Forget hanging ten—it’s hang heels time: noseriding through history

Our recent conversation with Laura Day of The Surf Societe—and an aspiring hang ten-er—got me interested in the origins of nose riding. Where did it all start?

Californian surf journalist Bill Cleary described nose riding as a “sport within a sport” back in 1965. If you can call a bunch—maybe half a dozen—maneuvers performed at the front of a surfboard a sport.

At one point, it even had its own surf contest, organized by Morley Surfboards: The Tom Morley Invitational in Ventura. It was judged solely by the length of nose rides, with a special prize for the longest one. That was a revolutionary way of judging surf contests at the time. Among the 25 contestants, I recognized a few: Billy Hamilton (Laird’s dad), Mickey Muñoz, Dewey Weber, Robert August, and Donald Takayama (hello Takayama in Pink). But the story about that contest? That’s for another episode. Because it’s riveting!

????️ Where did nose riding begin?

But back to the beginning. How did it all start? No one knows for sure!

It was either Rabbit Kekai, who pioneered riding the nose in the 1940s in Waikiki on a finless board, or Dale Velzy, who hung five in 1951 at Manhattan Beach.

And how does nose riding even work—like, physically? No one knows for sure!

It could be that the falling curl anchors the tail of the board, working like a counterweight. Or it might be that water flowing upward along the wave face presses against the underside of the nose, creating a cushion of support.

Among nose riding positions, you’ve probably heard of the cheater five, hang five, and hang ten. But what about hang heels, also known as heels over? It’s an insanely difficult move that’s frowned upon by longboard purists, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing. That’s when a surfer hangs ten, then quickly half-turns and hangs their heels over the tail—while riding backwards. ????

Whatever the maneuver, when you’re starting out, you use a shuffle step to reach the nose. When you’re more advanced, you cross-step.

???? The decline of nose riding

Nose riding pretty much died with the shortboarding revolution in the early ’70s. But its decline started earlier—during the first round of the 1966 World Surfing Championships (you know, the one where either super-duper nose rider David Nuuhiwa of California won, or Nat Young, Mr. “I hate nose riding”, of Australia won).

Nat was kind of an a-hole about it:

“If you just stand on the nose from start to finish, you’ve defeated creativity and individualism—the very essence of surfing!”

Never liked the guy. ????

These days, if you want to see how it’s done, go watch the queen of nose riding, Kassia Meador, glide her way through an IG feed near you.

Author: The Wipeout Weekly team