Forehand v's backhand in retros and other boards...

General Discussion
1

Now i should start off by saying im not the local hot ripper on a shortboard, fish or longboard but my forehand surfing on retro boards is leaps and bounds above my backhand surfing.

So much so that on a fish and most single fins i have, i rarely go right… only if im the only one around with a perfect bowling right coming through.

Well some waves i seem to get it together on a twin keel backhand but more regularly forehand.

I know it might be a lot in my surfing/bending knees and using my waist but its also the boards im riding.

When riding certain thrusters i never paid much attention to, i could smack the lip and carve alright, even easier to get speed or tuberide, one was a six channel hot stuff that really flies backhand.

But twin keels and most single fins seem a lot harder to surf backhand, even just down the line unless the wave is just a wall.

So im curious what are the aspects of the designs that make boards easier to surf backhand and forehand.

Is a narrower board easier to surf backhand?

Is it the size of the fins?

Width of the tail?

Im also thinking if the next board i shape could be isometric.

I could have one forehand side similar to a fish with a pin of swallow and a semi wide tail sticking out but the other side goes into a thumbtail or something for carving(?).

The “going left” inside rail has an 8" keel with a slight toe in…or maybe two smaller fins

the other side im unsure of how to design…However it would be designed to go well on my backhand (rights) or cutting back forehand.

good for bottom turn speed,drive, carves and tuberiding.a bit of easy control so maybe a pulled in nose.

Im usure of whether the fins could be more toed in to make bottom turns more responsive…

I wouldnt mind any advice on anything about ideas and experience with backhand vs’s forehand elements in boards…

what makes them easier to surf and what is it that makes them harder to control or gain speed.

It seems backhand on a fish you dont have that flex of the feet that your forehand has, so you need to flex your knees a lot more through turns.

Also it seems i surf better backhand if im further back on the board, but could this be whats affecting my drive or speed after cutting back?

2

Being an intermediate, who mostly rides a twin keel, i hear you BIG time haha. I do go right ( im a goofy ), but i mostly nurse it all the way. Sometimes, on a rare occasion, i just switch my mind off and lean right over my front foot into the bottom turn, then come back to my back foot to fly up the face, and if im lucky, and time it right, i throw myself over the rail ( not the one in the wave face ), and absolutely fly down and into another bottom turn. I think a lot of it is letting go in your head, and just throwing your weight over the rail, but it is MUCH easier said than done. My limited experience of thrusters taught me that you can turn them on your backhand much easier, almost at will, not that im any good at riding them.

P.S with a 3’’ trailing fin in my TK, i can surf better on my backhand, but my forehand is too stiff, so i never use it anymore.

Hope this helps, but in any case i know how you feel.

3

what you want is big as in overhead fat peeling waves that break for ages and you can do thirty top to bottom turns

then youll be sweet

small waves are waste of time

what you want is fall out of the lip on the peak

crank that turn from behind the whitewater and throw it vert into the pocket

doesnt matter what your riding as long as its stable through turns and can catch a wave that head and half faces

when the surfs crankin i could be on a 61 or 76 doenst matter

othere then that 76 catches em better

fish and qauds are suspect in these sort of wave imo

i think quads are ok if the trailers are not right out on the rail

but twinnies are pretty drab

4

Cheers beerfan .

Paul, actually it seemson the size i need a bit of power to surf alright aswell.Not huge just quality. I grew up only surfing good days, not going out in onshores or just finding somewhere offshore and out of the wind.

Just like quality more than anything else but cant surf slop for anything…So cant really surf it well and surf much worse haha.

Hopefully ill get used to my fish backhand and more consistant on a few rights im heading to in a few weeks (and lefts).

By the way i wanted to post in your other thread on under the…, i just couldnt. :?

5

im a kook, and im a natural and have discovered recently that a more forward facing body position has improved my backhand surfing quite a bit, alot due to being able to actually see the wave much better(enabling better wave positioning) but also i think with a more foward body stance turning either way initiates my turn from centre as opposed to turning from allready facing to my righthand side.

dont know maybe its all in my head, but even so i feel much better :).All started when i had roys board and tried that duke styled stance with it on a lefthand point.now im like a broken record reporting the forward body position findings.

6

well i perfer carve skating on my bacakhand

its alot easier

i had a habit of pulling turns to tight on a carving section

you can only pull them tight if there is a lip

if its a wall its better to do a full rail turn

skating bowls really does help with backhand surfing

though i think at an intermediate level forehand may actually inhibit it

7

I have the same problems backhand too on a fish, to some extent. I tend to try to avoid left breaks because of this, but have been riding a few lately and find that I can make it work, but I certainly ride differently backside. One thing I’ve notice with regards to the “theory of pitch” is I ride more nose down on my backside compared to my frontside. If anyone have any explanation for this (foot placement?) I’d appreciate it.

regards,

Håvard

8

fish need speed to work a hard bottom turn on sizey waves

you take a high line with weight forward and get your speed first

then you can turn off the bottom

if your too slow or the waves to small you will find it hard to get the rail to release to vert

small waves that are closeing out are hard because you cant get time for highline trim speed

and once again in solid surf you would be better on a thruster of griffin setup

the centre fin gives you more reliabilty

this is important in heavy waves cuz if you stuff up a few times then your rythym can go out of whack

grip can help a lot on a fish

when i surf fish my back foot is almost over the pins

often it slides right off the back

if you got a kicker pad at the but crack your laughing

9

one thing to look out for is turning your foot pointed forward on your backhand. try keeping your toes more pointed towards the rail with your foot across the board. just try it at home and see how much difference it makes to your weight placement as you bend… let us know how you get on

10

good advice !

11

Now that 2 years has passed since the thread was first posted has anyone else riding min-simmons noticed how easy they are to ride backhand compared to a twin keel fish…or maybe I just got lucky with mine?

12

Pete, my short keel eggy thing is great backhand. In steep drops, no probs backhand. I think its because its so damn short, and has big arse keels that lock it it, and also the pulled in tail. I also have much better luck ( than the above fish ) turning it on my backhand, although im still trying to nut it out completely, and its also 4x44 instead of 6x66. Many variables i suppose, but the main thing is its better on the backhand all around.

 

I also now find that really crouching/compressing off the bottom helps my backhand turns, especially when i surf my midlength as a single fin. Just need to remember to do it!!!.

13

 

It is your natural instinct to fight deep backward leans and sudden backward movements.  To ride backside well, you have to override your instinctive balance/reflexes.

If you want to significantly improve backside 180 cutbacks/re-entries and improve your surfing overall, hop on one of these when Mother Sea goes flat: