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10 Surfskate Maneuvers Every Surfskater Should Know
There are certain surfskate maneuvers that every surfskater should be familiar with, whether you’re a beginner or advanced rider, surfer or non-surfer. Here are ten surfskate maneuvers to help you progress as a surfskater.
10 Must-Know Surfskate Maneuvers
- Surfskate Maneuver #1: Pumping
- Surfskate Maneuver #2: Carving/Turning
- Surfskate Maneuver #3: Stopping
- Surfskate Maneuver #4: Bottom Turn
- Surfskate Maneuver #5: Cutback & Roundhouse Cutback
- Surfskate Maneuver #6: Snap
- Surfskate Maneuver #7: Infinity Loop
- Surfskate Maneuver #8: Frontside Reverse 360
- Surfskate Maneuver #9: Layback
- Surfskate Maneuver #10: Bert Slide
Surfskate trucks open a whole new world of possibility for skaters by allowing them to mimic the feel and movements of surfing on land.
For experienced surfers, surfskate maneuvers may come easy. For those of us who aren’t surfers, however, it takes education and practice to learn surfskate maneuvers.
The following ten surfskate maneuvers are ones every surfskater should be familiar with. Even if we can’t do them, they give us something to aspire to in our surfskating progression.
If you’re a surfskate beginner looking for surfskate maneuver tutorials with live video instruction, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
The most basic and fundamental surfskate maneuver is surfskate pumping. With coordinated body movements, you can move your surfskate without having to push your foot on the ground. Surfskate pumping is how you generate speed on a surfskate.
Proper surfskate pumping involves the whole body: ankles, knees, hips, shoulders.
Watch these surfskate tutorials to master this most basic surfskate maneuver.
For live video instruction on surfskate pumping, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
Surfskate Pumping Crash Course for Beginners
How to Generate Speed on a Surfskate
How I Fixed My Surfskate Pump, Stance, & Posture
5 Simple Steps to Start Pumping on a Surfskate
Start Surfskate Pumping Easily with This Simple 4-Word Technique
How to Pump: From Wiggle to Surfskate Pump
How to Pump a Surfskate with Actual Surfing Technique
How to Pump and Ride a Surfskate
SurfSkate Basics: Toe and Heel Push-Offs to Maximize Pumping Power
How to Pump on a Surfskate: Getting Started, Part 1
How to Pump on a Surfskate: Upper Body, Part 2
How to Pump on a Surfskate: Generate Speed, Part 3
How to Generate Speed – Surfskate Tutorial
Surfskate Basics: Stance & Generating Speed
SwellTech Surfskate Guide to Ride: Pumping
Surfskate trucks enable radical carving—in other words, very sharp turns—with a combination of a tight turning radius and deep rail-to-rail lean. (On a surfskate, the side edges of the deck are the “rails”.)
Carving surfskate maneuvers require body shifts and coordination to stay balanced and efficient through turns.
Other terms for surfskate carving are “frontside” and “backside” turns. In surfing terms, a backside turn means your back is facing the wave as you make a turn. A frontside turn means your chest is facing the wave as you make a turn.
These surfskate maneuver tutorials will help you learn the proper surfskate carving form.
For live video instruction on surfskate carving, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
How to Use Carving to Safely Go Down Hills on a Surfskate
Frontside Turns on a Surfskate
Backside Turns on a Surfskate
How to Carve on a Surfskate Tutorial
SwellTech Guide to Ride: Carving
Surfskate Turns Perfection: Tips & Exercises
How to Surfskate: The Secret of the Perfect Turn
How to Frontside Carve – Surfskate Tutorial
Surfskate Tutorial: Backside and Frontside Turns and Knee Drops
If you want to stay safe on a surfskate, one important surfskate maneuver to learn is simply stopping on a surfskate.
There are many ways to stop on a surfskate, including:
- Carving/turning tightly.
- Jumping off.
- Using your back foot to check your speed.
- Dragging one foot on the ground.
- Speed checks (slides).
To learn how to stop on a surfskate with live instructions, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
These surfskate maneuver videos will also help you learn how to stop on a surfskate:
5 Ways to Stop on a Surfskate by Shane Lai
How to Stop and Reduce Speed on a Surfskate
Stopping on a Surfskate
How to Emergency Stop on a Surfskate
The bottom turn is one of the most important surfing techniques, because it sets up all other surfing manuevers.
