Flippered, or flipperless ... ?

john - · Post by **john -** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:26 am

Headwax

dont get a life - keep us entertained

DarcyM · Post by **DarcyM** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:37 am

--- ahem ---

back to the subject

I always wear my duck feet, I feel naked in the water without them. I love doing the stealth motoring in and around the footboarders in the lineup. I sometimes sit on my board and use the fins to kick backward and maintain my position while the rest of the pack gets slowly pulled out of the line-up by the rip. And then when the big sets come, there's nothing like "4-wheel drive" to push you through and get outside in a hurry. I've never noticed any drag from flippers hanging off the end of the board. Only when I've been horribly out of position on the board (late air drops, for instance) have I felt the flippers contacting the water behind me, and I've ridden lots of round pin tails.

SCGARY · Post by **SCGARY** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 11:13 am

I arm paddle faster than I can kick so I arm paddle most of the time anyway(strong shoulders from competitve swimming and standup surfing) so I prefer no fins BUT, on big days I like the option to be able to kick if I need to.
The funny thing about finless KB'ing is that since I standup surf as well I sometime find myself starting to jump to my feet on a kneeboard takeoff.

DrStrange · Post by **DrStrange** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:54 pm

Greenough. He wore those huge UDTs and had no problem with speed...

Very wide tail + scooped out deck helps keep fins away from rails. I think drag more an issue in smaller weaker waves as small amount of drag is higher percentage of energy available from wave. I noticed it more the smaller the waves anyway.

Good point about more foot lcontact/everage with fins on

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:57 pm

I love the flexibility of not wearing flippers, like scgary, i like to stand up nearly every surf on the waves that dont deserve to be kneeboarded.

i feel its an individual thing, i have not worn flippers for over 15 years.
Around where I live, there is not many kneelos that where flippers. There are many reasons why I dont like flippers, but if you feel they help your surfing and give you an advantage in the water, keep wearing them.
I also remember feeling naked without them when I gave them up, but that soon goes away, and when you put them back on it feels also just as wierd.

what ever cooks your toast.....

Beeline2.0 · Post by **Beeline2.0** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:57 pm

ScottMac · Post by **ScottMac** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 2:30 pm

Beeline2.0 · Post by **Beeline2.0** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:50 pm

W.G. Facenda · Post by **W.G. Facenda** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:13 pm

[quote="DrStrange"][quote]Greenough. He wore those huge UDTs and had no problem with speed...[/quote]

Very wide tail + scooped out deck helps keep fins away from rails. I think drag more an issue in smaller weaker waves as small amount of drag is higher percentage of energy available from wave. I noticed it more the smaller the waves anyway.

Good point about more foot lcontact/everage with fins on[/quote]
I saw Greenough many times and he wore regular duckfeet.Now i guess he wears cutdown UDT's.

surfseeker7 · Post by **surfseeker7** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:45 am

Duke wrote:Hi all,
i'm Stefano from Rome and i'm a beginner of this fantastic sport.
What's the best for improve my surfing?with or without fins?
The problem with fins for me is the correct position for paddling.
Thank you all in advance for your help and sorry for my english
ciao

Ciao Stefano ! I have friends in Viareggio, Reggio Emilia and Bergamo. I hear there are some good spots to surf not far from Rome. Could you tell us where you surf in Italy ? I'm considering bringing my kneeboard to surf this Fall in France and Italy, if it's worth it.

Also, let us know where you found a kneeboard in Italy ! Did you buy it in England or the US ? Your English is a lot better than my Italian, so please post some info about your part of the world !

~SurfSeeker7

P.S. Use Fins if you are just starting out with kneeboarding...

fisherrat · Post by **fisherrat** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:49 pm

I love my duck feet like jon you can bury me in them. I don't leave home without them also like darcyM I would feel naked without them

YES I USE FINS

Nov · Post by **Nov** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:51 am

I'm crazy and most of the time I wear one flipper

btw, I'm serious, I wear one flipper.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:12 am

Nov wrote:I'm crazy and most of the time I wear one flipper

btw, I'm serious, I wear one flipper.

Yup, I've done just that on more than one occaision - a big ol' UDT on my right foot, let's me plop up my left foot on the deck DK style. YMMV.

Nov · Post by **Nov** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:17 am

I do sort of the same thing, but, ah, why would you want to ride dk on a kneeboard? It's good to try stuff like pop-shuv-its and putting your foot on the nose for a hangfive (do it in the tube, it's fun!) but otherwise it's not a worthwhile thing to do on a kneelo.

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Flippered, or flipperless ... ?

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