Cutback practice

[gsseirik]

Got some photos of a cutback that I made on sunday. I was wondering if you guys could break it down for me and see if you can give me any pointers for improvement. I pumped ahead of the pocket and thought it would be a good spot to get back and catch up with the pocket again. Not sure if it is in the right part of the wave..looks like I do it in the 2/3 of the top, instead of at the top of the face. I really appreciate the feedback I got on my previous post about cutbacks, but it is still so hard to think ahead of a breaking wave.

[oldmansurfer]

Looks good to me. Were you able to continue riding the wave? If so then seems like the right part of the wave to do it. Lots of the instructional stuff I see on cutbacks say to start from midface which is where you start but I usually do them from a bottom turn......not sure why it's just the way I surf. When I do cutbacks there is always the question do I hit the whitewater or turn before it? For me that choice depends on the speed of my board and the speed of the wave. If my board is much faster than the wave I will likely hit the whitewater for a full roundhouse but if the wave is zooming along rapidly or my board is going too slow I will just do as you did and turn back so it's almost like 2 cutbacks. The big turn to change directions and the small turn to change back. So did it feel good? I think to me that is what matters most from any turn I do surfing.

[gsseirik]

Thanks for the reply oldmansurfer:-) I rode the wave for a while before I noticed I was too far ahead, and I got back and rode it further, so I guess it felt like a good decision. Sounds awesome with the full roundhouse:-) I got the habit from snowboarding that I wanna do cool tricks, but I am starting to understand that many of the maneuvers in surfing really has important purposes too.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah because the wave is changing you need to always take that into account. On that wave in that spot there are probably a large number of different maneuvers that could be done that would slow down your progress to allow the wave to catch up. I would probably try to do as many top turns as I could on a wave like that (because I am working on those currently) and there are a variety of top turns to choose from as well as a variety of cutbacks. Good surfers read the waves well and know what maneuvers to do and when to do them. I think Carissa Moore is extremely good at that. I get lucky sometimes but mostly I plug along trying to learn how to best dance with the wave in front of me.

[gsseirik]

I only managed to do one cutback on each wave..And in one of the cubacks I didn't go as far back as in the example above. But there where lots of possibilities for more, I just couldn't discover them fast enough. In top turns, do you mean like snaps etc.? I will look into videos of Carissa Moore. Thanks again!

[oldmansurfer]

Yes there are great variations in top turns, snap, carve, bust the fins loose, off the lip, carve back (which is like a cutback only not quite a cutback), speed turn, just a plain top turn, layback drop wallet, floater, foam climb and probably a lot more variations. You will likely learn a bunch, maybe even make up your own turns. When I was longboarding I learned to do a stall to floater top turn where I turned up to the top of a wave right where it was slowing down and tunred so the board was pointing straight along the lip down the line. The board stalled and the wave broke under the board drawing the nose down onto or under the whitewater, then I just went along with it down and at the bottom the board came out from the whitewater and I made a bottom turn. I first did it by accident. When I was shortboarding long ago I also invented a turn just by accident. That is the great thing about surfing, you don't need to follow a script just do what you enjoy because you aren't surfing for anyone else's satisfaction. It's a selfish pleasure.

[gsseirik]

Wow! Thats a lot of variations;-) Sounds nice with the new turns you learned! I guess its a bit long between each time I get to surf good waves to practice on, and when it's finally on I get a little bit too careful not to fall.

[waikikikichan]

Beautiful cutback. I think it is what it is. You did what you felt should be done at the moment. Could you have gone higher up the face ? Yes, but that results as you going down further and the lips closing in faster. Could you have done a white water rebound ? Well, again, you did what you thought was best in the moment. Carve, Snap, Layback, Round house, Turn down, all those moves to choose from.

What concerns me is photo 1 and photo 2. Look at the back hand in photo 1, little less than chest high. Then in photo 2 the hand DROPS down to waist level. Then in photo 3 it swings forward ( 4 and 5 is very nice as the hand comes across the chest ).

I think you can add more torque and turn if you let the back hand drive through starting from further back.
1) Grab a ball and hold it against your waist band ( ball facing forward ). Toss it forward from there. It goes what ever far.
2) Hold the ball out like giving an apple to your teacher. Toss it from that position. Doesn't go far at all.
3) Bring the hand all the way back, then toss forward. Ball flies way further.

[gsseirik]

Thanks a lot for the feedback waikikikichan, it means a lot to me! My hands sometimes go low and towards the ground because my mind tells me: "don't fall, don't fall", haha. Almost the same as I do if im walking on shallow slippery reef with currents. So if I understand this correctly I should raise the backhand a bit prior to pic 4 and 5? Should I also turn the backhand a little bit towards my rightside or behind my back ("let the back hand drive through starting from further back."), or will it make me loose balance and fall on my back? When I pump I usually try to make almost like paddling strokes with my backhand.

[waikikikichan]

So if I understand this correctly I should raise the backhand a bit prior to pic 4 and 5?

Height and position of the hand/arm is nice in 4 and 5. It's the forward movement needs to be started from way further back. BUT don't swing up and down ( like bowling ) , swing counter clockwise around the pivot of your bodyline down thru the deck.

Should I also turn the backhand a little bit towards my rightside or behind my back ("let the back hand drive through starting from further back."), or will it make me loose balance and fall on my back?

Even actions done "right" but at the "wrong" time will end up awkward. You got a good basic technique that works. Just start adding a bit more back arm starting from further back. ( you can also have the front hand palm face up to the sky ( like a waiter carrying a food tray ) instead of facing down to the surface like it is currently. )

[waikikikichan]

When I pump I usually try to make almost like paddling strokes with my backhand.

Oh no, flash backs of Martin Potter. Check out this video starting a 0:38, now that's paddling of the back hand !

Some great cutbacks too where you can see how involved the back arm is.

[gsseirik]

Okay, great! What will the front hand palm facing upwards contribute to? The Potter clip was cool:-)

[waikikikichan]

Okay, great! What will the front hand palm facing upwards contribute to?

Opening up the chest and rotating the front shoulder back into the turn. Then later aids in bringing back the board around when you roll back to the inside rail.