Cutbacks

[Peakysurf]

Hey guys
So I'm basically having trouble doing any genral turns surfing, without over balancing and falling off.
There has been occasional times that I've done critical turns, but I can't figure what I do diffrantly to actully ride out of them and not look like a kook.
But 90% of the time i Lose the weight over my board and fall off.
I'm trying to focus on cutting back just to get one turn down.
I've read stuff like "look where you are going" Which when I do I am able to completly change my direction on the wave, but usally overbalance and fall of. And the occasional times when I dont, I can never cutback to the top of the wave, i can only ever cutback into the flats, in which I lose all my speed.
I have identified That my problem with all my turns, is that I over balance, and lose my center weight on my board.
How can I correct this, and also when I cut back, how Do I get to the top of the wave So I don't lose speed?
The photo is of me just starting to turn into a cutback As soon as i turned, i had fell of in that particular photo.

Thanks guys:)

[jaffa1949]

A good start would be to make your turns at the rear of you short board with your back foot putting side pressure from over the fins. The way you are standing wide and forward can only allow you to turn by leaning, rail bogs you fall . This was a problem in your bottom turns and follow through when you try to turn for a cut back without speed.
As was said before stop trying to do top turns or stRong cutbacks yet.
Others will chime in! I suggest just catching the wave making a small turn to get to the face, practice weighting and unweighting between your front foot and back.
Front foot accelerator for drive across the face back foot weight slowing but putting pressure to lay in a slight turn swap th pressure to allow a change to the other side and turning the other way. Complete a turn put front pressure on to regain speed. Do not just lean! Small turns increase size of turns as you feel comfortable and capable.
Occasionally hit any manoeuvre hard just to see what happens! Experiment, but do it where you won't destroy anyone else.
Have fun

[oldmansurfer]

I agree it looks like you are too forward on your board. It's more difficult to make hard turns from a forward position. When I learned to do a cutback I first learned to do a fadeback which is a hard turn off the top of the wave that ends up going back toward the breaking part of the wave slightly instead of completely as in a cutback. I think the progression of learning turns should be first the bottom turn. It's the most important turn you do and helps to set up whatever else you do. Then just a hard top turn not necessarily a fadeback and then maybe a cutback. If you can turn off the top well enough it will slow you down so you don't need to do a cutback but you need a good bottom turn to set that up. It's hard to tell much from that picture other than you look too far forward on the board but one of things I do with hard cutbacks is to crouch down as I start to turn. This sets up for the turn back to the direction the wave is breaking as I extend out of the cutback into a turn back to the normal direction but a low center of gravity helps too. It's not so much about leaning but balancing as you change direction. Ultimately you are leaning but not so much in relation to your board. Any leaning beyond staying in balance over your board is to set up the next motion so you lean in the direction you want to go next. Maybe it might be better to not think about leaning. but definitely work on your bottom turn if you haven't become proficient at that first then you might understand the leaning thing. However maybe it is just because you are too far forward on your board.

[dtc]

from waikikichan's blog

http://alohaki.jugem.jp/?eid=604

http://alohaki.jugem.jp/?eid=530

http://alohaki.jugem.jp/?eid=587

[waikikikichan]

Which when I do I am able to completly change my direction on the wave, but usally overbalance and fall off.

In addition to the advice already given, if you can "completely change direction", then you need to change AGAIN. If you don't turn back, somethings got to give, momentum to hold you up, the rail catching an edge, the wave slapping you in the back, etc. So learn to Turn ..... then Turn again immediately. Don't look or wait, just turn and turn again. Inside rail, outside rail, back to the inside rail.

[Namu]

Speed is important too, unless the wave has decent power you will need to generate some speed with your bottom turn or by pumping before going in for a sharp carving top turn, if you lean too hard without speed you will fall off the board, or stall the board, instead of turning up or down the face of the wave. Like others have said work on your bottom turn first, then your top turn, once you can link your bottom and top turns, then you can work on a cutback/comeback out of your top turn.

[Namu]

If you are having problems in general with your turns, this is a good video, remember to setup your sharp carving turns by building up some speed first. When the waves are small like in your photo, a longboard is a great tool to practice the fundamentals of surfing as it gives you more opportunities to catch waves and they are easier less likely to bog down and stall.

[oldmansurfer]

That is very interesting that people will be surfing for 10 years and can't carve a turn. What? I would have never thought that. OMG that is just unimaginable to me. Just amazing.

[Peakysurf]

Thanks guys, Alright so as for being furthur back on my board, would I have my back foot up against the back of my tail pad, say for a cutback, or is that to far back?

Also at what point is the right time to put weight on my front foot again, and how do I do this without digging the nose of my board in, every time I have tried to put front foot pressure down, this has happend, Do I need to find a amount of pressure to execute the turn with speed without falling or is there an alternate way that I am doing incorrectly? Thanks guys:)

[jaffa1949]

Your answer is how long is a piece of string. The pressure in turns is what you need to apply to make them. pressure on the back foot at either side of the stringer will drive the tail of the board into the wave and your front foot has enough contact to control and guide the board as you wish. As you approach the point where you want the board to be you begin to release the back foot pressure and start to transfer weight to the front foot. The balance here is between to two feet to ensure you don' bog the nose or the outside rail.
As I said before do it by gradual increments , little turns well control and then gradually make them bigger.
You will know you are starting to get it right when each turn adds a little more speed to your surfing.

[oldmansurfer]

You can experiment a bit but generally over the fins is about right. I seem to be able to carve with my foot just in front of the fins but I weight 210 pounds so I can apply a lot of pressure but it is easier further back. I can go further in front on a hard bottom turn because gravity helps but I rather have my foot more back so I don't need to change position between the bottom turn and the second turn. Generally when you are in the second half of the turn you apply pressure to the front foot depending on what type of turn you want to do. If you want to carve it is all about shifting weight (and speed). For a cutback you need pressure on both feet but more on the back then as you come out of the turn more on the front and then leaning toward where you want to go and unweighting into the next turn. It's so complex. You takeoff and want to have weight on your front foot to get down the wave then as you get to the bottom the weight goes more to the back foot and then you lean but you also change the angle of the board so your weight is over the top of it and rotate your upper body to get ready for the next turn while leaning extra in the direction you want the board to go. I don't even know if thinking about it helps at all. For me it was all about the feeling of it. I learned by trial and error remembering how it felt when things went well. You can always do a less powerful cutback by leaning less and angling your ankles more. I think I start the turn with my ankles then drop down to weight into the turn and set the rail and let the speed carry me through the turn. I used to surf a single fin board long ago and when I did cutbacks I could just lay down a lean and the board would slash through the water deeply. Now when I try to do that I end up doing a different kind of turn where the board pops out of the water losing the edge and goes flat on the water and my butt goes into the water and I kind manage to scoot the board in a big arc to where it is under me and facing toward the breaking wave. My friends ask me what do you call that turn? LOL Anyway so now I try to make a conscious effort to set the rail at the beginning of the turn and that seems to work. I don't think there is time to think about much when you are surfing. The time to do it is before you surf. Go over in your mind what you want to do then hopefully when you surf you will do that. It is really difficult to sit here and tell you what to do to fix a problem surfing when we just have a still picture of you surfing. Even with a gopro video unless it is someone on the beach taking a video of you it is difficult to tell what is the problem but better than a still picture.