The best surf skates

Bring the Atlantic wave to your city. With a surfskate from Carver, Yow or Slide you can train movements that you otherwise only need when surfing with a real surfboard.

You can also use a surfskate to carve through the city in a wonderfully relaxed way without pushing, because you can propel a surfskate with a slight rotating body movement. Read on below to find out what different surfskates are available and which surfskate is right for you.

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What actually is a surfskate?

A surfskate consists of a deck, comparable to that of a short cruiser longboard and a specially mounted front axle, which has more degrees of freedom than normal longboard trucks and a normal rear axle.

Because the front axle behaves very differently than the rear axle, you can move a Surfskate forward only by pumping. You don't need to take your foot off the board, but can propel the board forward by your body movement. 

But that alone does not make a surfskate. The manufacturers of the axles rather try to orientate the movements you have to make to steer the surfskate as close as possible to the movements you make when surfing a surfboard.  The higher maneuverability of the Surfskate front axles allows you to make short and maneuverable turns just like surfing. You can practice bottom turns, top turns and cut backs.

Since most manufacturers have developed completely different concepts for the axles, the driving behavior of the different Surfskate axles is also very different.

Who invented the surfskate?

The first brand that became known with surfskates is Carver from California. brettsport.de has the Carver skateboards already since 2014 in the program and has always had the potential of this sports equipment recognized. We are therefore also the top-selling Carver dealer in Germany. Later, the brands Yow and Slide from Spain were added. Yow has developed a completely different axle system, which is not only visually very different from the original Carver axles, but also the riding characteristics.

Click on the brand logos to get more details about each brand. On each page there is also a manufacturer related buying guide again.

The Surfskate Deck

Surfskate decks have a length between 28" and 36.5" (i.e. approx. 71 - 93 cm) and thus look similar to minicruisers at first glance. To make the analogy to surfing even more tangible, some manufacturers take their cues from the design of real surfboards and adapt the shape and design.

The differences in the decks, apart from the styling, lie in the shape of the kicktails and the tail and nose. 

• Mini boards turn faster and are easier to pump. If you skate where there is little space and you want to perform your turns in the tightest of spaces, then a small board is ideal for this. A short board gives you the feeling of standing on a short surfboard and reacts just as quickly to every steering command. We're talking about mini boards in the 25.5" to 29" range, with the very short surf skates being very loose while becoming more stable as they get longer.
• Short boards offer you a combination of tight turning and easy pushing. You choose a short board for use in everyday conditions, where you push and carve and pump hard in appropriate places. The difference between short surfskates is more subtle, small changes in length result in small changes in performance. A short surfskate is between 30" and 33" long. Again, the shorter ones are a little looser, the longer ones a little more stable.
• Medium lengths have a more stable ride and are even easier to pump. To get into pumping, you need to put more effort in the beginning, but once you find the rythm, the medium boards are faster. You will choose a medium carver skateboard if you want to cover longer distances with it and also want to push. The longer the board, the more stable and secure it feels. The medium length is similar to a groveler surfboard. Medium lengths range from 34" to 36".
• Long boards are the most stable and let go by pumping the fastest. However, it is also more difficult to bring long boards from a standstill to speed by pumping. You can't chase long boards into turns as extremely as the short surf skates because of the longer wheelbase, so they are used primarily for leisurely cruising and ease of travel. When compared to the sufboard, the behavior is the same as the traditional longbaord with riding techniques such as cross stepping and nose riding. A longboard varies in length from 38" to 43" and as always, the longer the longer the more stable the behavior.

The Wheelbase of the Surfskate

The question of what is the right length of a surfskate often comes up when you want to simulate the characteristics of a very specific surfboard as closely as possible. Asking about the length of the deck is the wrong question at this point. For the behavior as a surf trainer the length of the wheelbase is crucial. 

 The following table can give you a rough overview of which surfskate to choose depending on your height and weight. However, other factors also play a role and the riding characteristics are primarily influenced by the length of the Wheelbase.

The different axles systems for surf skates

Carver C7 axles

The C7 trucks with a dual axle ride very smooth and easy, like a surfboard with only one fin and use every sideways movement immediately for propulsion. It's very easy to pumpem Carver skateboards with this axle and pick up speed immediately. To perfectly tune the board you can adjust both axles separately and so the Carver skateboard perfectly to your individual needs.

