The Excellent Surf Stance | Surf Energy Coach

What’s the good surf stance?

One facet that may be simply agreed upon is the very fact it’s NOT the dreaded poo man or poo wo-man stance.

However why is that? What makes the sadly widespread poo-man stance, which plagues the newbie and intermediate realm of surfers, so drastically inefficient? And why is it so widespread?

How will you change or enhance your surf stance?

How does a “good” surf stance permit for browsing development and why does it simply look, for lack of a greater time period, good? Actually, it makes browsing look easy. Why do Rob Machado, Ethan Ewing, or Andy Irons look so fashionable?

These are good questions and can obtain insightful solutions, so learn on and uncover easy methods to be sure to have the Excellent Surf Stance.



The “good” surf stance strikes, it’s not a static posture, it’s fluid, reactive, spring-like, and rotational.

What Is The Excellent Surf Stance?

I would like you to know the Why’s behind the necessity for a greater surf stance, and perceive the Why’s behind a poo-man stance actually stalling and inhibiting any probability of development.

I’ve discovered now via years of being a coach, coach, and surf coach, that when you can provide somebody a deeper understanding of the reasoning and rationale behind one thing, an “aha” second of enlightenment, then the brand new choices (a greater surf stance) turn into simpler to copy. Understanding permits for Motion to create change, which ends up in higher Selections within the water, in the end changing into higher talent.

So listed here are the Why’s.

What’s the good surf stance? Let’s outline it.

The Excellent Surf Stance: A dynamic posture permitting for fluid motion as a consequence of environment friendly skeletal positioning and upkeep of the physique’s middle of gravity over a transferring and fluid floor. Optimum alignment of joints to allow rotational ranges of movement, and permitting a spring-like motion to happen via the joint facilities of the decrease physique. A balanced place creating even weight distribution with allowance for stress differentials to affect surfboard rails primarily based on the motion of the higher physique.

I simply made that up, however it sounds pretty spot on. Bio-mechanically it’s 100% spot on and proper, however to you, it most likely makes completely no sense in any respect, which is ok, it’s a whole lot of skilled jargon actually that I’d say to impress different surf coaches.

Listed below are the fundamentals of the surf stance: Stand in a spring-like forward-facing stance so you may simply transfer in all instructions, up, down, and rotationally.

It’s an athletic stance, nearly like a boxer being gentle on their toes, and springing via the hips and knees. At its lowest level, full compression, consider a tiny little barrel crouch, it’s what I confer with as a sprinter place. That sprinter within the blocks able to run place, able to exploding ahead and producing momentum. At its highest level, extension, it’s that stacked boxer / fighter stance, able to being a spring.

Andy Irons from the Trilogy Movie – Athletic Ahead Dealing with Spring-like Posture

It’s an alignment and “posture” of the physique that enables for freedom of motion in all instructions, and respects the necessity to create ahead inertia and motion (down the road). Rob Machado is an attractive illustration of this.

Rob Machado – The Excellent Surf Stance

The poo-man stance instantly opposes the power to maneuver in all instructions, and instantly opposes ahead momentum or inertia. You’ll see this instance within the accompanying video with my completely good rendition of the poo man, which I hope you discover hilarious and insightful.

You’ll discover that I contact upon the facet of the poo stance actually having half of the physique going through backwards, stalling any ahead momentum. This can be a large drawback, as browsing is inertia pushed, ahead going through momentum, and having one half of the physique pointing within the fallacious course creates opposing and awkward forces.

Coordinate your physique directionally talking to assist with momentum, inertia, and drive down the road.

This improved athletic and spring-like surf stance additionally permits for accessible motion into different planes of movement, and the actions required by progressive browsing.

Good browsing requires 3 main motion elements: Twisting, Leaning, and Compression (in addition to Extension, which is the alternative of compression and refers back to the spring-like movement I’ve talked about).

Since these are the three needed motion patterns in browsing, then your good surf stance must be a place which permits totally free and fluid motion into any of these positions.

This leads us in the direction of a dialogue of Posture.

Posture and Your Excellent Surf Stance

Posture is at its essence outlined by the way you maintain your physique in gravity. Extra deeply it’s about how your joints stack upon each other and the connection of muscle tissue and connective tissue sustaining them in that place, and even deeper is the way it’s all actually managed by your mind (nervous system).

