*TRY THIS AT HOME...

...surfing is a pretty mindless activity. It's more about feel and instinct than it is about planning out maneuvers on your wave, unless you're a contest robot. With that being the case, your time out of the water is where you can delve deep into the mechanics of surfing and your equipment. I've found that being proactive with your equipment opens many doors to your surfing capabilities. There lies the beauty in handmade fiberglass surfboards. You can take any old board, and besides changing fins to liven it up, you can get deep into design with the easy stuff already done for you (it already has rocker, a solid template, it's glassed...) Adding a little hard edge to your rail with some resin will add a little more bite to your turns. Retro-fitting an old thruster into a quad will allow you to experiment with four-fins before taking the plunge on a brand new quad. You can even add some carbon flaps along the tail rail to stiffen a board up and get more spring out of your bottom turns. So many possibilities, it's all in your hands.

Above, we have the flex-tail experiment. The "Popout Bandit" has the natural gift for shaping. Out of 10 or so boards he's shaped, only one was a dud and it done on purpose (long story). This particular quad he shaped was being neglected (largely in part to his 25+ board quiver) and he had some ideas brewing. What better way to give a board new life and get it back in the rotation than a little experiment with a flex tail. Cut the glass, scoop out some foam, shave the stringer, re-glass the tail and add some foam rubber padding on the tail for cushion. It may work, it may not. But you'll never know until you try...