Der Trainer: "Um in den Bachkreislauf einzusteigen, sollte jeder Schritt (step) wohl überlegt sein ...  Almansors Ratschläge können mit dem Ziel die beste Performance zu leisten überaus hilfreich sein."

Jun 26, 2010


Lesson 15


Now, the board does not stop anymore when turning at the wall. When driving up the wave face coming from the bottom, you are losing lots of speed. With little speed, your fins and rails work poorly.

It's much better to turn the board around and bring it back down using your body:
-when coming out of the bottom turn, extend and move your leading arm up (angled) to generate speed. The leading arm must be angled since when extended, it would slow down the rotation process.
-look behind you and move both arms down (compress) like you wanted to touch the water behind you. Move your trailing arm behind your back if you want to apply extra fin / tail pressure.

This will turn the board around and bring it down the wave face.

Tr:

When the wave seems to you to flat or seems to you to have less power, orientate you in the middle of the wave. The push up movement should be done in one or to controlled movements. You start the movement on the top of the wave and bring your energy and concentration on the front foot. The movement comes out of your hip and must be transmitted controlled on the front foot. Now you have the choice between  a bottom or a front turn, do not try a trick right after this orientation phase.

Jun 26, 2010


Lesson 14
RULE: Any turn off the top MUST procede a bottom turn.

Any time you are driving up the the wave face you are losing speed. The more vertical up you go, the more speed you'll lose. Bottom turning with body compression creates the power for turns off the top.

Any Pro turns at the bottom before he turns off the top.

Tr: To realize the bottom turn, the first movement starts with the head rotation following of the front shoulder rotation. Now it is important to feel the power of the wave:
your leg behind stay controlled, the front upper leg brings the power on the board.

Jun 26, 2010


Lesson 13
UPDATE: The manoeuver is not executed 100% correctly.

How to execute backhand bottom turns:

1. Drive to the bottom of the wave and compress low while digging your rail into the wave (front foot pressure). Keep your trailing arm rotated in front of your chest to allow better twisting of your body. Reach for the wave face with your leading arm.

2. While compressed look at the top of the wave. Twist your body towards the wave while pulling your leading arm to the top of the wave. You'll feel the acceleration when going up the wave face (a more flexible surfboard works better here).

3. Throw your leading arm, look back, compress low and twist your body away from the wave.

UPDATE: 3. is partly WRONG! Do NOT throw your leading arm, instead rotate both arms and look back! The movement of the arms in this stage is NOT correct here. The leading arm should move up, but should be rotated, not thrown.
Reason: Extending of the arms does stop the rotation when you want to turn.

Note 1: You create power with your body by a) expanding from a compressed body position and b) twisting your body. Twisting is mostly a looking action (i.e. radical position changes where you are looking)

Note 2: A bottom turn is a turn at the bottom (and must be there).

Note 3: Throw both arms when executing a forehand snap.

Note 4: You'll lose the least amount of speed, when you keep significant pressure on your front foot during the entire manoever. Back foot pressure always slows you down.

Jun 26, 2010


Lesson 12
RULE 1: Whenever you are turning over your heelside rail, your trailing arm needs to rotate in front of your body.

RULE 2: Whenever you are riding backside and want to go up the wave, you should consider Rule 1 plus throw your leading arm up to drive up the wave face.

UPDATE:

RULE 3: Your body has to FOLLOW your head rotation.


I'm violating Rule 3. The body just rotates as the head does. As a result, I often get stuck at the wall in the whitewater. The board just stops. Likely due to the high tail pressure (but no rail pressure).
When you get Rule 3 right, the board does not stop anymore and you do come out of the turn with speed.

Jun 26, 2010


Lesson 11
In the first sequences, the turn is not executed correctly. I'm getting to the top with speed, but then weaklessly dropping down the wave face and turning. Often, at the wood, the turn is not as tight as it should be (going afterwards into the flats).

In the latter sequences, the turn is executed correctly. The left arm tries to grab the water, the right arm is straight up and forward. The surfboard is more put on its rail and this position allows better twisting of the upper body. As a result, the board accelerates through the turn and you can turn much, much tighter. You have the sensation that you are pulling the board through the turn with your left arm.

If you are able to link the throwing of the arms forward together with the turning technique just described (so that it becomes one fluid motion), it's similar to not moving your foot from the gas when driving a heavy truck uphill. Then, the times where you had to hop are finally over (unless you execute a maneuver incorrectly, of course).

