Tail Spray
- Skill:
- do a tail spray
A tail slide (also called a tail spray or tail butter) is an easy but great looking surface trick where you shift all your weight onto the tail of the board and slide along the water, throwing spray off the nose. It's not technically hard - the whole thing comes down to committing and carrying as much speed as you can. The faster you go in, the longer you hold the slide and the better it looks.
You only need basic board control before trying this. If you can edge confidently on both your heel side and toe side.
How to do it
The best place to set up a tail slide is right out of the corner, where you can carry the most speed. Hold your edge through the corner with lots of speed and keep edging away from the cable. Then shift all of your weight back onto the tail of the board and lean back. Get low and stay in that position - touching the water with your back hand gives you a bit of extra balance while you slide.
As you start to slow down, move your weight back over the middle of the board to release the slide and ride away clean.
See more here:
Video by The Peacock Brothers
Key tips
- Set up right after the corner where your speed is highest
- Carry as much speed as you can - it makes the slide longer and look better
- Put all your weight on the tail and lean back
- Get low and stay committed in the position