The C7 system is a bit heavier than the CX axle set, but the integrated spring system allows for greater latitude in the individual adjustment. The long arm in the longitudinal axis and the wide range of adjustments makes the board universally applicable for high speeds or for easy gliding without pushing.

Carver CX Axles

The Carver CX Axle is a single-axle design with a precision pivot pin and allows for extremely violent turns, like on a thruster surfboard and gives you the same feedback when pumping for speed. Also the CX axis allows you a wide range of adjustment for your indvidual needs. Before you consider a different shape or different bushings, you can already adjust a lot via the adjustment of the axle.

The axle has the same weight as a normal longboard or skateboard axle, but the design of the Carver CX axle is extremely well suited for airs, skateparks and transistions.

Yow Axles

The Yow axle claims to most accurately simulate the surf feeling. Yow even claims: if you apply the movements you learned on Streetsurfboards of most other brands when surfing, you will fall into the water, because especially the weight transfer is different here.

By using almost identical movements with the Yow axis, you learn and internalize the correct movements when surfing, thus training your movement memory instead of confusing it with wrong movements.

Slide Axes

The Sliede axis is very suitable for surfskate beginners. It offers more stability than for example the very loose Yow axle. If you are looking for a surfskate with which you can not only train your surfskills, but also cruise relaxed through the city, then you do not go wrong with the Slide axle.

Summary of the brand differences

If you want to use the Surfskate as a real surf trainer, then you are with the Yow axles or with the Carver C7 axles closest to the real moves on the surfbaord, boards with these axles are less suitable for fast riding or for skatepark tricks. Here the focus is clearly on pumping and deep ridden turns. Also, if you want to use the flow from the pumping motion and carve loosely through the city, then you choose the Carver C7 axle.

If you actually belong to the skateboard faction and want to use the board in the park and for tricks, then we recommend rather the Carver CX-axle or the Slide-axle.

Choosing the right Surfskate board

When choosing your Carver Surfskate, there are also a few other factors to consider:

Equivalency Range: The axles on each board can be adjusted to feel tighter or looser. With these settings, you can adjust the boards to compensate for differences in length. A loosely adjusted longer board may ride similarly to a tightly adjusted shorter board. In general, the tighter turn radius is the key feature of the shorter boards. However, it is the forces generated by the shorter turns that make surf skates so appealing.

Your size: In general, taller riders choose longer boards and shorter riders choose shorter boards. However, there are no rules here. More important is your riding ability and the goal you have set for yourself. A skilled big rider will be able to handle even the smallest board.

Your experience: Especially if you want to use a surfskate to improve your skills on a surfboard, then you should adapt the surfskate to your existing skills and to the type of board you also ride on the water. You can also use surfskates to improve your skills on land. Choose a smaller board and train your muscles for tighter turns.

If you come from skateboarding and stand tricks in the park, you can easily opt for a short carver surfskate. As a longboarder, you will also feel more comfortable on the longer models here.

The terrain: With little space and low speeds you will have the most fun with a mini board. However, the same board may start to wobble too quickly at high speeds. If you spend a lot of time in the park, you'll probably choose a transition model with a high nose that lets you lock in safely, and if you're mainly on the street, a longboard will be your favorite.

Using the chart above, you can roughly estimate how a surfskate will perform in relation to a surfboard of the appropriate length. Note: Actually, it's not the board length, but the wheelbase that is the correct key to compare with board lengths. But there are so many similar boards in each range that confidently you can also factor shape and graphics into your decision.

How do you pump a surfskate?

The most important thing is: Don't skate it, SURF IT!

You ride a surfskate with your whole body: where your head and arms point, your hips and board will follow.

If you want to ride a surfskate, you have to make different movements than on a normal skateboard or longboard. First, bring your front foot as close as possible over the front axle and place your back foot as far back as possible on the deck in the kink to the kicktail. This gives you the maximum leverage for converting energy into propulsion. You now generate this energy with a rotating movement of your upper body and a weight shift from the heel to the toes, as you can see in the videos at the bottom of the page. Your posture should be relaxed, loose and with your arms stretched out wide so that you can initiate the necessary turns.

It is not necessary to take a foot off the board to push with a surf skate, you can pump most surf skateboards from a standing position. Nevertheless, for the first few tries, it may be easier to get the board going a bit first and then maintain or increase speed by pumping.

