How to Bottom Turn
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The ability to master the bottom turn is fundamental in becoming an accomplished surfer. It's the first turn on the wave, and the move that sets you up for those impressive maneuvers that throw out loads of spray. Here we'll show you how to do a bottom turn. Pay attention, and stop falling off as soon as you reach the bottom of the wave after you've dropped in!
There are two types of bottom turns, the frontside and backside bottom turn. You are trying to accomplish the same thing regardless of whether you're surfing frontside or backside. The key is to hold onto your speed and generate a smooth, powerful transition with your turn. The smoother the better! This is a move that you'll use every time you ride a wave, and each time you set yourself up for a maneuver.
Here's how to do your first bottom turn when you've just caught a wave.
Foot placement:
- Keep your feet centered along the stringer
- Don't place your rear foot too far back
Weight Distribution:
- Keep a low centre of gravity, crouch, bend your knees
- With your legs crouched, you'll be able to extend them through the turn and power through the turn
- Try to distribute your weight evenly over your board
- Too much weight on your back foot and you'll risk losing control of the turn, or you'll stall the surfboard and lose your speed.
Try to keep your speed up as much as you can throughout the maneuver. Once you start making the turn, keep the same smooth line right the way through to maximise speed.
Frontside Bottom Turn
Catch a frontside wave and ride down to the bottom of the wave, where the water starts to go flat. Make sure your foot placement and weight distribution are as described above. To start making the turn, lean forward and place your weight onto your toes. Take care not to drag your toes in the water. Turn your shoulders into the wave and focus on where you want to go.
Get the rail of your surfboard into the water, and you'll start to turn. Keep your knees bent and drive off the bottom of the wave, use your speed through the transition. Push with your back foot as you come off the bottom, extend all the way through your turn.
Backside Bottom Turn
Catch a backside wave and ride down the face of the wave to the flats. As with the frontside turn, keep you weight distribution and foot placement as described above. Start making the turn by leaning back a little, putting weight on your heels. Make sure you've got your knees nicely bent, and turn your head round to look over your leading shoulder, back into the wave. Follow this with a turn of your shoulders.
Get the rail into the water and start turning back into the wave. Put your weight onto your back foot and turn the board smoothly and powerfully.
Surfing Bottom Turns
That's how to make a bottom turn! You'll know you've made a great bottom turn by the buckets of spray you'll throw out from the next top turn you make.
Types of Turns
You have to judge the type of turn to make depending on the wave. If it's a big wave and there is a section of whitewater in front of you, you'll need a big drawn out arc bottom turn. If the wave is peeling off ahead fast and walling up, but you're in danger of not making it to the shoulder, then you'll hardly need a bottom turn at all. (and certainly won't need to turn on the flats)
If it's a small wave and you want to hit the lip quite close to your take off point, then you need to do a sharp arc bottom turn. This turn will take you out into the flats far enough to allow you to hit the lip more square on, and be able to really lean into it to throw some spray.
As with anything you want improve on, get plenty of practice. Concentrate on keeping up the speed, and really commit to the turn.
It there are any terms that you don't understand in this article, take a look at the surfing dictionary.
Want some advice on any problem you are having with your bottom turns, head over to our surfing lessons forum and post a question there.
That makes things easier to understand. I kept getting to the bottom and falling straight off. It looks like I have to crouch down, so I will try this the next time I go out. Thanks for taking the time to write this guide.
Nice aclrite Brian, stoked to see you trying all different forms of surfing. One correction I'd like to make however is the name Mark instead of Mike Cunningham. A true legend and all around waterman and activist, Mark spearheads the coalition to Keep Country Country movement to stop development in the north shore of Oahu.Also one more legend to know in body surfing is Mike Stewart, bodyboarding god, who can do 360 belly spins with no board and has won many Pipeline bodysurfing championships. Aloha
sure this has been posted to the right article?
These kind of tips help us, the newbies, do it easier. Thanks for this guide.
Excellent Guide for us beginners aiming to get beyond soon.I just got a new Super Fish II & am ready to try some turns on it on some mellow sized waves.Keep up the great work guys/gals!
good
nicely done m9
I'm putting my weight all on my front foot cause I'm always wanting to go faster. Then when I go to do a backside bottom turn my board sinks into the wave, I lose all my speed ant that's it. damn
Hi there! I saw almost all videos on youtube how to do perfect bottom turn and I have some books. It is all there but it is difficult to practise that in the water. We skate with my brother also and now we got smoothstar surf skate. It is wicked! We saw it on asp in Portugal. It turns like surfboard!! What I like is you can do 50 x bottom turns in the row if you want in 5 minutes. In the water it is impossible! Then you can do what they say in all books. It is the same thing but on smoothstar you have the time to feel what you are doing, how to push of the board so you get more speed out of the turn and do it again and again. When we skate we film each other so we can see mistakes we do with shoulders, arms and back knee. I was convinced I do it all correctly till I saw myself on mobile lol I didn't go enough low and had always squared knee position. Lower you get in the bottom turn more speed you generate going out. Back knee should be always forward.
Smoothstar is also great to understand that pumping without rising the nose which slows you down in the water. With normal skate you can somehow pump but you have to rise the nose of the skate and in the water it doesn't work best. You have to go rail to rail and that feeling of "twisting body" and pushing of the edge you can't do on normal skateboard.
I watched a bunch of videos and noticed that on a front side bottom turn most pros who carry the speed have their leading hand placed on their *hip*(about to draw a gun like a cowboy)
so i went out and tried to just keep that leading hand on the *heel side* of my rail. Some how it keeps all your body weight centered above the stringer & you can dig that rail without putting to much pressure & bogging the rail.
Worked for me. I was able to really carry the speed & get into more powerful cutbacks, setup floaters & race around the whitewash when your behind it
check it out give it a ripp i reckon its the ticket
Ever since i started surfing i always thought that you need to use your front foot to go up to the lip and then after reading this i went out at snapper on my new dhd 5,6 fish and found it easier to hit the lip. Cheers
What exactly is meant by a "low center of gravity"?
low centre of gravity is to crouch
on the video, which is the front side turn and which is the backside turn? i dont know which is which, thanks
Frontside is when you face the wave. Have look at the picture at the top of the page - this shows a frontside bottom turn.
i think bottom turn is look like a biiig pumping to the lip, isnt
Is there a way to practice leaning and balance that is similar to riding at home? Unfortunately Virginia Beach never had waves and only getting to surf decent size waves maybe 2 or 3 times a month isn't enough fun or practice for me