subject: Surfing Cutback Tips [print this page] Almost all surfers that make the commitment to pursue the sport of surfing and take the necessary time to learn how to ride waves will ultimately begin to feel bold enough to try and start maneuvering their surfboard on the wave face. One of the most instinctive feeling surfing tricks is known as a "Cutback", this surfing turn is customarily one of the basic form of maneuvers that surfers will learn since it is performed,executed on the wave face. A cutback usually does,will not require a sharp bottom turn, a surfer does not normally have to perform this surfing maneuver in the lip of the wave, and surfers will usually not have a abrupt drop back down the wave face after executing this maneuver. There are several variations of the cutback turn, you will many times hear the moniker "slash" or "slash back", "round house cut back" or "roundy" for short, and it can sometimes be referred to as "cutty" and once in a while,sometimes simply called by its orthodox name "Cutback" - while the maneuver,trick,turn itself has lots of distinctions between when it should be a cutback or a round house, the general idea is that the person is turning,maneuvering the surfboard into an arching, carving or pivoting change of direction.
The most commonplace] feeling cutback maneuver will be to drive along,across the wave face and begin,start to transfer your weight behind and onto your inside rail, this displacement of weight,your weight will allow your surfboard to begin channeling the water out and away as a person applies pressure in this manor the wave,waves energy will also fight back allowing the surfer to maintain speed, power and flow through the turn, once the necessary amount of weight has been applied the board will feel as if it is performing the turn for you, and remember, you will always need to have some type of exit strategy for your maneuver. A surfer will not simply be able to apply pressure to the inside rail and hope that the turn completes itself, you must be aware of that at some point most often within about a breath a riders turn will be done and it will be time to transfer your force to the opposite side of the boards rail to bring the surfboard back around parallel to the wave face so you is able to recover any speed you may have burned off executing the cut-back
Many skilled riders,surfers will take their cutback 1 step further more and do what is known as a "round house cut back" , this type of turn is begun and executed,performed the same as a regular cut back but the surfer put the board on rail a little bit longer and then rebound the surfboard into the white water that had been chasing him/her from behind this type of "banking" turn is able to produce lots of speed as the surfer rebounds off of the whitewater back onto the wave open face. The roundhouse cutty is usually performed as a means to stay close to the steep pocket portion of the wave and it is a very valuable tool when surfing small to head high waves. at the point that the surf becomes larger and more powerful you will see that most surfers generally will perform this type of round house turn,rebound cutback much less often for two main reasons 1) the white water is much to powerful and unstable which makes it a very high risk to reward turn and 2) bigger waves already have the necessary power to push the rider at great speeds, so there is much less of a need to perform more technical surfing tricks to gain additional speed.
The cutback surfing turn can be performed in both a "front side" and "back side","back-side" wave ride, similar styles will be significant to perform the cut-back turn weather or not the surfer is riding front side or backside. It is relatively simple to remember that when you are going to attempt a cut back a critical order of events must occur for the turn to be completed with a flowing style. The necessary force transfer must take place with the back foot to inside rail, the surfer should always make sure their upper body is centered over their,the board and finally always make sure to look where you want to finish your turn. Generally because riding waves requires muscle memory, once you train your body to go where you are looking, your body, mind and muscles will remember what they have to do in order to complete the maneuver. Now get out there and practice those cutbacks. Remember: The more time you spend in the ocean, the faster you will master the cutback in surfing.
