Cutback in Surfing

Reviewer Top-class cutback teaching - targets the real mistakes, gives drills.

Moderator Pure cutback coaching - back foot back without dumping weight, open the chest, touch hand to the heel rail, rotate only 70% then hold, find the whitewater target. Squarely and deeply on the cutback.

Reviewer Memorable visual cues (the 'smile,' the clock face) that actually help you feel the turn.

Moderator Thorough, staged breakdown of the cutback (bottom turn mechanics, arm-throw rotation, linking the maneuver) explicitly built as a roadmap to a first cutback. Squarely on-skill.

Reviewer Clear, step-by-step, easy to actually follow.

Moderator A full, step-by-step cutback breakdown for longboard — stance width, back foot over the fin, starting the turn in the top half of the wave, shifting to the opposite rail to bring the nose around. This is the sub-skill, just the longboard version of it.

Reviewer Simple, well-cued, and explains the purpose behind each part of the turn.

Moderator A clean, focused lesson on the backside cutback specifically, framed explicitly as a foundational maneuver every surfer needs. Squarely on-skill.

Reviewer Clear sequencing and good use of slow-motion to show the whole turn.

Moderator Squarely about a specific cutback variant (roundhouse/wraparound) -- when to wait for the section, how to launch onto the shoulder and carry speed all the way back to the whitewater. Core sub-skill content.

Reviewer Specific, repeatable cues you can actually take to the water.

Moderator Direct technical breakdown of the cutback (and linked pumping) on a mid-length board -- foot placement, staying in the power source, hand-feet alignment through the turn. This is the sub-skill, coached in real detail.

Reviewer Sharp cutback analysis with real footage.

Moderator Whole video dissects the cutback - cutting the arc short vs the roundhouse, eyeline back to the whitewater, Kelly Slater breakdown. Bang on the sub-skill.

Reviewer Sharp concept on speed and positioning, but talky and abstract.

Moderator Squarely cutback - start high end high, entry speed and space, drop through the first carve to beat the stall, regain altitude before the second carve at the apex. Focused on the cutback for intermediates.

Moderator This is a genuine technical breakdown of the cutback - initiating the bottom turn by compressing over the front foot and engaging the rail before redirecting. Squarely and specifically about this manoeuvre.

Reviewer Specific, technically sound cue on setting up the cutback through the bottom turn - good detail for a short clip.

Moderator Backside cutback from start to finish — don't start it too low or you'll dig a rail, get your speed, eye up the top third of the wave, weight onto the toes and front foot. Exactly the shot.

Reviewer Specific, usable cues — where to look, where to shift your weight.

Reviewer Good structure and a clever land drill, just has an ad break in the middle.

Moderator Full beginner-oriented cutback tutorial: generate speed, identify the section, shallow bottom turn, compress, arm positioning, common mistakes, plus a skateboard-simulation drill for dry-land practice. Squarely on-skill.

Moderator This is a straight-up cutback breakdown—hip twist timing, when to draw it out on a big face versus snapping it tight, and driving through your front foot heel for the rebound. Squarely on the turn this page is about.

Reviewer Good feel-based cues on timing, just don't expect a beginner walkthrough.

Reviewer Sharp, specific technical coaching.

Moderator Real surf technique tutorial on hand/arm positioning that explicitly names the forehand cutback as an example of where it matters.

Reviewer One solid idea, well said - but short and single-note.

Moderator Short and squarely on the cutback - the key point that the second carve should be made AT the whitewater so it physically redirects the board back down the line. On topic.

Reviewer Solid cues on staying low and holding the rail, if a little loose.

Moderator Whole video is the roundhouse cutback, forehand and backhand. Dead on the sub-skill.

Reviewer Excellent, methodical carving lesson.

Moderator Three-step carving on bigger boards - press the carving button, rotate the chest, re-accelerate. A cutback is exactly this carve. Squarely on the move, just longboard-framed.

Moderator This is about dialling in the roundhouse cutback specifically — where your eyes go, how the chest and board follow — which is exactly the turn this page covers.

Reviewer One solid cue — eyes lead the turn — but it's brief.

Reviewer Strong fundamentals, clearly taught.

Moderator A general turning tutorial covering bottom turns, carves, and snaps - highly applicable to a cutback's mechanics even though the word 'cutback' isn't used.

Reviewer One of the clearer explanations of carving I've seen -- genuinely useful.

Moderator Explains the trim-vs-carve distinction that underlies every redirection maneuver, and explicitly names cutbacks as one of the moves you can't do without carving ability. Foundational rather than cutback-specific, but it's the right foundation.

