Surfing Waves

ola everyone
I am having trouble in understanding how to properly take off right where the wave breaks, as I see many people doing.
Everytime I try, all the foam and turbolence make very difficult for me to keep control or just to see what's happening.
what's the trick???

You need to be just in front of that spot with all the foam and the turbulence. Your paddling and timing needs to be spot on.
It's a hard thing to do and takes a lot of practise, but if the whitewater is catching you, you're way too late.

It's funny, only recently i made a super late take off & even got round the section - sooo stoked!

Practice makes perfect. Depending on what size waves you're surfing, be prep'd for a good beaten!

so Makka,
what's the tip you feel to share? taking off grabbing the rails or not? angling the board or not? taking off in the lip/foam or shoulder?
thanks!

lorcar wrote:so Makka,
what's the tip you feel to share? taking off grabbing the rails or not? angling the board or not? taking off in the lip/foam or shoulder?
thanks!

Well of course each wave is different but do what you feels best at the time. (piss poor advice i know)

Rail grabbing is not a technique I prefer, but then I'm not dropping in on much over 5ft!

If you're talking bigger waves then take off straight followed by a nice bottom turn to line yourself up.

Avoid take off's in the foam, that's what happened to me the other day but for once i didn't get smoked & actually made it, hence the level of stoke i got!

I'm still learning the ropes myself ... remember the more you get in, the more you get out!

For a very simplistic answer, you don't need to take off exactly where the wave breaks, you have to get used to moving to where the wave breaks and paddle into it, not drop in.

Taking a guess based on what you typed, I image that when you catch a wave you feel like you are screaming down the wave and have a problem standing up because of the wobbles the speed creates. This happens when you don't get enough paddle speed going, thus you are dropping in instead of glidding into the wave. So, concentrate on paddling your arse off, pick up your head, and stand up as the board picks up speed instead of after it already launches you down the line.

So, again, in simple terms, stop dropping into a wave and paddle into it.

Watch the surface of the wave like a hawk in the immediate vicinity of the board right at the paddling to surfing transition time i.e as you catch the wave. Often errors occur because one isn't really looking.

One has to change the depth of field out to see the larger picture but at the moment of takeoff snap it in close and concentrate on the water you are dealing with,

Dropping in even without paddling is fine, for this and takeoffs in general it helps to swing the legs up over the back momentarily in order to move the centre of mass further forward to assist the drop and get the nose down.

lorcar : Catch the waves that are really going to break on your head and then just keep paddling. Then catch with an angled take off and then get to your feet on a green wave . . Trust me . . . you will improve loads - just keep trying one move over and over until you move on.

i think my problem is fear, since I surf rarely. So everytime i feel like starting again. Being scared, I start to paddle later than i should, so when the wave picks me up, I am on the steepest part of the wave instead of being where I can have the board gently slide on it. The point is that my fear makes me start paddle later because I could receive the lip on the head if I move too much forward

themathteacher wrote:For a very simplistic answer, you don't need to take off exactly where the wave breaks, you have to get used to moving to where the wave breaks and paddle into it, not drop in.

Taking a guess based on what you typed, I image that when you catch a wave you feel like you are screaming down the wave and have a problem standing up because of the wobbles the speed creates. This happens when you don't get enough paddle speed going, thus you are dropping in instead of glidding into the wave. So, concentrate on paddling your arse off, pick up your head, and stand up as the board picks up speed instead of after it already launches you down the line.

So, again, in simple terms, stop dropping into a wave and paddle into it.

Now that you mention it, sometimes I have the same problem. Most of the time, my take-off is fine. But in some cases (I guess this happens because you catch the wave too late?) I actually have to wait until my speed decelerates to pop up. And then I'm stuck in the whitewater .

lorcar wrote:i think my problem is fear, since I surf rarely. So everytime i feel like starting again. Being scared, I start to paddle later than i should, so when the wave picks me up, I am on the steepest part of the wave instead of being where I can have the board gently slide on it. The point is that my fear makes me start paddle later because I could receive the lip on the head if I move too much forward

You are too far inside if that is the case. Move out a little farther than you have been, and try to catch the wave as it builds up, not as it crashes down.