I was wondering I’ve been studying alittle about the types of rockers and I came across a rocker that was called a 3 stage rocker that was almost flat in the center and had kick in the first 14 inches of the nose and last 14 inches in the tail. It says that it is good for people with a vertical style. The last time I posted about rockers someone said the longer the rocker the longer the turns would be and the shorter the rocker the tighter the turn in the pocket. My style is very vertical.So if this is true would anyone recommend this type of rocker for me? Or is there a down side to this rocker?
In theory, on paper, that 3 stage sounds good. You know how well theory works in the real world
Would depend on outline of your board, thickness flow, fin setup, your style…either front or back foot oriented, phase of the moon…
It’s just generalities, don’t take them word for word.
If all you care about is vert contest surfing, then lotsa rocker is good. Is that all you care about when you go surfing?
Actually I’ve been surfing for 17 years now and love surfing on just about anything. In Hawaii were taught a good surfer is a surfer that can surf on anything. I just want something that surfs to my ability. I also have been doing as much research as possible and when I decide what design is best for me I’m going to attempt to shape my first board. Pretty much just studying and taking notes. Thanks,
Da Cheetah
Cheetah- Do yourself a favor and check out what Steve Colleta has to say about different types of rocker. http://www.naturalcurvesboards.com/html/design.html
-Carl
We’ve been doing lots of R and D on 3-stage rockers and discontinuous rockers. You’re right they definitely go vert; there is no pumping across the face to get speed. More like drop in with a big bottom turn- vert lip hit- free fall back to the trough right back into another bottom turn. Great for linking turns and throwing your tail out. The boards also have an impressive amount of “carry” through soft sections; as if the board had a tugboat motor. No hopping to get through the inside. We’ve been testing only shortboards from 5’3" to 6’1". Not sure if the concept has validity with longer rail llines. We already sent a couple bigger wave versions to southern Mexico and are awaiting further assessment. The difference from standard shortboards is very noticible. Lastly, the templates are quite different. My standard 6’1" runs about 18-1/2" to 18-1/4" wide, but these boards run about 17-3/4" to 18". There has been no trauma due to the narrower template, even the paddle seems to be better. The tails seem to work well with their width slightly MORE than stock. True, the boards look a little odd at first, but they work well…
Combo rockers allow you to exploit each radius of curvature under the board but in its simplest form, imagine a heavily-rockered board with a flat spot located somewhere between your feet…your idealized planning/driving sweet spot. An expert surfer would exploit each rocker feature to its maximum.
The transition between the rear of the flat and the tail rocker would add some extra curvature and create a (secondary?) turning sweet spot (get some drafting tools and draw some curves and integrate flats into them…examine, visualize, learn). Fin configuration/placement, as always, is very critical (fin placement if the most overlooked and underrated aspect of surfboard design and we would all benefit from fully adjustable and stiff fin systems).
Shaping such rocker would not be difficult. I would get an R series blank with natural rocker and simply add some tail kick somewhere between the front and rear fins. The “” blanks are fairly flat behind the front foot but you can make it flatter. The “A” blanks are even flatter.
These things are very subtle to the naked eye up close. I like to put the blank on stands bottom side up and step back about 15-20 feet away and look at the rocker profile carefully and identify the ideal rocker for my intent. If you have a Clark catalog, flip the board over, step far back and hold the drawing up to compare and analyze. I’ll get slammed for this: I dont measure rocker when planning/shaping…I visuallize and let my eyes do the work. I dont care what the rocker measures as long as it looks smooth to my eyes. Most of the time I make smooth medium rockered boards.
The Channel Islands web site has many photos of shortboards with rocker profiles…very useful if your eyes/brain serve you well.
Thanks for the info Meecrafty and all the Swayaholics. Can’t wait to shape my first board! I’m in Japan so it’s really hard to find a room to shape in.(Too small) I might have to rent a parking garage or storage unit which costs an arm and leg.
That’s my only obsticle. Anyway my time will come.
Thanks again,
Da Cheetah
Where in japan? I’m in chiba and have some space you could use…
Yeah, I’m living in Osaka. Actually I used to live in Chiba with my Ex-chick about 8 years ago. I really like it there. I really like the place called Iioka. Only been there once but when Trami was knee high and blown out Iioka was firing perect 3foot barrels and nobody out. I also like surfing Kujukuri near the pier. Thanks for the offer. I would love to get there but, I would have to bring so many tools that would be almost impossible being that I don’t own a car. Keep in touch maybe one day I’ll get there and we could have a surf and a few beers. I still have a few surf friends in Chiba. Like the picture are shaping in your house ?And how long have you been shaping?
Peace from Kansai,
Da Cheetah
Osaka is a little bit too far I guess…but if you happen to come by you’re welcome.
The board on the picture is my third board which is for a friend and we’re kind of working on it together.
mail me anytime at sixftplus@r7.dion.ne.jp
Anyway I had a three staged rocker and I liked it very much so might try them staged rockers on my next board.
Hey Yoshio,
You must be Japanese right? Where did you learn English? And how did you find this site? Pretty interesting!
Peace,
Eddie
I’m am both japanese and swedish, my dad(japanese) asked my mom for a dance at a disco in stockholm, sweden back in the seventies…
But I only own one passport though, a swedish one.
I learnt english in school and by travelling. That was ten years ago when I was chasing good powdersnow to ride in.Then I started to surf and just got into it. Shaped my first board two years ago and now I have four blanks waiting to get shaped.
I had done about a week searchin at yahoo etc under “surfboard shaping,construction” and ran into this site.
Yeah, if you come to chiba let me know.
Anyway did you know that you can surf in sweden? I haven’t surfed there YET!
-Jimmy yoshio shibata.
Sounds pretty cool my bestfriend in Yokohama is half English and half Japanese. He’s a Nova teacher scamming all the chicks. What part of Chiba do you live? My Ex lives in Inagekaigan. How’s shaping coming along? If your parents met in the 70’s we must be about the same age. How did your first board turn out did it rip? I found this site the same way. I baught the adobe illustrator and started designing outlines and rockers. I made 2 new quarter templates this week and I compared them with my sponsers templates looks pretty good. I think the problem is designing a rocker that matches.