Surfing Waves

My girlfriend has just bought (well, I bought…) a 7" mini-mal, she's a petitie 5"4… To date she's been riding softies, and in the last few sessions has rented a few NSP shapes to see what suited best, a smallish mini-mal being perfect.

Now she's more able to paddle out the back and sit with me catching waves, all good on a small day, but for bigger surf she just can’t get through the white-water. I'm teaching her all the tricks, and she rolls the board over but not having much weight is often just picked up (however is getting better). The other thing I'd like to teach her is to duck dive, but the mal is just too big for her to duck dive easily (not sure if you can duck-dive a mini-mal?).

I'm not sure what to tell her (I ride a shortboard so am not much help), and wondered of anyone had any tips/tricks to help her out?

Thanks all!

its not easy to duckdive a minimal. the best i can do on one is push the nose down and lift my chest off the board. that doesnt really work in bigger waves though. i read somewhere on here to let yourself hang down from the board during a turtle roll as a sort of sea anchor while the board is upside down. not sure how well it works as i shortboard too but worth a try

It is possible to duckdive a minimal but it is probably impossible to learn to duckdive on a minimal, to be honest fitness and strength play a far greater role in the beginning surfer which are two things that come with time.

Thanks surferdude - the sea anchor thing is what she's trying to do, but maybe is just not getting low enough. Either that or i get her a lead bikini...

Cheers scuba steve - i was kind of hoping there was some special technique i'd missed - she can't duck-dive my shortboard when she tries it, so will have some work to do before diving the mini-mal!

But may be an idea to keep her trying the duck dives on my board and then take the moves onto hers...

Ducking a mal is not impossible but it takes a great deal of skill as even someone who has steel arms is gonna find it hard pushing that much board under water. A lot of people use the method of dropping one side of the rail under water first then pushing deep. It has as far i know (feel free to disagree) a very limited effect and as to date i have never seen anyone navigate a big day doing it myself included that is to say without getting knocked off or losing waaay to much ground from getting dragged.

Thanks isaluteyou. I think she needs practice, but is never going to find duck-diving easy being quite small relative to the board.

I hadn't heard of the side rail dipping first thing - we'll give it a go, but agree it doesn't sound like it'd make a lot of difference?!

She might want to try gripping the rails and flipping the board onto one side and hooking a leg over the top rail. I find that this reduces drag more so that a turtle roll in bigger or messier waves. It's also useful as she can get back on and paddling quicker than with a roll

fit 22 yr old 85kg male with 7'8 minimal

IMPOSSIBLE to duckdive

surferdude_scarborough wrote:its not easy to duckdive a minimal. the best i can do on one is push the nose down and lift my chest off the board. that doesnt really work in bigger waves though. i read somewhere on here to let yourself hang down from the board during a turtle roll as a sort of sea anchor while the board is upside down. not sure how well it works as i shortboard too but worth a try

Right on. Turtle and anchor with your body weight. I went from a 6'10" to a jumbo 9'2" epoxy and I am only 5'11" 164. I tried to duck dive the 9'2" and got spun in a head + swell. Leash got ripped and I got pulled around and beat down and held down for a real long time. Kind of exciting.

I turtle that beast now in chest + or better.

I grab the rails real tight and am at almost full extension sometimes with my elbows. I dip the front of the board into the oncoming waive to push us deeper and it is no sweat. Just hang on tight. Do not keep board close to body. You will get picked up a bit or washed backed a bit.

Just my observations. Take them for what they are worth.

Thanks guys - all helpful stuff, and it's giving her the confidence to keep doing what she's doing and she'll get it...

Hope you all have good days!

I duck dive my 10'0......speed, weight forward, timing, and 250 lbs doing a a mega push up with one foot high in the air=duck dive in HH+


I think she can do it if her weight is forward as she paddles, she can paddle feet up, to help keep the nose up.