This facet of joint place is vitally vital due to how one joint sits in relation to different joints impacts how each joints can transfer. It will possibly impact the power to maneuver freely, and impact the power to maneuver via full vary of movement (which means “mobility”).

That is THE REASON {that a} poo-man stance is completely horrible from not solely a motion perspective, however visually it appears to be like such as you’re attempting to take a dump. It locations joints into positions that create an incapability to maneuver freely, limits joint motion, and subsequently a lack of total mobility. An motionless surfer is a stiff, awkward wanting surfer.

Your poo stance is actually forcing you to be a stiff and awkward surfer with no capability for development.

For a motion primarily based instance of this relationship I would like you to face up or sit upright as tall as you may with a “good” posture. An upright backbone, a well-positioned head atop the neck and shoulders, and an elevated rib cage…. Be upright… you get the thought.

From this place, attain your arms forwards after which overhead, as excessive as you may. Really feel that place and concentrate on how excessive you might elevate your arms, the benefit with which you might transfer, and the way your shoulders really feel.

Now, let go of that “good” posture, and slouch. Slouch into the nastiest laptop posture doable. Let the backbone spherical excessively, permit the pinnacle and jaw to jut ahead into house. Slouch as a lot as you may probably slouch.

Sustaining this slouch place, attempt to elevate your arms ahead after which overhead as excessive as you may, whereas maintaining that slouch within the backbone and head place. You didn’t get your arms as excessive, did you? It most likely even felt grossly uncomfortable in your shoulder joint.

Your “posture”, the positioning of joints in relation to at least one one other, affected your capability to maneuver your shoulder and arm.

Your posture and joint place affected your capability to maneuver nicely, transfer freely, and transfer fluidly.

What you’ve simply felt is the precise cause a poo man stance will actually cease any probability you’ve gotten of browsing development. It not solely appears to be like terrible however it’s actually inserting your joints right into a place the place they’re unable to maneuver freely.

You may’t twist, you may’t be a spring, and you may’t lean from a poo-man stance.

The poo-man stance is actually a survival reflex mechanism pushed by your mind to steadiness on a extremely unstable floor. It’s primarily a stress response. It occurs naturally when somebody begins browsing with the intention to preserve their steadiness on an unstable transferring floor, and it turns into engrained of their browsing, and infrequently by no means improved upon.

This is the reason it plagues the spectrum of newbie and intermediate surfers.

For those who have been to stroll out onto a frozen lake proper now, having by no means stood on ice earlier than, you’ll begin to slip and slide, and transfer in any approach doable in an try to not fall.

Your rapid brain-driven inclination could be to throw the arms out huge and decrease right into a squat place making a decrease middle of gravity and a wider base of help.

That is the poo-man. That is the survival mechanism in a way, brain-driven, to keep up your steadiness on an unstable floor.

What works initially so that you can stand on that foamy surfboard studying to surf is the poo stance. It serves its goal. You stand huge, throw your arms out, and steadiness in your first ever wave. Yewwww! Now you’re hooked on browsing.

The problem is that this stance that labored for a newbie is commonly by no means unlearned by these surfers transferring into the expansive realm of intermediate browsing.

The posture of a poo stance, and the way it inhibits your capability to maneuver freely, actually prevents you from browsing the best way you wish to when you’ve got an intention in the direction of development.

I wish to offer you one final instance to drive this house, and it’s one other that you just actually ought to get up and really feel. Feeling creates bodily consciousness, and that consciousness permits for extra environment friendly change (change to your stance).

From a mechanical perspective, there may be a whole lot of similarity in a golf swing with the way you as a surfer want to maneuver. A golf swing is all spirals and rotation, and at its essence, browsing is identical. I gained’t bore you with my tangential deep ideas about browsing mechanics and helix spirals…… However the golf swing is a superb instance.

Arise in a very good posture, elongated alignment of the backbone, no slouching, and carry out a golf swing, even when you don’t have a membership, simply mimic the motion. It must be pretty easy and it is best to really feel the rotation from head to toe. You’re in a postural alignment that enables all joints to contribute to the motion.

Now, get right into a full poo-man stance. Exaggerate it even. Get low, stick the butt out, one foot factors forwards, whereas the opposite foot factors backward. Sustaining this poo place, carry out a golf swing.

