What makes for a successful air?
In what must have been an entertaining research project, James Forsyth and colleagues at the University of Wollongong and elsewhere analyzed what it takes to stomp an air.
Their research, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports1, tracked 121 aerial maneuvers during the 2015 WSL Championship Tour. The authors defined an aerial as any move where a surfer projects above a breaking wave before landing on its face or lip - a definition that certainly undersells how difficult this is, let alone making it look good.
The researchers split aerial performance into three components: External/Environmental factors like swell and equipment, Physical factors like strength and flexibility, and Technical factors. Focusing on technique, they analyzed takeoff, airborne, and landing phases.
Frontside air reverses dominated the data, making up over half the total attempts. Backside air reverses followed, with regular frontside airs close behind. The more complex variations like 360s showed up less frequently, though frontside air reverse 360s had the highest success rate at 70%. Regular frontside air reverses landed 64% of the time, while backside air reverses only succeeded 35% of the time.
The position of the leading foot's ankle showed one of the strongest correlations with landing success. Dorsiflexion - lifting your toes toward your knee - proved critical. But correlation doesn't mean causation. The ankle position likely indicates proper board control rather than being the key to aerial mastery - flexing your toes alone won't turn you into John John. Similar to skateboarding, this ankle position suggests the right board angle for both takeoff and landing.
The research confirmed some seemingly obvious but crucial points: keep the board under your center of mass (land on your board, who knew?), and for reverses, look where you want to land. The science validates what many pros and groms alike have learned through countless attempts and wipeouts.
The authors go on to suggest aiming for mid-face on the wave to reduce the forces on your joints when landing. Landing on the angled face reduces the change in momentum when compared to landing in the flats in front of the wave, where the force is directly opposite the direction you are traveling, putting lots of force on your knees and ankles.
The recipe for stomping an air comes down to maintaining board control through takeoff, leading with your gaze on the landing spot, and staying centered over your board. And speed - lots of speed.
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