How to Angle your Take Off - How to Surf

Learning to go right or left before getting to your feet will dramatically increase your chances of a successful and enjoyable ride on the waves face. This video will demonstrate the four most common steps surfers take to angle their takeoffs. Depending on elements like paddling skills, positioning, wave shape and board size, surfers will match the wave speed and proceed to angle their takeoff slightly different on each wave. The four steps that we describe in this tutorial are examples of typical ways surfers angle their takeoffs. Keep in mind that it doesn't apply to every takeoff. To learn more about these different variations, check out the link below to access the full course on how to angle the takeoff. You'll access tutorials on how to decide what angle to take and when to start angling, what you need to be able to do before focusing on angling and the reasons why you need to angle your takeoffs. You'll also access real-life examples of the most common mistakes we've seen from hundreds of students on our retreats and how to fix them. The first step is making sure you're going to catch the wave. This may sound obvious to you but one of the most common reasons surfers fail to angle their takeoff doesn't have to do with angling technique itself but how they've positioned themselves in the first place. If you haven't created a free account yet click on the link below for a full course on how to position yourself into the precise spot to catch unbroken waves. In short, surfers need to position themselves at a proper wave stage. Starting to paddle at stage A wouldn't work as the wave is too flat and starting at stage C would mean that the wave would crash over you as you paddle into it. Paddling into stage B means that you will gain enough momentum to match the speed of the wave mainly thanks to gravity without having it crash over you. Often surfers will start paddling completely perpendicular to the wave as this maximizes their chances to match the speed of the wave. The more and the sooner you angle your takeoff the harder it is to catch the wave. The second step is paddling looking and You can test how this will work in calm waters. As you paddle start to look and lean your upper body towards the left or to the right and notice how your direction changes. As surfers start going up onto the wave space they often turn their head in the direction they want to go and paddle in that direction. Notice here that the surfer adjusts his paddling a bit pulling water towards his inside rail and pushing water away from his outside rail. This usually comes naturally to students when they start looking towards their target. They don't think about changing their paddling they frequently just do it without knowing. The last step before taking off is what we call the cobra pose lean. The surfer has now caught the wave and it is steep enough for him to stop paddling. Put both hands on the deck beneath his pectorals and lift his upper body up into the cobra pose position pointing his chest towards where he wants to go. The cobra pose position has significant advantages. First it helps surfers prevent nose dives. When surfers catch a wave and don't need to paddle anymore it usually means that the wave is quite steep. In the cobra pose surfers put less weight towards the nose helping to avoid potential nose dives. Second it helps surfers maneuver the board more efficiently much like it's easy to turn a board sharply by putting weight on the back foot. A surfboard is easy to turn whilst arching the back and straightening the arms as more weight is transferred backwards. Third you need to place your hands beneath your pectorals and arch your back to begin to take off anyway so you might as well use this step to help you angle your takeoff. Unless you plan to ride straight down the wave you need to lean towards where you want to go whilst you're in the cobra pose position. Your head and chest need to point towards where you want to go. This is a total game changer for many beginner intermediates that oversee this step. So many surfers see it as two steps you paddle into a wave and then you pop up but most often there's a hidden step between those. In reality you paddle into a wave you trim to the right or to the left by leaning in the cobra pose for a fraction of a second or a few seconds and then you pop up. As surfers lean in the cobra pose what they're actually doing is put an extra weight on their hands over the inside rail. This puts the board in a trimming position as the rail is set underwater. Surfers trim to gain speed when standing up redirecting the water flow towards the tail. The same happens when trimming on the chest. The surfer can angle to the right or left and accelerates even before he stands up. One thing to know about trimming in the cobra pose is that it can be easier for surfers to angle more quickly and drastically on short boards than on long boards. Big boards float more and have long straight rail lines while short boards usually have shorter and curvier rail lines. On a bigger board you generally will want to paddle to get a decent angle to the right or to the left before getting to the cobra pose lean. A surfer's approach to angling the takeoff can be Make sure to check out our online courses in the description below to learn the differences between angling with a short board versus a long board. The last step is to take off in the proper position. When the surfer takes off he keeps his head and his chest pointing towards where he wants to go just like he was when he was in the cobra pose position. This way he keeps the same line and the same inside rail engagement once he's up. Your angled takeoff will only be successful if you land on your feet in the proper position for where you need to go on the wave. This surfer here paddles into a very soft wave therefore he needs to paddle perpendicular to the wave until the very last second until he looks and leans to the left in the cobra pose to pop up. Notice that when he pops up the board hasn't started angling much yet but because his head and chest are leaning to his left and because he puts weight over his toes especially over the back foot as soon as he's up the board follows and he's able to follow the wave. For many beginners and intermediates this is where things go wrong as there might be a slight moment where the chest doesn't point in the same direction which can make the difference in passing the section or not. For more information on how to land on your feet in the optimal position sign up for free on our online coaching platform to watch the post takeoff position tutorial in the takeoff course.