It felt horrible, didn’t it? Horrible, clunky, awkward, and stiff.

That’s precisely why your browsing poo stance leads to horribly, clunky, awkward, and stiff browsing.

The low squat poo man place places you right into a posture that inhibits your capability to maneuver fluidly. You may’t prolong, you may’t compress, and you may’t twist, subsequently you may’t surf.

Please be aware of my level up above of getting one foot forwards, and the again foot going through backwards in that poo stance. I element this within the accompanying video you’ll discover on this submit, as this foot place is a large hindrance to browsing. Putting your ft in opposing instructions is actually one of many worst issues you are able to do to your surf stance as a result of relationship of the foot, hip, and people joints influencing your capability to maneuver freely, or transfer rigidly and awkwardly.

To not point out that this opposing foot stance can be doubtlessly setting you up for some kind of great joint damage from the collected forces it locations into the joints of the knee and hip.

What can you’re taking from all this?

The poo-stance is unhealthy.

It not solely appears to be like horrible, however it’s actually stopping you from progressing along with your browsing.

The Excellent Surf Stance

So what’s the good surf stance?

I wish to be clear with this: There’s NO 1 good proper and proper approach.

There’s nuance to this. There’s particular person model. There’s selection. That is browsing.

But there are commonalities and underlying ideas.

Mick Fanning surfs in another way than Italo Ferreira, but they’re each world champions, have extremely excessive ranges of talent, and so they have fairly totally different “kinds” and stances at instances. Nevertheless regardless of these variations there are commonalities amongst them, and it’s these commonalities that we will agree upon.

What I suggest beneath are surf stance commonalities that permit for browsing progress and development.

For the examples I present I’ve little doubt you’ll find a singular display screen seize second the place a professional is doing one thing totally different to what I define, however that doesn’t indicate these commonalities are fallacious. You occurred to discover a temporary second of an outlier, and that’s to be anticipated. Browsing is Motion, which in and of itself is extremely variable.

For those who merely start to look at surf movies with the motion traits I define, you’ll see them repeated again and again and over.

A surfer that I feel is totally prime of the pack by way of model and talent is Ethan Ewing. For those who haven’t heard of him but you’ll within the subsequent few years. He was the world junior champ just a few years in the past and he’s been making some stable WCT heats this final 12 months. Take a look at his model, and take note of all of the motion commonalities I point out.

Ethan Ewing – Pure Model

The Excellent Surf Stance Commonalities

Please watch the accompanying youtube video of mine so you’ve gotten a visible illustration of this. I’m merely going to throw the record out beneath in brief type. Within the video, I dive into specifics and offer you motion examples of all of this.

Spring-like motion of the decrease physique
-use the joints of the leg as a spring, not a singular hinge level of bending ahead

Stacked upright posture to permit for freedom of rotation

Directionally Ahead Dealing with
-Chest forwards
-Pelvis angled forwards
-Knees forwards

Coordinated Arms with Directional Intention
-where your arms go your board will go, so maybe it is best to cease flinging your arm backwards everytime you try to do a flip.

Foot Place
-your foot place will impact the alignment and mobility of all joints up the kinetic chain

The Excellent Surf Stance Foot Place

To be clear, we’re discussing shortboards right here.

I wish to make this so simple as doable and once more remind you that there’s nuance to this relying on what professional surfer you’re taking a look at.

Stance width will range relying on physique traits. A 5 4” feminine will doubtless have a narrower stance than a 6 4” male. Some surfers have wider stances, Italo Ferreira is an effective instance of this, whereas Craig Anderson has a a lot narrower stance.

For a generalisation, when you have been standing with ft collectively, after which took a traditional distance step ahead with one foot, you’d then have one foot forwards and one foot again. Your surf stance would most likely be a bit wider than that distance, maybe round 1.5x’s that distance give or take. Please take into consideration this distance varies! You’ve obtained to seek out the stance that works in your physique and feels pure.

Your entrance foot must be someplace within the neighborhood of perpendicular to the stringer to a forty five diploma angle going through forwards. Someplace round there give or take some levels. Personally I’m across the 30-40 diploma angle ahead of the stringer. It’s this barely ahead angle of the foot that enables the hip and pelvis to be directionally ahead going through extra simply as a result of structure of the hip socket and femoral head (thigh bone).

