When longboarding, what is the best way/time to get the board in "trim" to walk the nose?

Question

When longboarding, what is the best way/time to get the board in "trim" to walk the nose?

Answer 1

This is a bit more complicated as its very dependent upon the wave, your board and the fin and the fin placement within the fin box.

Starting at the top, you need to make sure you got a good wave that will give you a nice open face.  Assuming this, your ability to "trim" is going to be dependent on the shape of the wave face and the consistancy of the breaking wave.   Once you take off, set your rail, and angle your board down the line...

Here is where the fin/board/fin placement comes in.  Make sure you have a long enough fin (larger rake) so that the fin will hold in the wave face and keep your board positioned as you move towards the nose.  Your board will behave differently based upon your tail shape, bottom contour and the like versus your fin and the fin placement.  You may need to push your fin all the way back in the fin box as well.  This will give you more stability going straight with your board in trim.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

With your frontmost foot, angle the board down to about 20 degrees off the water. It sounds complicated, but once you've done it a few times, you'll get the feel for it and it will become second nature.