Part of getting comfortable hanging 10 is about knowing how to time the walk up to the nose. Photo: @ez.rivero
Here’s one way to think about hanging 10: it’s really just a stall move. That thought alone can help you wrap your mind around when and how to make use of one of longboarding’s most ubiquitous style maneuvers.
When you’re up on five and you’re going through the section and want to slow down a little bit, that’s when you pop that other foot up and hang 10. That’s the real levitation moment of surfing. That’s when you feel like you’re flying. You’re just on the tip and the rest of the board is literally being held by the back of the wave.
Stay Up There Too Long:
When you’re first getting into nose riding, a lot of people are just scared to get up there because you’re going so fast. And it’s a tight pocket. There’s a lot happening around you and you’re like, “Oh man, I’m gonna eat it right now,” because it’s a tight pocket and it’s a steep part of the wave.
What I really like to let people know is, just get up there and stand there a couple of times. In fact, stay way too long. Feel what it’s like to stay up there too long. And once you start getting used to being on the nose, you’ll start to find those moments that are ideal for walking back.
Hanging 10 Is a Part of Your Flow:
Early on in your noseriding days you may find that you’re sinking your rail and sinking your nose over and over again out on the shoulder. Hanging 10 is really about linking your bottom turn and your cutback – it’s about navigating the board, stalling your board, and then finding that sweet spot where you walk to the nose while you’re in the pocket of the wave.
All this might sound kind of counterintuitive at first, but it starts to make a lot of sense once you put it into practice. That’s also where that flow and movement in that figure-eight pattern and linking all those maneuvers together makes the difference between just getting out there and really maneuvering on the wave.
Remember, This Is a Stall Maneuver:
You know, stalling is something on a longboard that’s pretty interesting. It’s really getting to the tail of the board. You’re just jamming on that tail and then walking to the nose because you want to stall, all at the top of the wave. So hanging ten is a big part of that stalling maneuver.
You can also stall so you don’t get out into the flats or find yourself out on the shoulder. Get to the nose, hang five, and then pop the 10 when you feel like you might be going too fast and want to stall a little bit more.
That’s really where the ten is most ideal. It’ll help you go through the pocket and as you get more advanced with your noseriding, you can start to go through sections on the nose, you can start to kind of navigate the entire ride from the nose like some of the best in the world.
Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in learning to hang five, ten, or heels from one of the world’s most stylish longboarders in 35 video lessons, check out Kassia Meador’s Definitive Guide to Longboarding 2.0 here. The Inertia readers get a 10 percent discount with code WELCOME10.