ADDED 1: If you execute the turn while extending your trailing arm from the body (the rotational axis), you are actually stopping the rotation. Therefore, the turn is then clearly executed incorrectly.
The method leading arm down, the trailing arm up moves body mass towards the rotational axis, increasing rotational speed. Also, touching the water moves your body center of gravity lower, allowing you to put your board more on the rail during the turn.
Another method is to point with your leading arm in the new direction you want to go and rotate your trailing arm in front of your chest. This allows good body torque, giving you drive. However, it still needs to be explored further when to use this method.

ADDED 2: I checked some Pros on some videos. When executing the turn, your trailing arm MUST rotate in front of your chest.

Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 10

The wave was really weak (146cm of water level). In this case, you really need to milk the wave to get you going. Focus on rail to rail transitions. However, you need to have enough speed for the rail to work. So, you should focus on maintaining you initial speed after the drop or generating speed by throwing your arms and going to the top and then at the top pushing down with your front foot. The quicker you can link your turns and throws, the faster it will get you going (and the more exhausted you will be at the end of the day). The throws are most effective when you are at the bottom in the flats. This gets you to the top of the wave with speed. Throwing both arms is much more effective than just throwing one arm. However, this gives you less turning momentum. With a more powerful wave, only lift your leading arm for the backside turn at the wall, otherwise you might crash into the wall. Throwing your arms on your backhand works the same as on your forehand.

To improve:

a) Wood turn: Try to execute tighter by grabbing the water with your left arm and lifting the right arm to the very top (or even better: forward and up). The turn starts from a compressed body position with both arms hanging down, then the left hand grabs in the water and the right arm moves up and forward (twisting your upper body). Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith are executing turns like that. See how it works.

b) Try to lift (throw) more from the shoulders, especially the wall turn. Sometimes losing too much speed due to this making it hard to turn the board around. Always lift before initiating the turn.

c) Always throw both arms when going up the wave face on your forehand. A turn initiates with your right hand briefly reaching for the wave face but ends with throwing both arms forward.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 9
Tried to figure out how the skills trained at the Eisbach translate into the performance of surfing at world-class breaks in France.
Realizations:
a) In the ocean, there is a general lack of speed immediately after the takeoff, even in solid surf. At the Eisbach, people try to avoid this problem by jumping in with speed.
b) At bottom turn is a turn at the bottom of the wave and not mid-face. Without having a bottom turn, you will NEVER be able to drive up the wave face with speed. Without having a GREAT buttom turn, you will NEVER be able to drive up the face vertically like the Pros.
c) You have to create power with your body (compression & extension) if you want to go up the wave face with speed and power. You cannot rely on the power of the wave alone. At Eisbach, people prefer to adjust the steepness of the wave over trying to milk the wave their body.
d) Generating speed with rail-to-rail transitions (pumping) works poorly if you don't have the speed yet for the rail to work. Throwing your arms forward is the better technique in this case.
e) Using the entire wave face creates more speed than trying to pump through the middle of the wave face.
f) Smoother, less snappy moves conserve more speed (or even generate speed).

Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 8b

The bad:

Not staying low enough when riding backside at the bottom of the wave. You can create power with your body (not just the wave itself) by straightening out of a compact position. This helps when driving up the wave face since you lose speed when riding from the bottom to the top. So, the trick is to stay low (compact) when riding at the bottom of the wave (to create potential for power through your body) and straighten out of this position when riding up the wave face. When you reach the top of the wave compress again for tight turning radius and for driving down the wave face (push on your front foot). If you manage to get your body movements "in sync" with the positioning on the wave you get maximum power. Your body is like a spring that you "load and expand".

All Pros are riding like that.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 8a
Some things I did improve feel like a large difference but are actually very hard to see... The good:
a) Largely improved the turning. Aggressive head rotation leads to twisting of the upper body, which creates power for the turn. Look where you want to go! Before, I very often got stuck at the whitewater. You should look where you want you boad to be after the turn. So, look back!
b) Mostly got rid of the "paddling" through the air. Keep the arms low and throw them forward to accelerate if you don't want to ride up and down the wave face.
The bad:
a) The cutback looks weak and without power. Not staying compact enough and losing control (arm paddling though the air). Was much better before and should work to get this correct again.
To Improve:
a) When making the drop, not staying compact enough for maximum speed. Same applies for backside riding (looks a little bit out of control).
b) Always try to keep your arms low for low center of gravity and maximum speed.
ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:
a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.
b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 7

The bad:

a) Not rotating the head far enough in the new direction during turns. Even worse: Rotating the head but then stopping the rotation when trying to look at the spray.

b) Not compressing body enough when cutting back.

