Surfing Waves

Hi, all. I'm 5'8" tall and about 150 pounds (not sure that's relevant for the question I'm posing...). I'm on an 8'6" board and wondering about the proper position for my rear foot. The board has a 2+1 setup. I understand I need the foot back pretty far if I'm going to try big carving turns, rather than small, trimming adjustments, but how far back? On top of the two smaller fins? Further than that? And it seems like if I try to pop up with the foot that far back, I'll stall out and miss the wave. So, do I scoot the foot back just after the pop up? Wait until I'm about to initiate the turn? Would love any tips. Thanks!

FozzyD wrote: I understand I need the foot back pretty far if I'm going to try big carving turns, rather than small, trimming adjustments, but how far back?

How far back is your foot currently? Maybe it's far back enough.

I think 4 to 6 inches in front of the two smaller fins.

How do you know your foot is 4 to 6 inches in front of the sidebites ?

BTW,

1) How are your Bottom Turns ?

2) Do you have a traction pad on your board ?

I know because I put the board on the ground, lay down next to it with my head where I know it’s always positioned and popped up, then looked at my feet. I live four hours from the nearest wave (landlocked and surf obsessed) so I couldn’t go catch a wave and look at my feet. No traction pad. Seems I’m burying rail a bit on bottom turns.

FozzyD wrote:I know because I put the board on the ground, lay down next to it with my head where I know it’s always positioned and popped up, then looked at my feet. I live four hours from the nearest wave (landlocked and surf obsessed) so I couldn’t go catch a wave and look at my feet. No traction pad. Seems I’m burying rail a bit on bottom turns.

- When you take off, your board will not be flat horizontal and the momentum/gravity will be pulling it down the wave. If you push up proficiently, you can "land" further back ( or forward or to the side ). Land practice doesn't truly translate to real world conditions.

- A traction pad will help you to "Feel" where your foot lands. You can't go by looking, you got to go by feel.

- You are burying your rail because you are trying to turn from the middle of the board ( and catching an edge ). You need to pivot and angle off the fins / tail.

This ^ is good advice. I transitioned from short boards to longboards last year - and was doing the same thing: burying rail on sharper turns - and had to learn how to shuffle my feet - moving up and down on the board, etc... Personally, my feet always felt further back on the board than the actually were. I bought a traction pad and it fixed the problem within a few weeks. Lost some style points - didn't look that cool - but after I had developed the muscle memory to get my foot further back and know it was in the right place because of the traction pad - I took it off. This translated to my other boards as well and helped my surfing a lot, FWIW.