I got this general theory I use to put the sweet spot in the bottom curve- IE.- it's the longest section of the least amount of curviture, between the nose and the tail--is this right or can someone enlighten me??
What a great topic! I think the sweet spot kinda depends on what you want to do there; trim, turn, or maybe both. You’re right about rocker being probably the most important aspect but foil and outline will also contribute. It is combining the those three features along with your fin(s) that will make it work or not.
The flat spot in the rocker will give you a little accelerator and trim dot…step on it and things speed up. But at the same time a little kink in the rocker might dictate where the turning sweet spot is. If the board is short enough, you can work the outline and foil to balance the board right on either of those two spots you will have a design that works well from one position on the board. The longer the board, the harder it is to get the trim and turn spots to fit between your feet.
I can’t wait to hear what other tricks people use to narrow or widen the sweet spot. My boards are notorious for their dime-sized sweet spots. I like them that way but I’m sure no one else would…
Ha! I woke up thinking about the same thing…
My thought was though - some times I have my front foot just a little back of normal, and the board seems to “float” under my feet, i.e., it feels like I barely have to do anything to turn, whip it around as I see fit…
But one of my favorite late 20th century philosophers, Pee Wee Herman, put it, “Every one’s got a big but Simon, let’s talk about your big but right now.”
My big but is, I like to ride longer boards most the time (Feel free to laugh, mock, etc…) 8’ board for waves head high+ - and that “sweet spot” doesn’t work when I need to surf off the front foot, when driving down the line, trying to get under/behind the lip.
In fact, I just added some complex layers of cloth to the bottom of a big gun to work on some of these issues… I let you know how it goes, and should I decide to join this party on a deeper level - I’ll get a camera and share pictures.
I’ll throw this out there again - I use a kick in the rocker @ 25% of length from tail which helps put that pivot point between my feet. But as Lee pointed out, and as I eluded to in the previous paragraph, it gets harder to combine aspects and get a larger yet functional sweet spot on a longer board… depending on what you want to do with it.
Side lesson - even on the 8’er… sucking reef (4’-6’ @ 7"-9") shoulder-head high take offs = different sweet drop spot than needed on the first decent little swell (8’-10’ @ 14") yesterday… Only took three overhead body slams in the pit, and one late sideways under the lip, to convince myself I need to move back a little and stay a little lower on the take offs… Hopefully I can remember that this afternoon… Ha!
Hi leev , the question should have been " how to locate your sweet spot on a finished board, for the purpose of fin set-up " . If a fin-box is used,sometimes its routed in at full depth,to the curve of the tail , altering the rake of the fin. Same with glass-on - the rake is determined by angle of the fin base . I take string line or straight edge through the flatest section of the bottom to set the fin.........just not sure if it's always the best way to do it !