The cutback in waves: bottom turn with counter-movement, aim at the wave crest, extend your legs and shift weight forward again – placing the turn on the lip.
What is a cutback in windsurfing? The turn at the lip of the wave [2]. On a frontside wave it is called the frontside cutback or simply cutback and is an aggressively ridden top turn [2].
The honest answer on difficulty: Dailydose rates the frontside cutback level 5 of 6 [2]. It depends entirely on a good bottom turn before it [1]. And it is no showpiece: the PWA judges in wave competitions score real surfing over the rail (critical turns to leeward) higher than freestyle on the wave [3].
If you already ride waves and do a bottom turn, the cutback is the logical next building block.
Where the skill sits in your learning chain: the cutback is the turn that takes you from riding waves to wave riding. It connects bottom turn and top turn and depends on your wave choice. Without the bottom turn before it, it is nothing; with it, it becomes the heart of every wave. If you master it, you can not only ride waves but shape them.
There is also a mindset the judges name clearly: it is about real surfing. The rig is the engine, but the wave supplies the energy. If you imagine the ride without the sail, it should still look like a good line [3].
Build the cutback from building blocks: first the bottom turn with counter-movement on small waves, then the look at the wave crest, then the leg extension. Begin with conditions that do not overwhelm you: small, clean waves, a rig you control and a spot without a reef. Do not count cutbacks, count successful lines. A good cutback is one after which you still have speed for the next section. And talk to locals before every session about current and right of way at the peak before you take a wave.
Pick a wave you can ride securely. Talk beforehand with a school or locals about reef, current and right of way at the peak.
A fast, tight turn starts with a counter-movement: shortly before the turn you steer in the opposite direction, only then into the actual one. This tips your centre of gravity inward before the turn starts. Without the counter-movement a hard turn would make you fall outward [1]. The counter-steer brings pressure onto the rail [1].
Milestone: you ride 5 bottom turns in a row on the wave without losing the board.
When you aim at the wave crest, the change from bottom turn to cutback happens [1]. Today's rig stands more upright than before; earlier it was tilted towards the tail in the bottom turn [1].
The legs are extended again in the cutback [1]. If you want to let the tail break out (spray), you extend the back leg. If you want to drive through dynamically with remaining speed, you extend the front leg and the back one stays slightly bent [1].
After the cutback you shift weight further forward again so that escaping the wave works and you build enough speed for the next bottom turn [1].
Milestone: three cutbacks in one wave connected with bottom turn and speed.
Choose the wave first, then the move. PWA judge Emilio Galindo Barquin says: for high scores you need a set wave with potential; takas, 360s or goiters are not mandatory, clean turns with a surfing approach help [7]. The cutback belongs to that: well placed, at the lip, with speed.
The turn at the lip of the wave; on the frontside it is called the frontside cutback or top turn [2].
The key to a good cutback with plenty of spray lies in a good bottom turn; the cutback follows from aiming at the wave crest [1].
Extend the back leg in the cutback [1].
They want to see real, critical surfing over the rail to leeward and do not particularly like freestyle on the wave [3].
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