SwellTech Surfskate Review: Is It the Best Surf Trainer?

The SwellTech surfskate system is one of the most complex, and the only surfskate truck with a full 360-degree rotation.

Although opinions on SwellTech vary widely, many surfers claim it to be the best pure surf trainer. But is a SwellTech surfskate for you? I’ll try to answer that for you in this review.

If you’re trying to find the best surfskate for you, then check out my free Surfskate Selector app. It includes all models from the best surfskates. Just answer 8 quick questions and it reveals the best models for you.

SwellTech Review Quick Links

 

• How is the SwellTech Surfskate System Built?
• What are SwellTech Surfskates Best Used For?
• How Do SwellTech Surfskates Feel, Perform, and Compare?
• Comparing SwellTech Surfskates on 15 Variables
• Advanced Riders Review SwellTech Surfskates

How is the SwellTech Surfskate System Built?

 

The SwellTech surfskate truck is the only one with a full 360-degree rotation:

The SwellTech surfskate truck is a dual-axis system. This means it offers two dimensions of motion. The first is the lateral swing of the hangers, which swings around in a full circle.

The second dimension of motion is the rail-to-rail lean on the hanger. This is adjustable with a nut. The exterior springs provide tension for the rail-to-rail lean.

Most surfskate systems use standard bolt patterns and measurements on their truck baseplates. This makes them interchangeable with other systems. (E.g., you can use a YOW Meraki front truck on a Carver skateboards deck with a C2 rear truck).

SwellTech is the only surfskate system with custom truck sizes and custom bolt patterns and measurements.

The front truck uses a unique three-bolt pattern:

The rear truck baseplate measurements are also unique to SwellTech, and much bigger than standard truck baseplates.

Here’s the SwellTech rear truck bolt patterns compared to a Carver C2 rear truck:

This means you can’t use the SwellTech surfskate system on any other deck, unless you drill your own holes. (Although Soulboardiy now offers SwellTech decks with the three-bolt pattern.)

You have to buy the whole complete system. If you like their whole complete system, then it’s a good thing.

But if you don’t like it, then you’re stuck with what they’re using and you don’t have a lot of options for customizing things.

SwellTech surfskates also come with a traction pad, or stomp pad, like you see on surfboards:

What is the SwellTech Best Used For?

 

To date, I’ve tested more than 85 surfskates with 43 different surfskate truck systems. I have boiled them down to what I believe are the best surfskates.

I’ve organized them on a scale of what I call pure surf trainers to street cruisers:

The pure surf trainer trucks feel loose, flowy, and smooth. The street cruiser trucks feel tighter and snappier.

What I call the hybrid surfskate trucks can do it all. These includ the YOW Meraki, Carver C7, and Waterborne Surf Adapter.

They’re great for the pure surf training and they’re also great for street cruising for non-surfers.

The hybrids and street cruisers are more versatile than the pure surf trainers. They give you a lot more forward momentum when you’re pumping. This means you can do longer distance cruising.

So in this context I put the SwellTech on the far left as the purest surf trainer. It’s the loosest surfskate truck you’ll ever find. And because it’s so unstable and hard to ride, it’s for advanced riders only.

Surfers have a wide range of opinions about the SwellTech surfskate. On my YouTube channel I asked surfers, “How well do you think SwellTech is for surf training?” Out of 221 votes, these were the responses:

How Do SwellTech Surfskates Feel, Perform,
& Compare?

SwellTech surfskates are in a league of their own and feel unlike anything else.

When stepping onto a SwellTech surfskate, you’ll first notice is how unstable it feels. It feels almost like a balance trainer.

Second, you’ll quickly notice how you can’t lean on the rails too far. If you do, the truck will jackknife.

SwellTech surfskates can be difficult to get started from a standstill. You have to get good momentum before you can really fall into the flow of pumping.

SwellTech forces you to use proper surf form by initiating movements with your upper body.

In contrast to the SwellTech, any of the other surfskates allow you to lean fully on the rails, and you feel pressure pushing back on you through the entirety of the turn.

If you’re a surfer looking for the purest feel to surfing and for something that will train your body for surfing, you may enjoy the feel of the SwellTech.

