Finding the sweet spot

[NYVikesGuy]

So I recently bought my first real board. Started surfing earlier this summer, and bought a cheap soft top. Didn't take long to want something better, so I just picked up a used longboard. Absolutely loving it in the early going, but I feel like I'm struggling to find the sweet spot; that is, the right spot lengthwise on the board. It feels like the back end is dragging, or the front is too low. I can't seem to find that right point.

Any tips on how to get the best balance there?

Thanks!

[Rickyroughneck]

So I recently bought my first real board. Started surfing earlier this summer, and bought a cheap soft top. Didn't take long to want something better, so I just picked up a used longboard. Absolutely loving it in the early going, but I feel like I'm struggling to find the sweet spot; that is, the right spot lengthwise on the board. It feels like the back end is dragging, or the front is too low. I can't seem to find that right point.

Any tips on how to get the best balance there?

Thanks!

Your observation is correct, the sweet spot changes depending on what the wave is doing/ where you are. I am usually too far forward on the board, so I often bog the rail, but as a solution I pop up with my feet in a wide stance to give the control for the bottom turn, and then move wherever I need to be afterwards.

Try popping up into a slightly wider stance to give a bit more control

[longboarder]

If you mean when on your feet then Rickyroughneck is right - the sweet spot changes.

However if you are trying to find the sweet spot for paddling the best way is to play in the white water. Catch a few waves and experiment with your position. The right position will have you coasting effortlessly in to the beach. When you find this position - mark it! This is your sweet spot.

[Rickyroughneck]

If you mean when on your feet then Rickyroughneck is right - the sweet spot changes.

However if you are trying to find the sweet spot for paddling the best way is to play in the white water. Catch a few waves and experiment with your position. The right position will have you coasting effortlessly in to the beach. When you find this position - mark it! This is your sweet spot.

Whoops I think I misinterpreted the question lol

[NYVikesGuy]

Thanks for the info. That helps. I'm headed to the beach next weekend, so I'll give it a try.

Rick, wrong question but good answer and info. I appreciate it.

[Rickyroughneck]

Thanks for the info. That helps. I'm headed to the beach next weekend, so I'll give it a try.

Rick, wrong question but good answer and info. I appreciate it.

One thing I do notice, is that I find it is better to be too far back than too far forward when paddling out. It is preferable to be more conservative and err on the side of caution because when the nose goes under the drag is huge.

That said, I do surf often in very choppy conditions, if the water is calm then it will be more important to get your positioning right as you can paddle a lot faster when the positioning is right (nose a little out of the water).

[Roy Stewart]

Most longboards are designed specifically NOT to have a sweet spot... it's the lack of a sweet spot which makes it necessary to walk up and down the board to turn and trim.

By definition a sweet spot is a place where one can turn and trim simultaneously... if one has to go to different places on the board to do each function then there is no sweet spot.

Lack of a sweet spot is the scourge which has infected mainstream longboarding for half a century.. making a virtue of a design mistake is how it all started.

Here's a longboard with a true sweet spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_FAR6-AKK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxLlb_gK8bI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRQiDuROlkQ&feature=related

And another... even though this one is 13 feet long it has a true sweet spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MwFGrCW-Aw

[jaffa1949]

Roy, what is the current asking price of the Earl in each of its incarnations?

[Roy Stewart]

Roy, what is the current asking price of the Earl in each of its incarnations?

Hi Jaffa,

The question is off topic, and I'm not sure what you mean by "each of its incarnations" ( The Earl is a 10'6" in the Future Primitive series ) but the Earl's price is US$496,000.

[Rickyroughneck]

Roy, what is the current asking price of the Earl in each of its incarnations?

Hi Jaffa,

The question is off topic, and I'm not sure what you mean by "each of its incarnations" ( The Earl is a 10'6" in the Future Primitive series ) but the Earl's price is US$496,000.

Ask how he came up with it

[Roy Stewart]

Off topic, talk about it somewhere else

[jaffa1949]

Thanks Roy, I can't fault your personal choice in wave craft but I do agree to disagree with you about about your thoughts on modern longboards. As in the end it is all about choice,especially when you have surfed long enough to know your own mind.
Your choice is beautiful hand crafted valuable functional pieces no doubt about that.
My choice different directions and positions on the wave as I see suits me.
May be the young ones are brainwashed and I certainly won't be brainwash or spun dried enough to spend that amount of cash on a surfboard.
I still disagree with on turtle rolls as well but still plan to sip tea with sometime when I get to New Zealand.
PS I hope the Rena oil spill in the bay hasn't upset things too much.

[Roy Stewart]

All good Jaffa, I'm loking forward to it.

Regarding the rolling under it will depend somewhat upon the board shape of course but I'm sure you'll agree that the full arm/leg wrap is inviting disaster every time on several fronts.

Regarding price to some people that's the equivalent of buying a meal in terms of disposable income.

[jaffa1949]

Yep Roy, not rapped in the arms and legs wrap,definite invitation to end up as flotsam usually without a harmonic sweet spot rather subscribing to chaos theory, and if you will pardon the pun part of a manglebrot set on the shore. Also posting this on a turtle roll thread nearby( funny we called them eskimo rolls)
Cheers.