Beginner - going through white water

[Big H]

Swimming that far with the breaststroke is a confidence builder though....you won't drown if your leash snaps and your board is gone....might take awhile to get where you are going but you'll be alive....

Navy SEALS do a sidestroke for their long distance swims....I practice this not to develop my stroke but for any long distance swim eventualities....

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah on conditioning yourself, if you don't push your limits then you are merely marking time not getting in better shape but not getting in worse shape. But I disagree on long distances at least when it comes to the most challenging conditions, big waves, the top surfers condition themselves to long distances. In general it makes surfing a whole lot safer if you aren't tired from paddling. A set is coming and your arms are useless pieces of rubber hanging off your shoulders then you are going to have to take a pounding. I know Larry Bertleman was a really great surfer who used to say he couldn't swim. I also have heard a big wave surfer say they couldn't swim. But I have seen Larry Bertleman swim and I know the big wave surfers can all swim. I think the reason they say that is that they can't swim as well as the other surfers of their caliber. They probably swim better than most people but not as well as the surfers they surf with.

[chrisdot]

I woke up 5:30, that was early for my standards. Made it to Pacific Beach by 6:40. Waves were reported to be 4-5, occasionally 6 feet. They looked just about perfect for me. They had longer than usual rising time, didn't break too early.
I initially had standard troubles going through white water but this time really focused on my technique. I figured that I like to have my feet in water as it gives way better balance and more control. Tried having them ALL THE TIME on the board's tail and that seemed to work very well. I could feel muscles around my waist kicking off - new experience. On the downside I lost some confidence, because that way of paddling gives way less control and more sway.
I tried couple of take-offs but I just couldn't do it right. I felt like this paddling really helped as I was going to really get the speed on the wave. Just about to pop-up I would lose confidence and evacuate to the back . The other thing is my board got really slippy. Is that why you use wax? I have never put wax on that board. As a kid I used to slide on a sled. I would always wax metal rails to make them MORE SLIPPY and slide faster.

Anyway, I paddled out twice and I did some paddling on the back. Didn't really ride a wave, although, I did ride couple of white water ones.
I like to approach problems methodically on a step-by-step basis. I think I will focus only on paddling for now and leave take-offs, pop-ups and other problems for later. I might go to Mission Bay where the water is calm, just to do some paddling. I think I learned something new today.

Wrapping up the board and putting on top of roof rack takes plenty of time. Whole trip was around 3:30h and surfing was just about 1:30.

[waikikikichan]

Deck facing Down, Fins facing Foward on the car.

[chrisdot]

Why???

[drowningbitbybit]

The board can't slide backwards - the fins will get trapped against the strap. That way around you might find the board behind you on the freeway

[waikikikichan]

And even if your board doesn't have the fins on, the tail goes front. It what the wind "sees". There is less rocker on the tail than nose.

[Big H]

Here is one to try.....look at Joel Tudor at the 7:14 mark...

BTW, this comes from the movie Sprout....it's my favourite section from a favourite movie....i'll use any excuse to share it....beautiful, flowing surfing both long and shortboard (watch Machado burrrrnnnn at the end of the clip).

[RinkyDink]

Wrapping up the board and putting on top of roof rack takes plenty of time. Whole trip was around 3:30h and surfing was just about 1:30.

Surfing is definitely a hassle. It takes a lot of time and effort and it's expensive. Are you really sure you want to put the time into it? I get the feeling you might enjoy body surfing or boogie boarding more.

[BoMan]

Do 50m free then 50m breaststroke (recovery lap - so no need to stop and rest) and repeat x 5. Then next session repeat x8 then x10. Then do 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke - etc...Once you can do, say, 500m or 800m free without stopping, then do as old man says and mix in some high intensity laps.

I like this! My swim class starts again in February and I'll will ask the coach to "up my game." Do you have a suggestion for strengthening the popup? I'm great for the first hour and gradually decline into sloppy failures. I do about 10 practice popups at home every day but need something more. Getting old sucks.

[oldmansurfer]

One thing I do that I think helped my popup is using dumbbells. I lay on my back and hold the weights above me just to let my back adjust then bring my elbows down to my sides with the dumbbells still up so elbows at 90 degrees. Then i push as hard and fast as I can. The force of me doing this raises my back off the ground because my arm stops at full extension and I am really pushing hard and fast. I am currently doing 15 pound dumbbells but back when I started it was 5 pounds and even then I didn't do it really fast. Once I switched to fast I think my popup got faster but then maybe I am just improving anyway. It makes sense that it helped since that is exactly the muscles you need for popping up.