If you’re used to most stable surfskate trucks, such as the Carver C7 and CX, YOW Meraki, or Smoothstar Thruster, you’ll be surprised by how much different the SwellTech feels.

Comparing SwellTech on 15 Variables

 

Let me give you a better idea of how the SwellTech surfskate feels and performs. I’ll walk you through the 15 different variables that I measure when I test surfskate trucks.

 

Variable #1: Truck Feel

The first variable is truck feel. Does it feel more loose, fluid, and flowy? Or does it feel more tight and snappy?

A SwellTech surfskate is the loosest surfskate truck you’ll find. That’s because of the 360-degree rotation.

 

Variable #2: Flexibility/Range of Motion

The SwellTech has more range of motion than any other surfskate truck. This is for better or for worse, because that makes it very unstable.

 

Variable #3: Rail-To-Rail Lean

The SwellTech surfskate has a wider range of motion than any of other surfskate truck. But it actually has relatively low rail-to-rail lean. That’s because the truck jackknifes if you turn it too sharp.

Variable #4: Stability

SwellTech is far and away the least stable of all the top surfskate trucks.

 

Variable #5: Suitable Skill Level

Because it’s so unstable, the SwellTech is for advanced riders only. That is, unless you’re looking for a challenge.

 

Variable #6: Forward Momentum

The SwellTech does not generate a lot of forward momentum when you pump.

 

Variable #7: Suitable Riding Distance

The SwellTech surfskate doesn’t generate a lot of forward momentum. That makes it best used for short distances.

 

Variable #8: Suitable Riding Surfaces

If you hit cracks, bumps, and pebbles on the SwellTech surfskate, the truck easily squirrels out. That’s because it’s so loose and unstable. For that reason, it’s best used on smooth surfaces.

 

Variable #9: Best Use

I categorize the SwellTech surfskate as a pure surf trainer for surfers. I think it’s best used in small areas on smooth surfaces for surf training specifically.

 

Variable #10: Wheelbase Offset

Wheelbase offset refers to how much the truck axle hangs behind the pivot point.

On this point, SwellTech surfskate is not great. It offsets your wheelbase by about 3.5”. Next to the old Smoothstar Thruster, it has the most wheelbase offset of any other surfskate truck.

This means you need longer SwellTech decks to accommodate your stance width.

This is a critical point on the SwellTech surfskate. If you get a model with too narrow of a wheelbase, it will be even more unstable.

 

Variable #11: Weight

The SwellTech surfskate truck itself is among the heavier surfskate trucks. But what makes a SwellTech heavy is the fact that you have to use their complete system. Everything together is relatively heavy.

 

Variable #12: Versatility

I don’t think the SwellTech surfskate is a versatile board at all. It’s a very specialized board for pure surf training for surfers.

 

Variable #13: Quality

On this point, I would rank the SwellTech surfskate highly. I think everything you find in the SwellTech is pretty high quality and a SwellTech surfskate will last you a long time.

 

Variable #14: Maintenance

One common maintenance issue about the SwellTech is that their external springs break. They’ve recently upgraded their springs, which should eliminate a lot of that.

 

Variable #15: Cost

SwellTech is actually one of the cheapest surfskates you can buy, with models ranging from $219.99 to $279.99.

Advanced Riders Review the SwellTech Surfskate

The rider who helped me review SwellTech are surfers Mark Baldwin, Ace Allan, and Joey Daley, and non-surfer Michal Mularski.

Watch their review video:

Question: What do you like most about SwellTech?

 
Mark Baldwin:

“To me it feels the most like surfing. There’s something about the fluidity of the movement, the way you have to use your upper body to initiate your turns. That just to me, I can picture myself being on a wave riding up and down the green face. In a way that I don’t get the same feeling with some other surfskates.”

 
Ace Allan:

“I’d say number one would be the front truck. And even though for me it’s a little bit quirky, it’s different. There’s some innovation going on here that we don’t see with the other surfskates on the market. Next would be how it performs. It performs in the bowl pretty well actually. And then the third one would be the shape of the board, the aesthetics. And it just looks like a mini surfboard kind of.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“They pretty much feel like you are on the water as far as I can tell. That creates like that unique experience and a really fun ride, and I really enjoy it. And the second reason is that SwellTech forces you to use your whole body to ride. On other boards, I can be little bit sloppy with my technique or just take it easy. SwellTech no, that’s not the case. You pretty much have to be focused, and use your upper body to twist it to make those turns, cutbacks or whatever. I really like that. The wiggling doesn’t really work.”

