Aloha,
When learning and performing a drop knee turn, what kind of influence does the dimension of the tail and/or fin type have? I currently ride a Collin McPhillips noserider with a Squirrel tail. When compared to traditional noseriders the tail dimensions on the Collin McPhillips board are more performance oriented and I wonder if that makes the drop knee a bit more difficult. Any ideas?
Maui, I think the rail shape is more inportant than the tail shape. 50/50 rails make for easier drop knee turns than the modern performance hard rail. I could not make my hard railed longboard do drop knee turns. But with my thick, heavy 50/50 railer it is a piece of cake. The 50/50 rails allow the board to roll into the water. The dkt is a pivot turn, so it needs to be performed from the tail of the board. I find with my fin set right back at the tail and the tip protuding past the tail works best for me. Hope this is of some help. platty.
Mahalo for the tip Platty. Based on your tip, I plan to pick up a Nuuhiwa in the next couple of days. Thanks a lot bro!
I agree with platty 100%…You can learn/do drop knee turns with any kind of tail.
Dropknee cutbacks and turns can be done on any style longboard.
The lighter and shorter in length of the board, the easier to pull off. Your McPhiillips should be a lot easier to bust a clean dropknee cutback than a 10’0 double 10 oz. cooperfish tanker. If you can pull a stylish dropknee, it looks good and is functional on any size board. Definitely a must have maneuver for true longboarders.
I’ll give 100% credit to a rider with a clean dropknee turn over one with a weak hang five anyday.
Yo Sidestreet,
I was wondering if you had any tips on how to approach the drop knee? Many times when I drop my knee and transfer my weight onto the ball of my back foot (with the back foot on the inside of the stringer), the board seems to stall rather than turn smoothly. Initially I wondered if the tail shape had anything to do with it. Ooops, just inexperience I guess. Appreciate your comments.
Yo Sidestreet,
I was wondering if you had any tips on how to approach the drop knee? Many times when I drop my knee and transfer my weight onto the ball of my back foot (with the back foot on the inside of the stringer), the board seems to stall rather than turn smoothly. Initially I wondered if the tail shape had anything to do with it. Ooops, just inexperience I guess. Appreciate your comments.
Maui-
I think it’s a matter of sudden weight transfer from forward trim position to your back foot. Like a sudden redirection. Platty mentioned it was a pivot turn, and I agree that a mean dropknee works on weight transfer to the back foot, which makes the board to whip around.
I try to place my back foot over the tail block and use my front foot as kind of a ‘counter balance’ on cutbacks. It’s tough for a lot of people to balance themselves when suddenly leaning back on their back foot. I try to use my front arm and try to reach backward toward the wave and direction I’m cutting back, and it makes my body adjust too. Then afterwards, you have to worry about turning off of the bottom, and not dropkneeing yourself off of the wave…
You can also try a standing dropknee on wave entry (like a backside bottom turn off of a fade), and try getting up while transferring your weight to your back foot. I’m not very good at explaining these things, but if you watch it done enough by a surfer who has got it down, it’ll be a matter of time before you start grinding a few clean ones of your own.
I picked up this Japanese surf mag, Nalu, here in Honolulu, and it had a bunch of stepwise photos on how to do dropknee turns and cutbacks using Kevin Connelly as an example. Very descriptive sequences. It would be neat to see those in Western longboard mags.
I think tails and rails always affect the surfing properties, but the technique, as usual, is way more important.
Anyone have any other suggestions? Whew.
Tyler Hatzikian = dropknee cutback turn, among others
"You can also try a standing dropknee on wave entry (like a backside bottom turn off of a fade), and try getting up while transferring your weight to your back foot. I’m not very good at explaining these things, but if you watch it done enough by a surfer who has got it down, it’ll be a matter of time before you start grinding a few clean ones of your own. "
Maui, Sidestreet, That is the exact way I taught myself to do drop knee turns. I find it is easier to concentrate on each part of a manouver and get it to a point where you can do it with out having to think about it. Then move on to the next stage incorporating what you have allready lernt.
This a reply I wrote to a post on the Realsurf fourm in Australia. http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/
“MTM, you are right, Ray Gleave is doing a drop knee turn. And yes a dkt is a good example of a pivot turn. The only way to do a cutback on an old school board at speed, is a dkt. If you just lean into a cutback on an old mal you will end up having a swim. Unless you are going slowly and want to change direction. Some people do a different form of dkt. They bring their front foot back behind their back foot to do the turn. You have the right board to start doing them on in the Wegener. It is not an easy process to try and explain. Basically you start the turn in the same spot on the wave as you would a regular cutback. Your back foot needs to be over the fin and parallel to the stringer and slightly to the side of the board in which intend to turn. (Natural footer left of stringer. goofy to the right) As you start to turn, drop your back knee and shift your weight backward. Now, throw your arms into the air above your head. This makes you look cool. It also helps you to balance through the turn. At this stage the tail should be buried and the board pivoting. When you think you are ready to start to turn back toward the shoulder, shift your weight forward, your back leg will straighten and turn the board toward the section ahead. Try and have the white water breaking over the back of the board as you are doing this, as it will counter balance your weight as you head for the nose.” Hope this all makes sence.platty.