How I do it: Frontside top turn

Reader James wrote to ask about how I complete a frontside top turn. Specifically, James wanted to know how to bring the board back down once you'd thrown it all up into the lip. Here's how I do it:

Once again, if you're going to go up in the lip, you need to develop speed off the bottom. Check out my shoulders as I push through this bottom turn. Notice how my left shoulder is pushing toward the front of my board? Too often, beginners make the mistake of trying to ankle-turn a board off the bottom. You can't generate any torque and power off the board's fins and rail if you're just leaning it over- especially on a smaller wave like this. Instead, wind up your upper body like a spring- that left shoulder is forward but as I push with my legs through the turn I will also swing that left shoulder back- my body is like a giant spring uncoiling, driving the board through the turn and picking up speed. The Golden Rule of looking where you want to go is also in effect here, my eyes are looking down the line.

Alright, full disclaimer: This photo is from a different wave, I'm using it because it's the best I've got a make a point. This shot is from directly after you've uncoiled off the bottom. Notice how the board is no longer leaned over on its rail? This is when the transition from inside rail (the rail buried on the bottom turn) to outside rail (the rail that will be buried in the lip- in this case starboard rail) starts to happen. Things happen very quickly at this point. First of all, you've looked at where you want to hit the lip. A big mistake here is to continue to stare at that point- remember, where you look is where you'll go. If you continue to stare at the lip you'll go up into it and by then won't be able to come back down because you're now gliding out the back. Additionally, if you really want to crack that thing at speed, you want to begin the arc of your top turn now so that the apex of the turn will intersect with the falling lip. The big thing to remember is that as soon as you unweight out of the bottom turn, start to think about looking to where you want to finish the turn. Do this and you will always come down out of the lip.

Okay, the top of my board is starting to hit the lip. A couple of big things to think about in this shot: First, notice how you can see the entire top surface of my board? That's because I've turned the board so that the bottom of the board is hitting the lip- this is important. Many beginners don't flatten out the board into the lip- the lip should smack the bottom of your board and not your inside rail. Second, notice how my shoulders are starting to twist in the direction of the turn? And finally, I'm looking where I want to go... again this last point is the most important one. Look where you want to come down and you will go there... get it?

Here's the next frame, notice how my weight is over my front foot? You can actually see my rear foot up off the deck. I'm also leaning way forward- everything is moving forward with the flow of the turn. Okay, now for some personal criticism of my turn. Check out the position of my paddle in this and the previous frames. I'm holding the paddle in what I like to call the "Tall Flag" position- the paddle is straight up in the air like a flag wagging around. I think that's a bad style- the turn would look much better if the blade was lower closer to waist level and if my left shoulder was pushing through the turn a bit more. All these points are things I think about before I paddle out- practice makes perfect.

The recovery. In this frame I'm starting to fall back into the wave. Actually, I remember this wave- the water is only about a foot deep just inside of that line of whitewater and the bottom is barnacle covered cobblestone. After I hit the lip and spotted where I was going to land, I lost my nerve and tried to side slip back down onto the face- I was looking for a little bit more water between my fins and the rocks below. That's why my board is pointing down the line and not straight back down into the trough of the wave. It ended up working out alright and I pulled the turn but this just illustrates that there are thousands of variations on this turn.

There you go James! I hope this helps- now go put on your 10 mm wetsuit and go practice!

The Baja Hot Dog... just do it.

But only eat one. When you see these little lights on the corner and there's a big crew of locals standing around you know you've just found the best hot dog cart in town. Fifteen pesos a dog gets you a bacon wrapped hotdog, in a steamed, slightly sweet bun, with mayo, ketchup, mustard- and here's where it gets good- a spicy chili relish, diced tomatos and onions.... YES! I'm on it tonight!

P-mac, Pilgy and Deacon are always on the best cart. This guy's name is Oaxaca... he kills it.

Oaxaca in action (pronounced Wha-ha-ka)- hands so fast, they're a blur!

Got a couple of articles to finish up for you guys...