Question: How well do you feel SwellTech replicates the feel of surfing?

 
Joey Daley:

“In my opinion if you figure out how to utilize the front truck properly, as an advanced rider would be able to, it would progress their surfing. It does replicate surfing. However, it replicates it so much that I feel like anyone from beginner to intermediate would have a difficult time learning the fundamentals or the beginning of surfskating.

“One thing I should mention about the SwellTech is that you utilize your back foot a lot more than your front foot, which does replicate surfing a lot. However, in my opinion it kind of defeats the purpose of getting that line drive because you’re not getting any momentum from the front.

“If I were to pump the back, the front would use that momentum to gain the drive and the speed that I would need to go forward or down the line. A lot of the other surfskates give you the capability of putting more pressure towards the front of the board, whereas if you put too much pressure on the front it’s going to jackknife.”

 
Mark Baldwin:

“I think SwellTech is the closest to the sensation of surfing. I think the fluidity of the motion of that front truck really helps. The fact that the shape has the stomp pad at the back, maybe your feet feel a little bit more familiar, I can get into my normal surf stance. All that together just makes it feel like I’m surfing.”

 
Ace Allan:

“Surfers all have a different style. We all like different boards, we like different types of waves. Because of that difference, we all have different opinions. But for me it doesn’t really replicate surfing too well. The feel of riding the SwellTech is very different to what I feel when riding a wave and riding a surfboard.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“I’m not a surfer but I’ve got some board experience, and for me it feels basically like I’m on water.”

Question: Is SwellTech the best surf trainer?

 
Mark Baldwin:

“I don’t think I’m qualified to answer that question. I think you would need to check with somebody who surfs regularly, who might be using one board as a dedicated trainer to then apply it onto the ocean.

“With me, between times that I get to surf, I use so many different systems, I do so many different things, I ride so many different ways, that it would be hard to say that it’s attributed to one specific board or one training exercise.

“I think SwellTech does, theoretically, make a really good surf trainer because the way it feels like surfing. Whether that necessarily corresponds to making your surfing better or potentially developing bad habits from the surfskate, I can’t say for sure.”

 
Ace Allan:

“I don’t think it is the best surf trainer. It seems to me a little bit quirky, it feels more like a balance trainer and that might have a lot of benefit actually because balance is really important in surfing. But it doesn’t seem to simulate the same type of feeling that I get when I’m riding a surfboard on a wave.”

Question: How does SwellTech compare to everything else you’ve ridden?

 
Mark Baldwin:

“SwellTech is definitely one of the trickier boards to get good with because it is so loose and divey you can bottom it out if you just go the wrong way. It’s got the truck that spins all 360 degrees around. It just has a lot less of the stability that some other boards that are more similar to a skateboard feel like.

“So what sets it apart is that it’s harder to master but once you do get the hang of it, it feels really good. So, it’s kind of on the top side of the surfskates in terms of ease of use but also has a lot of really good potential.”

 
Ace Allan:

“It’s unique not only in the aesthetics of it but also in the feel of that front truck. That feel for some might not be very good. I don’t enjoy it the most, but it’s something different.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“There’s everything else, and there’s SwellTech. Because of the unique feel of the board, my Smoothstar Manta, which I modified the front track, I believe that it can easily match the turning radius of SwellTech or even probably outperform it. But the feel is different.

“Whenever I step on the SwellTech, I know that I step on a SwellTech. If I’m just riding YOW or Smoothstar, it’s definitely different. Probably the closest one was the ONVI from Brazil, which is also, spring-based, very, very loose.”

Question: Who would you recommend SwellTech for?

 
Joey Daley:

“It is a complete and utter surf trainer specifically for advanced riders only, in my opinion. I feel like if a beginner steps on this they’re going to probably break an ankle. Advanced surfers I feel like would love this dearly just because it’s a challenge.”