Once your foot position and posture are correct, you can create a forward momentum and accelerate the board with a tilting, "pumping" action from the heel edge to the toe edge. Remember, however, that the "pump" is created by rotation/movement of the upper body. So you always initiate the entire movement with your head, arms and upper body first. With practice, you'll be gliding and pumping effortlessly without ever having to take your foot off the board!

Advanced Surfskate Techniques

Bottom Turn and Top Turn

You may now want to use your surfskate to perfect your skills for bottom turn maneuvers. The bottom turn is the most important maneuver you need to master in surfing, as it is the basis for pretty much every other maneuver.

Set yourself in motion and plan the turn you want to make in your head. When you initiate the turn, crouch down on the surfskate with a compact stance and a low center of gravity. Put pressure on the edge of the board and ride into the turn. This action will store a charge of energy in your legs, which you can then use to accelerate the board out of the turn.

You do this by gradually straightening your legs as you exit the turn and also straighten your body as you continue to lean heavily into the turn.

Once you have mastered this exercise, you will have trained the right muscles and balance and will be able to quickly initiate a top turn or cut back even on the water.

The top turn is the counterpart to the bottom turn and usually follows it. After powering through a perfect bottom turn, you can put pressure on the opposite edge, open your arms and body, and execute a stylish top turn carve!

Use your front arm and shoulder to steer your way through the top turn, open your body and arms, and keep turning your head in the direction you want to go. Remember the mantra from above! Where your head and arms point, that's where your hips and surf skate will follow.

When you're through the top turn, remember to lower your center of gravity and body position again, and turn your eyes forward for the next turn.

Snap with the Surfskate

Once you have mastered the bottom turn and top turn, you can try the "snap"!

The "snap" is another maneuver that comes directly from surfing. At the top of a wave, the surfer performs a very sharp turn that brings the tail of the surfboard over the wave into the air, this is also called "Throwing the fins".

You can perform the same maneuver with a surfskate by bríng the rear wheels to slide while making a fast, very sharp turn in the front. When you lean into a top turn, shift more weight to your front foot for a snap so the rear wheels can slide easier. With a little lateral pressure with your back foot, you can now get the rear axle wheels to slide.

To finish the maneuver, try to keep your weight above the board and take a low position.

Cut Back with the Surfskate

Cut backs are a super stylish surfboard maneuver that brings the surfer back into the wave after surfing it down to the bottom. On a surfskate, the same maneuver can be performed with the same style.

Start with a strong bottom turn and lead it into a top turn. Instead of coming out of the top turn as usual, just stay in the turn longer until you go back in the direction you started the top turn. You will then have gone through a 180° turn.

You really need to use your arms and head to hold the turn longer. Keep turning your head and your body will follow!

You can add another bottom turn to the cut back to get you going in the right direction again.

Surfskates in Germany

It's absolutely crazy how trends evolve. After Alex Lenz handed us a Carver Greenroom board on the beach in Büsum in 2014, surfskates are in the program at brettsport.de. For a few years, only a small group of surfers paid attention, but over the years we have always kept the complete Carver range in the offer. The acceptance of surfskateboards was zero at the beginning. It was neither the cool street skating, nor did the many longboard beginners at that time get along with the wobbly parts.

It wasn't until 2020 that many realized that surfskating was a sport all its own, and so slowly it cemented in minds that surfskating doesn't get boring, no matter how long you do it. Surfskating offers land surfing - the basic idea of the inventors of the rollerboard from the 60s - only with new technology. The travel restrictions by Corona, which kept some surfers away from their favorite spots, then in 2020 also in Germany made sure that surfskates were suddenly extremely sought after and very hard to get.

In the meantime, brettsport.de had also taken the Spanish brands Slide and Yow into the program and since Carver could not deliver sufficient quantities to Europe in 2020 or 2021, the Spanish brands have now taken over the market to almost 100%. Alex Lenz the guru of the longboard scene sees a dazzling future for the new way of skating:"I think surf skating will become more powerful than longboarding and will even replace street skateboarding in some age groups."

But whenever trends become mass trends, windy profiteers with cheap copies are not far away. Especially the current poor availability of originals opens the door for fakes or copies of the original trucks. Therefore, be careful what you buy and stick to the reliable stores that do not just jump on a trend, but, like us, have been there for many years.