Before you get started doing this anywhere you MUST BE A GOOD SWIMMER!!!
Don't go far out from shore or out on very windy days where you could get blown out to sea.
It could happen! If you are a beginner don't go alone.
Make sure to go where there are Lifeguards.
Basic Foot Placements for Performance Stand Up Paddle Surfing
This tip is geared toward taking your surfing to a point where you can rip turns, set up tubes, and basically start ripping on a SUP board.
Over the past few years, I never thought much about where or how I was placing my feet. After surfing for so long, you just get used to moving around until you "FEEL" the sweet spot of any board. Once you feel it , you tend to jump right back into that spot. If you want to turn harder or more vertical, you automatically find a sweet spot to do it. You remember it, and every time you want to blast the same type of turn, you get back into the spot. ALL BY FEEL. It wasn't until I watched some Go Pro footage that I really saw how much I moved my feet around, especially my rear foot on these wide boards with wide tails.
I was actually surprised by the movements needed to get these wide boards ripping. You cannot just stand in one spot like you can on a short board. In order to really take your surfing to the next level, getting your toes and heels on the rail is essential. I have put together some visuals to show how much foot movement is needed if you want to do some performance surfing...
Frontside:
Starting off simple... Here's Kepa leaning into the wall and ready to drive for speed. The wave is standing up and is gonna peel quickly down the line. His back foot is solidly placed on the rail over the forward fin. This is a typical sweet spot on boards for driving down the line... From here, he can lay his weight into a solid bottom turn OR just fly down the line. Notice his forward foot is in a center position. More than likely, his back foot will move many times from opposing rails on this wave. His forward foot will move only half as much, and not as drastically from rail to rail.
Below is a closer view of putting that back foot onto the sweet spot for down the line speed and pumping the board... This pic is actually mid-pump down the line. The back foot is on the rail and front foot center... By having your front foot close to center you can just move your back foot to carve around. This is the typical foot placement in waves where you'll be doing a lot of re-directing turns.
When cutting back, and when you want to put some power into the turn, your back foot will go over the other rail and forward fin. Get your heel into that turn.
If the wave is really fast or if you need to commit to a line on a hollow wave, then your forward foot can get closer to that inside rail. This allows you to keep that wide board tight on the steep face. The goal is for the board to hold a good line on the steep face. By placing your forward foot closer to the rail, you cannot make huge, radical turns. In the tube, you just need to steer well instead of gouging a big turn...
Backside:
Backside is a little different because of the way your heels are connected to the rest of your body. Your weight is mainly over your heels so use it to your advantage! It's basically a reverse of frontside if the waves are slow and mushy. Place your back heel on the rail until you need to cutback, then place the toes of your back foot on the inside rail. When the waves get steeper, this is where people tend to have a hard time.
Check out Tom Carroll below driving down the line... Heels on the rail. This is where you want your feet if you are: driving your board across any backside section that has any kind of steepness to it, or you are trying to gain or control speed...
Below, Ikaika just trying to make this drop so he can set up the tube. Heels on the rail so he can leverage his body into the turn...
This is the ONLY way to ride a fast, steep backside sections. You need to get that wide board rail to stick nice and solid in the face. You can still steer nicely from this position...
Ekolu both heels on the inside rail.
Ikaika again tucked up tight. All his weight is being distributed from the extreme inside rail... Like I said, you can steer nicely from here. Maybe not a big snap turn but a slight forward foot adjustment back to center will allow for steering when needed...
The Goal with all this:
Surfing by feel is the main goal. You can't be looking down all the time at where your feet are. When you feel your board rip a turn you will know. It will feel great! That's when you look down and see where you are standing. Next wave, do your best to get right back into that spot. Do it over and over again until you never have to look again.
Surfing by feel is what most long time surfers do. Most seasoned surfers never look down at where they are standing. Even Ikaika Kalama was surprised when he saw how far his heels were on the rail at Pipe. He never looks at his feet so he never knew until the pictures surfaced... This is where you want to be.
One more pic... This is on my 12 Gun/Ripper. I rarely stand this far back on it unless the wave at that very moment calls for it, and by feel this is what was needed... Always strive to surf your board to its full potential by FEEL.
