30 COACHING FUNDAMENTALS
Blasting with control is only possible through the use of footstraps – often locking the heels down by lifting the toes to
flatten the board
single back strap to enable the board to be carved either way
using full toe or heel pressure with the foot remaining in the
strap. You don’t want to be taking your back foot out to carve
a turn on a wave! Whatever your choice of back strap you will
always need two front straps of course!
Footstrap screws
A windsurf-specific stainless screw is needed with a very
deep thread - so raiding your neighbour’s shed for a random
screw is unlikely to achieve much. To move the position of
the footstraps (or to put them onto a new board) then you
must have the right screwdriver. Avoid using a power
drill/driver at all costs. Whilst some busy rental-centre-ninjas
know the exact torque of a footstrap screw and use such
power tools with finesse, the risk of over-tightening and
ripping a hole in your board far outweighs the time or energy
saved compared to using a manual screwdriver. Stubby
screwdrivers can blister your hands as they make it hard to
tighten the screw properly so you need a long one for plenty
or torque.
Incorrectly sized or tipped screwdrivers can shred the head of
the screw causing 12 levels of pain later when the head is
too damaged to enable the screw to be removed. The vast
majority of footstrap screws require a size three Philips
screwdriver. That’s a large, plain crosshead, not a Pozidriv
one (with four extra points on the tip) and not the smaller
size two version more common in toolkits and DIY stores.
uk
WIND
SURFING