Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

I'm wondering how others perform their duck dives. I've long been using a knee to push down the tail of my board to sink it as I extent my front arms to dive the board.

Do others do as this or otherwise?

I ask as I've been starting to compress and fracture the tail area of my boards from doing so but not sure how else to get the thing down.

What's your technique?

My boards thank you for your response.

that's how i do it, knee pushing down on the tail. but i do more damage to my knee than the board. i also compress the rails where i grab it to duck dive.

maybe you could add a tail pad, that might lessen damage to the tail. but i find the tail pads really cut up my knee when duck diving and don't use them. but you californians are wearing wetsuits pretty much year round, right? so you're knees are covered.

otherwise, don't wear fins and use your foot to duck dive. you can push the board much deeper that way.

on legless there is a pic of Bill Lerner at Tavi shot from beneath while duckdiving. No one does it better than he. Check it out
Max

I use two methods to duck dive depending on the size of the wave I'm trying to get under and the depth of the water I'm in. My primary, go/to method is to sink the front of my board as deep as I can with my hands/arms and then push the tail down with the ball of my foot, usually my left, and then do a giant scissor kick as I pass under the soup. In smaller surf or shallower water I do the same thing with my hands/arms but use my knee to sink the tail of my board.

I also find that in certain surf it's good to keep some distance between your body and your board, a la Bill Lerner on legless.tv, as you pass under the wave.

Tough not to compress your rails and put pressure dings in your board from duck diving. You can ask your shaper to use a more dense foam blank to make your board or put an extra semi-circular patch of cloth where you usually grip your board during duck dives.

Last thing I'll add is that I find that push ups help to mimic upper body movement I use when duck diving so I've incorporated a lot of them into my fitness regime. Although, my line of work push ups are already incorporated into daily life .

Hope this helps.

'Gotta go with what Chris says. Lots of push ups. Sinking a kneeboard is like trying to plow a tugboat through the water vs. a cigarette boat. Lots of width, lots of depth, and not a whole lot of length. I do my best trying to sink the booger by pushing down with the arms as long as they can take it then push under the rest with the knee. I'd like to say I do better but I have to admit I usually only get the knee in the back third of the board and not on the tail... although, I always thought those pressure dings were from my fins... Hmm. Gonna have to re-think that.
I just know that the summer I was in my best shape I also surfed my best. No surprise there, right? The winter before I was snow bound in Colorado so there wasn't much else to do but go work out and swim in the heated pool. I dropped 25 pounds of fat and more since I bulked up on upper body. That dry season in Bali was the best in memory. It goes without saying that it kills with the chicas, too. (...and they think that we're all about the visuals! )

Is anyone getting ahead with trying to rock the rails sideways underwater to sink it deeper? I can see the theory in practice but haven't gotten a whole lot of headway with it.

P.S.: I've gained all 25 pounds back again, but just landed in Bali again last night so life is still very, very good.

When riding my 6'6" standup I sink the nose and use my foot on the tail. But with the kneeboard I've never thought about using my foot on the tail, probably because of always using duckfeet. So, sink the nose and use knee to help push through. Chris, even though I use a knee I'm not sure if I throw a scissor kick in. Next time out I'll definitely see if I can incorporate this if not already doing it. As for a board with more foam and getting the nose underwater at the start I think you just tilt to one side to get a rail started to help sink the nose some. Works for me, most of the time

It's a little weird at first getting your foot on the tail while wearing fins but once you get it down it makes a difference in how deep you can get.

The kick helps to push you through the wave and has saved my ass once or twice.

I also recommend opening your eyes while passing under the wave. Instead of closing your eyes and hoping for the best you remain "in" the situation and you see some pretty cool stuff.

Nothing like having your eyes open while you try to duck dive a clean up set and end up getting sucked over the falls. Never knew there were so many shades of white and blue!

I can imagine!
However, not sure about low tide, sand filled barrels with contacts in

I always keep my eyes open.
A clean duck dive can be as satisfying as making a barrel.

Thanks for all the input, it sounds like for the most part my method is the common method. I'm going to add a tail pad and call it a day.

On a side note, I also incorporate kicking into my duck dives, once the board is down and under the wave I'll kick through and up and out the other side. You'll never get out on a big OB day without making headway at every opportunity.

Bob, for what it's worth:
I use my right knee to sink the board
Use a tail pad ( feels better when flipper-less as well as protect the tail)
Kick or "scissor kick" through the dive
Keep my eyes open looking for less turbulent areas to pop through or, knowing when to brace for the hit.
Next time you're in the OC give me a shout
Wayne

It took me a minute to think about it?? I guess that it's sort of second nature! I guess that the mechanics of it: Push nose down-incoming wave pushes you down-push down on tail while pulling nose up too a positive angle-as the board rises it shoots forward. I can't imagine trying to duck dive without pushing the tail down with my knee??

Until recently I knew nothing of placing foot or knee on tail to push downward. Where have i been? I always thought getting the nose down at as much of an angle as possible would let the waves force drive you even deeper and under.. Learn something everyday.