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A dvanced Cross Stepping

Alternate Steps and Grapevine Walking

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Cross steps off the beaten path

Alternate cross steps seek a different path along the board. Some early surfers like Miki Dora liked to backwalk up their boards and ride the nose backwards. You see contemporary surfers at Malibu and Santa Cruz doing that sort of thing. I have borrowed footwork from classic and modern longboarders and also borrowed from my dance and skating training. Some of my technique is harder in some ways to learn, but easier to work into logical sequences and flowing routines that mix turns and footwork.

Half spinner

The spinner is a longboard surfing trick that goes back at least to the 60s. The surfer walks and spins all the way around on his board. The spinner I use most is a half spinner, or 180 step around. This sequence shows a half spinner walking up into switch stance, but I could use a half spinner to get out of switch stance, or when walking off the nose, and many other situations.

I start in the narrow stance. My front foot is right on the middle of the board.

The first move I make is to pivot my front left foot ccw so it lines straight up the board. A variation is to pivot it farther and turn the foot out so it goes to switch stance before the step. In this case I will pivot that foot again later. I begin to cross step up and into a spinner.

I turn to face left and place my right foot down near the nose, pointing it to the left. You can see how my left foot is turned in. It has not pivoted the rest of the way yet, as I left it planted during the step. I will pivot it another quarter turn to get completely in switch stance near the nose.

Grapevine steps

Grapevine walking is any pattern of walking that alternates crossing your feet in front and crossing behind one another. I have seen many surfers use reverse turns which are a form of grapevine walking, and I've seen them back up the board, but I haven't seen anyone else use a back cross step toward the nose. I'm not sure why, it seems like an obvious move to me. Every dance I've ever seen has some form of it. Maybe I'm just missing all the surfers who use it. I know it's not very common, but it's fun, challenging, and versatile.

I've come up with two variations on the cross step that you can use as tools in intricate footwork sequences and grapevine routines. One is the back step up the board. The other is the front step down the board.

Back cross step up the board

Perhaps you've been wondering about the strange looking cross step in the "cross stepping" title. This picture shows it in detail. It's a back cross step moving toward the nose. This is different than Dora's backwards walk. The skater faces up the board and cross steps behind instead of in front. There's more control, you can see where you're going, and it's more functional than the backwards walk. You can turn as you step up, like a reverse turn. It can go right into a hang heels, or as you'll see later, a grapevine.

The back cross step starts from a narrow middle stance. I turn my stance farther clockwise than normal, to prepare for the step, which requires my hips to turn backwards somewhat.

From the ready position I turn my back foot out and bring it forward up the board, only on the other side from where you'd usually cross it. I have to keep my balance right over the center or slightly toeside to balance the foot crossing back. Notice that my hips have turned 45 degrees or so towards the nose.

From the back cross stance, I now have the option of backing up all the way to the nose or unwinding out of the back cross to face forward again.

Front cross step down the board, or front backpedal

Naturally, if you can back step up the board, you should be able to front cross step down the board. There is a similarity between this and walking to the nose switch. The only difference really is the direction of travel of the board. The switch cross step travels up the board toward the nose, while going forward. The front backpedal walks forward toward the tail while the board is going forward, away from the walking motion.

Don't get discouraged if you have trouble with this. This is one of the hardest cross steps. The board really wants to fly. The speed of your walk feels like it's accelerated. The orientation of your balance and the placement of your feet are both very unnatural. You have to block out of your mind that it's switch and going against the flow of the board, and get used to the sensation.

The board is rolling toward the camera, with the nose closest.

I steady my left foot on the nose, turning my foot in. A left knee lead is really necessary here, to keep control until the foot is ready to cross.

I step my left foot across the right, walking toward the tail. Remember the board is rolling forward, so this will be a very strange feeling. At this point in the picture, the weight is being transferred onto the left foot. The right leg is straightening as I begin the next step. I face the nose slightly so I can see where I'm going, although I sometimes face the tail and do the walk blind.

I uncross my right leg and place the right foot on the tail. You can see the weight has been transferred to and remains mostly on the left foot.

Reverse drop knee step or reverse turn step

The reverse turn step is a cross step with a turn. It's a turn, but it fits right in with advanced cross stepping. It comes from a drop knee turn, with the variation that a backpedal step is taken with the front foot, which means the turn will be done in a cross stance.

In the reverse turn, your front foot is cross stepped back onto the tail to initiate the turn. The new back foot presses down on the rail like a normal drop knee. The front foot is very turned out, and your upper body twists against your lower body. The reverse turn has some switch stance elements and therefore may be hard to master.

I start in a very narrow stance near the tail.

I take a backpedal step with my front (left) foot.

I place my new back foot on the tip of the tail, on the heel side. I weight the heelside rail and turn the board left.

By combining the reverse turn, back cross step, front backpedal, and regular cross step, grapevine walks can be created.