duck diving large waves

[norcalsurfer77]

hey all,

just found this forum and it looks great, i'll be spending some time here!

anyway, i've been surfing for about 15 years up here in the sf bay area and i sort of suck at duck diving larger waves.

my favorite break has a channel going out so you really don't have to fight to get out even on 10'+ days. it's real easy to slide right on out.

so does anyone have pointers on duck diving larger waves? i'm 6'2", 190lbs, and ride a 6'5" board. i ride the same board on larger days too.

thanks!

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Check out the Paddling Out video. I thought this was one of the most comprehensive explanations on how to duck dive.

http://www.extreme.com/video/tricks_tips.asp#Surf

[norcalsurfer77]

thanks for the link chick, i've checked out all those videos.

i don't have a problem duck diving in general, just when it gets really big. like what do you do when a 12' wall breaks right in front of you? any tips for that one?

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Ha ha... what would I do personally? Probably bail my board if no one was behind me. Other than that, paddle as fast as I could, push my board as far under the wave as possible, and pray that I don't get too drilled in the process. Sorry I guess that wasn't very helpful. Depending on the conditions and whether or not there's a channel I might not be out in larger than double overhead surf.

[O_Danny_Boy]

i find if you rock your rails from side to side then you can dive deeper, more elevation on your raised leg might also help

[Broosta]

I've noticed that when I duck dive bigger waves it really helps to hug the board when at its deepest rather than keeping arms straight.

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Been watching this topic closely because I have trouble ducking big waves too. Not quite sure if it's lack of physical strength or technique or both. Anyone else have any input here? Thanks.

[norcalsurfer77]

thanks for all the replies!

we've had some larger decent surf up here lately and i've been perfecting my duck diving and it's been working extremely well.

i never used to throw my leg up in the air and that's where i went wrong for all these years. now i'm hoisting that sucker up and smashing it down and it's making all the difference in the world. i can't believe i missed that part all these years.

the past week i've been able to duck thru it all pretty much w/out getting cleaned up. although yesterday i did get a violent beat down from a very sneaky set. i guess you can't get them all.

thanks all for the advice......keep that leg up!

[The Fafanator]

i guess you can't get them all.

And not all of them can get you, think on the bright side.

[perusurf]

when there's a big wall breaking right in front of me, i do bail my board also, and get as deep as i can, it's doesn't mess you up as bad as when you duck dive with your board... i just let the wave throw me around a little until i feel that it's gone by, then i start coming out, get on my board and try to get out of the way of the one that's coming behind....

[The Fafanator]

I only do that if the wve is mahoosive and broken so much that you can't get under it, no matter how good you are.

[Sillysausage]

i never bail anymore as whenever i bail i seem to get dragged back a lot further than if i had just duckdived normally. plus i seem to get ragged around if i try bailing in bigger waves and then bounce off the bottom.

[CHarvey]

When I am presented with this situation I will typically get as much forward momentum as I can and when I do my duck dive after I push my board under I bassically do a hand stand on it to get as deep as possible. Once I get under I push the board in front of me and arch my back. I also find it lessons the turbulence if you get your hands closer to the nose of your board and stager them as opposed to having them directly across from eachother.
Hope this helps.

[alimac2411]

i never bail anymore as whenever i bail i seem to get dragged back a lot further than if i had just duckdived normally. plus i seem to get ragged around if i try bailing in bigger waves and then bounce off the bottom.

i know the feeling - bailing of the board when a large wave is about to come down on you, you duck under and the wave passes you and you think you're safe, until half a second later the wave picks up your board and you find yourself getting pulled along the bottom backwards, definitely a not so enjoyable experience of surfing, but you remember it for a long time afterwards - no fear, lol !

[isaluteyou]

the hardest waves to duck are really thick crumblers as it doesnt matter how deep you go you will end up getting hit by the swash when you surface. I always find as you long as you can get through the most powerfull part of the wave you will make decent progress.

That said sometimes bailing your board is really your only option then you better pray your leash is up to the task If someone is behind you naturally dont do it but really anybody who paddles too close is just asking for trouble theres no guarantee that you will always beable to hang on to your board in every given situation

[The Fafanator]

^ I must admit sometimes it feels easier to duck hollow waves, although you get a weird feeling from it.

[ANZAC]

I've noticed that when I duck dive bigger waves it really helps to hug the board when at its deepest rather than keeping arms straight.

This is very true.
You dive as deep as you can and as the wave passes over it will help you level out for coming out the other side.
Timing is fairly important too. If a big close out just slams about 15ft in front of you, you up for a rough one. If you paddle your guts out and actually get that distance much shorter the pumping often, isnt as bad.
Ill rarely bail. Just dive deep, hold the rails and punch thru, It just sucks when you get dragged back and stay in the impact zone for a while.

[Real Pol]

I think East 17 said it best in their 1993 hit;

Go "deep deep down"

I'm sure that song was about duck diving.........

[Pornstar]

I am new at this but have been a bodyboarder for a long time.
what i noticed helped me out a lot to duckdive big waves was to not swimm towards them as fast as i could, like i did before, becuase when i tried to duckdive i was too tired to go in deep.
I saw how the good surfers did it and i noticed that when they knew they couldnt make it and that the wave would break before them they stayed calm and waited for the broken wave to reach them, then as it reached them they did like 3-5 strokes to gain momentum and duckdived.

I decided to try this and it helped out tons when i got cought inside on big waves. I didnt spend all my energy swimming towards the broken wave.

Hope it helps

[isaluteyou]

I decided to try this and it helped out tons when i got cought inside on big waves. I didnt spend all my energy swimming towards the broken wave.

Nothing worse than being trapped inside with a macking set looming with rocks behind you and you are absolutely knackered