Wow- stoked to have a couple of email requests for more "How to" type pieces. I'm committed to writing a "Paddle-to-the-inside" top turn piece for surfing on your backhand but I think I'm going to crank out a "Hitting the lip on your forehand" article first- since I made a deal for it. So look for that tomorrow. I'm off to the sack right now- I'm cooked, a long day at the beach today and I want to be up for the dawn patrol tomorrow before the tide gets too high.

Never mind the pseudo-hippies (yes, they did bust out the juggling pins and drums) dirt camping in the background (soon to be run off the beach by the local police)- check out the clean Type 181... stock orange... makes me miss mine.

Some Wednesday morning shots... the surf continues.

Some fun waves this morning and lots of what look like gill netters right offshore- I hope these guys aren't interfering with the whales that are cruising by- some of those big guys were super close to the shore. Check out the next shot for proof.

Right off the beach.

Traveling partners.

Southern Pictorial...

A few more Southern Baja photos for you. Enjoy:

The water was warmer and spectacularly clear today- like paddling in an aquarium...

 A couple of hot boards. Check out how dusty and dirty it's getting back there. I've used every board I brought with me so far- even my swim fins and custom handplane (damn, now that's fun- unbelievable how fast you get going with that thing). Hold your breath on this one: I'm even running a quad set up in the 9'1 (green board) and... it still feels weird.

Ah, the princess arms, the geeky/cool eyeglasses, the hair... what's not to like?

Ah, the little puppy smile, the folded back submissive ears and those dark brown eyes, what's not to love?

Every day, Sandra makes breakfast burritos and becomes the most popular girl on the beach. Here's Wally about to get nutty with 'em on his tailgate.

The wind won today- but look at what's coming!

Good thing I got a surf in early in the day because the wind came up and lumped everything up. On a high point, the water temperature has jumped up radically- it's now a comfy 74 degrees out there, that's nice. Also, we've got better things forecasted for us. Check it out:

If I get a moment tonight between tacos and beer I'll post up some additional photos from surfing today. I'm off now on a little photographic walking tour of the old town... and maybe an ice cream cone.

If the wind doesn't blow it out...

That's the big question for today. There's plenty of surf in the water- I got caught inside this morning by a well overhead set, big, blue and beautiful. So we'll just cross our fingers that today turns into one of those all-time So. Baja surf days. Here's some shots from this morning- more to come:

No doubt about it- the swell has arrived.

Lot's of expensive glass on the beach this morning...

10 year old Noah charging!!!

How I do it: Back side, paddle-to-the-outside top turn.

Top turning a big, wide stando is tough. I've got two different top turn techniques- I decide which one I'm going to use based on the size and power of the wave I'm surfing. Down here, I've been riding pretty small, mushy waves so it's been a lot easier to complete my top turns using a paddle-to-the-outside approach. Here's what I do. 

First, get a solid bottom turn figured out.  If you can't come off the bottom with speed, you'll just bog in the lip and probably fall out the back. Riding a smaller board, like the 8'6 Stamps that I'm on here, helps but don't let the size of your board hold you back- learn to whip that thing off the bottom.

Thanks to Jeff Wallis for all of the following shots!

This is a bottom turn with the paddle to the outside. Notice how small and mushy this wave is- a perfect time for the paddle to the outside top turn.

I'll go with paddle-on-the-outside on small, weak waves because I know that when I get to the top, there won't be much power up there for me to get the board out of the lip and back down into the wave. I'll need to use the paddle to assist me in getting the board all the way around and back down into the wave. Here's the whole sequence:

Compare where I'm looking from the shot above to this one. Notice in the above picture I'm looking over my shoulder to where I want to go. In this shot, I've turned my head and am letting the board start up the face. Turning your head and looking to where you want to go is key.

So this is what I'm talking about- a super gutless wave requires some paddle drag assistance to get that turn going. Here, I'm dragging the paddle, using it to pull me around through the turn. Notice I'm still looking where I want to go.

As the board starts to come around, start putting your back leg into the turn, pushing the board through the last few degrees of arc.

