Hey everybody and welcome back to another video. I
am Iain Campbell and today we are going to be discussing the basics of drop knee.
So drop knee was started by Jack "The Ripper" Lindell and this was started all the way back in the 1970s
in Hawaii. So Jack Stance or as we commonly refer to a drop knee there's quite a difficult stance
to learn and to get really good at. It is a skill that a lot of riders have developed and you have
seen guys solely ride drop knee instead of riding the actual prone position on a bodyboard. Now drop
knee is one of those things that I find really enjoyable to surf. You just have such a different
and diverse look on waves and how to approach waves and what to do on the waves themselves. In
this video I want to talk a little bit more on how to get into drop knee and the basic moves that you
want to do when you're on the board. I want to talk about foot positioning, your balance as well as
getting down the wave as best as you can on your first try. Remember there are no fins on the bottom
of a bodyboard so it is very important to engage the inside rail whether you are running in a
natural footed position going the right way or if you're riding your back hand and that's going obviously
in the opposite direction. So now that we've discussed a little bit about drop knee let's get
into the four key factors that I want to discuss in order to get the basics of drop knee down.
These main four topics are going to be the following. First of all you're going to want
to find which foot your dominant in. Now this means that you're going to put that foot forward
A lot of riders myself, Aka Lyman, Sasha speaker and many many more all stand up as a regular
footer but then drop knee as a goofy footer. This being said it's all down to personal preference.
Whichever foot you feel is correct in putting forward you must use that foot. So the next thing
I want to discuss is your foot positioning on the board. First you're going to want to look at your
front foot you're going to want to put your front foot forward in order to keep the balance of the
board very centered. You're going to want to put that front foot about in the same position as you
would put your elbow if you're riding in a prone position and then use your back knee as a guide
to where you would have put your hand on the rail. Now this lineup will allow you to center yourself
quite nicely on the board and allow you to go into move a little bit more centered and very much
more balanced. The third thing I want to discuss is the back foot off the end of the tail. Now the idea
is to put the bend of your foot on the top onto the back of the tail. Now this will allow you to
use your fin as sort of a rudder and to hold that line on the board a little bit more easy. Now in
doing this you're going to be wanting to put a lot of pressure on your knee and then again use your
foot as almost a stabilizer at the back of the board as a rudder or something to keep you in the
water. This is also going to allow you to hold the line on the rail and when you're in those moments
you're going to realize how important it is to use that back foot. Now the fourth and probably
the most important tip that I'm going to give you guys is balance. Now there is a number of ways
to do this. You can either practice a lot of core exercises and a lot of leg exercises where you're
in that drop knee position. Otherwise a top tip that I got given when I was first growing up by
Sascha Taljaard back in Durban, was to practice riding drop knee at the back line when you're
sitting out there waiting for waves. Now this is an awesome idea and something that I really did put
into use when I was growing up as a kid. I still do it pretty often when I'm in the water just to
get that feel of what you feel like and how you are going to position yourself on the board. This
allows you to get up into that position perfectly every time. Another thing that I want to discuss
is your getup. You're going to want to be paddling onto these waves quite hard in order to get enough
speed so that you're not going to freefall in two waves. The idea behind this is two main get
up positions. First get up position is going to be the double knee get up. This is where you're gonna
pull your body up onto the board, onto double knee and then swing your dominant foot around. This is
gonna allow you a little bit more time and you might be able to take those drops a little bit
easier when you're getting up at the beginning. The second step is a bit more advanced and a bit
more of a straight up get up. Now this means that you're going to be pulling your body all the way
through and almost using your hands as guides to where you're gonna place your foot. It's more
of a popping motion and once you really get into drop knee this is going to become something that
will be a lot easier for you. I would suggest if you're just getting into drop knee or you're just
learning the basics rather try the double knee get up before you go ahead and just try to straight up
get that foot around. Another thing to mention is that when you're getting up especially on
the double knee try to lift your foot and your fin as high as possible. A lot of the time what
will happen is your fin will kept the water and this will actually send you over the top of the
board. I feel that if you're lifting your knee a little bit higher and your foot a little bit
more around this will aid in getting your foot placed in the right position on the board and
will limit the amount of times that you're going to hit the water. This is probably one of the
most requested videos that I've had on YouTube especially in my how-to series and I hope that
you guys have enjoyed this one today. I hope you guys have understood exactly what I was saying
about the drop knee. I will be putting a little bit more emphasis on the next drop knee video
that I put out. I hope you guys are really enjoy this how-to series as it's allowing me to analyze
my riding and then interpret it to you. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up
and click the subscribe button to get subscribed to my channel as well as that notification bell
so you can get notified first about videos. I hope you guys are staying safe and staying
healthy in this crazy time that we are dealing with and I hope to see you in the next video...