If you already have previous board sports experience (e.g. surfing, skating, snowboarding), it is easier at the beginning to stand on the board so that you are in your favourite position when riding waves. If you naturally favour your left foot in front, you are surfing "regular". If you feel more comfortable with your right foot in front, you are a goofy rider. Depending on the wind direction (wind from the left or right), it can therefore make sense to ride out against the wave with the "wrong" foot in front so that you find yourself on the wave with your natural foot position after turning round. Before your first excursions into the wave, you should therefore be able to surf and turn round reasonably confidently in a twisted foot position ("switch").
Utilising wave energy
You may have noticed that wingfoilers usually just let the wing fly behind them in front of larger waves and then only hold it by the front handle loop. In the beginning, however, it is sufficient to simply pull the wing over your head in a neutral position. You can see how to do this in the following picture gallery.
As a reminder: The wingfoiler in our example prefers to ride "goofy", i.e. with the right foot in front. When the wind blows from the right, he therefore rides the wave with his feet twisted.
Learning to wingsurf in the wave - how to control your altitude
Due to the thrust of the wave, your foil often generates a lot of lift, especially with fast-moving and larger waves. That's why you need to actively control the altitude. Depending on the speed and size of the wave, your board may start to rise, in which case you have to actively push the bow down towards the wave trough with your front foot.
As a general rule: when riding waves, the front foot determines where you go. On the one hand, it determines the altitude and the rough direction in which you want to ride. The back foot, on the other hand, handles quick changes of direction, e.g. by putting weight on the edge during turns. Even if the nose threatens to nose-dive, the rear foot becomes active and exerts pressure on the tail, causing the nose to rise again.
When you feel the wave thrust over the foil and can control it, it's time to switch the wing completely "off". You can find out what's important here in the fourth part of our series - so check back soon!
Click here for the other articles in the series:
- Learning to wingsurf - Wings in the wave part 1 (spot selection, take-off and landing)
- Learning to wingsurf - Wings in the wave part 2 (cross waves)
- Learning to wingsurf - Wings in the wave part 4 (switch pumps and wing off)
- Foils for wave & freestyle - tips from Henning Nockel