Carry the turn further through the arc then you think you should- believe me, it's not as big of a hack as you think it is- pushing it further looks a lot better than a half-turn so go for it (by the way- I could have pushed this much further).

The paddle-to-the-outside top turn is great for weak waves but don't be afraid to crank it on bigger stuff too. The beauty of reaching down with your blade to pull you around out of the lip is that it gets your weight over your toes and onto your inside rail (go back and look at the third photo and  you can see how I'm leaning over that inside rail). Often, surfers don't get their weight transferred across to that rail enough to really apply power with their legs- burying the paddle forces your weight where it should be. 

Personally, I don't think that a bottom turn with the paddle to the outside looks as good as a bottom turn with the paddle to the inside. If you're going to crank it with paddle to the outside, try to keep the blade low through the bottom turn. You don't want to bottom turn with your paddle held straight up in the air like a tall-flag majorette in front of a marching band- that looks lame, so if possible keep the paddle level and low. 

Next time, we'll run through the much tougher top turn- paddle-to-the-inside.

Pigs at the trough: Stu Kenson Pleasure Pigs tearing into it... sue-eeee!

Undoubtedly, these boards have drawn more attention than any other surfboard down here this winter. They're chunky, they're thick, they're short... and they're lightning fast. Check out the Pleasure Pig: 

P-Mac, gouging on his 5'8" Pleasure Pig. Stu Kenson has been making these things for the past year or so and they're ugly- but super fun. The boards have tons of width and buoyancy- they paddle really well and catch waves easily. Take an iffy surf day and unleash a Pig... you'll be stoked.

 We've got two of these nasty little beasts with us. P-mac's pig is a bit smaller than mine (my puerco comes in at 6'6) but both serve the same purpose; turn a mushy wave into a playground. The pig puts you in hog heaven.

Pilgy catching and releasing on my Pig...

A couple of local guys have come up to us wondering what the hell we were surfing. We put them on the pig and they were stoked. Other surfers were freaking out about how easy it was for us to glide into just about any little bump out there. The boards are so wide, light (they're made from super buoyant eps foam) and floaty that you can muscle yourself into even the tiniest little wave coming through.

P-Mac and his Pig... is there any more rail left to bury?

By the way, this is P-Mac...

A man and his Pig.

Deacon on my 6'6 Pig... this is the "community Pig"... Pilgy won't give it back... he loves the Pig. Check out how small this wave is... Pig's like to run... we love Pig.

Hello Southern Hemi!

Our friend from the south showed up today...

Check out the left- when it's more out of the south, that thing starts working.

The surf report calls for the South to continue building then be reinforced by a string of NW swells... yummy.

Local style

How's this for commuting to your local surfspot?:

This is how Jake gets his stando to the beach. Rad. I want one.

I'm out the door to the beach- surf should get fun again when the tide drops. I'll keep you posted.

Presto/extendo...

In true surfer fashion... I'm extending this vacation an extra three days! Yes. Now we just need that swell to cooperate. Today may have been an indicator of things to come. It was super glassy- and really fun. Take a look:

How's this little nugget? Deacon nabbed this one on my 6'6 Stu Kenson Pleasure Pig. As the tide dropped, the surf just got better. Hopefully the little bump we got today is an indicator of something on the horizon. Check out all the fish in the wave.

Mind surf that one...

I even got a hold of a couple of those... glassy enough for you? Be sure to check out JWall's blog for more killer, super high reso photos from today's session. 

Please, please, please... let it build for the next couple of days! Photo courtesy of Jeff Wallis.

You tell me.

Alright some jacka#@ sent me an email telling me that I was a kook (I'm not denying that part) and that the drink I call, "The Unforgiven" is actually a GreyHound. I'm calling bullsh#t on that and making the call that mystery emailer is probably about 13 and still waiting for his huevos to drop into his two bag.  We all know that a GreyHound is just grapefruit juice and vodka... right? Here's a photo of, "The Unforgiven", you tell me what it's really called:

I mix, I drink... therefore, I am.

A race against the clock!

Well, by all accounts we've got a nice south swell and some north-northwest swell coming- but my time is winding down.