Barefoot Surf defines a bottom turn as:
a smooth, powerful turn at the bottom of the wave that transforms vertical energy (gained by dropping the wave), into horizontal energy (turning at the bottom), in a way that provides you the proper speed and direction for a manoeuvre on the wave.
A forehand (frontside) bottom turn means you’re facing the wave when turning at the bottom of the wave. A backhand (backside) bottom turn means your back is to the wave when turning at the bottom.
Watch these surfskate tutorials to learn the important surfskate maneuver of bottom turns:
How to Bottom Turn on a Surfskate
How to Bottom Turn Surfskate Tutorial
How to Bottom Turn Surfskate Tutorial
How to Do a Bottom Turn on a Surfskate
A “cutback” is one of the most important surfskate maneuvers taken from surfing. Barefoot Surf defines a cutback as:
When a surfer changes direction with a turn using his/her rails to go back towards the breaking part of the wave (curl). It’s a crucial manoeuvre as it positions the surfer back to the “power source”: the steepest, most enjoyable part of the wave.
A “roundhouse cutback” is an even more advanced surfing maneuver and is defined as:
A complete 180-degree direction change from the shoulder to the curl, drawing a figure “8” on the face of the wave. Usually ends with a bounce back in the white water.
To learn the surfskate maneuvers of cutbacks and roundhouse cutbacks, watch these surfskate tutorials:
How to Cutback on a Surfskate
Surfskate: How to Cutback Like a Pro
Surfskate Roundhouse Cutback
The “snap” is a surfskate maneuver also derived from surfing. In surfing, a snap is executed by making a radical turn on top of a wave and making the back of the board skid or leave the water.
You can snap on a surfskate by sliding the back wheels out in a sharp and fast turn. As you lean into a turn, shift more weight on your front foot, which will release pressure on the back wheels.
Watch these tutorials to learn how to perform snap surfskate maneuvers:
How to Snap Surfskate Tutorial
How to Snap on a Surfskate
How to Frontside Snap on a Surfskate with Video Analysis
The “infinity loop” is one of the most classic surfskate maneuvers. Although not a technical surf maneuver, it’s still a valuable surfskate maneuver to learn because it teaches you body control.
When performing the infinity loop on a surfskate, you skate a figure eight on the ground in one fluid motion, without pumping between loops. It requires an intricate combination of weight shifts and body movements.
These surfskate tutorials will help you learn the infinity loop surfskate maneuver:
Surfskate Infinity Loop In Depth Tutorial by Shane Lai
Surfskate Infinity Loop Tutorial and Tips by Shane Lai
How to Master the Infinity Loop Surfskate Tutorial by Layton LePetit
Surfskate Infinity Loop Practice
A frontside reverse 360 is among the most advanced surfing maneuvers. Perfecting this surfskate maneuver is a great way to take your surfing to a whole new level.
Learn the frontside reverse surfskate maneuver by watching these surfskating tutorials:
How to Frontside Reverse Surfskate Tutorial by Shane Lai
How to Frontside Reverse 360 Surfskate Tutorial
Frontside Reverse 360 with Surfskate on Wave Ramp
A layback is an advanced surfskate maneuver where you make a sharp turn with a snap at top, then finish the turn by laying your body back and touching your hands to the ground as you slide.
Watch these surfskate tutorial videos to learn the layback surfskate maneuver:
How to Layback Surfskate Tutorial by Shane Lai
Surfskate Layback versus Bert Slide Surfskate Tutorial
Surfskate Layback
How to Layback Grind Surfskate Tutorial
Surfskate Trick Layback
A bert slide, Bertlemann slide, or bert, is a skateboarding trick where you get low to the ground going into a sharp turn, then place one hand on the ground and use it as a pivot point to slide your wheels around. The trick was named after the surfer Larry Bertlemann, who first performed the trick on a surfboard, then later incorporated it into his skateboarding.
A bert slide is one of the most advanced surfskate maneuvers. Learn how to bert slide by watching these surfskate tutorials:
How to Bert Slide Surfskate Tutorial by Shane Lai
Surfskate Tutorial: Perfecting Backside Bert Slides on a Surfskate
Learn to Surfskate Bert Slides
How to Bert Slide in Quarter Pipe
If you’re a surfskate beginner looking for more basic surfskate maneuver tutorials, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