[Big H]

Do 50m free then 50m breaststroke (recovery lap - so no need to stop and rest) and repeat x 5. Then next session repeat x8 then x10. Then do 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke - etc...Once you can do, say, 500m or 800m free without stopping, then do as old man says and mix in some high intensity laps.

I like this! My swim class starts again in February and I'll will ask the coach to "up my game." Do you have a suggestion for strengthening the popup? I'm great for the first hour and gradually decline into sloppy failures. I do about 10 practice popups at home every day but need something more. Getting old sucks.

I stretch a lot....when I first started I did pushups, crunches, planks, dumbbell curls and tricep extensions, seated tricep dips, regular dips and pull ups....was a lot of pushups, 50-200 a day depending on how I felt....after a couple of months of that pop ups were easier....practiced pop ups as well....have an old board that I put sofa cushions underneath and act a fool in my living room....helped a lot, especially with not looking down, practice doing them with your eyes focused on something up on the wall like you were projecting down the line.....kids have fun doing it too....take all the wax off if you don't want the missus after you for ruining her sofa cushions.......

[Big H]

I have the luxury of choice living minutes from several great breaks.....if I was going to spend all that time in the water to do all of that swimming, I would rather just go surfing....

[chrisdot]

I have the luxury of choice living minutes from several great breaks.....if I was going to spend all that time in the water to do all of that swimming, I would rather just go surfing....

Yeah, no go for me. I have 40min drive in traffic + parking and wrap/unwrap gives at least 1 hour till I get to the water. I cannot do evenings, because 4PM is dark here already. Only mornings. I'm not a morning guy :\. Doing gym/swimming pool after work sounds way easier for me.
I actually went to YMCA tonight and did some swimming just to check my limits.
- 3 laps freestyle stroke in one go was my max
- 2 laps breaststroke underwater in one go was my max
- 17 laps freestyle overall (mostly in 2-lap rounds)
That's about it. Freestyle is obviously my very weak point that I need to work on. I will go with your advice 'dtc' with swimming. Next time I will start doing 50m freestyle / 50m breaststroke. I think that would be just about right milestone for me to do 5x sets like this.

According to http://magicseaweed.com/Pacific-Beach-Surf-Report/663/ Pacific Beach has 5 stars tomorrow morning and 5-7 ft waves. Seems like too big for me, but 5 stars is encouraging... La Jolla Shores looks like 5 stars and 4-6 ft. I will be going for 8-week holidays to Europe, so would be nice to catch few waves before I go.

[dtc]

I like this! My swim class starts again in February and I'll will ask the coach to "up my game." Do you have a suggestion for strengthening the popup? I'm great for the first hour and gradually decline into sloppy failures. I do about 10 practice popups at home every day but need something more. Getting old sucks.

Obviously your 'development' to longer freestyle swims may take less time (or more time). Once you can swim, say, 1500m without stopping, you can probably swim 3000m just by slowing down and taking things easily. But you will get bored...this is in part why I do some 'power laps' as others have suggested.

In terms of pop up, I too favour the push up but with the explosive style old man recommends. So slow on the way down, make sure your chest and chin touch the floor at approx the same time (your hips should never touch the floor - that means you are sagging, and just touching the chin allows cheating). Pause then push up as fast as you can (these are called 'pylo pushups' if you want to google). Old man's dumbbell press is pretty much the same movement, although I personally marginally prefer push ups because (a) it allows your scapular (shoulder bone) to move around which is just a more natural movement and (b) you can do push ups without equipment. You can do push ups at any time - do 10 or 20 before you go to bed or when you are watching TV or whatever.

that said, I actually don't think its the pop up itself that is causing the tiredness. You can probably easily do 20 push ups over an hour if I asked you to do one every 3 minutes. And if you are popping up 20 times in an hour to catch a wave then, well, you deserve to be tired!

Rather, you use your upper pectorals and triceps when paddling, and these are the muscles used for a pop up as well; while your delts and lats (back muscles) are also heavily involved in paddling and (to a lesser extent) in the push up/pop up motion. Also, look how you push yourself up from laying on the board to sitting - probably doing a push up.

So your pop up muscles are already getting tired from non pop up work, but you really notice it when you have to do the big power movement. Its not the pop up per se, but its the pop up that falls apart as a consequence. Push ups will definitely help.