Snowboards – Wakeboards – Skateboards

The surfboard fin design is an essential component of every surfboard. Lacking this design element level of high perfomance surfing would not be where it is today.

As a surfboard glides across the surface of a wave surf fins cause traction that holds the board to the wave. Different fins can offer vastly unique surfing experiences. Slight differences in many of the design aspect of surfboards, such as fin cant and sweep, can turn a surfboard you hate into a magic stick.

The depth of the fin is the distance from the bottom of the surfboard to the highest point on the fin-this is the distance that the fin will be underwater. A surfboard fin with greater depth with sit lower or deep in the water and therefore will be more stable than a shallower fin. If the fin is too deep, the board can become hard to maneuver.

Fin flex contributes to the overall handling of the surfboard. A stiffer fin offers greater stability, but less maneuverability. A more flexible fin reaches its maximum flex slower and continues to respond to the rider all through a turn, which can be difficult for a beginner to handle.

There are countless configurations available to for surfboards, but fin schemes differ only by two important elements: surface area and fin placement. The combined surface area of all of the fins on the board determines how easy the board is to control. A surfboard with fins with a large surfboard fin area will create increased hold and stability. These types of surfboard fins are great for large surfers.

Where you decide to place your surfboard fins on the bottom of your surfboard will have a great impact on how responsive your surfboard is when you try to turn. Tight turns are easier when the fins are place closer to the center.  By moving you surfboard fins far apart you will make your surfboard less responsive but will aid you in double overhead surf when you are looking for stability and down the line speed.

Aside from just the actual design of the surfboard fins themselves there are also four different types of surf fin setups that you can implement.  These are the single fin, twin fin, thruster and quad setups. Choosing surfboard fins that best suite your surfboard fin setup is very important.  For example twin fin surfboard fins have a much large fin base and fin depth than do thruster fins.

The single fin surfboard setup is old school and rarely used today but is still seen on some shortboards.It is common to see the single fin setup on longboards due to its great stability feature.

The thruster is the most common combination on surfboards and offers the most well-rounded performance. Thruster surfboard fins are not as deep as thruster fins and often feature a fin base and depth of 4″ to 5″.

Even though it is very uncommon twinners are still in the line-up. This set-up offers superior speed, but can be hard to control in large waves.  Consider a fins from a fin company such as FCS.

Two extreme sports that have seen a huge upsurge in their popularity over the last decade are surfing and snowboarding. It might be the case that one takes place on snow covered mountains and the other often takes place in warm waters with sandy beaches, but that doesn’t stop people enjoying both sports. But does being good at one sport necessarily mean that you will be good at the other? Let us take a look at three important elements that these sports require.

Upper Body Fitness. Surfing is one of those sports that is absolutely grueling on the upper-body, and if it’s not in good condition you won’t be going anywhere fast. Like kitesurfing, you are often battling against the ocean, but with surfing you need endurance in order to repetitively paddle board out to sea against breaking waves, and power is need in the ‘pop-up’ phase of getting upright on the board when you have caught a wave. In comparison, snowboarding does not require anywhere near the upper body condition as surfing, as snowboarding is mainly a sport powered by the legs and torso

Timing. This is one very important factor that is shared by both sports. Timing your turns just right in snowboarding isn’t easy, especially on the steeper runs, and unless you have got it sussed, you can quite easily be eating snow before you know it. Timing is also very important in surfing, not only when trying to pick up a wave with your surfboards, but also knowing when to turn, flex, or indeed bail out

Lower Body Condition. Although surfing is reliant on having a strong and agile lower body, snowboarding is the sport that is more leg-focused. As extreme sports equipment goes, Snowboards require great skill and agility to turn and carve, and if your leg muscles are not in good condition you will simply not be able to ride well. However, don’t think the lower body can be neglected in surfing, your legs and core need to be strong and flexible, even just to stand up.