Surfing Waves

Riding a 6'1" Thruster. I'm 5'10", 160ish. Sloping 3-4 footers off a windswell.

On the take-off I'm getting down the wave just fine, lean back, plant on the kick, pull my front foot up onto the middle of the board, and stall out almost immediately.

I don't think it's the board. Is it my rear plant? Is it too far back, or should I be trying to plant both feet simultaneously? Is it the stance? The wave?

I wish the waves were more shortboarder-friendly so I could make adjustments. Thoughts?

Drive drive drive!!!
All the weight should be on the front foot - the back foot is for turning or slowing down.

oh this topic is better than the one i just posted in...my bad for not reading :/

do you feel like youre going to pearl when you stand up on your shortboard?
i just switched from a 7'5ish or so, but now with the shortboard, i just feel scared

broseph619 wrote:oh this topic is better than the one i just posted in...my bad for not reading :/

do you feel like youre going to pearl when you stand up on your shortboard?
i just switched from a 7'5ish or so, but now with the shortboard, i just feel scared

if you feel like that angle the board sidewys into the direction you want to go. Not too much or else you will slide right over the wave. Also the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing to do is to stand up faster. When you catch a wave as soon as you stand up *fast* your momentum and weight shifts to the front making your board go strait down with speed, but if you dont get to your feet fast enough you won't be able to control it. But if you can get up fast enough, you can push your weight on the front of the board so you can gain speed and get ahead of the cashing section, or you can grab the rail and lean into the wave to go ahead

naniekso wrote:

broseph619 wrote:oh this topic is better than the one i just posted in...my bad for not reading :/

do you feel like youre going to pearl when you stand up on your shortboard?
i just switched from a 7'5ish or so, but now with the shortboard, i just feel scared

if you feel like that angle the board sidewys into the direction you want to go. Not too much or else you will slide right over the wave. Also the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing to do is to stand up faster. When you catch a wave as soon as you stand up *fast* your momentum and weight shifts to the front making your board go strait down with speed, but if you dont get to your feet fast enough you won't be able to control it. But if you can get up fast enough, you can push your weight on the front of the board so you can gain speed and get ahead of the cashing section, or you can grab the rail and lean into the wave to go ahead

tried that today, caught the wave, and stood up!

then lost my balance, but at least im learning!

Drive drive drive!!!

Yep, there you go. Shortboards need to be worked to build speed and keep them moving.

Small boards have smaller sweet spots. You'll have to find where your weight needs to be for gaining speed and for turns. It's only through practice that you'll get this. DBBB is right don't engage your back foot unless you are going to turn. You can apply power by keeping your feet in their same positions but leaning more forward with more weight on your front foot, you can do this by cocking your back knee towards the nose slightly and keeping your stance low.

Don't ever fully lean back on the tail. For turns apply pressure (with your weight )to your toes (via your knee) or heel (via your butt) on your backfoot depending on which way you are turning, whilst turning your shoulders in the direction you want to go. It's all about subtle weight changes not big shifts like leaning on the tail.

On most waves you shouldn't have to shift your feet that much straight after popping up. Where is the kick on your tail pad? Is it right against the leash plug? You don't need to have your foot all the way up against the kick, as long as your foot is over the fins it's good.

i got up yesterday a couple of times and actually rode the waves all the way in!

tried turning a bit too, but nothing too sharp.

so much fun!
im going out tomorrow morning again for my surf PE class.

broseph619 wrote:i got up yesterday a couple of times and actually rode the waves all the way in!

tried turning a bit too, but nothing too sharp.

so much fun!
im going out tomorrow morning again for my surf PE class.

Stoked for ya!

Aloha wrote:Small boards have smaller sweet spots. You'll have to find where your weight needs to be for gaining speed and for turns. It's only through practice that you'll get this. DBBB is right don't engage your back foot unless you are going to turn. You can apply power by keeping your feet in their same positions but leaning more forward with more weight on your front foot, you can do this by cocking your back knee towards the nose slightly and keeping your stance low.

Don't ever fully lean back on the tail. For turns apply pressure (with your weight )to your toes (via your knee) or heel (via your butt) on your backfoot depending on which way you are turning, whilst turning your shoulders in the direction you want to go. It's all about subtle weight changes not big shifts like leaning on the tail.

On most waves you shouldn't have to shift your feet that much straight after popping up. Where is the kick on your tail pad? Is it right against the leash plug? You don't need to have your foot all the way up against the kick, as long as your foot is over the fins it's good.

So there's nothing wrong with planting on the kick first? My kick is right against the leesh plug.

I guess I understand the emphasis on driving forward, but the day I took the thruster out, I was sunk before I could drive down the wave. So I'm guessing I either need to hop up faster or plant farther forward. Maybe I should just charge more directly down the wave than angling so much (a habit I formed riding my longboard).

If there's nothing wrong with my take off...what do you do differently on smaller mushier days when the board wants to sink? Go more vertical? Take off later? Pump?

Smaller days = more pumping, small wave shortboard, and you must be on point more. Its easy to stall on the small days if you turn to hard for example or your position is off. Also these are the days when the lightweight groms make it looks so easy because they weigh a buck. If your a bigger guy you need a bigger wave to get you going. Take a look at this great small wave surfer in this video. http://www.proctorsurf.com/Surf-Boards/Twin-Fang

You should have both feet contact the board simultaneously on popping up. I rarely have my back foot up against the kick mine is usually just forward of the middle of the tail pad. This also depends on your board but that's right for mine.

If you are sinking before getting down the wave then either you haven't picked up enough speed or you are putting too much weight on the back. It could be you are also popping up too soon. You'll need to get a feel for when the board is ready to ride. Maybe just stay prone and catch a few on your gut to give you an idea, then start getting up on them. Just try out getting up earlier or later depending on what the problem is.

If the waves are mushy and not steep then take your time popping up, you'll not get pitched over a nasty drop if it's mushy. If you do this and are definitely planing at the correct speed, you pop up and stall, then it's a weight placement issue. Stay crouched very low it'll lessen the problem while you work out where your feet should be. You are less likely to be able to put too much weight on your back foot when you are crouched, it'll distribute your weight evenly, then just move forward more and more until you find your sweet spot.