Should i wax?

[Murphysegg]

Hi all,

New to the site & relatively new to riding strapless. Gotta say..... luv the feelin.

I have been riding a Nobile Skimboard for the last 3 months as much as i possibly can, be it in flat water, chop or small swell. I'll admit i don't have a natural ability with balance, but i think i'm progressing fairly well. One thing i have noticed is that the board pads tend to grip my feet a little too well for me to make small adjustments to my foot positions. Anybody give any advice on maybe using a different less "grippy grip" or wether to lose it altogether & wax the board ?

Also i seem to have real issues with riding toeside on my goofy side. This is a particular disability with the regular SW'lys at my local beach, if i could nail this goofy riding i'd get the most out of riding the waves toeside. Instead i just head straight downwind & towards the kite. Thus depowering. Is it a case of perserverance ? Technique ? Weakness ? i can't seem to see whats different with my regular side.

Any help would be great.

[57palm]

I can give you an opinion on a few of your questions. First of all wax or pads ? It has been my experience that wax is even stickier than pads and provides even less movement. (I am in cold water about 64f Canada). I prefer pads because they allow me to feel where my feet are on the board due to the relief in the pads. To move your feet you need to get some of the pressure off of them. Now regarding riding goofy. For most people there is a stronger side or direction. This is the equivalent of being left or right handed and through practice you can become as proficient either way but will likely always have a preferred direction. In fact I believe the term goofy came from this. Most right handed people tend to be stronger left foot forward (regular footed) and lefty's are right foot forward. As the majority of people are regular the minority became goofy. So keep on practicing and it will get easier and easier. It did for me.

Reuben

[Lonny]

Hey Murphysegg,

Welcome to LTS! Thank you for joining us here.

Personally, I am not crazy about wax vs. pad. Here are some previous thoughts I posted:

Wax vs. pads is a matter of personal taste. I really like pads as they have just as much grip, if not more, and you don't have to re-wax your board all the time. Plus, when you start learning ollies they protect your board from dings and most importantly, your body to cushion the impact. The only real drawback with pads is that your can lose some of the feel of the board, so whatever pad you use make sure it is relatively thin or only a single density especially for your front foot. Tail kick pads are nice for the rear. If you do put pads on, make sure to remove the wax fully and then give your deck a rubbing alcohol treatment to get the pads to adhere well.

What you could do is leave the tail portion of the board with a pad, and leave the front portion with just wax. A lot of guys like that set up. Before you tear the pad off your board you might want to try a buddies board that might be just a waxed board to see if you like the feel better.

As far as riding switch or goofy toeside it is hard for everyone. Most people never even try to learn it. They just stick with their favored side. So kudos to you for working on it. Honestly, it was not until I saw a guy ripping the waves toeside on both tacks that a light went off in my head - gee maybe I should learn to do that too?

First, I would recommend that you go out on whatever board you are most comfortable in moderate wind on and practice it. Yes, that means a board with straps, if that is what you are most comfortable on! You need to focus just on the feeling of riding switch toeside at first, and not have to worry about anything else. Keep in mind you will not necessarily be able to go upwind very well or at all at first. You have to get the feel down, before you can begin to edge and feel comfortable. The way I really started to get it dialed was forcing myself on downwinders to go switch toeside the whole way back to the beach. The spot where I ride you have to head upwind about 2-3 miles to get to the better waves, so there is always a downwinder back to the beach. The more you do it the more it will become natural and comfortable. It probably will not ever be as good as your favored side, but you can definitely get it feeling pretty darn good. The other day I turned off a wave face and went back and hit it toeside and I didn't realize until afterward I was riding switch! So it will come along just give it some time. Think of how many hours you rode regular until it felt good. Toeside switch is that much more challenging. Stick with it!

Hope that helps, and let me know if I can help anymore.

[sundogchicky]

got down here , stripped all my wax off before i came as it was cold water and its tropical down here. i cannot find wax here. i cannot find traction.
surfs up , boats ready. board is bare- i grab some tea light candles ,the ones in the little tins and drip away i go surf ,i no slip.
i like wax when i surf, i like traction when i kite, i dont like traction when i surf. but i can kite with wax especially with booties.
my favorite wax smells like root beer and traction just smells like your feet after a while.
it really sux when your tracton comes unglued mid sesh
melted wax all over your board bag or car isnt fun even if i does smell like soda fruit or bubble gum.