Surf feet placement on fast waves and wide boards?

[clay]

Hi all,

I had a revelation or maybe confirmation of how I can surf wider boards in walled/hollow faster waves where I either need to take a high line or "pump" my way through the sections.  This is the first winter I made the switch to SUP and so I learn something almost every session, first session I was scared to take a high line and concerned the board would catch a rail and I'd do a nasty over the bars wipeout.  Today on a few walled fast waves I put both feet on the rail completely off/far out from where the stringer would be and doing this help me pump or take a higher line and make the faster waves.  Hopefully this explanation makes sense, if not see the photos.  The prone photo shows where my feet would normally be - stringer is pretty much under the middle of my feet and my feet stay there for the whole ride, and in the SUP photo you can see my heels are outside of the handle when pumping.

Curious if anyone else does this (or something else?), or if it's well known SUP technique, or only big guys with wide boards do or need to do this?

FYI here are the videos that these stills were grabbed from:
Prone -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SPHrZvMh68

SUP -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjirQ4zs0mk

[UKRiverSurfers]

Sometimes on my 14 foot boards, overheard I'm literally standing on the rail.. Get enough weight digging the rail in and you can take of on virt drops

[PonoBill]

Yup, standard for wide boards. I run all over the place on my board, and both feet on the rail is how I go left.  Rights I tend to keep my front foot more or less on the striger but my back foot is right over the rail so I can lean back and put a lot of turn (for me) on that big board.

[SUP Sports ®]

What PB said...don't get "stuck foot"...move around and do what's necessary...;-)

Every wave will dictate what actually needs to be done to ride it the best within the constraints of your wave riding implement...and, of course your ability...

Front side, I usually wrap the toes on my back foot over the pad and keep my front foot straddled over the stringer...back side I'm usually weighting the inside rail...

Also, I have designed a pad with geometric cutouts that allow me to use them as an index for locating my foot position without looking down...;-)

[surfcowboy]

I offer this as an answer.

[clay]

I offer this as an answer.

Yes this photo looks exactly like the foot placement I am referring to (front foot closer to the rail), do you know what this photo is from or if there is a video?  I would love to see the full sequence or higher res.


Appreciating this discussion, thanks for the posts.  Seems like for the most part when surfing front side our back foot is on the rail and our front foot is on the "stringer".
This video shows the usual stance when barrel riding a narrow relatively low volume SUP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCSQXO4Dses

I am still looking for a video where the front foot is also on the rail...

[surfcowboy]

That pic is from Instagram, follow Kala Alexander. But I'd say that his front foot is pretty far over the rail to my eye. Definitely toes over the edge of the pad. Look at the DaHui Backdoor shootout footage. That might even be where that's from.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SUP Sports ®]

OK...since we are talking pro technique...;-)
I just quickly looked thru a couple of hundred pics that I've taken of pro level paddle surfers ripping and I think that it's safe to say that most of the time going front side, their feet are on the center line...also, most of the time going backside, or cutting back, they move their feet to the inside rail...my personal experience is similar...

[covesurfer]

I found a few shots, going backside down the line and initiating a cutback. Regular surfing, my feet are more over the stringer, because with the narrower board, a lot of rail pressure isn't really required.

On the wide standup, (and that's a 9'2 JL Stun Gun, which is wide at 30.25") going backside, I see I use my front foot to pressure the rail as I go left; when I cutback, it looks like I unweight the front foot and initiate the turn with my rear foot, which would also slow the board down a bit to time the wave. I find it interesting to look at pictures because if you asked me what I did, I'd have no clue.

[clay]

Very cool and helpful to see the photos, thanks for posting.  I wonder if people that are learning to surf today have an easy time with all this slow motion gopro footage to review?

Here is a video that hopefully illustrates the type of stance I am talking about, quite a bit forward on the board with both feet closer to the rail than the center of the board and a more relaxed narrow stance.  At 1:05 he does what looks to my eyes to be a very stylish pump, on most wide SUPs this cannot be done from the stringer and that's why he is more on the rail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfiWLRKMs3k

I grabbed the above clip from this highlight video of the Back Door shootout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqC0qy5U2Gg


My boards are 32 wide and I have noticed I need to get my toes even closer to the rail.

[clay]

Stills from the above videos:

[SUP Sports ®]

For me it's more a function of weighting the inside rail and standing on the accelerator on a steeper wave...a couple pics below I have my toes well off of the pad and starting to wrap the rail...

I grew up surfing in the single fin days and that is how you learned how to tube ride...forward and on the rail dropping in and setting it up...wide points were well forward and that is where you drove those boards from...

Some waves dictate a more centered approach along the stringer line so the you can quickly go rail to rail...pumping and climbing and dropping...regardless, I think that you need to resist getting "stuck foot" and move around on the board as the wave necessitates to optimize speed, maneuverability, and control...

[clay]

For me it's more a function of weighting the inside rail and standing on the accelerator on a steeper wave...a couple pics below I have my toes well off of the pad and starting to wrap the rail...

I grew up surfing in the single fin days and that is how you learned how to tube ride...forward and on the rail dropping in and setting it up...wide points were well forward and that is where you drove those boards from...

Some waves dictate a more centered approach along the stringer line so the you can quickly go rail to rail...pumping and climbing and dropping...regardless, I think that you need to resist getting "stuck foot" and move around on the board as the wave necessitates to optimize speed, maneuverability, and control...

I hear what you are saying, and agree that moving around on the board is good to get in sync with the wave and have more control.

[clay]

The past couple sessions I have been doing my best to be aware of my feet placement and experiment with different distances from the rail.  It's made a really noticeable difference in my SUP surfing, I have made sections I wouldn't have in the past and feel way more confident racing walls and angling on later take offs.  Trying to foot position like the pros I always felt kooky clunky and awkward and every turn felt like a huge undertaking that I had muscle my way through.  I feel stoked and that I have had a huge personal Aha! moment, I'm excited to try SUP surfing in all conditions and re-learn breaks I have yet to SUP on.  A whole new frontier for me and I am loving it