How do you get to a wave?
I'm having a lot of trouble getting out to waves. I don't know what it is i'm doing wrong. It might be that when I wanna get on to my board, i kinda have to throw it 2-3 meters in front of me and then slide onto it in a way.
Does anybody have any tips on how i can out faster and further?
learn a one step drop, learn to pump, learn to sideslip. those should help you get to the wave!
if you're cool with me I'm cool with you. if u don't like me...idc, I'm just gonna keep skimming
are you confident your board is the right size for you?Originally Posted by jrizz171
running as fast as you can and dropping the board smoothly, getting on back foot first as quickly as you can, stabilizing the board as quickly as you can so you don't bog in a wheelie or dig too much nose in the water and lose tons of speed, and so you can pop it sideways sooner, perfectly balanced, timing your turn just right on the face of the wave with speed...
...all the stuff i can't do either....
Where is the best place for me to learn those things? I know what they are and what they look like, but i would just need instructions so that I could know how to do it correctly..
Also, go at high tide and where the beach is steep. That's what I do and what most people on here do too.
J Gordon Skimboards - Owner
[Remember: your front foot is your gas and back foot is your brake.]
(speed = float)
well to lean a one step i would practice on flatland to get it down. pumping just run into the water and basically jump forward with your board and u usually pump on choppy days. sideslipping works best in glassy conditions, for that i would run as the water is coming toward you drop the board and center your weight over bored and obvious turn it sideways as far as you can. when you get to the wave reposition your feet to how you like them and turn on the wave
if you're cool with me I'm cool with you. if u don't like me...idc, I'm just gonna keep skimming
practice wherever you skim. I picked up the one-step at aliso pretty damn fast because if I didn't, I'd have kept getting my ass handed to me.
I would aspire to be me if I wasn't already
Ive found out that is extremely important the way you transfer your running energy to the board. Get reallyyyyy comfortable w the one-step to the point that u can run at full blast and transition that same energy onto the board (youll feel it) then transition from sand to water is like a mini-ollie, then pump or sideslip. Ull get really far
.... The way u throw/drop the board plays a really important part in transfering the running energy, get comfortable w that as well
so sideslipping is just turning your board sideways until you get out to the waves, correct? what is pumping? is it the same as longboarding, or is that what ive seen on youtube when the front of the board goes up and down?
Pumping is when you make the front of the board go up and down. People who do it says it works...... I just don't see it working when people do it going out to the wave. It does works good when coming in and trying to say in the wave though. I like side slipping myself.
J Gordon Skimboards - Owner
[Remember: your front foot is your gas and back foot is your brake.]
(speed = float)
and is the one step a technical thing or is it just self explanatory and I'll get it with practice? I realize I kind of hi jacked this thread, but, I was having some of the same questions.
Practice it.
For most it's best to have your back foot up from the tail when side-slipping and right before you get to the wave straighten out the board and step back on the tail where the wedge is. The reason side-slipping works is because the water is not going down the rocker but across the flat middle part of the board. Rocker sucks the board down, which slows it down too. But on the other hand a board will not work without rocker for lots of reasons.
J Gordon Skimboards - Owner
[Remember: your front foot is your gas and back foot is your brake.]
(speed = float)
This how I teach people how to one step (regular stance): As you step with your right foot, drop the board in front of you. Your left foot should hit the sand the same time the board does. Then your right foot should "run" onto the back of board followed by your left. You want to work at transferring all of your inertia forward and not down, you want to run, not jump, onto the board.
And on a side note for water drops, you want to drop the board when the wave is coming up the slope, not down. When it is pushing up the slope it also pushes your board up, allowing for a smoother drop and more speed. But if the water is receding the board sinks a bit and you go slower..
TO: the thread hijacker,
Search you tube for skimboard tutorials. I found a couple of really good ones that explained the one step. I'm sorry i cant recall what ones off the top of my head but this is probably only my 4th week into skimming and I watched a couple over and over again paying attention to the feet.
Whats been working for me is to drop the board in front of me as my back foot is pushing me forward then the board hits the water as im pushing forward with my front foot then I step onto the board back foot first as part of my natural stride. I confess it's one of those much easier on paper situations but when I can nail it I get pretty decent skims. I just keep practicing.
It seems to be all about being comfortable with your actions. When youre comfy your actions will be smoother at least thats the case for me but everyones different so the one piece of advise I got from everyone here is most importantly do whats comfortable for you.
Also my usual skim spot has lots of sticks and stuff so I bought a pair of speedo aqua shoes and it's helped me alot. I can now focus on me and my actions as opposed to watching out to not step on debris. I plan to ditch the shoes once i'm better at skimming but for now this is working out for me.
As for the one-step drop, I set aside one day where I went down the beach from the rest of the skimmers. I started out at a walking pace, then moved up to a jog, then a slow run and then, finally, a normal run. It took me one day to get comfortable enough with it so the next session I was heading towards the waves using it. I can tell you that learning the one-step helped my skimming immeasurably.
As for the technical side of it (I'm goofy foot, btw) I run with my left hand on the tail of the board while my right hand is on the right rail. When I drop the board, I lower the nose down first, then when that's about 1/3 of the way down, then I throw the tail down and slightly forward (like I'm mad at the board) so that they both hit the sand at the same time. Then I put my Back Foot on First (BFF) as far back as I can towards the tail-kick then 'walk' my front foot on. When I hit the water, I make sure to have the majority of my weight on my back foot, lightening all my weight off of my front foot. Once I made the transition to the water, I move my back foot towards the middle of the board, turn it sideways (facing the wave) and squat down. Once at the wave, I put my back foot where it was at the tail-pad and stand back up.
Hope that helps.
"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope." - George Burns
Rub the bottom of the board with cheetah blood.
Keep your foot on the traction an tail pads.
Last edited by T o m m y; 08-19-2012 at 06:45 PM. Reason: cuz
10 years old
4'10
Own a Zap fish swallowtail
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