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How to Surfskate: A Beginner’s Guide
This guide provides an excellent start for those who have never tried surfskating. It will teach you the basics of weight shifting to generate momentum without the need to push off like you would on a skateboard. You will also learn to connect smooth turns and position your body for optimal control. These actions are directly applicable to surfing techniques like “bottom turns” or “cutbacks.”
Surfskating offers an on-land method to practice the fluid turns, body control, and balance found in surfing. It utilizes a special surfskate with a front truck that pivots in a manner totally different from a regular skateboard truck. Whether you live miles from the sea or whether the water is static, surfskating allows you to enhance your surfing skills, build leg strength, and refine your timing.
Overview
Begin Surfskating: Finding Your Stance and Balance
Surfskate trucks react to even the slightest changes in your foot placement, making them feel quite distinct from regular skateboard or longboard trucks. Instead of using repeated foot pushes, a single push is all it takes to get moving. After that, all forward movement comes from mastering the surfskate's pumping action.
Your stance is crucial in surfskating. Place your front foot just behind the front truck bolts, angling it slightly forward. Your back foot should rest over the rear truck with toes angled more sideways. Keep your knees bent, your shoulders at ease, and your gaze directed where you want to go. This low, stable position helps you react swiftly to directional shifts.
Mastering the Pumping Technique for Gaining Speed
Differing from standard skateboarding, speed is not gained by pushing with your foot. Instead, you increase momentum by smoothly shifting your weight between your heels and toes.
The surfskating "pumping" motion includes:
- Pressing with your toes and leaning your upper body into the turn.
- Synchronizing the rotation of your shoulders and hips with the board.
- Extending your legs when exiting the turn to drive forward.
Visualize drawing an S-shape on the ground; each curve is an opportunity to gain speed and prepare for the next move.
Nailing Bottom & Top Turns
Essential elements of surfing, Bottom and Top Turns can be uniquely practiced with a surfskate.
The Bottom Turn occurs at a wave's base, redirecting the surfer toward the wave's highest point, known as "The Lip." The Top Turn takes place near the lip, sending the surfer back down the wave.
Successfully linking these turns in a smooth series forms the core of seamless surfing, repeating continuously during a ride and crucial for surfing competency.
Move forward, bend your knees, and carve a deep turn to one side (Bottom Turn). Then elevate into the next curve in the opposite direction (Top Turn). Connecting these two turns creates a fluid pathway that mimics the sensation of riding a real wave.
Stopping Methods for Surfskating
Developing stopping skills tailored to the unique front truck mechanism of the surfskate is necessary. Those accustomed to dragging a foot on a conventional skateboard might be surprised by how surfskate trucks behave.
With their high agility, surfskate trucks allow for effortless carving and sharp turns, necessitating a different strategy for slowing down.
Thankfully, stopping on a surfskate is straightforward. Here are three safe and effective methods:
- Step Off Into a Run – At lower to moderate speeds, step off with your back foot first and jog forward to absorb momentum. Always watch ahead and pick a clear landing spot.
- Grass or Rough Surface Stop – When available, direct your surfskate onto grass or a rough terrain. The added friction will quickly reduce your speed without stressing the trucks or wheels.
- Carve to Reduce Speed – Execute a series of broad, controlled turns to gradually decelerate. This approach is best used when open space surrounds you, and it isn't suitable for immediate stops.
By rehearsing these techniques, you'll enhance your confidence and maintain control of your surfskate at all times. Mastering stopping early in your surfskating journey will allow you to focus on perfecting turns, pumping, and other movements without the anxiety of not knowing how to decelerate.
