Are You Compressing Enough?

[outcast]

STC got it
And as far as "just for style..."   To consciously give up compression....To let it all hang out.....to sacrifice the boost that you would get with compression is the sole domain of the "Soul Arch"...I was playing with that on the snowboard too, but haven't played with the paddle enough to figure where it would go....I guess a behind the back two-handed grab?

[The Kernel]

Yes....What a great post.  Compressing is something I need to focus on; for the most part I've just been steering by shifting my feet.  That would explain why I haven't been carving for sh**.

I presume that if compression and unweighting is done properly, this is the ticket to spraying massive buckets of water on a turn?  My neighbor Tommy Lloy is known for his turns; He and I were walking back to the car after a session at Salt Creek one day and a friend of his said he had been watching from the cliff.  He commented, "At first I didn't know who it was out there, then I was saw the spray coming off the turns and I know there's only one guy around here who turns like that--Tommy Lloy." 

Here's a link of Tommy surfing small waves in Oceanside, CA that shows some basic (for him) turns that appear to be the effects of proper compression:



So here I am with this guy who can be recognized from a distance just by his turning, while I had only a vague clue how the compression played into it.  Tommy's turns throw so much water that it looks like a spraying fire hose while MY turns spew about the same amount of spray as the dropped last remnants of a cocktail.

Now I'm paying much more attention to his compression/uncoiling, trying to figure this thing out.  I think someone posted a comment a while back that talked about how we THINK we are compressing (i.e. bending knees, etc.) when in reality it is nowhere near as much as it should be (i.e. we're often closer to standing FULLY UPRIGHT!).  A video shot of them showed how lame their compression was, and they then realized they had to bend MUCH more to get their body caught up with their image of what they THOUGHT they were doing.   

[stoneaxe]

Shit....I always think I'm doing better than the reality. 1st time I saw video of what I had thought was a great wave all I could think was ....Well that sucks.

[supthecreek]

Tommy Lloy is doing his compressions in those waves in little "flicks" that are easy to miss when watching casuallly.

In reality, he was constantly doing mini compressions and flicking out a speed turn to make a section.... so smooth that it looked like he was just gliding along.

Here are some screen grabs to isolate some of his many compressions and extensions, the speed he generates is more obvious when seen in  freeze frame

The compression does not have to be a big move.... just a slight ankle flick can work wonders.

[The Kernel]

Tommy Lloy is doing his compressions in those waves in little "flicks" that are easy to miss when watching casuallly.

In reality, he was constantly doing mini compressions and flicking out a speed turn to make a section.... so smooth that it looked like he was just gliding along.

Here are some screen grabs to isolate some of his many compressions and extensions, the speed he generates is more obvious when seen in  freeze frame

The compression does not have to be a big move.... just a slight ankle flick can work wonders.

There is definitely a very refined subtlety to Tommy's moves.   I guess this is what we all know as the case of a pro making it look easy, and without analysis like STC posted, it's easy to miss the learning points.