Going Backside with Power

[SUP Sports ®]

if you do your bottom turn with the paddle in the other hand and in front of you rather than behind it will  help you automatically rotate in the correct direction, well thats my thinking and the way i do it

Following your paddle does work...all kinda depends on the wave...and, your style...
Woody cranks backside turns on the 8'10" WD that we built for him as hard as anyone with the paddle trailing...
On hollow or steep waves, I let it trail almost all of the time...it's kinda like a sensor...letting you know where the lip is...;-)

[supuk]

the first shot the paddle i not in the water and the others are going straight down the line. To use the paddle in the turn and get vertical back side it would be almost imposable to get you weight in the right place and if you can't coil up before the turn you will never get a snap at the top as far as i can figure.

[Biggreen]

if you do your bottom turn with the paddle in the other hand and in front of you rather than behind it will  help you automatically rotate in the correct direction, well thats my thinking and the way i do it

I've thought I'd try that. I can see how it would give you that snap you need off the top. And I know I need to be further back.

And great pics, Wardog! Those really help. Now I just need to come see you and surf some of those waves.

[SUP Sports ®]

Ripper Nat Young from Santa Cruz pretty much describes the basic fundamentals as I called it out...
You certainly don't need a paddle to do backside hacks...more important to use your legs...and, you won't be able to do this on a SUP...but, you can try to emulate it...;-)



"A well-timed and powerful backside snap is a thing of pure beauty. While it may not be the flashiest of maneuvers, it's at the foundation of proper power surfing. Here Santa Cruz's Nat Young, a man with one of the strongest backside hacks in the game, unveils the inner workings of his patented turn.

The Bottom Turn
A good bottom turn is a crucial setup turn for any move in surfing, but it's especially important for a backside snap. Without a good bottom turn, you'll never get a solid hack in. It's the line you draw that makes all the difference. If you're looking to do a real straight-up snap, you'll want to draw a deeper bottom turn at a lower point of the wave. This is where it can get a little tricky. You don't want to make a mistake and surf too far out into the trough before you begin your bottom turn because you'll move past the wave's power source. You also don't want to begin your bottom turn mid-face either, or that won't give you enough time to actually get vertical. You've got to find that perfect spot, which seems to be around the bottom third of the wave, to begin your turn. Once you find that point of the wave, you'll instantly feel it as you go into your turn.

Foot Placement
When it comes to a backside snap, I make sure my back foot is in the exact right spot on my board. I like to have my back foot as far back as it can go on the tail pad. Just right there on the kicker. That gives me the most control possible through the turn—from the bottom turn in the beginning to the actual snap itself—and really allows me to get my rail into the wave. A lot of the control you have over your board comes from having your back foot in the right place. For a backside snap, that place is right there on the end of the tail pad.

The Transition
If I'm going for a vertical, straight-up snap, I like to turn my chest towards the oncoming lip to help get my board as vertical as possible as I finish my bottom turn. Once you feel your board connecting with the lip, you can begin your snap. You'll want to make it quick and powerful. This is where a lot of practice comes into play. A solid snap is sort of a balancing act of transitioning the weight off of your back foot and onto your front foot as you go into the top turn. It's not easy to describe that transition, it's kind of like telling someone how to dance, but when you get it right you'll feel it. Once you feel it, just keep repeating it over and over until it becomes second nature.

Bend Your Knees More
If I had to pick one piece of general advice that we haven't gone over, I'd say that conditioning and strengthening your legs is pretty crucial. I've been working on that a lot and I can really feel the difference. The second thing I think is really important is learning how to coil your body off your bottom turn. It's basically a matter of getting really low into your turn—you almost want to have your knees touching your chest—and learning how to explode out of that position.

Connect Your Turns
To me, great backside surfing is all about connecting your turns. As soon as I come out of a backside snap, my eyes are down the line looking at what the wave is offering up next. If it looks like there's a lip forming, I'll go into another snap, or if it looks like the wave is flattening out, I might do a cutback. But it's all about transitioning quickly from one move directly into the other."


Read more at http://www.surfermag.com/instruction/the-backside-snap

[supthecreek]

I'm am not very flexible anymore, so everything is a crap shoot....

Like supuk says, it is easier if the paddle is in the "frontside" hands before starting the backside bottom turn.... unless you are super agile with the paddle, like a pro.

Here is a short video, that captured a "less than vertical" move this summer on my 8'10 Speeed... but it shows the sequence of events.
its very small.... so watch on a big screen

[SUP Sports ®]

Different strokes for different folks...;-)

Chuck Patterson's explanation...

"HOW TO SUP: THE BACKSIDE TURN
With Chuck Patterson
Every day in the ocean is different, and though most of us prefer to ride waves on our frontside (toe side), conditions don't always cooperate. "Sometimes, the waves are perfect to ride backside," explains Hobie team rider Chuck Patterson. And when they are, you'll want a good backside cutback in your arsenal of surf skills. Standup boards are so fast that you can easily outrun the wave. Chuck's tips will help you dial your backside cutback and keep you in the wave's power pocket.

MOVE YOUR FEET. When I initiate a wave on my backside, I like to get my heels close to the rail as I'm dropping into the wave. Standup boards are a lot wider than a regular surfboard, so you need to shift your feet to set the rail. You can slide your feet or take a little step to the center of the board when you cut back to your frontside.

USE YOUR BOTTOM TURN TO TRANSFER YOUR WEIGHT. As I bottom turn on my heel-side rail, I'll lean more into the wave, then come up and hit the lip and quickly transfer my weight to my toe-side rail. It's an awesome feeling to go down to the bottom, then come up and snap a turn all the way around. Suddenly you're looking at the whitewater section in front of you. You can then hit that on your toe side before turning out of the section again on your heel side.

WORK YOUR PADDLE. I like to hold the paddle with my left hand on the top and right hand on bottom. I'm a regular-footer, so that puts my power hand—the one closest to the paddle blade—nearer to the back of the board. That allows me to use the paddle as a rudder, and really snap the turns. As I'm doing the bottom turn on my heel side, I'll lean hard into the wave with the paddle behind my right hip and the blade trailing behind the board or even slightly on the heel side. As I initiate the turn onto my toe side, I'll shift my weight to the strong side while driving that right arm forward. The board pivots around the paddle blade, which will be on the toe side as I execute the cutback. This really helps me initiate the turn and feel the rail carve into the wave.

USE THE POCKET. Every wave is different. Some are steep and roll with no lip. When you're making the bottom turn, you want to be in the pocket or the steeper part of the wave. It's really easy with standup boards to drive down the line with a lot of speed and get way out in front of the section and suddenly it's flat. That's when you want to come off the bottom and carve back into the soup. Again, once you're in the soup you turn back on your heel side and get back in the steeper zone of the wave."

http://www.supthemag.com/how-to-sup/how-to-sup-skills-the-backside-turn/

[Biggreen]

Great stuff! Thanks!