Top turn in Surfing

Reviewer Efficient, precise, gives you a real decision framework.

Moderator Concise, focused, entirely about top turn mechanics - rotation, timing, off-the-lip vs carve decision-making.

Reviewer Precise body-mechanics cueing you can actually apply.

Moderator Entirely and specifically about the top turn ('le roller ou top turn'), with a precise body-mechanics sequence: eyes, hands, hips, then feet unwind in order, plus the frontside/backside difference.

Reviewer Real self-analysis, not just a highlight reel - useful diagnostic thinking.

Moderator Entirely dedicated to backside top turns, explicitly framed around the exact sub-skill.

Reviewer Great specific fix for a very common top-turn error.

Moderator Squarely diagnoses and fixes a very common top-turn fault (arm-waving instead of body-driven rotation) with a clear before/after example.

Reviewer Good specific diagnosis of a real advancing-surfer problem.

Moderator Squarely about diagnosing a specific top turn flaw (flailing back arm) for surfers pushing to more vertical surfing.

Reviewer Clear sequence, explains why backside and frontside differ - good teaching.

Moderator Entirely and explicitly about the top turn ('the roller'). Nothing else competing for runtime.

Reviewer Good advanced turn breakdown with real tips.

Moderator Covers forehand wrap, snap, and layback snap - these are genuinely top-turn/off-the-lip style maneuvers.

Reviewer Solid technical breakdown of how the two turns connect.

Moderator Directly about the bottom turn into top turn sequence.

Reviewer Clean, credible, step-by-step technical instruction.

Moderator Directly teaches bottom turn and top turn technique step by step.

Reviewer Comparative analysis is a genuinely effective way to teach this.

Moderator Directly a side-by-side breakdown comparing an intermediate and advanced top turn.

Reviewer Short and terse, but the cues are the right ones.

Moderator Covers both frontside and backhand top turn, drilled at a cone. Entirely on topic.

Reviewer Clear, memorable mental model for how top turns actually generate speed.

Moderator Squarely about the bottom-turn-to-top-turn cycle, explained through a genuinely useful mental model (storing and releasing kinetic energy) that directly explains why and how you top turn.

Reviewer Clear, useful framework for understanding turn progression.

Moderator Directly discusses turn progression - cutback, carve, vertical snap - and the different lines on a wave, which is core conceptual grounding for top turns/snaps.

Reviewer Good conceptual framing (flexion/extension) even if a bit loosely delivered.

Moderator Directly about the bottom-to-top turn combination and its flow.

Reviewer Explains the reasoning, not just the motion.

Moderator Bottom turn as setup, then carves and snaps as the main content, with explicit reasoning about wave section reading. Squarely about top turn variations.

Reviewer Clear, well-organized, explains the reasoning - good stuff.

Moderator Squarely about connecting the bottom turn into the top turn - explains torque generation, spotting the section, and breaks down top turn variations (snap vs roundhouse cutback) and when to use each. Bottom turn content is there because it's the direct setup, not a distraction.

Reviewer Solid technical insight, delivered more like a personal log than a lesson.

Moderator Squarely about top turns and cutbacks, with genuinely technical detail on compression/extension and rail transitions.

Reviewer Excellent analysis, real technical insight.

Moderator Detailed analysis of a pro's turning technique - compression, arm drive, hip transition - directly useful for improving a top turn.

Reviewer Good clear intro for someone attempting this for the first time.

Moderator Directly and explicitly about learning your first top turn.

Reviewer Well-structured setup for a proper technical breakdown.

Moderator Directly a tutorial on how to perform a top turn.

Reviewer Best-structured beginner turning lesson here - hits the real pitfalls.

Moderator This is a broader 'how to turn' fundamentals lesson covering both bottom and top turn equally, with the full turn cycle (compress into bottom turn, extend into top turn) explicitly walked through. Top turn is squarely part of it, just sharing billing with the bottom turn.

Reviewer A bit broken in delivery, but the technique content is solid.

