Hey guys. I have been riding my high performance fish alot latey (5’11’’ x 19.5 x 2.25) with chined rails and a carbon fiber tail, and I have found that I have alot of trouble riding backside on it. I was surfing yesterday during a 3 foot swell and caught a beaut of a left and tried to dig in for a big backside bottom to top turn and just lost it. I thought I must have not had my footing or something random - but tried it again on the next set and bloody lost it again. The only time I did not have problems was when I would get up on a left, pump down the line a little, and roundhouse back to the lip. Am I the only kook who has trouble riding top-to-bottom backside on his fish or is this something everyone experiences? I would like to consider myself an experienced surfer with 7+ years of surfing, so this is really bothering me!! I tried a friends board the other week, a 6’2’’ thumb tail, and it was very “snappy” - I could link a series of top to bottom turns consistently. What attributes of a surfboard allow for solid backside top-to-bottom surfing? I would appreciate any input to prove to myself that I am not going postal. Thanks for your time
i’m finding out that the backside is difficult too. for me i feel it’s the wide nose that makes it tough.
haven’t ridden mine in anything over thigh high (florida waves have been worse than usual this winter, and i had been injured 3 months), but i feel it might perform better on a wave where you can get things going with a nice bottom turn.
I’ve seen that clip before and i hate to say it (because i’m a fish lover) but it looks like a good surfer using a bad tool for the job… Especially in the first part with such good clean waves.
I also have some “problems” backside with keel fishes. Looks like i have wired my John Mel (Freeline) fish and i enjoy it backside, but i still have some “troubles” off the lip (bottom turns are smooth, and it holds). I think it must have something to do with the fact that you apply your weight in different places of the rail when going backside.
I’ve never understood this. If a surfboard is symetrical, why would it not surf either direction? There is an adustment in feel for any surfboard, including fish. I like surfing my fish backside. Works just fine. But, I’m not trying to throw big backside sprays. Just trying to surf the wave and take what the wave gives. This is true with all my boards. Mike
Ride it flatter over all . and on the edge in the pocket or vert.
Don’t bulldose your turns. And ride it more from a forward position.You can achive this by moving the fin foward.Checkout some old Buttons/Lydell shots back in the 70s
I've never understood this. If a surfboard is symetrical, why would it not surf either direction? There is an adustment in feel for any surfboard, including fish. I like surfing my fish backside. Works just fine. But, I'm not trying to throw big backside sprays. Just trying to surf the wave and take what the wave gives. This is true with all my boards. Mike
The surfer usually puts the heel of his foot close to the stringer, and the ball of his foot is therefore much closer to one rail than the heel is to the other. Therefore he can exert more weight on the frontside rail than on the backside rail.
I think you will find that most of the “backside” troubles can be attributed to a non-centered foot placement.
I also think if you carefully watch videos of top surfers on really hollow waves (like Pipe and Backdoor), they always position the rear foot close to the upwave rail, going frontside or backside, the foot is RIGHT ON TOP OF the rail fin that is most important.
The fish just requires a lot more weight close to the rail than other designs because of the fin lateral resistance and tail width, so it exposes the problem more efficiently.
Its a substantial step forward for a surfer to start positioning his rear foot closer to one rail or the other depending on whether he is going frontside or backside.
Quads are similar to twins…if the tail is “wide”, you need to move your foot between front and backside waves (and some people do it between turns!)
Blakestah is exactly right…its your backfoot placement left/center/right.
If the tail is wider than usual, when you pop up, you gotta force your back foot rearward and BEHIND you in a very awkward fashion, almost popping up from your front leg only…then your heel will be over the wave side rail and the right response will come around. Its night and day, but not easy to do if your board is a bit larger…easier to do on really short ones. HTH
I have to agree… it’s about foot placement. Once I got my first fish wired going backside, I started to notice a big cluster of pressure dings right along the rail where my heel goes… none on the toe rail, only on the heel rail.
From the sound of it I’m going to guess that you’re talking about a shorter, wider performance shortboard with flatter rocker and a baby swallow. Not a keel style retro fish. maybe even three fins. Is that right? If adjusting your back foot placement doesn’t work after several sessions it might be that the tail is too wide for your weight or that the board is too light for you. If your board is a thruster I’d reduce tail width a bit. If it’s a twin you could try increasing the depth of the swallow cut (butt crack).
I’m talking about a retro fish… deep swallow, keel fins, flat and wide. A true Fish. I found that with that kind of width, especially in the tail, you need to move your back foot around. And coming off a shortboard with only one real “sweet spot,” that took a while for me to get used to.