For more surf reports like this check out www.solspot.com.

We leave in three days, so, as far as scoring a solid swell, our window of opportunity is closing. I think our best shot is for waves on Tuesday, the day before we start our three day trek home. Surprisingly, it looks like we could be getting an out of season south swell. We'll be cutting it close- I'd love to score one more solid day of surf before we start rolling north.

Fleet

I first came down here with a stand up board in June of 2007. The water was warm, the surf super small- perfect for stand up paddling. I don't know if I was the first guy to paddle surf the beach break  (I know there's one particular guy up north who wants soooo bad to claim that- all yours bro!) but I do remember that my board caused a sensation, everyone wanted to give it a go. The local rippers and surf school guys all wanted to take a shot, an instructor from a woman's surf retreat hopped on it, surfing a stando for the first time (that was Kristy Murphy, the female ripper, nose riding in a video I posted last year- totally stoked on stand up surfing) and then there was the pack of four, shall we call them, interpretive dancers who swarmed me- all wanting to give it a spin (a memory I won't soon forget- jiggly is a great descriptor). 

When you see this truck come rumbling up, get ready, you're about to meet Fleet!

The coolest guy who approached me was a gentleman who had to be in his late sixties/early seventies named Fleet. Fleet walked right up to me on the beach and told me he'd heard about stand up paddling and thought it'd be great exercise for him and that it fit his southern Baja lifestyle. Cool- here you go Fleet, give it a shot. Man, he was stoked- if not a bit wobbly. He told me he was hooked and was heading up to San Clemente to have his buddy Ron House make him a board- he was convinced, he loved stand up paddling! 

Honestly, I didn't think it would stick. How funny is it then that for the last three winters, every time I come back down, I run into Fleet. And he's paddling like a madman! I think he's on his third board and he's not just cruising. Fleet's sporting a Paddle Surf Hawaii All Arounder model and he's getting waves. I can't begin to tell you how cool it is for me to meet up with Fleet each year. It's always the same thing, I see a tall, older, incredibly tan, fit surfer come walking up to me with a huge smile on his face. He reaches out his big, ol' mitt and says, "John! Welcome back... let's go get some waves." It's always the same thing- and it always feels really good. Thanks, Fleet- you're killing it!

New Year's Vocab: Your Down South Spanish Lesson

Borracho: drunk. As in: Estoy borracho (I'm drunk).
Crudo: hung over. As in: Estoy crudo (I'm hungover).

Ready for your Spanish quiz? Read the caption below and see how well you've learned your new vocabulary: 

Saw this truck off in the bush this morning after surfing. This is what happens when you're borracho, your brand new F150 ends up all screwed up and your head goes through the windshield... which makes feeling crudo twenty times worse. Rumor has it (my friends pulled the truck free of the desert) there was a quarter full bottle of tequila on the floor of the truck and the old man who was directing the operation just cracked it and started swigging.... think he'll be borracho later on?

 How did you do?

Happy New Year Everybody!

Now go surfing!

Another Freshy... but not for me!

My Vietnamese friend and ripper, Tram just nabbed himself a freshy from the Stamps factory. Check it out:

9'2 x 30" x 4 1/8": Pure sickness!

 Right on Tram... rip it!

Baja stando shots

The surf has been hit and miss down here and the SUP guys have been doing their best to get in front of my camera! JA's friend CR from Point Loma has been blowing my mind. This guy just seems to find and make the best of every wave he gets. He is using every inch of that Laird Stando, the guy is a switch footer which is really cool to see. He is on the nose alot and cranking some killa turns, and when you least expect it the guy tucks into these lil barrells and gets a head dip! Now watchin this guy and John it even makes an old kneeboard guy like me wanna give it a try. Well John? Wanna give Wally a stando lesson?

CR switch footin! John's right this guy just rips no matter what the conditions!

CR gettin a classic lil Todos left!

John gettin is backside slide on!

Here is CR doin a lil nose ridin!

John pickin up a lil speed!

CR on it again, this guy is incredible and just a cool dude!

CR again charging off the bottom!

CR gettin a lil head dip in!