THE NOSE-UP BOTTOM TURN

The nose-up bottom turn is a technique longboarders use to redirect their boards, wipe off speed, stall, and set their line in the top part of the wave – ready for noseriding.

It’s very different to the way traditional shortboarders use the bottom turn for a number of reasons.

NOSE UP

Unlike short-boarding where you engage the whole rail line in a bottom turn for maximum drive and speed – with all weight forward, in longboarding we do something very different.

The nose-up bottom turn is all about the pivot, rather than driving through the turn.

Now why is this the case?

You see, in shortboarding you are always looking for ways to gain speed, hence the driving nature behind the traditional bottom turn.

In longboarding however, with the straighter rail-lines, and with speed not being an issue, the focus is instead on repositioning and wiping off speed.

For this reason we can forget about drive, and instead it’s more of a pivot.

HERE’S HOW IT’S DONE

The first key component is to make sure that you’re far back enough on the board to lift the nose up to pivot.

Once there, put all your weight on the tail of the board (lifting up the nose) whilst turning it up the waves face simultaneously.

At this point you should feel the board begin to be dragged up the waves face positioning you in the top third of the wave (that’s where we want to be for nose-riding).

Once you’re there, adjust your line slightly – engaging your rail in the process – and re-adjust your weight by shuffling up the board.