I know asymmetric boards are meant to improve your frontside riding, but does it also help with your backside as well? How much does it improve backside compared to frontside?
I surf in mostly left-handed point breaks and I’m a regular foot, and was wondering if getting an asymmetric board would accelerate my backside surfing progress.
The original thought behind asymmetric board design, was to improve backside performance. Make it easier. This from discussions with Carl Ekstrom in 1962, when he became interested in the concept, after exposure to an Aussie design called ‘‘The Hooktail’’, or just plain Hook. So yes, backside turns/cutbacks MAY become easier to execute. A better plan,IMO, is to work on improving your backside skills. Seek out right breaks. Go to work.
Just my opinion, but I think the assymetric board should be designed for the direction you want to surf. They work great for going frontside, and loosening up the cutbacks. Not so sure how I’d design a assym for riding mostly backside, but it would be a little different. I don’t really think you’d need to loosen up the board for making your cut backs backside, and I dn’t know if the longer rail on the frontide helps much. I always found that you get so much more power in your top turns when riding backside that you don’t need to mess with the outline. I’d work on getting a stronger back footed style, that’s important for riding backside, and try to get a lower stance when you turn.
My thinking is based on growing up riding a left while being primarily a regular foot. Like a lot of my peers, we all learned to switch foot and ride facing the wave more than riding backside. Even the goofy foot guys will go right switchfoot. I’ll even ride switch foot and go backside every now and then to change things up. That’s probably my weakest stance, but it’s fun to do things different. One thing about riding backside is those huge vertical off the lip turns are way easier than doing them frontside.
This is the spot I grew up at. My family used to have beach houses along this stretch of beach. Kekoa Bacalso is the son of one of my childhood friends and a third generation surfer here. His dad used to rip this place up in the '70s. The key to riding like this is having your backfoot solidly planted and pivoting off that focal point. These guys are all local pros, so they are better than the average surfer, but a lot of the kids that grew up surfing here are just as good, or were when we were younger.
Take a finely tuned board and fins and add 1/8" more tail rocker to your backside .
Thats all you need :-)
Very few have felt a board and its fins working together as good as it can be .
Only this slight change might enhance that .