Drop Knee Tribute
D rop knee master 2: Robert August
With comments by Wingnut and Kevin Miske
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The drop knee from early to modern technique
I have a theory that there is a stylistic evolution in the drop knee turn that you can see by watching how much and in what direction the surfer leans. In the case of the early turn practiced by Dewey Weber and others, the lean is sharply in the direction of the turn. Leaning into a turn is very intuitive but very inefficient: not much carving power can be generated and the chance of losing balance is very high. Linking turns is not smooth, as the body swings over the board like a pendulum from lean to lean.
Phil Edwards, a surfer who peaked at least ten years after Weber, takes a very tall stance on the board, like Weber. He also uses lean. Except with Phil Edwards, the upper body leans away from the turn and the legs lean into the turn, giving a better balanced turn. Phil's linked turns are very smooth, from drop knee to arch "soul carve" forehand turn. Wingnut's turn is based somewhat on the Phil Edwards style, with many personal touches added. Thus you can draw a line from Weber-Edwards-Wingnut.
The Robert August drop knee is a drastically different turn than the Weber. He started in the sixties, at least ten years after Weber, so you would think there would be some modernization in his technique, and not just in the board design he was riding. He uses a lower stance, very little lean, and almost no rotation and force. He simply pushes down on the back rail and carves, letting the board do most of the work.
KJ Maybe he [Weber] felt like he was doing what he had to do to move this board, but later on people realized that it was possible to let the board do more of the work, if you just set up your body in the right way.
KM Yeah.
KJ Like Robert August, in that early Endless Summer, you can see he's doing something kind of like what you're doing, he's just pushing his foot down. Maybe not as deep. But it's a simple turn without all the. . .
Kevin Miske: Yep. Oh. And he does it much mellower, [than Weber] and he, you know, and it's very functional.
There are many similarities between the Robert August and Kevin Miske turn. Both are goofy foot riders, so the function is the same with both, i.e., both will use the drop knee as a bottom turn frequently. Both use a lower stance than Weber/Edwards. They both don't lean into their turns, staying straight or counter leaning away from the turn. Both focus the essence of their turns in concentrating on pressing down hard with the back toe and making a turning surface with the back rail, foregoing a lot of fancy body english. There is one crucial difference between Miske and August.
KM But that's Robert's whole surf gig. He never really, really cranks this hard turn. Robert's on the "look good, make the wave" kinda program. And, there's some surfers like, every turn I do, I want to turn harder. Even with the drop knee turn I still want to crank it.
KJ Yeah, you want to get some power, huh.
KM Yeah. I mean I want to power surf and I want to accelerate out of it into the next turn. You know I'm still trying to keep power with grace, in fluid, at the same time. And not look like I'm forcing it.
So Miske does his drop knee a lot like Robert August, only adding the force and power of Dewey Weber. These sorts of camparisons between style, technique, and personality are most clear and insightful when you examine one maneuver, like the drop knee turn.
Photo sequence 2: Robert August: minimum effort drop knee
followed by cross step and walk to the nose
In paying tribute to each drop knee surfer, I usually like to look at what I think is the key element, and really go for that. In the case of Robert's turn, I think it's that he pushes down on the rail with his toe and that's it. The rail makes a turning surface, he keeps his weight over it and guides the board around. He doesn't go for much body shaping or hand jive, he keeps it nice and simple-- and functional. This turn done with simple rail pressure makes it the perfect setup for a cross step walk to the nose.
In frame one I've positioned myself in the traditional drop knee stance, back toe on the tail, heel lifted. The toe is placed to the heelside of the stringer (or center) close to the rail. My weight is over the center of the board and the tail. The arms are out to the side and low.
In frame two I've initiated the turn by dropping my weight down, mostly on the back ball of the foot. The back knee drops to a little shy of what would make a ninety degree angle. It's a solid drop, but not extreme or uncomfortable. Robert seems to always keep his arms pretty low or out to the side, so that's what I'm going for here. I like to keep my hands and fingers relaxed, but not drooping or sloppy. There is a little rotation going on in the shoulders, I'm turning them to the left, helping the turn along.
Walking out of a drop knee
The next sequence shows how the drop knee leads into a walk and nose ride. If you imagine the drop knee as a bottom turn on a left wave (for Robert August, goofy footer, it would be a right), the finish of the turn will leave you heading down the line. In this frame my back foot has been crossed over my front foot. The bend of the front leg that I used in the drop knee I've kept pretty much the same, and I've simply swung my back foot forward, brushing it closely against the other foot so as to keep the balance right over the stringer.
In surfing, this crossed position will start to accelerate the board. The surfer can stall or begin to trim with just a subtle weight shift, and often surfers will pause in this postion before walking further up. Wingnut mentions this moment as a stall in the interview on his tribute page. The surfer can also step back again and do another drop knee or toeside turn.
Robert August in Endless Summer is seen often taking two steps out of a drop knee to the nose area. He rarely goes all the way to the tip. I only take two steps, but since my skateboard is much shorter than a long surfboard, I will end up in a tip ride rather than a nose ride.
To keep the smoothness of the walk and to keep control of the board I use what I call a "knee lead", pushing my knee forward while my toe is still planted. Then the step will be a simple swing of the lower leg, with barely any violent motion that might throw off my balance or stance on the other leg. More specific information about cross stepping is available in the footwork section of this site.
In frames five and six I place my foot slightly forward of the front trucks, right on the tip, and arch forward for a nostalgic "Endless Summer" style cruise on the nose, in the chilly early winter of New York.
