Lessons
10.Generating Speed
11.Floaters
12.Slash
13.Reo (Off the Lip)
14.Carves
15.Tail Slides
16.Late Takeoffs
17.Laybacks
18.Foam Climbs
19.360
20.Backside 360
21.Roundhouse Cutback
22.Backside Roundhouse
23.Riding Big Waves
24.Tube Riding

12. Slash

A slash is a great way to chuck up a bit of spray even if you haven’t got much speed! Obviously the more speed you are carrying into the slash the greater amount of spray your going to throw up and the better it is going to look but out of all the manouvers done on the face of a wave in surfing, the slash is the one you can do with the least amount of speed.

A slash is a great move that can be done in a couple of different circumstances the first way you can do it is if you make it a massive critical move. So say your flying down the line with loads of speed and there is one section ahead of you that will allow you to try something and then right after that section the wave fizzles out into nothing, well this is a great place to slam a big slash. The alternative is if you are flying down the line of a nice long walling wave and you see a section up ahead, you have got plenty of time to get a nice turn in before you get to the main section so this is also a great place to throw a slash into the wave, once you have got them locked down you will be able to do these slashes mid way into a ride and come out of them with as much speed as you went into the turn!

To do a slash you need a semi steep wave, one with say about a 45 degree angle to it. If you are riding really fat waves it can be pretty tricky to jam the rail in push the tail out and carry on without loosing all your speed, so a steepish wave is best for this.
The section you are looking for is a nice open face so you don’t want the lip to be coming down on you as you do your bottom turn. You want to do a fairly committed bottom turn so that you gain a lot of drive off the bottom to take into the slash. Aim your board diagonally up the face towards the top of the wave. Just after you have come off the bottom your weight should be evenly distributed over both feet and you need to look at the part of a wave you want to turn on, it might help if you picture and imaginary marker in the water that you want to turn at and use that as a pivot point. When you reach the top of the wave look back down to the bottom of the wave, twist your shoulders a little, not as much as if you were doing a cutback because you don’t want to go back the way you have just come, this is more of a speedy snappy turn. Once you have looked back down the wave really push into the wave with your back foot to make the turn. Don’t use all your power, if you push too hard your board will spin out. On the other hand if you don’t put enough power into it then the turn is going to look weak and lame. The best advice is to nail the motion of the turn and after each one put a little bit more power into the next one until you feel the limit on your board as to how much you can push before the fins give way and it spins out! A great place to get slashes really dialled in is on a point break. This will allow you to try slash after slash on the same wave and get a really good feel for them.