Reviewer Honest, specific feedback -- useful if you want the 'reality check' angle.

Moderator A real coach reviewing a surfer's actual cutback on video, comparing how it felt vs. how it looked, with specific feedback (hand roll, timing the hit on the wave, energy/attack). It's coaching through critique rather than a clean tutorial, but it's squarely about executing and refining the cutback.

Reviewer Good conceptual framing, lighter on execution detail than a full tutorial.

Moderator Centers the cutback (contrasted with the carve) to clarify what it's for and when to use it, with real footage of surfers under- and over-doing it. On-skill, framed as a decision/timing lesson rather than pure mechanics.

Reviewer Clean, well-structured cutback teaching.

Moderator Builds the bottom turn into top turns and explicitly breaks down the roundhouse cutback: hold weight on heels, look and point to the foam, backhand re-entry off the foam. Cutback covered well within the top-turn family.

Reviewer Top-class concept coaching, very clear and useful.

Moderator Decision drill built around cutbacks and floaters, cutback covered well as the answer to outrunning the wave, but shared with floaters and positioning. Covers it among other things.

Reviewer Good, example-rich cutback and rail coaching.

Moderator Rail game lesson with cutback front and centre: coiled spring, body rotation, John John cutback and roundhouse breakdowns. Also covers re-entry and blowtail.

Reviewer Clear, accurate, sticks in your head.

Moderator Explains carving vs trimming and states outright that a cutback is a carving turn - weight back, nose up. Core concept behind the cutback, framed broader.

Reviewer Brilliantly clear coaching on back-foot leverage.

Moderator Back foot position for carving turns, the engine of a cutback, but framed generally rather than as the cutback itself.

Reviewer Sharp, single-focus coaching on using your hips.

Moderator Hips and weight transfer are the engine behind every carving turn including the cutback, and cutbacks are named, but the video teaches the underlying weight shift, not the cutback itself. Partial.

Reviewer Solid next-step coaching once you already have the basic cutback down.

Moderator Explicitly discusses linking cutbacks/carves/re-entries together and shows real wave footage including cutbacks, though the throughline is maneuver-linking and speed maintenance broadly rather than isolated cutback technique.

Reviewer Detailed, credible turning breakdown.

Moderator Top turning mistakes - foot placement, weight, rotation - all apply directly to the cutback, but it is a general turning video not cutback-specific.

Reviewer Solid, practical cutback instruction.

Moderator Explicitly teaches the roundhouse cutback: spot the section, lean, look, rotate, hold rail, backhand re-entry off the foam, and why you use it to buy time. Sits among other intermediate skills.

Reviewer Clean, beginner-friendly turning lesson.

Moderator Beginner turning fundamentals - look, point, lean, compress and extend. Base for the cutback but generic to all turns.

Reviewer Strong, actionable cutback-improving cues.

Moderator Lead improvement is upper-body rotation and looking back, the exact lever for a better roundhouse cutback, which it names and walks through. On topic.

Reviewer Useful cutback cues from footage, a bit loose.

Moderator Footage breakdown that explicitly dissects a cutback (lean, look, rotate shoulders and arms, get low to finish) among other maneuvers. On topic for goofy footers.

Reviewer Genuinely useful underlying skill, well taught.

Moderator Teaches 'compression', the body mechanic underlying bottom turns, top turns, and carves - foundational but not squarely a bottom-turn lesson on its own.

Reviewer Good POV cutback pointers, brief.

Moderator Speed generation plus carve and cutback body mechanics from POV, including how far to look back on a cutback. Covers it among related turns.

Moderator This is framed around the cutback turn specifically, walking through it as a step-by-step technique - on topic for the named manoeuvre.

Reviewer Framed as a full step-by-step guide to the cutback, though it stays fairly general.

Reviewer Can't call it a strong lesson without more than a caption to go on.

Moderator Caption points at real cutback mechanics — picking your line, compressing into the pivot, shifting to the back foot — but there's no voiceover walking you through it, so you're relying on the clip and on-screen text to connect it to those points.

Reviewer Sharp coaching eye, cues apply well beyond just the top turn shown.

Moderator This analyzes a surfer's top-turn technique — shoulder rotation, leading arm position, looking down the line — core turning mechanics that directly transfer to a cutback (also a rail-to-rail turn), even though the word 'cutback' isn't used and the example is a top turn.

Reviewer Good cutback segment within a wide-ranging film.

Moderator Broad advanced film, but it does break down the roundhouse cutback as a two-part rail turn. Cutback is one of many topics here alongside airs, tubes and rotations.