What exactly is considered a nose ride? What does it take to get on the nose of a surfboard? What kind of board do you get nose rides on? Can you nose ride a short board? How long should a surfboard be made for nose riding?

Traditionally surfboards that are called nose riders would fall into the long board category. But lately I’ve been hearing people talking about getting nose rides on small boards. Just this past week I watched one of the Riley boys get a nice cheater five on one of my H2 mini boards…. The board is 5’6”! Sure I’ve seen guys get cheater fives on regular tri fin short boards. It’s not something you would set out to do as far as maneuvers go but, sometimes it does happen.

I think for the most part a cheater five on a small board though a nose ride is only a little like a nose ride that you would do on a long board. Why do we call cheater fives cheater fives anyway?

The common nose ride on a long board takes place on the forward third of the board… from the tip of the nose to not more than 36 inches back from the tip. And, you should be standing upright in that area. Meaning you have your board fully weighted. Getting in that area is not as critical as getting right at the tip of the nose, curling your toes over the tip with one foot or both feet.

There are two ways to get to the nose area of a long board. The shuffle and the cross step. The shuffle is done by sliding your back foot forward to your front foot then sliding your front foot forward repeating until you’ve reached the nose area of your board. The cross step is executed by actually stepping one foot over the other, also called “walking”. Shuffling is easier. “Walking” is considered the more advanced method, as well, when done in smooth fashion is more graceful.

If you shuffle or cross step getting to the nose and staying there without falling is not easy. Getting all the way to the tip and standing there for a couple seconds is about as close as anyone gets to standing on water. Cross stepping in the last 36 inch area of a surfboard is about as close as you will get to walking on water for that matter. It’s difficult to do, takes wave knowledge, timing and a high degree of wave riding ability to do it well.

Now the cheater five is the easiest nose ride. If done on a short board that is not much over 6 ft or shorter all you need to do is trim in the middle of the board, squat down with your weight on your back foot, extend your front foot forward to the nose. The same can be done on a long board… after reaching the forward third of a 9 ft board squatting down and reaching your front foot forward to the tip of the nose.

When you squat down you have a low weight center, it’s easier to balance as compared to a full standing position, so we’ve always called it cheating. But even still, the cheater five is not that easy to execute.

Sure there are short surfboards that you can get a nose ride on. But I’m the traditional type. The graceful stepping to the nose, with the effortless look of ease. Perched on the tip.

D.R.

The 'Tip Tool' gets the job done.