Part 1 of 3 in the Surfskate Series
- How to Pump (You Are Here)
- Waterborne Surf Adapter Review
- Recommended Surf Skate Setups
About a year ago, I got a Waterborne Surf Adapter (review coming very soon!). I tried it on a variety of setups. Some were fun, some less so. I ended up spending more time on different setups during the season. However, quarantine got me thinking about all the time I had on my hands. Why shouldn’t I use that time to master surfskating? So I did. Well, I got good enough at it to help others, anyway. “Master” might be a bit much.
In anticipation of finishing up the Waterborne Surf Adapter review, I thought I might go over something critical for surfskating: pumping. Because surfskates are high off the ground and very loose up front, you likely won’t want to push them. That’s where pumping will come in.
Pumping is the primary way of getting around on a surfskate. This is how you generate speed when surfing on the water, and it’s how you do it on a skateboard on land as well. Pumping can come in a few varieties, and you can shift between them as you get tired. While reading a guide will be helpful, the only real way to learn is to get out there. So if you came here for advice, definitely read on, but then? Go skate for a few hours!
A Quick Lesson on Pumping
First and foremost, your feet are both perpendicular to your direction of travel (sideways on the board). This will be different than how you push, but you won’t be pushing much once you get good at pumping.
For generating some power up front, you can use a sweeping motion with your front foot. Think of it like trying to get a mark off of the top of your board with your foot, but you’re not actually going to move your foot on the board. You’ll move your whole deck. This is a very lateral motion, pushing hard perpendicular to the board, into the lean and the turn. You have to think of your front leg and rear leg as completely separate entities for this to work right, even though they’ll be working together. It’s like a wave you’re starting in the front then completing the motion in the back. You’re slithering along the ground. Really put force into it with your ankles, driving the full range of motion into your front truck. This is a great way to get started from a slow speed or even standstill.
Then there’s a more full body twisting motion you can add into that sweeping. This helps you generate a lot of power, twisting from your upper body all the way down to your legs. It feels like you’re carving into an embankment, and you shift back and forth between these two motions, “falling” into the turn, and bouncing back up. Think of the power being transferred from your upper body down through your hips and into your legs.
Then, push off the back with your back leg. Really dig the rear trucks into the ground and push off of them, straightening out your rear leg as you hit the apex of the turn, swooping into the next turn.
After practicing for just a few days, I could easily get up to about 15mph through pumping alone. That’s about what I can do with pushing, though, I still do find pushing far easier. Pumping easier on a swivel-style surfskate like the Waterborne, rather than a specially designed reverse kingpin truck, like those from Carver, but it’s still quite a workout. Your quads, calves, and even feet are going to feel this. If you’ve been skipping leg day, you’re going to regret it. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been skipping leg day while staying inside all day.
Pumping a fantastic workout and a lot of fun to get up to speed without pushing.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Now the bad news: even if you read and memorized every word above, you’re still going to have to practice a lot until you get the right “feel” for it. Something will click and pumping will come naturally to you, but you may have to give it a lot of time and look a little silly until it clicks. You might come back after a few days and find you have forgotten how to surfskate. However, once you get loose and keep trying, it’ll click again quickly. Do this for a few days, and your muscle memory will make surfskating as easy as riding a bike. Or any other skateboard, really.
Surfskates are a lot of fun. They’re agile, allow for some really fun snaps and pumping, and offer a great workout. They’re too tall and loose up front to reliably push. With pumping, you’ll be ready to ride one.
Some Videos
While I was trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, a few videos stood out to me as examples. I could already get the board moving, if I had to, but couldn’t generate much power. A few videos really helped put the motion into perspective, either through explaining it or just through slow motion videos that it was easy to figure out what I wasn’t doing right. Personally, it helped me realize I wasn’t putting enough lateral force in it, in part because I felt silly doing so. But it works. Putting your entire body into a carve really helps you transfer that energy into motion.
Take a look below and see if they help.
Pay special attention to #4 here. I find it’s hard to explain how you sort of “bounce” with the rear foot, pushing off the back, but he explains it well here, showing how to decompress that rear leg during the turn, right at the apex for more power. If that sounds hard to picture, I get it, just watch that fourth point (around the 2:06 mark).
Alright, are you ready? Probably not, but that’s okay. Grab your surfksate and hit the road, it’ll all make sense after you ride for a bit.