The good:

a) Improved the backside turning at the wall. It's not really visible except that more spray that's flying. The trick is to load your body to come around quickly (wave is flat there). Load your body and drive through the turn with your back foot. Body torque is key.

b) New trick to accelerate (well, a famous local rider is doing this for years): Keep you upper body low and quickly throw your arms forward and up together with your upper body (0:30). Needs improvements. To improve: a) Let arms just hang down. Lift only when to either accelerate or drive through turns.

ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:

a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.

b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

c) The throws are much more efficient when you are in the trough of the wave.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 6

The good:

a) Less nervous riding than before. More smooth.

b) Better exploit of the wave face. Not riding into flats anymore.

To improve:

a) Tighter turns. Turns close to the wood mostly not tight enough.

b) Staying lower, more compact for tighter turning.
c) Staying lower after the drop for more speed.
ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:
a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.
b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).
c) Throw your arms to face level when you are in the trough of the wave to generate speed and lift you up the wave face.

Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 5

The bad:

a) Not using the entire wave face properly. -when cutting back (or well, roundhousing to turn on the wash), riding to the bottom (the flats) and slowing down. -the turn close to the wood is sometimes not precise enough to come with full speed out of it.

b) Lack of smoothness (loss of speed). -when cutting back, it's a turn, riding straight (in the flats), turn close to the wall. Better to make one smooth turn and then another close to the wall (not going straight).

ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:

a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.

b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

c) Throw your arms to face level when you are in the trough of the wave to generate speed and lift you up the wave face.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 4

The good:

a) Surfing with speed (despite old crappy board). Avoiding wiggles. Making big turns with rail-to-rail pressure.

b) Frontside turns with speed and power. Burying the rail during the frontside turns (or cutbacks). Leaning into the turn and coming out of it with speed.

c) Look where you are going. Fix a position on the wave where you want to make a turn (well, here close to the wall) and then do it with power (driving the fins and the rail).

The bad:

a) After making the drop, loss of speed while not staying low all the time.

b) Going backside less under control. Not staying low enough, losing speed and finally losing the wave.

ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:

a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.

b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

c) Throw your arms to face level when you are in the trough of the wave to generate speed and lift you up the wave face.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 3

The good:

a) Critical foot repositioning: After making the drop, I reposition the back foot more towards the kicker (0:11). This is not too difficult, since there's little weight on the back foot. Repositioning the front foot is much more difficult: If you remove the weight you need, you lose speed and maybe the wave. So, you can only do it when the section is not too critical. At 0:23, I reposition my front foot (you may barely notice it): Putting weight on your toes, moving your heel forward, putting weight on your heel, moving your toes forward etc...

b) Forward momentum and guiding the board. All the weight is on the front foot. The back foot (the toes) make tiny adjustments of the board direction when going straight ahead.

The bad:

a) Backside riding needs improvements. Not riding up and down the wave face. Less in control than frontside.

b) Not staying low enough during backside turns.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Lesson 2

The good:

a) Ability to pump using the upper part of the body. This technique buries the rail and helps you to accelerate. -stay high on the wave and push down using your front foot. -stand low when you reach the bottom of the wave and make youself stand tall (like a spring) while driving up the wave face

b) Got the weight distribution right: "ANY time you are putting weight on your back foot when NOT doing a turn you are slowing yourself down."

The bad:

a) Just looking on the nose of the board instead of the wave (where you want to make a turn). Mini turns and little speed are the result.

b) Not using the entire part of the wave. The wave is 12m wide. When only using a small part of if, your abilities in surfing with speed are pretty much limited.

ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:

a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.

b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

c) Throw your arms to face level when you are in the trough of the wave to generate speed and lift you up the wave face.


Jun 19, 2010


surfschool: Almasors first lesson

This looks really, really ugly...

The bad:

a) Too much weight on the back foot. Front foot too far back.. There is no rail in the water. It's wiggling on back fins, with no speed, no power. Tapping the board is really ineffective. Better putting more weight forward.

b) Not looking what the wave is doing. Looking at the nose of the board with hoping to survive long enough on the wave...

ADDED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER:

a) The wall turn needs to execute with lifting of the leading arm to face level. This generates speed, lifts you up the wave face and gives turning momentum.

b) The wood turn needs to execute with rotating your training arm in front of your chest. This gives you turning momentum and speed. Raising of the trailing behind you stops the rotation (where you want to turn).

c) Throw your arms to face level when you are in the trough of the wave to generate speed and lift you up the wave face. d) Use the entire wave face, top to bottom.

e) Move front foot more forward. Board is way too long if you are using less than 1/3 of its length.

f) Hopping is shitty technique. Use rail-to-rail instead. Create drive with body torque.

g) I don't want to watch this anymore. My eyes are hurting. The technique is really shit.