when i mind surf a right hander it feels right to me to pop up frontside but in reality my body pops up backside. And once I've popped up i basically just stand there like a lemon not being able to keep up with the sections. Whereas, on frontside I'm more confident and can pump it hard and snap etc.

I guess the only thing I can do is drop in backside and then bottom turn and I just end up doing an unintentional floater and stalling it on the lip

I skate natural, which is also a bit weird right? Thinking of buying a log over summer and practicing switch foot.

what you think?

Backhand is generally more difficult to begin with. Maybe you are meant to surf natural anyway?

Switch foot would be cool, but backhand hooks in the pocket are more fun than a foreh snap if you ask me. Why not practice your backhand in easier waves? Learn to grab rail too. It will let you get down the line and stop you being unable to stop the bottom turn. Then start releasing the rail. You've only been surfing a year. It takes time. Rail control on your backhand is trickier but so much fun when mastered.

And learn how to hack on your forehand, not just snap. Bury that bloody rail.

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thedrip said..
Backhand is generally more difficult to begin with. Maybe you are meant to surf natural anyway?

Switch foot would be cool, but backhand hooks in the pocket are more fun than a foreh snap if you ask me. Why not practice your backhand in easier waves? Learn to grab rail too. It will let you get down the line and stop you being unable to stop the bottom turn. Then start releasing the rail. You've only been surfing a year. It takes time. Rail control on your backhand is trickier but so much fun when mastered.

And learn how to hack on your forehand, not just snap. Bury that bloody rail.

Yeah what he said....back hand hooks are the best...bit late on the turn and you just hook it under the lip and it feels good...on time crank it to 12 and let the lip know you mean business

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PaulyOS said...
Been surfing for over a year. Really into it, have surfed SW WA uncountable times, bali and goldcoast.

Being from WA and being a goofy footer I have been more susceptible to surfing left hand waves.

A recent trip down to margs in a notoriously heavy right hander in gracetown I noticed that my backside just feels so so weird.

Like when i mind surf a right hander it feels right to me to pop up frontside but in reality my body pops up backside. And once I've popped up i basically just stand there like a lemon not being able to keep up with the sections. Whereas, on frontside I'm more confident and can pump it hard and snap etc.

I guess the only thing I can do is drop in backside and then bottom turn and I just end up doing an unintentional floater and stalling it on the lip

I skate natural, which is also a bit weird right? Thinking of buying a log over summer and practicing switch foot.

what you think?

Do you ride a fish ?

I used to skate goofy & surf natural, a fair few people do that. Just go with what you automatically pop up into. As dmitri is suggesting, surfing bigger waves on a wide tailed board doesn't go so great. You need the right board for the right waves, so you could ask people about that. But at the end of the day you need more time in the water. Later on when your doing well frontside/backside, you can play around with switchfooting.

True that, Dmitri.

Cheers fellas

Yeh, I'm riding a firewire dominator (5'10) at the moment. I think its 20 1/4 wide. Will probably drop to a more performance orientated board soon as I think the dominator is a bit big for me @77kgs

5'10 Dom is about perfect for someone your weight & ability. Great board for waves up to around head high. But not good for the SW, you want something more like 6'8 x 18 3/4 x 2.75 for your typical head 1/2 to double overhead...Dom has a wide tail making bottom turns harder at high speed & 5'10 is not going to help getting you in early. Especially with offshore winds. You'll be taking off steep n late a lot on a board with those dims.

^^ nah, Dom should be fine riding backside...if you ride quad try thruster set up or vice versa see how you go..

am goofie myself, but when was learning I picked up back side quicker then front..

Only fishes can't ride back side..got the same feeling pretty much as you described before..

