An unknown surfer bottom turning about to set up for the end bowl section. Photo: Luke Forgay
It should be easy to understand why the bottom turn is an essential piece of the puzzle that is surfing well. It’s the first real turn you’ll make on most waves, meaning it has the power to set you up for success or failure. Make a smooth bottom turn with power and control and much of what you do on the wave afterward will seem to magically fall into place. But mess up this critical entry into the wave and your ride could be over before it gets started.
I’ve covered other basics of fixing that nosedive, getting the correct hand placement, and creating the correct stance. Now that we have all those basics that will get you into a wave, let’s make sure you can get that bottom turn right. Funny enough, taking inspiration from this goofy little dog is something you’ll want to keep in mind.
Quick analysis: Why you fall when attempting your bottom turn
The majority of beginners will often look like this immediately after catching a wave and completing the pop up:
Even if you think you’re not surfing like this, odds are this is what it looks like to the rest of us. Your body is upright with your legs straight. If you find that you falling flat in the water instead of completing that first turn, you are using your torso instead of your legs. This happens because you are leaning too much with your upper body instead of using your back leg to pivot the board, all while most likely staying erect while trying to turn.
A proper bottom turn simply looks more like this:
When you take off, you want to ride down on the wave to the bottom, keeping your knees bent and your body nice and low. You will:
-Lean forward toward the inside rail of the board.
-Keep your knees bent. A low center of gravity provides better balance
-Compress your body, making yourself as small as you would when getting into a regular squat position (remember that dog!)
-Shift your bodyweight onto your back leg.
-Have your trailing hand nearly touching the water, as if to use it as a pivot point throughout the turn.
-Always look at the section you want to hit with your turn. Keep your eyes on the “target.”
How to practice at home:
1. Create a line on the floor by using masking tape or a rubber band/piece of string. Stand on the line in the correct surf position as it were the center of your board.
-Arms spread out nicely for more balance.
-Torso (chest is facing forward).
-Knees are bent.
2. Put something parallel next to your feet 40–60 cm away from you, or create an “X” with masking tape. Imagine that this is the center of a circle. This item will be the target what you want to reach with your trailing hand during the squat.
3. Compress your body, bend your knees as much as you can and try to reach the spot with your back hand. Shift your hip backward. Put more weight on the back leg/pressure on the toes of your back foot.
4, return to the surf stance as per step 1 and repeat the drill 10 times. While you are in the third position, stay there for 4–5 seconds. Feel your body, check if you have the mobility/flexibility to do this. If you don’t, you can email me for some stretch exercises.
This exercise will help you memorize how deep you have to reach during the bottom turn. Practice this drill in your living room so you commit it to muscle memory. Then just remember the squatting dog when it’s time to do that real bottom turn on a real wave.
Using this simple drill you will ride more waves and have more fun surfing. And that is what matters.
Let me know if this helped you, or what you want me to cover next by emailing me at gershon@boostyoursurf.com.
Yours,
Editor’s Note: You can get more tips for beginning surfers in the author’s bio here, as well as his personal website here.
