This is where it gets a bit more complicated as there are all the previous elements to consider plus a few more things that all have to happen at the same time:

1. Bend at the waist. Doesn’t sound so complicated and you should be doing it a bit already if you are punching down with all your might, but you need to get as far over the sail as you can to control the power. So, however low you think you are, go lower.

2. Pull up with your toes and keep you legs straight. When I started I was so focused on getting over the sail that my legs would be trailing behind me and it didn’t end very well; sometimes I caught the front edge (the lovingly named Toey Joey) and got that whiplashed feeling, or if I didn’t get the boost it was more like a belly flop – all in all generally unpleasant. In the end when I started to do it right I had pretty sore shins from all the toe flexing. The combination of 1 and 2 should feel a bit like you are trying to kick yourself in the head!

3. Get your head in the gap between the nose of the board and the mast. Classic shaka advise, not so hard to do, just like number 1 it’s all about committing and really exaggerating it.

Point 4 has to be said, but it comes with a warning…

4. Don’t push on the backhand. I have said it specifically like this rather than ‘keep the backhand sheeted in’. I have heard this advice a lot for flakas, shakas and really anything with backwinded control and don’t like it. As much as it is right that you don’t want to sheet out, I have witnessed a lot of people learning these moves and concentrating too much on keeping the backhand sheeted in, it tends to cause your body to lean back as you sheet it, taking the weight from the front hand and putting your body in the wrong position. For me I focused my attention on the other elements and if you do them correctly it will be impossible to push with the backhand.

If you do push with the backhand at this point you will probably start to land some shove its – well done! They are definitely not to be sniffed at, and if you have had a fairly long journey to them then it’s a great feeling to actually sail away for once! Now we just need to get the board to…