Most surfers are aware that the bottom turn is the most important manoeuvre in surfing. It’s the foundation of all good surfing and is often the move that gives you the speed and drive for the whole wave. If you get it right then you maximise your chances of having a great wave. Get it wrong and ….. well, you know the rest.
So our next drill is to try to get your bottom turns perfect every time.
Check out the video below.
As you can see from both of the slo-mo clips the surfer drops to the bottom of the wave, crouches low, compresses his body and gets his body close to the wave to the point where he almost catches his knees on the wave face.
Now it’s all well and good me saying “do w,x and y and you can achieve z” but that can be a lot to think about in the short time that it takes to do a bottom turn. An easier thing to remember is to ‘touch’ the wave face with your trailing hand as you perform the bottom turn. Just the action of touching the water will force you to get lower to your surfboard and maintain a low centre of gravity. It will also make you turn harder and faster which will send you back towards the lip of the wave on a more vertical trajectory and give your surfing a more dynamic look.
Try this out next time you go surfing and let us know how it works for you.