If possible, find a nice rip and let it take you beyond the breakers, then paddle parrallel to shore to the place you want to surf. Saves alot of energy fighting the whitewash and being caught inside. Just a tip a more experienced surfer gave me when I was first starting out, I don't go out in anything big so I haven't had alot of problems yet with struggling to get outback. I personnally don't like getting beaten around alot or getting exhausted paddling forever so I stick with the small days.

IMHO - a 5ft and a bit girl on a thick NSP - no chance of anything resembling a duck dive.

Just go with the roll and anchor job and maybe the punch through - but more than these, try and get her to time her efforts for the lulls and not even waste her time trying to fight the whitewater.

Personally, I just hang inside the shore break for however long it takes until the right lull comes along and then I put my head down and paddle like my life depends on it. If there's a rip or calm spot just off the peak, then I go there as I paddle out.

And if I get it wrong for whatever reason, I don't waste my time or energy fighting in the impact zone - I simply get back well inside the breaking waves, catch my breath and wait for another lull............

I've seen people struggling like crazy to fight their longboard through the breaking waves whilst I've just sat in the shallows. 9 times out of 10 when the lull comes, I'm not only able to catch them up, but beat them to the line up - and I wouldn't class myself as a strong paddler........

Anyway - hope that helps a little.........

how do you know when those lull come? I Just paddle out straight out when I am at the beach.

pkbum wrote:how do you know when those lull come? I Just paddle out straight out when I am at the beach.

You wait! Tick follows tock and all that.........

I walk down to the break and spend 5 minutes stretching - and use that time to work out what peak is working, what rips are doing what, how frequent the sets are, etc, etc, etc - and after each set will be a period where the sea flattens off just for a short time.

Once I've finished my stretching, then I'll walk into the water just far enough so that I'm inside the shore break and wait for the next lull - and then go for it.

It all depends on what break you're surfing, etc - but I watch people fighting in the impact zone, taking waves on the head and getting beaten back to the shore when all they need to do is stay out of the way and pick a good time to go ...........

SI has it right IMO. On thos bigger days you gotta wait. Sometimes a problem occurs with me. I get the lull while in the white water and paddle my butt off to get outside, only to find the next set coming in when I reach the outside impact zone. Usually I can get past it. The only reason I believe I can is because I waited till the inside cleaned up and I had a good amount of energy left to paddle through the outside impact zone. Oh and to say the least when you do get through and are on the outside on a bigger day, isn't so cool? Nice big waves coming under your board and you can then pick and choose when to go. One thing I bet most newbies never consider..........the trials and tribulations of getting out.

Yes on bigger days, if you are not a strong paddler, you definitely have to wait it out on the beach, study the wave rhythms and time things right. One thing I've done wrong (and probably other newbies as well) is making the wrong timing choice to paddle out when things look calm and peaceful. (Note: this guidance is for sandbar/shorebreaks..not sure if the same applies to reefbreaks as I've never surfed them) If you leave the beach when all appears calm, you most likely will get pummelled with a big set once you get to the impact zone. Rookie mistake!

You should grab up your board and head out off the beach just as your watching the big sets beginning to break (it looks scary and intimidating to head out but the timing actually works out to your benefit). You'll battle a tad more whitewater (that the big waves will create) but you more than likely won't get hammered, knocked off your board and washed back in 30ft or more.

Its part of getting over the fear (i.e. paddling out just after big set comes in) and the trick that the ocean plays on newbies (luring them in when all is calm only to crush them a minute later once they're out 50 yards or so).

Lego wrote: she's a petitie 5"4… To date she's been riding softies

Dude, I wouldn't admit to that!
Sounds a little too s3xual for this forum

LOL ^^^^^^^^^^^

the important thing is having forward motion going into a turtle/eskimo roll.

Then, just as the white water is going to hit, flip. It's a combination of sort of lifting the board up, so it runs along the top of the white water and you pulling yourself down, so your weight pushes through the water, keeping you going forward.