Whats the basics of skim boarding?

Question

Whats the basics of skim boarding?

Answer 1

Skimboarding is a sport similar to surfing which takes place near the shore.  The skimboarder stands about twenty feet from the ocean with skimboard in hand and waits for a wave. When they see a wave they run towards it with their skimboard still in hand. Upon reaching the wet sand they drop the board and jump onto it as quickly as possible. Once on the board, the skimmer must remain as stable as possible and prepare to make the transition to the ocean. The skimmer then (hopefully) glides out into the ocean toward the oncoming wave, banks off of it, and rides it back into shore.  There are many possibilities for riding the waves and this is where skimboarding gets really interesting.

Dealing with Wind.

If it is very windy and you are having trouble throwing your board on the sand without the wind blowing it away you can kick sand on the bottom of your wet board.  The sand will usually stick (unless you wax it or something) and will make your board much heavier and thereby easier to drop in the wind.  Once you drop your board the sand comes right off and your board is just as light as it normally is!

Getting on the Board

Of course you know how to get on the board.  Just jump on, right?  Wrong.  The best way to get on your board is to "run onto it".  By running onto the board you decrease your chance of falling.  There is a minimum amount of weight on the board so it has less of a tendency to slip out from under you.  Furthermore, if you are doing a water drop you wont unnecessarily weight down the board, which creates drag and slows you down.  Finally, by running on the board you lose as little speed as possible during the drop.  If you jump onto it you are using your energy to jump up into the air instead of using it to move towards the wave faster.  When you run onto the board you maintain your speed much better.

Reaching the Waves.

If you are having trouble getting out to waves without sinking you may want to try Side-Slipping.  This can be hard to master but its worth it.  Basically, while your speeding over the water out toward the wave, you turn your board sideways so that your toes are pointed out toward the ocean.  If you trim it just right, you will lose speed at a much slower rate.  When you get near the wave, turn your board back to its normal position and ride like you normally would

Making your board faster?

Some people think that waxing the bottom of your skimboard with car wax makes it faster.  Rain X and other similar products would seem to work just as well.  Note:  This makes it so so that sand will not stick to the bottom of your board.  (i.e. tip #1 wont work with tip #3)

Use the right wax.

Hopefully you already know that you are supposed to put wax on the top of your board.  But many people do not know that different kinds work much differently.  Besides the different brands, there are different temperature specifications.  Colder water wax tends to be much softer and stickier while warm and tropical varieties are hard and less sticky.  Colder water wax wears away quicker however, you will have to wax your board less often with a warm water wax.

Good skimboarding technique.

Always make sure that you back foot is on the back of the board!  It is a very common mistake for people to stand too far forward on the board.  In fact, I should taker my own advice!  I would be a much better skimmer if I took care to stand in the right place.

Preparing to ride a new board.

When you get a new board direct from the manufacturer you may find that you have a hard time getting wax and/or traction pads to stick to it.  This is because manufacturers often polish the boards to make them look pretty.  They end up looking real nice but that polish makes the surface to slippery for stuff to stick to.  To get rid of this problem clean the board as well as you can.  Then use rubbing alcohol on the desired area to remove to polish from the surface.  After doing this your wax and traction pads should stick much better!

I got that information for skimonline and here is a  link to a basic tutorial from the same site:

http://skimonline.com/skimschool/skimmin...

Hope that helps!!!!