The grim reality of mastering the most beautiful turns man has ever seen is that you have to get your hands dirty with the ugly task of learning how to gybe the swine that will take you there

Although it's possible to ride out one way and come back the other way toe-side, Neal found that as soon as you need to negotiate some hefty chop or white water, I’d rather have taken the opportunity to switch my feet round when I had it.

You can either switch your feet before or after you’ve turned around. Switching before allows you to set up for that big smash off-the-lip of an approaching wave, just like you do on your twin-tip. The early switch technique, however, also means that lip has a good chance of smashing you if you have a wobble or catch a rail right in front of it. The real benefit of switching feet after the turn is that you get to do a super-smooth carved turn anywhere, deal with whatever wave is in front of or behind you, then calmly switch when ready. Or something like that...

Before attempting the 'apres' switch gybe you should already be able to fang out some hard toe-side carves on your twin tip. The distance between your toes and the toe-side rail on a surfboard is considerably greater than on your twinnie, and therefore requires more commitment and that you really lean into the turn.

• After you've carved round, ride toe-side for a bit to calm down any speed or imbalance you're carrying.

• After you've carved round, ride toe-side for a bit to calm down any speed or imbalance you're carrying.

• After you've carved round, ride toe-side for a bit to calm down any speed or imbalance you're carrying.

• The next technique is to almost stall the board. Lean hard upwind away from the kite, loading the rail slightly. The ‘pop’ you generate is going to lift you and give you time to switch your feet - you don't want to take off though, so go easy. The trick is to bend your knees up as if you were trying to deal with some chop without taking off.

• The next technique is to almost stall the board. Lean hard upwind away from the kite, loading the rail slightly. The ‘pop’ you generate is going to lift you and give you time to switch your feet - you don't want to take off though, so go easy. The trick is to bend your knees up as if you were trying to deal with some chop without taking off.

• As the pressure comes off your feet, change them over. It's easier if you've loosened your front foot in the strap first - once you get used to the feeling you can even do this before you gybe.

• As the pressure comes off your feet, change them over. It's easier if you've loosened your front foot in the strap first - once you get used to the feeling you can even do this before you gybe.

• Initially the timing can be tricky and you might prefer to switch feet in stages. You'll need to contort yourself a little, bringing your back foot up initially so that it’s nearly next to the front foot strap before making a quick swap of weight from your old front foot to the new so you can then slide your new back foot backwards. Obviously the less time spent with your feet together the better, but always keep your knees bent, both hands on the bar and try not to put your entire weight onto the board until you have safely spread your stance again.

• Initially the timing can be tricky and you might prefer to switch feet in stages. You'll need to contort yourself a little, bringing your back foot up initially so that it’s nearly next to the front foot strap before making a quick swap of weight from your old front foot to the new so you can then slide your new back foot backwards. Obviously the less time spent with your feet together the better, but always keep your knees bent, both hands on the bar and try not to put your entire weight onto the board until you have safely spread your stance again.

• As you switch you don’t have to make the front strap (although it does make the next ten yards easier), but definitely don’t go for the back one either. It will put way too much weight too far back and the board will slide out from underneath you. As soon as you’ve got your feet the right way round, bend your knees and get some weight on to engage the rail and stabilise everything before cruising back out to sea.

• The actual foot change can be done smoothly at the end of the carve as one manoeuvre, or after you’ve dealt with chop, gusts etc. Just be careful about your speed; the faster you go the harder it is to get the ‘pop’ right without overdoing it, and the less time you get to switch. • It's really all about finding the right balance, waiting to switch until you're comfortable with the board speed and with the kite fairly high in the sky so it won't try and pull you off. Then of course it's down to practice. The myth about gybing is that it takes a long time to learn. It doesn't, you just have to commit to a session trying it every turn and then it's in the bag.