Improving. Pumping cutbacks and snaps

[jackharley]

i want to improve and start doing snaps, cutbacks and pumping but while im on the wave everything seems to go so fast and i dont really get a chance to think about it because it goes so fast. any advice is good advice. Thanks in advance

[Big H]

What is a typical wave for you now (what do you/ can you do on a wave)? How big do you go? How long have you been surfing? How often do you go? Where do you surf?

[IanCaio]

Besides answering all stuff BigH asked, if you have more than a break as an option, try to look for a slower wave and surf it sometimes (don't necessarily stop surfing faster waves, because it's good to be practicing on both types of waves). I'm not the best guide since I'm starting to get a feel on pumping, sharp top turns and cutbacks right now, but I felt a really nice improvement on my line surfing after practicing sometimes on a slower break. And this improvement reflected on surfing faster waves, where you need to do stuff more "unconsciously" (you don't have much time to think the next move, so you have to act more based on instinct).

[Big H]

I think you just need to surf more.


When I learned to drive it seemed like there were 1000 things to remember, most of which I'd forget....I learned on a stick so the coordination of shifting gears, not stalling, turn signals, windshield wipers, hands at 10 and 2, hitting the brakes and having to shift down and on and on and on.....going out into traffic everything was a blur and it all seemed to be happening too fast....my first half hour drive around the neighbourhood wore me out; I still remember that drive and the streets I took 30 years on......anyway, I kept driving, got better the more I practiced, and now can work my handphone while changing the radio station, steering with my knee while reaching for my coffee and then I hit the brakes because I know that when you come around that particular corner there is ALWAYS a dog in the road....look out the window and smile at the dog while driving by, drinking my coffee, steering with my knee, finding the radio station and planning what my first 30min will entail once I reach the office.

Point of the story.....experience builds a comfort level that is bolstered by a developed sense of anticipation.....you learn that when you do a, b and c that usually d happens....the better you get the more you won't have to concentrate on elements of the activity.........in driving a new driver might panic because they get the lights and the turn signal switches mixed up, or worse step on the accelerator instead of the brakes.....for them everything is a blur and there is too much going on.....

.......An analogy in surfing could be your full focus on your pop up, and when you actually pull one off and are on the wave it is all a blur because A- you didn't 100% expect to be there on the face of the wave and B - You haven't been there enough to have an idea what it is that you'd like to do other than try to get down the line,stay away from the feathering lip and not fall down. So my advice as a fellow learning surfer is that while I'd like to rip and do all those things that you mention, its first things first and that meant practicing pop ups and riding straight, then learning how to angle a bit, then bottom turns and aim down the line, then bottom turn harder and hold it then turn back down after I came out of the bottom turn and found myself at the top of the wave, go down and bottom turn and repeat.........you build on what you learn and the more you do it the better you get at it and the less you have to think about it and the less you notice it AND everything slows down because it's all somewhat expected, none of the feels are really new because you've done all the movements before, and that sense of being in a blur is gone because of the experience you have built up.

[oldmansurfer]

Surf more. It just takes time

[jackharley]

Thanks everyone and in response to big h. i do surf at a slow wave. i can ride unboken waves down the line. i just started crouching instead of standing up straight. but i cant ride the wave for a long period beacuse the white water out runs me. i have been surfing a year and a bit on and off. if im lucky i get to surf once a week for about two hours in the morning. with the waves not big.

[oldmansurfer]

Getting higher up on the wave makes you go faster so on a long board speed is often generated just by doing that but on shorter boards speed can also be generated going up high then dropping back down and repeating. Depending on when the whitewater passes you by there are different options on how to generate speed. Is it on takeoff shortly after or down the line a bit?