Surfing Waves

how to catch bigger wave ? i ve got a standard 9''1 longboard i am quite happy with, but as soon as the surf goes bigger than 3-4 feet, i am helpless. on smaller surf, i catch everything that i want, but as soon as the wave is bigger i end up picking the nose and going over my board.
how big can it be for a long board ? what s wrong with my paddle ? i suppose this is kinda of classic beginner mistake ...

thanks

you can surf monsters on any long board...you need to take off early.

on days with bigger sets, sit a bit farther out, when the set comes you won't be taking a super late take off. as you get better in larger waves you can take waves steeper and deeper... till then just get em early as you can and you will be amazed how easy larger surf is.

keep the stoke!

thanks. what about the angle of attack ? do i need to paddle always back of the wave, or is there any magical angle that will help to slide along the side of the wave ? or it does not really matter, as soon as i take it early, i will have time to shift to one side once i am up ?

On my 9' gun, I can catch a beach break wave, have my ride and get off it before it has even broken if I desire.

Soo, paddle HARD to get momentum and way way EARLY compared to the short boarders and try and get standing before the wave breaks anywhere ( I have paddled till the fin hits the sand on small days ! - exercise !!).

There is no angle unless its steep – but that’s shortboard territory take offs for now anyway.

Paddle early aiming for the beach and do a nice gentle turn to trim along the line, then the wave should start to steepen and become a face – you know what to do from there.

Happy logging.

EDIT : You'll have enough time for a barbecue on some, and not enough time to even spit on others - depends on the wave etc.....

^ solid tips esconscar

Yeah there is no magic angle answer..you will get the feel after some practice.
Keep the stoke!

The key is that esconscar is using a 'gun' longboard rather than a mal with a flat nose rocker.

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what wave size could i handle with a "flat nose rocker" ?

Any size, it's just that if you have a noseriding mal with a flat nose rocker it's going to make steep takeoffs trickier.

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RoyStewart wrote:Any size, it's just that if you have a noseriding mal with a flat nose rocker it's going to make steep takeoffs trickier.

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I think that was maybe my original overall question ... what s the trick , then ?

It could be technique or the board, or a combination.

A board with more rocker will make it easier to get on bigger waves from a perling POV but make it harder to paddle into it in the first palce.

You need to be on your feet early as the board starts down the face and start getting in that bottom turn before your nose can dig.

vdeub wrote:

RoyStewart wrote:Any size, it's just that if you have a noseriding mal with a flat nose rocker it's going to make steep takeoffs trickier.

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I think that was maybe my original overall question ... what s the trick , then ?

The trick is to get a board with some nose rocker.

Nose rocker gives more lift per square inch of wetted surface area, this makes the board get up and planing earlier and it accelerates faster.

The nose rocker also allows you to drive down the face more steeply, and with more confidence.

Ideally the nose rocker feeds a progressively flattening rocker so that as the board accelerates it uses the lower drag faster section at the tail.

The planshape should tend towards the teardrop shape for various good reasons

Noseriding boards sacrifice all these useful features for the spurious noseriding platform.. . . . just get a better board the noseriding model is a dog, and there's not much you can do to make it better. Riding one too much will ruin your surfing.

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that s my first board really, and i have been told that i can ride the nose on it, then i suppose you right. can you point me a link on a long board that will fit , in term of nose rocker ? just to have an idea of the shape & size ?

I had a look around but all I could find were noseriding or 'high perf' longboards which are just about as bad. There are some nice shapes listed as longboard guns here and there but they tend to be on the narrow side.

It's easy to make a longboard for pure surfing according to the simple rules mentioned above but the trick is finding a shaper who will do it, most of them will talk you out of it, or try to.

Where are you located ?

http://www.fluidjuice.co.uk/Boards%20by ... design.htm

The all round longboard here is the type of board you are after - mixture of a classic noserider and high performance board. Does it all and the shaper has a first class reputation.

Unfortunately 'classic noserider' means that it has all the problems listed above.

It's extremely simple to make a longboard for pure surfing, which is way more efficient and easier to ride than the nosering models, unfortunately shapers can't wrap their heads around it because as soon as a board gets to 9 feet they think it has to be a rotating style platform because that's what the industry dictates.

As for 'high performance' longboards they are just designed to do lots of spray throwing tail pivots (while still having all the noseriding faults) this suppose 'high performance' board is actually a slow board which does a certain kind of trick surfing, true high performance is related to the ability to ride waves fast, efficiently and with ease. . . . they are all barking up the wrong tree because they design boards to be difficult to ride and full of anomalies.

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I agree absolutely with all of Roys' comments here.

I have two modern longboards - a 9ft gun, and 9ft6inch classic longboard.
Neither is designed for nose riding. I can nose ride them both, and they go like stink if you can get them moving on the face.

I don’t think you need to go for a rockered longboard at the moment.

You should be able to have an enjoyable surf on the board you have – both my boards, though totally different, each provide a different challenge when I take them out !

I’m not sure what you are asking now, the paddling has been answered, but are you actually after another board ?

http://www.angelfire.com/sports/surfjap ... esign.html

I reckon if it is a longboard you are after then this guide is pretty helpful - good luck. I've got a 9 2 longboard - an all rounder really - does fine for a beginner. From what I've experienced, it will take a good while until I'm at a level to really decide what sort of 2nd board I'm after.