RAIL GRABBING...

[kneelingBROTHA]

Alright, I think I'm going to point out the obvious but I don't know if this has been said in the "raging" debates about rail grabbing that go on on here every, oh, say 2 days.

Okay, I come from a bodyboarding background obviously. In bodyboarding, when guys do dropknee backside, they generally go rail-grabless when they can, but if its neccessary, they grab the rail, which is a lot of the time for most backside riders.

I just had a session on Saturday (which was, by all accounts, a failure performance wise, pearling on practically every wave for no apparent reason, but really fun nonetheless), and saw myself rail grabbing every now and then. I kept my hands off of the rails when I could, and just grabbed to pull in a turn when I felt it would slide out otherwise.

Does anyone else do this? Just use the rail grab when neccessary? I was just pondering this for a moment because people on here seem to either hate it or love it. I just use a functional fusion when riding. If I feel my body position dictates a rail grab, or its an awkward position, heck, grab the rail. But if I can square my shoulders and make it around the section without grabbing the rail, I'll do so.

And, by the way, this little kid out there was psyched on my kneeboard. He was so into it he asked me how to get up on his bodyboard. It was pretty cool; he got up on his bodyboard and rode all the way to shore knee'n it.

And then when he got out of the water, he was skimming on his knees trying to do kneeling skim-rollos. FUTURE KNEEBOARDER FOR SURE!

--marc

[Beeline2.0]

..

[splashy]

I grab the rail during late free-fall take offs to stop myself separating from the board and then smashing through it on landing. Maintaining contact with the board also allows to transfer energy/speed from the fall into forward movement.

Otherwise I never grab the rail. If you turn properly and with power and precision you should not need to grab the rail - your body weight should be outside the board being used as leverage to drive through and around turns. This leads to more seamless connection of the turns and more power/speed/ratio of turns.

My view of the world anyway...

[boards_and_fins]

I find myself grabbing rail when I try to pull in, or to try and make a late drop. Otherwise I try not to-I really dont know why. I was watching a dude try and kneeboard waist high slop one day abd on every wave he grabbed the rail-that was ugly. But if it serves a purpose then why not?

[KAVA]

sometimes i rail grab sometimes i dont. If some other kneelo sees me railgrab do i care? not really, im just stoked to see another kneelo in the water. I kneelo for fun

[W.G. Facenda]

Rail grabbing is for beginners.So is wearing flippers and surfing fat and short - retro fish boards.When I surf ten foot pipe I wear no flippers and ride without grabbing rails ,it works unreal !! Try it ! Eat at a huge burrito before you paddle out like I do.....

[JackG]

Otherwise I try not to-I really dont know why.

Because it keeps your your butt by the board, that's why you should try to not do it all the time. Without grabbing you can extend your legs and be able to pump on the wave and turn dynamically. There certainly are situations where holding on and holding a line are the most important thing, and holding the rail can do that. In general being free to extend your legs is a good thing.

IMHO.

[KAVA]

Rail grabbing is for beginners.So is wearing flippers and surfing fat and short

sometimes after a nice surf with my crew and just before we have an all night session of da kava we will throw a couple hawaiians in the umu for later with or without flippers and railgrabbers or not ROFL!

[KenM]

John, I tried that burrito thing last week. It really works. I surfed for 7 hours straight and never had to stop for lunch.