Surfing Airs and FloatersSurfing Airs and Floaters are the core of any competitive surfer’s repertoire. They are a little tricky at first but as you practice you will learn to stick them with consistency. With airs there are limitless possibilities for maneuvers that may be executed and more are being invented every year. To throw a surfing air there are a few things you will need to pay attention to. The first thing is your exit location. The easiest place to launch on a wave is the point right before the wave is breaking as this has the steepest launch angle for you to get. This will also occur when two waves come together and they form a little lip. Gather as much speed as possible by sliding down the face of the wave and then angle up at the launch. Once you reach the lip pop the board as if you were trying to do an Ollie on a skateboard. For those of you unfamiliar with skateboarding to Ollie you first pop the tail of your board and then slide your forward foot at an angle up the board surface. 
You can launch and get air without ollieing but if you Ollie you will just add that much more height to your airs. I highly suggest ollieing in most situations even though sometimes a smooth riding air does look very clean. You want to land in the whitewash because if you land on the flat you are liable to break your board.
Once airborne it is all up to you what you execute. From kickflips to 360s, it’s all up to you. Floaters are similar to airs except you need to get up the wave where the wave is breaking just in time to get on top of the wave. Gather speed by dropping in then pull your board up and do a slight or no launch right where the wave is about to break. To do a floater, Balance this like you would during a 50-50 grind on a skateboard or side to side on a surfboard. Ride for as long as you like then do a slight pop or Ollie to drop back into the face of the wave. For me this is probably the cleanest surfing trick up there with hang tens. A smooth floater can really make a wave. As you can see skateboarding greatly ties into your surfing in all aspects. If you aren’t into it yet I would definitely give it a try. But keep practicing to nail these surfing airs and floaters.
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