 
Mark Baldwin:

“I think if you’re someone who is most interested in surfing and want to replicate that feeling or want to get the feeling of surfing, then that’s the right board for you.

“If you are looking for just cruising around or if you’re looking for riding the skate park as someone who’s more beginner intermediate, it’s going to be more challenging. It’s not the greatest board for cruising long distance because it’s more difficult to push and it takes a little bit more effort to get a return on your motions.

“So, I think I would choose a different option if that’s what you’re looking for. But if you’re looking for getting the feeling of surfing, then this is the right board in my opinion.”

 
Ace Allan:

“I’d recommend the SwellTech for someone who just wants something different. Again has a very different feel that for me is not the best.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“I would say that if you like really loose systems and if you like to feel like you’re surfing.”

Question: Do you recommend that surfers start on a SwellTech, or build up to it?

 
Mark Baldwin:

“I think that if you already have some skateboarding experience and you’re a surfer or you have some surf experience, you could definitely learn with a SwellTech as your first board.

“People sometimes make it out to be harder than it is. I think as long as you have the basics down you can learn. It might be a little bit of a slower progress but you can definitely get up to the expert level even if it’s your first board.

“If you’ve never even stood on a longboard or a regular skateboard before and you’re just trying to get into surfskating, I think it will be a little bit more challenging and maybe even discouraging when you’re starting out because it’s going to take you longer to get the basics down of just pushing and stopping and getting those simple turns down before you start pumping and carving.”

 
Ace Allan:

“In general, I wouldn’t recommend that surfers start on the SwellTech. If you don’t have any other surfskates, I’d recommend you to buy one of the other top brands, like Carver or Waterborne or Smoothstar or Yow. They have again very different feeling from what you’ll get on the SwellTech. This feeling on the SwellTech isn’t what I feel when I’m surfing.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“I saw those reviews on the Internet that it is super difficult to ride and you have to be super good. I had a chance for the first time to try the SwellTech, and I didn’t really have a major problem, I was just riding it.

“If you surf, I don’t think you’ll have any problem riding the SwellTech. If you’re starting and you don’t have any board experience, I believe that you can unlock this board, relatively quickly. Maybe it takes a little bit longer than other boards like Carver, all those, Slide which are very stable.”

Question: What don’t you like about SwellTech?

 
Joey Daley:

“I don’t like the fact that it jackknifes. At no point should I ever touch the ground with the board unless both wheels are coming off. If I jackknife, that’s an ankle, that’s my elbows, that’s my hands. I gotta save myself every time that the board touches the ground.

“If I’m not an advanced rider, I can’t get the actual flow going. Most likely what’s going to happen is someone’s going to go to do the turn, they’re going to fall.

“When it comes to surfing, you’re going to be dipping your edge into the water but it’s not going to, you’re going to fall into water, you’re not going to fall onto the concrete. And that’s a huge aspect that I think about when I’m trying to ride.

“If you’re going straight down a hill and you hit a rock at any point, this jars back and forth. In my opinion, it doesn’t have the pumpability so you can’t actually drive from a standstill. You can’t go from a stop and start pumping and get speed or velocity. You kind of have to wiggle it out before anything.”

 
Ace Allan:

“What I don’t like about the SwellTech, when you lean on the SwellTech too far, it buckles, it gives, and there’s no resistance at all. And it’s a very difficult thing to find out where that point is that it will happen.”

 
Mark Baldwin:

“There’s one main thing that I dislike about SwellTech and that is that they have the proprietary sizing on their truck systems. I love to customize boards and find out what works. I also use Qwik Truks so that when I travel I can take different truck systems for different applications.

“Because SwellTech uses a proprietary bolt pattern that doesn’t match normal skateboard decks or doesn’t match the quick truck plates, then I don’t use it as much as I would like to.”

 
Michal Mularski:

“The one thing I don’t like about SwellTech is the deck. I mean I like aesthetically it looks like a surfboard, but the tail for me is too small. It’s too short and too narrow.

“Firstly, I’ve got large feet so I just really like, it’s just to have like a support on my back feet and I had difficulties to drop in because of the short tail and I couldn’t lock the tail properly on the coping.”