It’s interesting that video mentions it’s helpful for front wheel drive cars. Maybe part of the reason guys who like very front foot heavy setups over-exaggerate this turn in foiling?
I think the analog is much closer to countersteering a motorcycle or bike to initiate a turn.
Like a bike or moto, your CoG is balanced above a single point laterally so you need to move that point out from under your CoG to start your lean into the turn. I think everyone riding a bike or foiling is doing this all the time, it’s just very subtle. More advanced riders are aware of it and learn to initiate more aggressively to move between turns faster.
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Yes that is definitely better, good point. Though I wonder if that is more the physics of the turning of bike? Don’t know much about how that works other than it is necessary to do it to lean a road bike over
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“steering is for balancing”
Nice explanation. The Yaw flick is like the steering with handles on the bike, the Roll is like the leaning over of the bike
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Turning one way to turn the other way is not something only for foiling. It’s a great tool for timing connection turns.Skimboading Connection Turn
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Nice backhand wave here, both turns are almost drawn out into two parts.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/C61M1sBOD4e/
though tbh I don’t like that turn because it demonstrates what I think is wrong with backhand foil:
- it looks like a setup turn for a forehand turn
- the actual cutback has two parts, which is really difficult to avoid. First the lofty lip bonk and then the awkward rail turn
Not really seen anyone make a backhand cutback look as good as a forehand cutback. I think the body mechanics don’t work when doing surfing shoulder rotation stuff
Both Adam B and Jeremy Wilmot have the body mechanics sorted to do lovely backhand cutbacks. Jeremy makes use of the available torque that you just can’t get on a forehand cutback but it favours a lower power and speed scenario.
It’s easy enough to do a great frontside cutback but to finish it and immediately roll onto the toes again is not typically very pretty where as a well executed back hand cutback can be finished very nicely with the immediate and very powerful driving roll to the heal side edge.
So forehand cutback great first half when powering on the healside and backside cutback better second half when powering back on the healside.
Yeah good call, Jeremy is possibly even more dialled than Adam specifically on the backhand. I feel like Adam does a foam bash reentries on the backhand, where Jeremy below releases a full clip that is mostly backhand surfing.
Yes, this is it. How smoothly can you get back on your heels
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Look at the back hand of Erik - his right hand - acting like a counterbalance pivot.
Jeremy above is doing it too
I think this is less intuitive on the backhand, but it matches up with what a lot of surfing coaching encourages, using your trailing hand more actively is very common in surfing (google “coffee cup method”)
Nice example of this, really clean waves, it’s definitely harder to get vertical and critical on the backhand, the body mechanics from surfing just don’t translate
I think backhand surfing ONLY looks good when it’s extremely vertical, and that seems impossible on a foil on backhand for some reason
eg this first turn
what a nightmare
I still think Tom Earl is winning the backhand attack specifically surfing backhand waves
Adam Bennets possibly with the best specific backhand turns like this one, but still never see many full wave sequences
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Mostly see Adam riding right points, so not much backhand. This video shows his roundhouse turns where he airs out the foil. He also does a reo in the white water, both of which are darn near impossible, imo. As he’s able to ride such a small foil and make insane bank angles, the most I can relate to this vid is the wave quality and at 2:18! Tom’s backside doesn’t seem that far off what I feel I’m doing (and I’ve destroyed all video evidence to the contrary.)
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Bennetts was the first I saw in person doing really dramatic counter turns to setup his turns. It was eye opening to me.
He is pretty impressive to watch roll by you.
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if it feels good then that’s what matters
tbh I don’t see anyone posting backhand content, it’s way harder, it looks a bit shit usually… I have yet to see anyone doing better on a full backhand wave (excluding tow where it’s just carves)
https://www.instagram.com/p/DW4I-mrCP57/
this is cool, instead of trying for a foil turn and dodging the lip or trying for a backside foam bash, you do a lip bash with the board like a surf turn
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Seen most of the best foilers in the world in person. IMO Gordon Harrison has some of the best arm and body placement in the game. Nothing is ever out of place. Every turn looks effortless and like he’s not even trying. He can trick anyone into thinking foiling looks easy. Here’s a random clip off his IG 
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