it’s weird how many japanese surfers i meet that have a hard time to do a round house cutback. to me, it’s the easiest thing to do. easier than getting barreled, and easier than doing an off the lip. i’ve taught hundreds of surfers how to do one and even they couldn’t believe how easy it was. so here it is again.
first, you must find a point break. in this case, it’s laniakea on the north shore. the key is to draw your line on the top part of the wave. you use the wave to give you the power, and the higher you go, the faster you will go. so on this wave, i went as high as possible.
then this is where you have to be calm and committed. many people try to fast, many people fall right here. the key is to be calm, committed, and keep your eyes in the direction where you want to go. in this case, i’m looking for the wave coming at me because i want to hit the lip to complete the round house cutback.
then twist your body, push on your back foot, little weight on your left foot as it’s only used for steering. lots of people put too much weight on the left foot so the board will just stop.
this is where you push the right foot hard, then redirect to opposite way. then your board will turn the other way and you’ve completed a round house cutback!
then you’re stoked. go back out and get another one! good luck!
