Freestyle Basics: Straps, fin, trim – the right equipment settings for performing tricks

No: Spock, Flaka & Co. aren’t dead. Of course, these classics belong in every tricker’s repertoire for good reason. Nevertheless, anyone starting out in freestyle wants to venture into the world of power moves as quickly as possible. Tricks such as the Culo, Burner or Kono are particularly fascinating because they allow you to catapult yourself metres into the air from mirror-smooth water. But before you can say ‘Beam me up, Scotty!’, you first need to get your board ready:

In this instalment of our freestyle series, Julian Wiemar shows you which set-ups are recommended for the mast foot, straps and fin, and how to trim your sail for maximum thrust at take-off.

Loop size

Freestylers generally tend to adjust their straps to be very loose. The whole foot should be able to slide quickly and completely into the strap, right up over the instep, without any significant pressure from above. This allows you to switch quickly and gives you the best possible control over your board whilst in the air. But be careful: if you adjust the strap so loosely that your whole foot can slide in, you’ll also need to pull the strap tighter to ensure you have sufficient support.

For freestylers – unlike with freeride or race set-ups – the majority of the hold is not created by pressure from above, but by the narrow, lateral edges of the strap, which keep the foot in position. This reduces the strong forces acting downwards on the instep during manoeuvres (especially in switch stance), and the foot has a little play in the high strap so that, in the event of a fall (where you cannot get out of the strap in time), it can turn left and right without being crushed directly from above.

Tightening the strap automatically creates the steep, highly arched shape characteristic of freestyle straps. If the spacing of the plugs on the board does not allow for this due to your personal foot width (as the spacing is either too wide or far too narrow), you can use washers, as shown in the bottom right-hand corner, to push the edges of the strap inwards.

Sail trim

Modern freestyle sails can cope with a bit of loose leech – but not too much. To ensure a stable duck, the leech on a typical freestyle sail should be almost taut, as this reduces the sail’s tendency to move of its own accord when diving through the wave. If you’re using a wave sail for tricks, you’re welcome to sail with slightly less luff tension – in other words, a loose leech – than is usually the case.

Finns

The days when it was all the rage to barely get airborne and slide as many 360-degree spins as possible into every manoeuvre are slowly but surely coming to an end – and with them, the days of the ultra-mini fins. A larger fin (between 19 and 21 centimetres) is now standard. To switch to switch stance at full speed, duck the sail and then catapult yourself as high as possible using the built-up pressure, you need at least a bit of grip. When the water is very choppy, riders therefore even use slightly larger fins than in mirror-smooth water. As a freestyle beginner, you usually have to learn first how to ride straight at all with what feels like a small 21-centimetre fin. Of course, this makes the board very responsive, but using a fin larger than a 21 makes little sense for sliding, as the board otherwise rides as if on rails and responds less well to steering inputs.

Seagrass Freestyle Fins generally offer a bit more grip than ‘normal’ fins and can therefore be chosen one to two centimetres shorter. Whilst seagrass fins have noticeable performance drawbacks in freeride, seagrass freestyle fins are usually a fully-fledged alternative that allows you to do anything. Many Baltic Sea trick riders who regularly use seagrass fins no longer even bother to change their fins when heading to the North Sea – i.e. to a seagrass-free area.

Loop spacing and mast base position

Greater distance between the front and rear straps (a wider stance) can improve overall control. Straps positioned closer together (a more compact stance) provide greater bounce and faster rotation. The former is largely negligible with modern freestyle equipment, small sails and, above all, in flat water. So you can safely keep everything compact. On short freestyle boards, the mast foot can also be moved back a little, closer to the front footstraps. This makes the whole setup feel even more compact and responsive; moreover, the nose of modern boards can otherwise feel very short – it can dip into the chop more easily, get caught and slow you down.

Give it a go: Stand on the floor and try jumping as high as you can from a standing position. You’ll realise that you’d never stand with your feet more than shoulder-width apart when taking off. How wide is your stance on your freestyle board? You often see people standing too wide, particularly children and teenagers with short legs. Special freestyle boards for kids, with straps set closer together, are highly recommended in this case.