If a fish is not a case, then...yeah, you are weird
Edit it was my reply to Pauly

Yeh I agree, bottom turns are a bit of a struggle. Gets to the point where I have all my weight on my big toes yet the board still wont dig it's rail in, which eventually leads to me collapsing into the wave face

I also own a 6'2 Firewire x pyzel slab. Still trying to toss up whether to bring that or the dominator to indo in the next few weeks

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PaulyOS said..
Yeh I agree, bottom turns are a bit of a struggle. Gets to the point where I have all my weight on my big toes yet the board still wont dig it's rail in, which eventually leads to me collapsing into the wave face

I also own a 6'2 Firewire x pyzel slab. Still trying to toss up whether to bring that or the dominator to indo in the next few weeks

I'd take both or the 6'2 if 2 boards was not an option.

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PaulyOS said..
Gets to the point where I have all my weight on my big toes yet the board still wont dig it's rail in, which eventually leads to me collapsing into the wave face

Check where your back foot is if it's well back where it should be you shouldn't have any problem on that size board

Practise makes perfect. If your surfing junk waves to keep the fitness over summer always go right especially on close outs. Skate more on your back hand. The penny will drop and soon your back hand will be equal or near as to your forehand. I suppose it just takes a bit of time.

My two cents for what its worth.

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beastsurf said..
Practise makes perfect. If your surfing junk waves to keep the fitness over summer always go right especially on close outs. Skate more on your back hand. The penny will drop and soon your back hand will be equal or near as to your forehand. I suppose it just takes a bit of time.

My two cents for what its worth.

If i skate more on my backhand won't that just enhance my frontside ability since I surf natural and skate goofy?

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PaulyOS said...

beastsurf said..
Practise makes perfect. If your surfing junk waves to keep the fitness over summer always go right especially on close outs. Skate more on your back hand. The penny will drop and soon your back hand will be equal or near as to your forehand. I suppose it just takes a bit of time.

My two cents for what its worth.

If i skate more on my backhand won't that just enhance my frontside ability since I surf natural and skate goofy?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. How about learning to skate switch? And mongo.

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thedrip said..

PaulyOS said...

beastsurf said..
Practise makes perfect. If your surfing junk waves to keep the fitness over summer always go right especially on close outs. Skate more on your back hand. The penny will drop and soon your back hand will be equal or near as to your forehand. I suppose it just takes a bit of time.

My two cents for what its worth.

If i skate more on my backhand won't that just enhance my frontside ability since I surf natural and skate goofy?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. How about learning to skate switch? And mongo.

Yeh i reckon that's the best option drip, I'll learn alot faster skating since I dont need to wait for swell

Pauly , lets talk technique mate.

Back hand surfing requires you to use your shoulders and torso to change direction. The other big factor is you need to look where you want to turn to. A lot of the time if you look where you want to go , then twist your torso and arms your weight will change and you will turn automatically.

Don't start with trying to do a vertical hack, rather surfing parallel to the beach and do little 90 degree turns so you are finishing your turn heading towards the beach.
If your getting stuck up the top doing a gumby floater it could be an indicator that you are holding that bottom turn too long? Dont jam it too hard off the bottom and loose all your speed , massage that first bottom turn a little mate.
Speed is another influential factor. Once you start to get your angles sorted you will be able to start adding more power later on which can actually generate speed if done right.

They are called "snaps" for a reason. This kind of turn should be a fast explosive twisting motion.

Practice makes perfect.

Good question - respect!

While on technique, lift your trailing arm up. It releases your torso and let's you rotate more. You can see this by trying it in your lounge room.

most would kill to be goofy footer , your blessed as most waves are lefts are wa and bali

Most people on their backhand initially have there body position wrong.
On your forehand you are looking where you are going and you tend to open your body up to track the wave watching where you want to go.
On your backhand most newbies have their shoulders and upper body aligned with the board and are looking at the beach, not where the board is going.
You need to turn your shoulders and head about 30-40 degrees (open up) and look where the board will naturally travel if in a straight line trim.
Most people think that this will make you turn into the wave, which it will if you weight the wave side rail too much. As you are looking where you want to go you can manage this rail balance and trim the board as required to track where you want to. To turn then rotate your upper body from this neutral balance position by leading with you forward arm to turn as required.

This link uses pictures and describes it better. I hope this helps
http://purelinesurf.com/dont-be-afraid-of-your-backhand