The Physics of Noseriding

Ever scratched your head and pondered how exactly those who perch so elegantly atop the nose of a longboard do so with such seemingly minimal effort and yet exude maximum grace, flow and control?

The seemingly gravity-defying feat that has beguiled surfers and surf aficionados since longboarding cast it’s seductive spell on wide-eyes since the ‘50s has been put under the microscope by Lauren Hill in the epic short, The Physics Of Noseriding. The film is surfer, writer, mother, podcaster, activist and long-time logger Lauren’s love letter to longboarding, and a deep dive into how exactly this magic act of near levitation occurs.  We caught up with Lauren, back home on Byron Bay soil after a homecoming tour to the US, to dissect exactly how her inquisitive mind approached her latest project, and gain further insight into the awesome nerd-out of how the actual physics of noseriding work. 

WL: Looks like you’ve been touring the movie at a bunch of festivals, including the London Surf film festival. How’s it been received?

LH: After not travelling during the pandemic, it has really felt like coming home again to be in rooms full of other surf rats, stoking out on watching surfing together on a big screen with surround sound. Touring in the US over the past two months literally was a homecoming, as I hadn’t been back to see my family in Florida for three years. 

I find it easy to see the holes in the things I make; to find the faults and focus on them. I was really taken aback by how supportive and generous folks have been with their kind words and stoke about Physics. 

WL: I loved how it’s a digestible nerd-out about the history and science of nose riding! What inspired you to create the film?

LH: I’ve been surfing for more than two decades, mostly longboarding, and mostly stalking that particular sensation of levitation that we access though noseriding. It occurred to me that I didn’t really understand why or how noseriding works in terms of naming the forces and factors that we all navigate along the nasal passage. 

When I see the front quarter of a longboard hovering out of the water, lifting the weight of a whole precariously perched human, it always seems like a defiance of physics. It feels like flying, and it looks like floating above the wave. 

As a peak surfing experience, like tuberiding, noseriding can magically move us outside of time and mind – in pure suspension between sea and sky. 

So, The Physics of Noseriding began with interviews with shapers and physicists, to better understand the forces and factors at play. I wanted to honor the science, but also the feeling that keeps so many of us coming back for more.  

WL: Everything from Newtonian physics to drag momentum buoyancy and the Coanda Effect is covered. (Ed: we suggest watching if you want to know what these are!) Were these theories and concepts you were already familiar with?

Some were, but I hadn’t really put the pieces together in terms of the tangle of opposing forces that we work with while noseriding. That for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

Eventually, noseriding can feel like a kind of regular, or even mundane aspect of our own surfing life, or while watching other people noseride in the line-up. But when you slow it all down and examine the ecosystem of interactions happening between surfer, board, water, wave, and beyond, it seems pretty magical that it’s even possible.  

WL: Did you work with any scientists on the science of the movie?

As you might be able to tell, I’m a nerd, and I love doing my research – whether that’s for a book, my podcast or a film project. I interviewed a few physicists and surfers, and also a bunch of shapers, who are really trying to harness the factors and forces that make noseriding possible by making boards with noseridability as the priority. 

The question of how does noseriding work led me to Tom Wegener, shaper and noseriding aficionado. He has probably spent as much time on the nose as anyone, anywhere. Around the time I first stood up on a surfboard, Tom penned an article grappling with the science of nasal exploration, summarised by the equation: suction + tension = hang ten.

Ashley Lloyd or Ashy Lloyd Surfboards, Eden Saul of Dead Kooks, Matt Calvani of Bing Surfboards and Marc Andreini all offered their time and expertise.

To better understand the physical science, I spoke with astrophysicist, Jon Swift, who you may remember from the early 2000s film, Shelter. Jon traced the possibility of noseriding from celestial bodies, specifically the sun (which unevenly heats the planet and makes wind; which makes waves), to the molecular (where surface tension begins, and makes The Coanda Effect possible, which makes noseriding possible). Being a schoolteacher, Jon had the precise skillset to speak to my elementary understanding of physics.

Video chatting over Zoom, Jon stood at a white board, drawing out equations and speaking about surfers as “natural physicists” – because we’re always experimenting with our equipment and positioning. We’re always observing. “Physics,” Jon said, “is the language for articulating the patterns that we see in the physical world.” 

He helped me to distil the science into a few key concepts that we could realistically film and explain succinctly over the course of a couple of months to get optimal surf conditions.  

WL: I love how you incorporated Namaala’s story and ancestry, and how in the past she said her ancestors flew on canoes, and her way of flying on the water was on the nose. How rad’s that?!

I love the way science can help us make sense of the patterns and complexities of the world around us. At its best, it can inspire awe and wonder. The young character that Namaala Slabb plays in the film is representative of the youthful curiosity that we all come into the world with.

Parallel to the scientific explanations to her questions, there are other ways of knowing and understanding the world that are insightful and important. 

Newtonian physics is a fascinating lens through which to see the world, but it’s only about 350 years old. Since I live and work in Australia, it felt appropriate to contextualise the science within the understanding that Indigenous Australians represent the oldest living human culture, and very probably the oldest surfing culture. Namaala, and her family, are part of the incredible living legacy of knowledge systems that predate what many of us accept as irrefutable – “science” – by 10s of thousands of years. That isn’t my story to tell, but it felt important to acknowledge that in the film.  

What’s in the pipeline for you next?  We love all you do and your work, from the Water People podcast, to your work as a writer, including contributing to Wavelength, and work in activism. 

Thank you. I love getting to work in different mediums and to keep challenging myself as a storyteller, learning by trial and error. 

I have a couple of book projects in mind and also another film that will challenge how we think about the history of wave riding. Once they get rolling, these projects take up unbelievable amounts of time, so for now, I’m just letting them simmer while spending as much time as possible in the water and in the garden with my family. 

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

In some ways, The Physics of Noseriding feels like a love letter to longboarding and the closing of the chapter of my surfing life where the subtle art of longboarding was most compelling for me. 

For 2023, I look forward to riding bigger boards (I have a purple Dead Kooks 11’11 that is trim heaven) and connecting with smaller twin fins as the points start to pump this coming surf season. 

Check out Lauren Hill’s article on ‘The Gift of Surfing’ in issue 263 of Wavelength Mag. Wavelength gets delivered straight to your door either as a single edition or annual subscription. Our subscription packages include a free gift and along with plenty of other benefits, subscribers get their copies of Wavelength before anyone else.