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8ft Longboard foot placement
Hello,
Recently my local beach with the best long boarding waves closed due to a sewage leak into the ocean. Gross, I know.
As a result I had to downsize from a 9’6 board to an 8’0 because the other beaches in my area have much steeper waves and the 9’6 was feeling unmanageable. The 8’0 has been a great adjustment in the steep waves and forcing me to learn at an accelerated rate compared to the mushier waves.
Here is my question, is foot placement the same for both 8’0 and 9’6 boards after you pop up? I am putting my front foot on the center of the board when I pop up which worked fine on the 9’6. However, on the 8’0 my front foot in the middle of the board “feels” too far back. I start to lose speed and sometimes lose the wave.
If I bring my front foot towards the front third of the board my speed is good but it feels like I am way to spread out with my feet and really awkward.
Any thoughts or advise is appreciated.
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3 Replies
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2095
1,101
Greetings!
So the tendency to move (relatively) forward on the surfboard when someone downsizes is completely normal.
This is what I call a survival stance and there will be a video on this.
When we are a little slower with our paddle speed we have more doubt over whether or not we are catching the waves
When we have less stability we have questions over whether or not we will stick the pop-up
These questions take up mental space that would otherwise be used for thinking about our stance or subsequent manoeuvres
You’re right though, you do still want to have your front foot on the midpoint with your hips forward…my guess is that when you’re landing on this board with your front foot in the middle your hips are neutral but it’s hard to be certain without seeing any video.
A couple of videos for you to check out are:
Brian’s videos on the Foundational Stance
Trimming and carving in the white water
Carve to the beach
and the highly anticipated Intermediate Longboard Stance which will be dropping very soon!I hope this helps!
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2095
1,101
The first is the survival stance, beginners and people getting used to small boards tend to be here
(It does, however, have it’s uses for barrel riding)The second is an ideal for trimming (and ideal for the Foundational Stance)
The third is where you want to be for carving!
If you’re in the second stance and you feel like you’re stalling it is either because your hips are not forward (weight is not in front foot)
OR because you’re unable to get your weight in your front foot (unable to get hips forward) because your stance is too wide
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1
Thank you for your response!
I am definitely in the survival stance on the 8’0. As a result my ability to have any nuance with my hips is impaired. Now that you have pointed it out it is very clear.
So I guess the question that now comes to mind is…if things are feeling a bit shaky, how do I achieve the foundational stance?
My guess is to keep PRACTICING!
Like I mentioned above, the waves at the new beach I have been going to are much steeper than the previous long boarding beach I had become accustomed to. So I have a feeling that is adding to the learning curve.
All good though. You guys have helped tremendously and I am making good progress.
I will keep putting the time in and see how it develops.
Thank you again for your help!
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