Attaching the leash to your surfboard isn’t as difficult as it at first seems, but you don’t want to use a simple knot to do the job because so much depends on this knot staying tied. If your leash comes detached from your board, you’re very likely to lose your board, especially if there’s a strong current.

When you buy your surfboard leash, it should come with a little black rope. The little rope usually also has a knot already tied on one end, as shown in the picture below.

(Click on any picture on this page to see a larger view.)

The first thing you’ll need to do with this little rope is push it through the spot on the end of your surfboard with the little metal thing. This is a really vague description, so checkout this picture to get a better idea.

Next, pull one end of the rope through the other end as shown here.

Pull it tight.

Now that you have the rope attached to your board, you want to attach your leash to the rope. Un-velcro the leash so that you can slide it through the rope like this:

Then just velcro the leash back together and voila, your leash is attached to your surfboard!

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What Foot to Put Your Leash On

Attach your leash to the foot that you keep behind you. Most people put their dominant hand’s foot behind them… so if you’re right handed, you’ll probably keep your right foot behind you, which means you should attach the leash to your right ankle. If you do the opposite of this, such as if you’re right handed and you keep your left foot back, you’re a goofy footer. There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s just a fun way to to refer to people who do this. If you’re a right handed goofy footer, put your leash on your left ankle.

When to Put Your Leash on Your Ankle

If you park a long distance from the water, you might not want to put the leash on your ankle right when you get your board out of the car because it can be annoying and trip you up. Wait until you’re either right by the water, or after you’ve walked into the water where it’s about ankle high. If you put it on while you’re still on the sand, it’s best if you can set your board down on it’s side, not directly on it’s front or back, while you do this. If the sand is wet where you lay it down, the board will have a ton of sand on it for you to clean off. Of course, the easiest way to get sand off of your board is to just set it down in the water.
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