FREE BOARD BAG, FIN SET & LEASH FOR A LIMITED TIME…UP TO $211 OFF!

Baby got back - Surfboard tails 101

June 10, 2013

As water moves in its natural state, it’s free to come and go as it pleases. Your surfboard moving through the water creates friction. Water moves slowest halfway along your board and then accelerates as it exits the tail end. That said, tail outline is one of the most important aspects in surfboard design.

*Authors note for new surfers:

Quick water release = drive= acceleration. We say this to talk about a FAST board.
Stable means exactly that, easy to ride.
Snappy means a board responds quickly to the surfers demands.
Skatey is a result of rail to rail  transitions to create acceleration, a characteristic of wider tails.
Bite and hold refer to a tail that sits lower in the water giving the board more grip under your feet.

 

Squash Tail/Rounded Squash: Stable, drivey, snappy yet smooth. A popular shortboard shape, the squash is a modified square tail. The rounded edges of a squash tail allow for smooth, rapid water release. This means a LOT of acceleration while still holding a wicked turn and allowing for crisp release off the lip. This tail shape has both hold and release up to about two feet overhead.

Try our Ultimate and Ladle Longboard for plankin’ any wave you want.  
Try our Whip It and Standard for ripping on a shorty in punchy beach break.  

 

Pin Tail/ Rounded Pin Control, hold and bite. This tail shape allows water release over a long curve. This slower release of water may take away from acceleration but when it’s pumping, you actually need to wash off speed when driving through a long turn. A pin tail benefits you by fitting into tight spaces, aka, the barrel. The pros use a pintail in big waves so that they can draw out huge turns and sit as deep in the pit as possible. When you think of a pin tail, think Pipe, think Jerry Lopez!

Try our Poacher for picking off long soft wedges at your local point break.   Go with the Optimist when it gets steep and deep. For racey, steep reef growers, take out the Karma Chameleon

Swallow TailLoose, Skatey, drivey. This shape is a wide squash with a cut-away center that turns the tail into a set of flexible pin tails. This tail shape directs water towards the cut-away center of the tail for quick, clean water release. Having two pins instead of one creates more lift and allows the surfer to absolutely shred through turns in smaller to medium waves.  

 

 

Try our Jack or Codfather for a skatey yet drivey feel in seriously any wave you want, they haul!

Variations – A square tail is an old school version of a squash tail without rounded edges. A round or thumb tail is a compromise between a widened pin and squash tail.  A bat tail is a square shape with pronounced tips that give more bite when a wider tail cranks through a turn.

Try out our Bean which boasts a massive round thumb tail. It's designed to turn junky surf into a skatepark or fire off huge airs in bigger waves.    

As you look into your next Degree33 surfboard, consider the wave you plan to surf with it. This will lead you to the best booty for your board. A smaller wave needs more drive on your behalf; a larger wave needs more stability as the juice is mucho! Somewhere within our walls is your perfect board for your favorite wave. If you can’t find it, we’ll build it for you. We can get you going toes to the nose, or getting shacked off your gourd. Come have a look!




Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Degree 33 Surf Blog

How to Improve Your Surfboard Paddling
How to Improve Your Surfboard Paddling

February 22, 2023

Everyone knows how to paddle their surfboard, right?  Well it is one thing to paddle and it is a whole other thing to paddle effectively. In fact proper paddling technique is one of the quickest ways to become a better surfer. Paddling correctly can help you move faster with less fatigue, catch more waves, surf longer, and be more comfortable in the water. Plus, when you’re catching more waves, that’s more opportunity to improve your surfing!

Continue Reading

Essential Surfboard Accessories
Essential Surfboard Accessories

November 08, 2022

There are literally hundreds of different brands of surf accessories out there but there really is only a short list of items you need to go surfing.  This is one of the most amazing elements of surfing is the simplicity of the lifestyle.  Basically a board and you and you are all set but there are a few things you want to have ready before you paddle out.  

Continue Reading

What Do Different Surfboard Shapes Do?
What Do Different Surfboard Shapes Do?

October 15, 2022

We often meet people who buy surfboards without any understanding on what their shape will do.  They often say they picked the board because it simply "looks cool" and come to find out the hard way that it does not ride the way they expected.  Beyond the basics of general board shape, each shape has certain characteristics that makes those boards behave in the specific way that they do. To help you understand what is making your board behave like it does we have compiled a surface level over...

Continue Reading