Surfing Waves

Hey guys I seem to have progressed a bit over the summer and want to actually hit the lip with a passion and land it. It seems whenever I do manage to build the confidence to do the manevour something goes wrong and I get hurt haha. For instance; I landed on my side on my board while trying it and luckily my board survived.

I am guessing I have to work on a solid bottom turn to do it but the fear of landing on my board is holding me back . Any advice to avoid hurting myself and my board while learning to smack the lip?

Well, in regards to the getting hurt part I currently have a 3" gash on my left shin that was down to the bone from trying to force the manuever (sp?). If it doesn't flow it doesn't go (corny). The trick is to have a pretty good bottom turn or a good amount of momentum built up. While you are going through your bottom turn you want to focus on the part of the lip you want to hit. Where your eyes are looking is where you are going. On your way up the wave ou want to load your hips so you are prepared for the snap you need to turn your board around. You need to initiat the turn roughly when half your board is above the wave, depending on the situation. Snap from your waist and move your wait from your back foot to your front. Hope I have explained this well enough, and accuratly enough.
The other bra boys on this forum should be able to correct me if I am wrong on anything.

good answer ^^

hitting the lip needs speed. and plenty of it usually gained from a big powerful bottom turn or pumping down the line. next you need to angle the board towards the lip by turning your head at the part of the lip you want to give a good bashing. your torso hips and board will follow where you point your head. like charvey said you need to prepare before you hit it by loading up. when you are about to hit the lip you need to sort of throw your board at the lip and whip it round. its helpful to pivot round your trailing hand. you might even want to have it in the face of the wave. how tight you turn depends on how fast the wave is and how vertical you hit the lip. the furthest round you should need to go is giving a closeout section one last bash then going straight. in to the beach. once the board is turned round get your weight on the front foot to drop back into the wave and make another bottom turn ready for your next manoevre.

hope that makes sense

haha i will always fall 8/10 times when i try to imagine myself trying to do a signature kelly roller

I think they look cool even if a person falls .

I did it once by accident, but once I hit it, the board just stuck there for 1~2 sec, I couldn't do anything... I tried to get off, but got wiped out :S

crepuscular wrote:I did it once by accident, but once I hit it, the board just stuck there for 1~2 sec, I couldn't do anything... I tried to get off, but got wiped out :S

heh I think that's a floater which I can't even do yet but I did it once on accident as well .

Beachbum wrote:heh I think that's a floater which I can't even do yet but I did it once on accident as well .

pretty fun though, because when you get off, depending which side... i was surfing backwards for a split second ;p

ahhaha beach bum when i was in your situation i was 8 and thought i was stuck on somebody.. and promptly bailed!

sebastiansurfer wrote:thought i was stuck on somebody...

ever ran over someone before? probably the funniest experience I ever had... I was going down a line and turned to avoid a guy paddling into me, but the guy turned to the same directed i turned to and *phummmfff*... the next thing i knew I was like 3ft in midair with my board under me. I turned back to find the guy had butt ache, lol...

haha good thing his butt cheek wasn't sliced in half

Dammit, I still cant do it.. I can see it in my head pumping for speed, doing a bottom turn but once I visual myself heading up the wave; I'm not sure how I'll be able to hit the lip with my fins sticking out at the top (if that makes any sense) and land it.

Whenever I try to do it I fall on my back while my board shoots at the lip. How do I center myself over the board when I'm trying to ride up the face of the wave vertically?

you need to kick hard on the tail and whip the font of the board round when you get to the lip bashing the lip where your front foot is just before you turn round.

lol beach bum no i havent to my knowledge(but that means squat ) and i have been hit tho
took a shortboard nose straight to the collarbone! oww

ive never tried hitting the lip but i can do it effortlessly on a skimboard and even do a 180 spray where you spin as you spray and ride in backwards

but just for you ima attempt a 360 shove next time i paddle out lol.
but like scarborough said you gotta kick HARD

Always look to hit it!
Drop in, start cruising, if the lip shows ... hit it!!!
It keeps you going - longer ride - better ride!

I love slamming the lip! My fault is that sometimes I hit it to the point of stalling -- oh well no worries! I hit it!

Make sure when you hit the lip you are bending your knees almost like doing a squat and carry as much momentum into the move as possible. From there it is all about weight transfer to get back into the wave. Make sure you rotate your hips as well through the move.