The again foot is the place there may be variability and this appears to be a large level of confusion for the intermediate spectrum of surfers.

Your again foot strikes!

Somewhat tube time for me within the Banyaks on considered one of our Surf Teaching Boat Journeys… You need to be a part of us! SURF TRIPS

Not solely will you see my ahead going through barrel crouch place, being a spring and directionally intentful with my posture, however you also needs to zoom in on my again foot. The heel isn’t even on the board! I’ve pivoted up onto the large toe to permit for higher crouching whereas nonetheless sustaining rail pressures to stay engaged within the tube!

Your again foot can and may transfer relying on what you’re doing along with your browsing! A full barrel crouch in your forehand and also you’re most likely simply on the ball of the foot and the large toe.

You may see that represented in my picture. For those who’re pumping down the road to make velocity you’ll have your again foot in entrance of the tail pad. For those who’re attempting to blow fins out the again of a lip your foot might be all the best way again towards the tail pad riser.

The extra progressive your browsing turns into, the extra you’ll realise that your again foot shouldn’t be stationary, it strikes round relying in your intent to maneuver the board.

Usually talking you need that again foot proper on prime of that tail pad, nearly way back to your foot can comfortably go. That is presumably instantly atop the fins, subsequently supplying you with maneuverability. However once more, I can’t stress sufficient that your again foot ought to turn into cellular by way of placement with browsing development.

Just like the angle talked about earlier, you are inclined to need a perpendicular to the stringer again foot place and even into the 30-45deg angle of ahead inclination I point out.

This ahead inclination of the foot once more permits for higher motion via the joints of the decrease physique and lets you extra effectively orient the pelvis and again knee to a ahead going through place.

What About Backhand Browsing?

Backhand may be barely extra cumbersome.

It will possibly actually really feel a bit extra awkward as your again is to the wave and mechanics are barely totally different.

But the details nonetheless apply. Orient your self extra ahead going through, which might instantly be applied by reaching your rear arm the place you wish to go. Sure, your rear arm. Folks will inevitably ask, which boggles my thoughts, however once more, your rear arm! Pure footers, that’s your proper arm. Goofy footers, that’s your left arm. No, it doesn’t matter when you’re browsing a left or a proper hand wave, your again arm is at all times your again arm.

Attain that again arm the place you wish to go! At all times and endlessly. This can be a subject for an additional submit, however take heed: For those who attain your again arm within the course that you just wish to go it is going to orient the remainder of your physique within the appropriate course.

So please, for the love of excellent browsing, cease throwing your again arm backwards and flailing it round.

I’ve actually simply modified your browsing by way of this again arm positioning. Don’t undermine this facet, as it might probably catapult your browsing.

Again to the purpose of a backhand. Get that rear arm going through the course you wish to be going, and it’ll assist to orient your chest and pelvis within the course you wish to go.

With particular regard to foot positioning, on a backhand there shall be an inclination for the rear foot to barely level backwards. That is in reality okay and permits for higher compression of the remainder of the physique. If it factors barely backwards it’s simpler to roll onto the within of the foot after which compress down into stance place, whereas on the forehand it might probably roll up onto the large toe joint and the heel elevates off the board.

Biomechanically and orthopedically, that rear foot place isn’t the nicest, however you’ll are inclined to see most surfers, even elite-level professionals, permit that again foot to rotate and level barely backward on their backhand.

A tremendous backhand surfer to look at is Bobby Martinez. I’m telling you, repeatedly… watch his rear arm!

Bobby Martinez at Rincon

Go Surf & Enhance Your Surf Stance

This can be so much to tackle, however it is best to have a extra enlightened consciousness of what a very good surf stance is versus what a poo-man stance is. Your browsing development actually is dependent upon it.

Together with your new consciousness, take this notion to your native surf break. I’ve little doubt you’ll see issues very in another way now, with evident inefficiencies in others browsing.

This new consciousness is the important thing to alter and development.

Altering behavior, postures, and positions within the water can take time, however merely begin with the fundamentals.

Chest going through the place you wish to go, turn into comfy with weight on that entrance leg, and attain your rear arm within the course you’d prefer to surf.

For those who’re prepared to actually change your consciousness of browsing, and follow method on dry land, ensure to take a look on the Cardboard Surfer or the Surf Skate Fundamentals Program