Moderator Explicit step-by-step for both bottom and top turn, with a dedicated common-mistakes section (timing, straight knees, not looking where you want to go). Squarely on topic.

Reviewer Subtle, specific cues you won't get from a generic how-to.

Moderator Personalized coaching breakdown of a student's top turns, but the principles discussed - eye line, arm counterweight, hip drive - are squarely top-turn technique. It's framed as feedback on one surfer's clips rather than generic instruction, but the content is on point.

Reviewer Good simple foundation for turning.

Moderator Generic 'how to turn' concept (leaning, looking, thrusting) which underlies top turns, though not maneuver-specific.

Reviewer Sharp cue on gaze timing - watch it twice, it's dense.

Moderator Fast-fire breakdown of backhand surfing that leans heavily on top turn mechanics - chest rotation, gaze control until you pass vertical, then snapping off the lip. Touches the whole wave but the emphasis is squarely on getting vertical and finishing the turn off the top.

Reviewer Structurally sound but fairly generic, textbook-level cueing.

Moderator Squarely structured around linking the backside bottom turn into the top turn, step by step.

Reviewer Useful flow/rhythm insight, but light on isolated top-turn mechanics.

Moderator Covers the full sequence — bottom turn setting up the top turn, then the cutback — with the top turn folded in among the other maneuvers rather than being the sole focus.

Reviewer Good correction to the 'just turn your head' coaching cliche - hips drive the turn.

Moderator General surf technique piece about speed conservation and hip-driven power, illustrated with John John and Mick Fanning. Broader than just the top turn, but hip rotation is the engine of a good top turn, so it's squarely useful even if not exclusive to it.

Moderator This ties the top turn directly to the drop that sets it up — committing early and reading the lip so the turn connects with the wave's energy. It's squarely about the top turn, just paired with the timing that leads into it.

Reviewer 'Commit early and read the lip' is a real, specific cue — short clip, but the tip itself is solid.

Reviewer A good visual reference for what a clean top turn looks like — most useful if there's an actual breakdown of why it works rather than just the clip.

Moderator This is built around a single example of a top turn, held up as a model to study. It's squarely about this one maneuver rather than surfing technique in general.

Reviewer One good, memorable cue that actually explains the 'why.'

Moderator Framed explicitly as 'your top turn is broken because your bottom turn rotation is wrong' - so it's diagnosing and fixing top turns, but the concrete cue given (touch the water like grabbing a tennis ball) is a bottom-turn technique. Relevant, but the actual mechanics taught live one step upstream of the top turn itself.

Reviewer Solid coaching, just focused more on the setup into the top turn than the move itself.

Moderator A real technique review that builds toward the top turn (staying compressed through the bottom turn, looking up to the top of the wave) but the excerpt is mostly about takeoff and bottom turn, not the top turn execution itself.

Reviewer Interesting training philosophy, but thin on concrete top-turn cues.

Moderator Bottom/top turns are acknowledged as already learned and the focus shifts to progressing into off-the-lip and cutback, with a chunk of the transcript spent on training philosophy (slow-motion muscle-memory drilling, karate analogy) rather than top-turn mechanics specifically.

Moderator Surf coach explaining the touch-and-throw drill: load the bottom turn like a spring, then drop the back hand at the apex to release yourself into the top turn. It's about the bottom-to-top link, the trigger that starts the top turn, rather than the turn at the lip itself.

Reviewer A simple spring-and-trigger picture plus a drill for the bottom-to-top link. Clear and easy to try.

Reviewer Useful if you already surfskate, but it's a vlog snippet not a tutorial.

Moderator Surfskate drilling for backside and frontside bottom turn/top turn combos, with real cues - thumb pointing out, arm swing to go vertical. Off-water training but directly training the top turn movement pattern.

Reviewer Useful surf coaching, tangential to the top turn specifically.

Moderator Video review of an intermediate surfer's takeoff and gaze - relevant surfing coaching but this excerpt centers on takeoff/positioning rather than the top turn maneuver.