Street to Surf: How Skating Helps Surfing
In New Jersey, there aren’t always prime surfing waves and when there are, a grom does not want to waste them.
One way to condition the body to carve up the waves is to put in hours carving up concrete (or if you’re lucky enough — the boardwalk).
Ventnor competitive surfer Brittney Hickey says skating on the right board helps surfers learn how to control body movements and keep weight over the board.
“You can do a turn over and over and groove your muscle memory until you get it right,” said Hickey, who is sponsored by East Coast Custom Longboards. “Practicing on land with a board built to carve teaches you how to turn your body, head, and where your arms should be to stay balanced.”
Pro surfer Courtney Conlogue has had her best year of surfing since she’s started training on Carver skateboards. “I love skating. I am actually improving my surfing and working on techniques,” Conlogue explains in this Carver video below (starting at 1:38). Conlogue incorporated skating into her rehab routine after suffering an ankle injury. “It was something that got my muscles activating properly and the rhythm going again. That was a huge step in getting myself back into surf shape.”
Hickey, who is one of the most athletic and strong East Coast women surfers, skates at least six days a week. She has noticed that doing power slides on a skateboard is improving her surfing tail slides and reverses and has sharpened her wave carving maneuvers and hacks.
“My brother saw me surf for the first time since I’ve been putting in a lot of hours on my skateboard and noticed I had a lot more speed and power,” Hickey said. “My legs are so much stronger. I’m looking forward to competing again to see what I can do.”
Hickey rides an East Coast Customs surf-to-skate board custom built for her size and style. The company specializes in building boards for surfing. The website states: “We wanted that feel as when you drop into a head high wave and make that magical bottom turn… It’s that feel we strive to re-create.”
While Hickey’s pictures and videos look smooth as butter, she has taken some hard falls. Each fall provides a lesson — “because concrete hurts way worse than falling on water, I’m more comfortable going for things when I’m surfing.”
