#SeeaTipTimeTuesday
Open Shoulders ~ Going backside (goofy going right, regular going left like Rosie seen here), it’s very helpful to open your shoulders towards the wave. This will help open your front hip, as well as broaden your view (if you don’t open your shoulders, your neck has to rotate a lot in order to see the wave).
For longboarding, havinf your hip and shoulders open towards the wave, will help give your legs space to cross walk towards the nose. If the shoulders aren’t open (parallel with the wave), it is much more difficult to cross walk and maintain balance.
A key point in how to open your shoulders, comes from your hips, which come from your foot placement.
Going backside, the front foot wants to be more open (parallel with the stringer) giving more space for the hips to move and walk.
(Try cross walking on land, imagining that you’re going backside on a wave. Play with the difference between opening up your front foot and shoulders, and keeping them closed off. You’ll notice straight away that the slight adjustment of your front foot and your shoulders makes an enormous difference in the ease of the cross-steps.)
Rosie here, executes open shoulders perfectly to a 10.
Surfer: @rosiejaffurs
Video: @tahneinei