Becoming a SUP surfer - Basic foot placement / How to video

So in this SUP boarder video we're going to be carrying on with our Becoming a SUP Surfer series and we're going to be looking at basic foot placement on a wave. Where you should be standing to trim your board and do manoeuvres with your board and what happens if you stand in the wrong place when you want to do certain things. So other videos that are worth watching alongside of this if you haven't checked out our paddling and surf stance video definitely check that one out and also you can check out an older video which we've done called Riding Along a Wave which will also help go alongside this video. I'll put a link in the video up here. So you're catching waves now you're riding in surf stance and you're probably starting to ride along the wave. Now there might be some times when you ride along a wave and it's all perfect and there might be some times where you ride along a wave and you just fall off for no reason at all. Now most of the time that is to do with board trimming or where your feet are on the board. Now what board you use there is a place you have to stand to get the manoeuvrability and trim and turn your board. Basically the mid part of the board if you're in surf stance or you're surfing off the mid part of the board it's very easy for trimming along the wave face keeps a nice amount of rail in the water gives you a nice amount of grip and also makes it quite fast in quite a lot of speed because the board is using the flattest part of the board. Obviously you've got rocker you've got nose rocker up the front which is bend part of the board and with a lot of hard shape boards you've got tail rocker or tail kick. Ice ups haven't generally got so much tail kick but it's still very important to understand moving your feet forward and back to use the rocker line. Let me give you an example I'm left foot forward so I'm regular so my left foot might be up around here I've just caught the wave and my back foot maybe just back here just pretty much the same sort of place where we're practicing when we're paddling our surf stance in flat water. If I turn along the wave and sometimes it might feel fine sometimes I might feel a bit stumbly and sometimes I might even fall over my toe side edge of the board or fall towards where I'm turning. Now if that's happening to you the chances are probably the thing is you're not trimming your board far back enough so you're too far forward on the board remember the more the forward section of the board is more for generating speed and going along the wave and if I want to turn chances are I've got to get my weight further back to initiate the fins and the smaller rail shape that's at the back of the board to help the turn. So if you're starting to learn to do maneuvers and learn to do turns and maybe going up and down the wave you remember if you want to turn the board you need to be further back and if you want to trim the board for speed you need to be further towards the middle. Now it's not really something you're going to have to worry about making sure you're in the right place because the board will pretty much tell you if you're in the wrong or right place because it'll either be smooth and almost seamless and effortless then you're in the right place but if it feels very sort of off balance and maybe you're leaning a lot of weight on your paddle to try and stay upright chances are you're probably turning off the wrong part of the board and you're too far forward. The same again if you're standing right at the back of the board on the wave the whole time you'll find that you'll stall the board the board will end up pushing the tail in the water and you won't really move very fast on the wave and the wave may even just overtake you as you go towards the beach so it's just as important to trim up near the front or the mid part of the board for when you're just going along the wave and it's really important for moving your body weight back a little bit when you want to trim and start to turn your board on the wave. So when it comes to moving your footwork on a board forward and back it's actually easier to do this when you're on a wave and moving faster than if you are doing it on flat water. If you can do it on flat water you can do it on a wave absolutely but if you want a few tips and things to help you a really good thing you can do is use your paddle to brace on the wave using the back side of your paddle on the top of the wave or just in the wave face gives you way more security when you want to move up and down the board but again as I said the faster you're going the easier it is actually to move your feet. So again practice your footwork and moving forward and back on the board on flat water and then you'll find it even easier to do it on a wave.