Surfing Waves

I was watching some longboarding videos and noticed that when folks are going down the line, they seem to keep the majority of their foot print more towards the rail that's closest to the wave face (instead of just leaning into their toes as I thought would be the case.)

Should I be doing this when I try and go down the line and then shift back to center or to the opposite rail for a turn the opposite direction?

Their feet weren't right at the rail or anything, just clearly off center. See picture.

On any board, but particularly a longboard, you should be moving your feet around all the time. Sometimes moving them closer to the inner rail is useful. There is no set rule, just try and see how it feels for you.

Here's a fun video of some great longboarding. I like it because he is combining a lot of different styles together... and definitely moving his feet all around the board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPbiVjwa1Dk

I think foot placement depends on what you are doing. To do hard turns you need to move way back on the board and for a fast breaking wave you weight the inside rail so that foot placement would be for a goofy footer going left on a fast breaking wave but not turning hard. If you were going right on a fast breaking wave the foot placement would be on the other side of the board. If you are just cruising along a slow breaking wave then foot placement would be more in the middle of the board. But foot placement also varies from person to person. I notice some people have one foot on each side of the board and some only move their front foot from one side to the other and the back foot stays in the middle.

When just cruising down the line on my longboard, I get the best glide when my feet are 2/3 forward.

That‘s not what I imagined you look like Please wear board shorts!

I also notice that when nose riding the front foot is in the middle and the rear foot is on the inside rail

Honestly, if you are good enough to surf with fins off the stringer then go for it, but I am going to stick to walking the plank along the stringer and leaning hard on bigger waves.

If it helps, I do grab the rail on step waves, it is not for show but to actually get the board to dig in the wave face so you can slide out to the shoulder.