Wave riding technique: A perfect bottom turn and a cracking cutback thanks to the counter-movement

Twenty years ago, it certainly wasn’t as easy to ride a windsurf board up and down a wave with flawless technique and style. You often had the feeling that the boards dictated the turns and that the rider was, in a sense, just following the movement.

In terms of surfing technique, the set-up of the single-fin board was considerably more demanding than that of modern, much shorter thruster and quad boards. Not least, it was also the old sail design that gave rise to this technique, which often seemed to slow the surfer down. The sails were not set as upright as they are today. Instead, during the bottom turn, the rig was tilted towards the stern, which meant that the mast track had to be mounted significantly further forward on the boards. One can imagine how sluggish a board reacts when the mast track is positioned so far forward. A further complicating factor was the higher sail pressure during the bottom turn, as the old sails did not neutralise themselves as well as they do today. More pressure in the sail also meant more pressure on the mast track, making the change of direction even slightly harder to execute, as the front of the board seemed to be literally pinned in place. With the mast foot position shifting further back in more modern shapes, it became possible to shorten the board noses and thus reduce the overall length.

“By countersteering at the start, your body leans towards the inside of the turn – that puts pressure on the edge.”

Back then, anyone who was good at riding the waves used a technique known in the English-speaking world as ‘rail-to-rail’. Whilst modern waveboards are much better at masking sub-optimal technique, the rail-to-rail technique remains an important component.

Like cycling – wave riding with a counter-movement

Here’s the question: how do I initiate a fast yet tightly taken bend whilst cycling? The answer is, 99 per cent of the time: you turn the handlebars in the desired direction. That’s certainly true, but it’s only half the story. To take a fast bend – and this applies to all related sports – you first need to make a counter-movement. Just before the bend, you turn the handlebars in the opposite direction; only then do you turn them into the actual direction of the bend. This causes your centre of gravity to shift towards the inside even before you start the turn. If you were to turn the handlebars sharply without this counter-movement, you’d end up falling outwards. It works exactly the same way in wave riding – we’ve shown the individual steps in the gallery above!

A good bottom turn = a good cutback

The key to a good cutback with plenty of spray lies in a good bottom turn. As you approach the crest of the wave, the transition from the bottom turn to the cutback takes place. You can also see these steps in the ride sequence in the gallery!

TIP: The legs are straightened again during the cutback. If you want to let the tail break out, straightening the back leg is crucial. If you want to ride through dynamically whilst maintaining some speed, the front leg is straightened and the back leg remains slightly bent. After the cutback, your weight is shifted further forwards again to ensure you successfully escape the wave and to build up enough speed for the next bottom turn.