surf different

The mat allows you to surf in many different ways.

Lately the surf has been small so I have been focusing on being aware of the nuances of turning, stalling and gliding.

Turning is accomplished in a variety of methods.

Turning by rolling to the left or right with the mat properly inflated and sufficient speed is a thing of beauty.

In the small peaks I have been surfing lately, I have been playing with turning by dragging an inside hand or fin tip.

That doesn't do much for keeping your forward speed up but if there isn't much should to work with it can be fun.

Dragging leads us to stalling.

Generally I try to keep my legs / fins out of the water to reduce drag and continue my forward momentum.

But if the wave is backing off and you want to keep your position in the curl all manner of leg/fin engagement can but used to slow down the downhill speed the mat is known for.

Any time spent body surfing will pay dividends here.

Once the wave picks up a few quick kicks with your fins can help you on your way.

Glide is perhaps the mats strongest property and can be deceptive in it's simplicity.

As Dale often points out, "the mat is alive" and I would like to add it wants to haul ass!

Faced with any decent stretch of wave face letting the mat alone to do it's thing often results in a blinding flashes of speed.

Amusingly, I would often wonder later what "I did" to make the mat take off.

Eventually, it occurred to me "I" had stopped trying to do anything and the mat took off like a shot.

The point being that if you shooting for personal physical neutrality and letting the mat fly can be an interesting way to spend some time in the water.

Comments

pranaglider said…
Funny thing. I have found that if I leave a first comment, anything really, readers tend to leave more comments. I guess it's since they have the comment page open aready the cost of contributing is rather low. Amazing really.

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