The bottom turn the complete guide to surfing’s most important turn

Few surf movies have had a deeper impact on the surf community than “Searching for Tom Curren,” released in 1996. Even today, this 30 year old movie with grainy footage is still one of the most rewatched surf films. Amateurs and pro surfers alike have studied the tape for hundreds of hours. The reason? Never on camera have been captured more perfectly executed bottom turns, and such timeless flowy lines by any surfer, ever.

This guide aims to fill the education chasm most surfers fall into when it comes to bottom turns. It breaks down exactly how the bottom turn works, walks through the four positions every good bottom turn moves through, and tackles one of surfing's biggest myths: that speed comes from engaging your fins and focusing on your back foot. If you're already comfortable catching waves and want to know what to work on next, check out the key skills every intermediate surfer needs to master.

This guide aims to fill the education chasm most surfers fall into when it comes to bottom turns. It breaks down exactly how the bottom turn works, walks through the four positions every good bottom turn moves through, and tackles one of surfing's biggest myths: that speed comes from engaging your fins and focusing on your back foot.

How the bottom turn actually works, and why you don't need fins to surf well

We are ready to die on that hill: it's not the fins that make you turn when you perform a bottom turn.

We understand that fins help and play an important role during the last stage of the maneuver. But the science is in and it is undeniable: it is primarily your rail that makes you turn in a bottom turn. The same way you do not turn the handle when you drive a bike at high speed, you don't stomp on your back foot and pivot when you are at the bottom of a wave and loading your turn.

Here's what's actually happening under your feet:

• As you compress and lean into the turn, the rail engages in the water.
• The curved shape of the rail creates a pressure difference in the water around it. Water accelerates around the outside of the curve, generating lift and redirecting the board upward.*
• The more committed the lean, the more the rail loads, and the more projection and speed the turn generates.
• Most of the energy you will draw from the wave is at its trough, so the deeper the bottom turn, the more speed potential your turn will have.

Understanding this changes how you think about the turn. It's not a shape you draw on the wave. It's a transfer of energy, and how much energy you generate depends entirely on how much you commit to the compression and how much you lean into the turn.

* This is called the Coandă effect, and is the same one that explains how a curved surface bends the flow of a fluid around it.

The four beats: compress, reach, hold, twist

Every bottom turn, at every level, moves through the same four phases.

Compress. Make yourself compact in a proper front-on surfer stance, with your knees, hips and shoulders pointing forward. Don't bend from the waist, it's more a lunge than a squat. The key concept here is “kiss the knees.”

Reach. Setting up your rail requires your center of mass to move away from in between your feet. Move your arm away from you to shift to your toes or heels. Commit, let yourself fall into the turn. Your board will accelerate and catch up with you.

Hold. The most overlooked part of every bottom turn. Don't rush the exit. Releasing the rail too early flattens the whole trajectory and cancels out the energy you just built. Be patient.

Twist. Once your board starts to ascend the wave, make a big rotation of your upper body and extend your legs. This is the last part of the turn, and where fins finally play a role, so make it a big rotation.

Compress, reach, hold, twist. It's a simple sequence to say and a genuinely difficult one to execute under pressure, which is exactly why it's worth slowing down and drilling on its own.

Watch it: bottom turn fundamentals

Here's our full breakdown of everything above, shown in the water.

This is the video to start with regardless of your level. If your fundamentals are shaky, frontside and backside technique will always feel like patches on top of a weak foundation rather than genuine progression.

Frontside vs. backside: why the turn changes sides

The mechanics above (compress, reach, hold, twist) apply on both sides of your body. But the execution, frontside and backside, are radically different.

Frontside, you're facing the wave. Leaning on your toes feels natural, so loading your rail feels easy because your body is already oriented that way. The hard part is usually to deconstruct years of bad habits, and understand your back arm is the star of the show.

Backside, your back is to the wave. Proper technique will make or break your backside bottom turns. Understanding how to move your body to set your heel side rails correctly will set you apart from most of the surfers out there.

We've broken both sides down in their own dedicated videos.

Frontside bottom turn

Backside bottom turn

Common mistakes we see coaching this turn

After coaching thousands of sessions, the same handful of errors come up again and again, on both sides. These sit alongside the broader mistakes that tend to stall surf progression overall:

• Staying mid-face when the wave calls for depth
  A shallow bottom turn used out of habit, on a wave that actually had room and power for a deep one, leaves speed and projection on the table. Dare to be ambitious, go deeper with the goal of reaching the lip.
• Going deep on a flat section
  The opposite mistake. Leaning hard into a bottom turn when the wave has no pull is a trusted way to fall flat on your face.
• Releasing the rail early
  The most common mistake. Cutting the “hold” phase short flattens the arc and kills the energy you just built through compression. Your rail needs time to turn, so be patient.
• Carrying a sideways stance into backside waves
  This is the single biggest block we see to real backside progression. Front-on stance with knees pointing forward is not negotiable if you ever want to surf with power and flow. Fix your stance on land and on the surfskate first. It won't appear in the water if it isn't there on dry ground.
• Practicing without aim or feedback
  Practicing without feedback only solidifies your mistakes. Either on land or on a surfskate, make sure you know what you are supposed to be doing, and film yourself. Better even, have a coached session with a professional that will point you in the right direction.

How we teach the bottom turn at Sōleïa

This is exactly how we coach the bottom turn with our guests in Bali: clear mechanics, the same four-beat language every time, and repetition until it's automatic rather than something you have to think about mid-wave.

In the water, we film your sessions and go through the footage together, so you can see your own compression, your own rail engagement, and your own trajectory instead of guessing at what it felt like. This is exactly why video analysis is such a powerful accelerator for surf progression — you stop guessing and start correcting.

Ready to stop guessing and build a bottom turn that holds up?

If you're ready to stop guessing and actually build a bottom turn that holds up on both sides of the wave, come train with us. Coached sessions, video analysis, and structured surf progression, on both frontside and backside.

Explore our Surf Progression Packages →

FAQ: Bottom Turn Surfing

Q: How long does it take to master the bottom turn?
*A: Most surfers see significant improvement in 4-8 weeks of focused practice. True mastery is an ongoing process that continues to evolve with your surfing.*

Q: Should I use my back foot or front foot more in bottom turns?
A: Both are crucial, but the power generation comes from your back foot, while direction and control come from your front foot. Think 60% back foot, 40% front foot for power turns.

Q: Why do I keep slipping out during my bottom turns?
A: This is usually caused by either turning with a flat board (not engaging the rail) or turning too high on the wave face where the water is thinner.

Q: How do I generate more power in my bottom turns?
A: Focus on three elements: deeper compression, later initiation, and more progressive rail engagement. Also ensure you're turning in the power pocket of the wave.

Q: What's the biggest difference between beginner and advanced bottom turns?
A: Beginners use bottom turns to change direction. Advanced surfers use them to generate speed, set up maneuvers, and maintain flow through sections.

Q: Should my body be upright or low during a bottom turn?
A: Low during the compression phase, then extending through the drive phase. Think “low to high” through the turn.

Q: How important is wave selection for practicing bottom turns?
A: Crucial! Start on waves with a well-defined pocket and shoulder. Steep, pitching waves are difficult for learning proper technique.

Q: Can I practice bottom turns on small waves?
A: Absolutely! Small, peeling waves are perfect for practicing the technical elements of bottom turns without the pressure of critical sections.