Riptide Magazine

First things first, you’ll need to enter the section with a good amount of speed. Your perfect ARS section should look a lot like Ben Player’s here – a clean, feathering lip breaking down the line. Draw a clean and balanced arc from your bottom turn towards the oncoming bowl. Remember, if you bottom turn too vertically you’ll lose valuable speed and fling from the lip. The ideal time to hit the section is just as it begins to pitch, so as to maximise your flip arch.

Approach the lip as if you’re about to perform a standard barrel roll. Keep your body centred fairly high on your board, using it to push off the section; this should give you enough momentum to complete the ARS. Halfway through the rolling motion begin to spin upside down (it’s not as scary as it sounds) and move your legs so they’re pointing towards the beach (see shot seven). Always try to look at the spot where you’ll be touching down, while continuing to pull your crossed legs through the remainder of the move.

When the rotation is almost complete, you’ll be close to landing in the flats – highly likely if executed properly. Try to keep your board flat and close as possible to your body, so as to not bog a rail. Landing the ARS can be pretty tough shit, depending on the height of the wave, so hold on to your board tightly and brace yourself.

The landing can go one of two ways. A lot of Brazilian and European riders complete the whole rotation (including the spin) in the air, while here Benny Player has landed with half the spin left to complete. There’s definitely no right or wrong here, kids! If you’ve landed properly without bogging like BP then you should be flat and facing backwards. Gradually release and lower your legs to get some stability; this will also help you to rotate back around. Success! You’ve just landed Eppo’s 15-year-old ARS.