whats the 'closest thing to surfing' on land???

[lee kat]

iv'e skated for years and am alrite at it and also have a dogtown longboard with normal sized trucks on it so it carves quicker (witch i can ride as if on a wave with a class style -iv'e been told a few times) 'but' i have never realy surfed and i know i have a calling inside to surf which i have ignored for to long, so.. im lookin for the closest thing to surfing ther is on land so i can practise when im not in the water cos im 25 and dont wana look like a kook out in the water- i wana pick it up as quick as possible.. so what mimik's surfings movements the best??? (thers skateboards with 10 wheels and 6 wheels etc.. but i dont know how a surfboard moves so if anybody has some ideas.. thanks

[Dec]

1st, A virtual wave machine..like a flow rider, or the wave in typhoon lagoon FL.

2nd Skating. I know people think that its nothing like surfing, But i find its pretty close.

3rd Snowboarding. A cool, quick, speedy sport. pretty similar to surfing, but its like riding without fins..and it hurts a lot more when you fall off a snowboard

4th snowboarding with a surfboard. This was an old classic. Grab a busted up surfboard, take the fins off and ride down the slope!!

[Laguna]

Does skateboarding really help? Is it worth getting a beaten u skateboard to practice balance and turns on?

I think the best thing to do when not surfing is to go swimming, surfing is all about finess I think.

[Dec]

Yea..just some old board would help. Balance is a key role in surfing. What type of surfing are you looking to progress to? A shortboard (snappy, quick, and skilled!!) or a longboard (more smooth and elegant)?

Def for the swimming. All about upper boady strength!..also hitting the gym isnt a bad idea!

[tomcat360]

what kinda trucks are you running on your dogtown board?

I'm assuming they are something like indy stage 9s. If you switch them to originals or carve trucks, then it will really feel like surfing if you know where to look. go do some berts on a bank or pool, or ride a ditch.

check out carve trucks website. they have a video with a guy having their trucks mounted on an old surfboard.

[Laguna]

I love to go to the gym when i get time, Shortboarding is more my style so do you think I should pick up a skaeboard to improve surfing? I use to rollerblade for years (agressive skating) and that helped my balance.

[Dec]

yea..just and old busted 1..and practise going real quick on it!!
lol

good luck!

[Laguna]

cool, friend who lives next door skates a lot , so maybe ill ask him.. dont realy want to skate but if it helps then..i will

oh by the way , is an indo board only for longboarding practice? or are they just for practicing balancing which helps for any surfboard?

[Xr3i_alloys]

hmm

wet kat

dont wana look like a kook out in the water-

It sounds like it would be better than looking like a kook out of the water

hiphopdec

4th snowboarding with a surfboard

If you have chance to get in the water thats the best practice of all, if you're bothered about what people think then just go when it's quiet

[tomcat360]

cool, friend who lives next door skates a lot , so maybe ill ask him.. dont realy want to skate but if it helps then..i will

oh by the way , is an indo board only for longboarding practice? or are they just for practicing balancing which helps for any surfboard?

a indo board will help for anything. it really strenghtens your legs. theres a bunch of topics about them, and how to build them.

if you wanna skate to help your surfing, pick up a longboard. or I mean pick up a board that isn't a street board. they dont turn at all, and they really dont feel like surfing. anything works, big ol' pintail, cruiser, slalom board(sweet), just not a board with regular street trucks.

[Brent]

I ride a 38" Bamboo sector nine with R150's and for me it's almost the same as riding a 7ft mini-mal. Really close. The two complement each other nicely.
Never found anything that compares to a shortboard though.

[tomcat360]

I ride a bunch of different things, I'll put them in order.

1.) Shimmini( a shortboard made into a mini)- feels like a really squirrely shortboard

2.) 58" cruiser- feels just like a longboard, well the turns arent as turny on the skateboard, but you can walk it, and nose ride and such. with some different trucks it would ive me the right feeling.

3.) 31" slalom board-this is what I find rides like a shortboard the most. excpet the board is really flexy

4.) 39" downhill board- rides like downhill board

5.) 40" popsicile deck- rides really like a snowboard, especially if you can nail some powerslides.

6.) 44" pintail- gives the longboard turn feeling, but you cant walk it because of its flex.

the rest I have given away or sold, feels like I'm always making another.

a 33" park deck is coming up, and I think a 27" retro mini, plus another 41" pintail for a friend.

[tazman76]

Been riding a board for a year now called smoothstar, in oz. The truck moves side to side horizontally as well as vertical and has springs which provide thrust as u apply pressure with front foot. must say it comes sort of close to surfing and helps with body , arm, hand position. bloody good fun downhill or in skatepark. have website link
www.smoothstar.com.au

[buckthis]

this is actually "surfing" on land
http://www.flowrider.com/

[tazman76]

looks sort of like snowboarding, love to have one in the backyard tho. thing that got me with these skateboards is the way u develop speed like a thruster, by comitting your whole body into turns but falling off sucks(concrete), nearly got taken out by a bus going downhill as well.

[bluesnowcone]

i would say skating in bowls or pools

[CheeZee]

" Wicked link Buckthis ... looks crazy .. i want one in my backyard ..." whos up for helping me build one .. a bit of marine ply , some pond liner and the mutha of all pumps and we're away

p.s ..Indo boards are good for everything ..even if you have no interest in any kind of boarding ..their just bloody good fun and build up calf muscles and your balance ! ... i personally use mine to give me greater stability ...when drunk hehehe

[JonnyT]

get a nice carve orientated board, driftwood skateboards do some good one, or ask at you local skate shop.

[GowerCharger]

i want one of those smoothstar boards! can you get them in the uk?
and do those trucks fit onto a normal longboard or would i have to buy the whole thing?

[tazman76]

Hey gower charger. manly blades in oz sells em online, may be able to ship over to uk, but wouldnt be cheap id imagine. As for single trucks,u can ask and they may sell seperately.
http://www.manlyblades.com.au/default.asp
type in smoothstar in search.