ARS

Andre
January 2004
Ive be bodybording for a few years now and have no problems with rolls,however i am always having difficulties with air roll spins.the problem is i never seem to rotate enough and my legs always seem to stay in the water.any help will be greatly appreciated.

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2 Replies

January 2004
Hey Andre!

Well its not really that hard to do an ARS. Pretty much what you need to do is work on your timing and line! Once you can get this mastered there is no end to what you can do The best advice I can give is aim for the end of the section so it launchs you out into the pocket again to carry on riding the face. Basically hit the lip as hard as you can like doing a roll, but before you land tuck you legs up and rotate into a spin (even practice this motion on the land with a board in your hand to get the feeling). What you should do is practice this till you can atleast land backwards and slowly rotate out in the foam(even if it takes you the whole beach to do it). And everytime try pushing it to do it faster and faster! Before you know it you will be busting the sickest ARS's around! Keep it tidy and watch other people in the water and vidoes to pick up styles and techniques....

Best of luck and dont forget to "Support the Sport".Put back what it gives to you and pass it on through the generations!!!
Kelly
January 2004
Hey Andre,

That should get you going - hopefully you have found that advice useful and have been out there landing a few. Can only re-iterate HALFBINZ's advice:
Quote:
(even practice this motion on the land with a board in your hand to get the feeling)
You want to try and familiarise yourself with the movement/rotation so that when you do actually attempt the move in the surf that you have more of an idea of what you should be doing. You could spend a few hours in the surf and only encounter a few sections where you would be able to launch an ARS so the more you are able to do out of the water the better. This is one distinct disadvantage a surf related sport has against land based sports such as skating or snowboarding where you can go build a kicker and just attack it all day until you get it right. Nowadays you see plenty riders from varying sports, which rely on gymnastic ability, practicing manoeuvres on trampolines trying to give themselves the edge over the next guy and push the limits of their ability.

When it comes to analysing your manoeuvres, go right back to the start of your move - the bottom turn - and maybe even back to the take off. The set-up and timing are essential elements which will determine how big you're going to go - if you're launching big time, chances are you'll get those legs around. Bottom turns are all about controlling your speed and line OR projecting yourself into the next move so this is the one basic move which you want to get sussed. I've seen guys who have been bodyboarding & competing for years and they have yet to master this fundamental move but there's plenty out there who can and they're easy to spot, they're the rippers (usually with decent style) who are busting big and you'll probably notice some heavy elbow marks and stress creases in the area. These are the guys you want to be watching and asking advice from - maybe even ask them to watch you and give you a few pointers (although not everyone can teach).

To generate speed you want turn halfway down the face of the wave, off of an area known as the power zone. As you slide forward from the drop, turn into the face of the wave - you should be flexing your board around your elbow and as you're coming out of the turn you want to release this flex which is how you generate maximum acceleration as you project out of the turn. At the same time you want to start sliding further forward, all in one smooth movement .... from here it should be launch time!!!

For practice just try weaving up and down the wave face, getting in tune with the power zone and how to utilise the flex of your board to generate speed.

Good luck! Great that you're asking the questions!!!

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