Surfing Waves

I've had a performance bat tail quad shortboard for about 2 months now and absolutely love it. I find it amaizingly fast down the line, easy to turn and very stable during take off on waves up to 6-7ft.

The problem I have is - duckdiving!
I find it very difficult to completely submerge the board more than once or maybe twice at the begining of the session. It can turn into frustration as I end up either eskimo rolling or dragging the board, neither being very efficient way of getting through the white water.

So, the board dimensions are: 6'4" x 20.5 x 2.75 poly custom

My dimensions: Height: 5ft 11' / 181 cm
Weight: 158 lb / 11.5 st. / 73kg


What do you guys think, does the board have too much volume for my weight?

Thanks

Mirx wrote:So, the board dimensions are: 6'4" x 20.5 x 2.75 poly custom

My dimensions: Height: 5ft 11' / 181 cm
Weight: 158 lb / 11.5 st. / 73kg


What do you guys think, does the board have too much volume for my weight?

Nope, that should be duckdiveable.
It has got a quite a lot of volume, so you'll have to duckdive well, but there's no reason with practise why you couldnt sink that.

The problem might be the tail - a thick/wide tail can be difficult to sink. You need to really weight the tail to get it to go under the wave.

Thanks DBBB.

Here's the link to the board. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fluid-Juice-Quad- ... dZViewItem
Mine is identical only 4 inches longer.

I presume the tail would not qualify as too wide, would it? As for the thickness it is less than 1 inch all around the back.

Hmm, looks like I'll have to keep wrestling with it until I get better, agree?

Mirx wrote:I presume the tail would not qualify as too wide, would it? As for the thickness it is less than 1 inch all around the back.

Hmm, looks like I'll have to keep wrestling with it until I get better, agree?

Yeah - thats what I thought... there's a lot of volume towards the tail of the board (I dont mean 'too' wide...) so you'll need to really stand on the tail once you've got the nose under.

I've got a 6'6 fish, and I struggle to get the tail under properly (cue being dragged backwards over the falls) for the same reason.

Practise practise practise

Ha Ha so another rich cockerney gets suckered into buying a board they can't use.

If you are riding 6-7ft surf why do you need something so wide and thick, at you weight you could go a lot less in those conditions.

On the flip side i ride a similar sized shaped board but don't struggle.

But i have an extra stone and a couple of pounds to help

Get yourself a tailpad if you don't already have one. Make sure it's got a kick block on the back of it (most do anyway) The corner is great for putting your foot in on duck dives. Don't bother duck diving with your knee, the foot will make you go much deeper and that's what you should be doing when the surf starts to get bigger.

Now to see if you can duck dive this sucker just put bothfeet on the tail pad and against the kick and do a push/press up with your arse in the air. Push your feet into the board and push your arms force down onto your board at the top.

The board should sink from your weight, if not then you will have trouble duck diving it, but given your weight and the board's dimensions the thing should sink.

The process of real duck diving is similar but just raise one leg in the air when you do this. Very simple.....

One thing I would like to add to Aloha's explanation is after you have the board submerged and the wave is almost on you I bassically do a hand stand on my board which makes you go even deeper on big days. As you slip under the water arch your back and extend your arms so the board is pushed out in front of you. I find this makes duck diving much easier and smoother for me. Best of luck.

CH

You are spot on Aloha. Just tried to submerge the board as you described above and it did sink more-less straightaway.

I then tried your duck diving method CHarvey by pushing the board under the wave with my arms extended and back arched, which felt like I was going almost vertically into the sea, and - it worked wonderfully!

Thank you for your input guys. You've helped me overcome a big problem with my favorite surfboard making me a very happy chap!

ill never be able to duckdive properly

Just takes time and patience SDgrom. Keep at it.

i can't duckdive amazingly, but it does the job, i don't get carried back by the wave. you don't really need to be 'amazing' aslong as you're not surfing huge waves

i am not that great but i can make it out just takes a bit longer than most prople do

Keep going with it, duckdive at the beginning of the sesh, and then eskimo when you get tired, or if the surf is small, then everyday duckdive for a little while more, then over time you will become more fit and be able to do it easaly.

The Fafanator wrote:Keep going with it, duckdive at the beginning of the sesh, and then eskimo when you get tired, or if the surf is small, then everyday duckdive for a little while more, then over time you will become more fit and be able to do it easaly.

if youve only been surfing 3months dont give advice on stuff your still learnin im not gona give advice and ive been surfing for about 5 times what you cliam