Turning a Longboard sucks ....... if you do it the wrong way.
Beginners struggle to turn their huge longboards. They get so frustrated they look for short(er) boards that are "easier" to turn.
Here she is preparing to cutback ( come back ) to the curl.
Look closely how her front leg is straight and the back knee is bent.
But do you also notice how the she lifted up her toes and pivoting off her front heel.
Also her front arm is opening up to the turn direction. With her eyes leading the body.
Now look here.
Body not inline with the deck
Eyes looking down.
Arm swinging away from the direction of the turn.
Stance in the middle of the board.
Water almost across the full rail.
Stiff and straight up.
No twisting of the waist or knees.
Front arm locked down to the hip.
Back arm bracing.
Standing too far forward.
Outside rail catches all the way up to the nose.
It IS hard to turn a 9 foot surf board. That is why you need to make the board shorter by stepping back and turning off the tail. Even though her board's actual length is 9 feet, at this moment only 5 feet of rail is in the water.
Bodyline matches the angle of the deck.
Eyes lead the turn.
Front arm leads the shoulder, then the waist, then then the knees, then down to the feet.
( Toes up technique again )
Turning from the middle of the deck.
Rail buried to the nose.
Back arm reaching and bracing.
Bodyline broken, hindged and bent over.
Body wants to turn, but the board ain't having it.
She is so far out into the flat part of the wave, it takes more effort to bottom turn and get onto the clean face ( a more advance surfer could do it though. )
Because her technque isn't good, her board runs out flat and she will end up on her face as the board shoots out.
Notice she is LEANING not turning.
She is on the tippy toes of BOTH feet, not good.
So much to critic.
Toes up on both feet.
Back foot on its side "giving" power to the front foot, when it shoul be the opposite way around.
Back arm rotating clockwise while the board wants to turn counter-clockwise.
No twist of the waist.
Body not inline with the deck. Her Butt is way over the rail.
Not enough air under the nose.
Can't see her feet, but I can tell from the nose way up, that her back foot is over the fin(s).
Eyes leading the turn.
Back arm swing around.
Twist of the waist.
Spray coming off one rail, not both.
Yes, turning a longboard is NOT easy. But like in most thing, it's not the board, golf club, bowling ball, bicycle or arrows fault. It depends on the USER and the user's technique.
Please check out Eason's photography on FB and http://starb.on.coocan.jp/daily/daily0.html to see more.