Surfing Waves

hi are there any longboarders in southwales willing to have a surf or 2 with a newish surfer. im standing sorta doing a bottom turn but its hit or miss and kinda sucks would love a more experianced surfer to give me some pointers in the water help me move on with my surfing so if any one is willing would be great

thanks

Hope you find a mentor. I had one in northern California when I began surfing and the benefit was tremendous. One of the nice things for my mentor was that he never had to pay for dinner on the days he went surfing with me.

awesome and thanks for the encouragement what sort of level are you surfing at now then? and how long did you have someone helping you for?

I had help from a mentor in the water for about 4 months. I'd go out by myself for 2 to 4 surf trips. Then my mentor would go out with me for a day. Then I'd go out alone 2 to 4 times again. My mentor was also available by telephone and we had many discussions, often following my solo trips.

I got good enough to the point where I was surfing 5 foot waves pretty well. If they were big swells like at San Onofre, I was surfing 7 foot waves.

Surfing is like playing guitar. To do it well, you have to do it frequently.

well how often were you suring when u were learning im currently getting in the water ever weekend when theres swell would love to go more but difficult to afford it.

and thanks for the posts back

newportlongboard,
I went surfing 1 time per week. Due to work, it was either Saturday or Sunday. Because of the long travel distance from my house to the beach at that time, I was in the water 5 to 7 hours each time out. I think it really helped that I was in the water for long periods. I used to take my dog with me, too. She always enjoyed the adventure and made many friends at Dillon Beach, CA, Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz, and Pacifica, CA. As soon as she saw me grab my board or wetsuit, she'd run to and jump in the car. So, you need a dog, if you don't have one.

cool what dog do u have? and thanks for posting back my sessions arnt as long as urs im usualy in for about 3 hours although im surfing this weekend friday sat and sunday had to buy a book but read it now going to work on my bottom turns and knee paddling this weekend now and if anyone else reads the thread ill be in llangennith south wales if any one surfing that way give me a shout

thank

My Darla is a large black labrador retriever. Kind of funny you would inquire. This afternoon at my work desk, I looked at a few photos of her on the beach with me in Santa Cruz. I was just going out surfing, so I had my wetsuit on and longboard in hand. And there was Darla! Walking right alongside me like she was a natural part of the show.

llangennith south Wales is my 'local' - surfed it at maxed out - been surfing it for many years. If I see you down there I'll give some tips and advise on your stance and so on. I'm a bit without transport at the moment but soonish maybe - keep posting and we’ll keep helping irrespective.

hi thanks, and once you got transport and are going down for a surf let me know ill try get down there if thats okay. and if you got any ideas after riding the wave along a bit either seem to outrun it or go up and over out back should i be trying to stall my board to control better or something????? hope that makes sense

and thanks guys

newportlongboard wrote:hi thanks, and once you got transport and are going down for a surf let me know ill try get down there if thats okay. and if you got any ideas after riding the wave along a bit either seem to outrun it or go up and over out back should i be trying to stall my board to control better or something????? hope that makes sense

and thanks guys

You seem genuine so here it goes, a bit more than you expect I guess ........


My sessions used to be full on up to nine (9) hours or more (I was into endurance mountain running!).

I have surfed with hypothermia – not good at all – you know its hypo when you realise you really are making stupid wave catch decisions yet persevere until it clicks – ’get the hell out of this ocean NOW !’ – I used to monitor my wave rides per half an hour – if it dropped off – get to shore - let the numbers talk not your perception - at worst it’s a welcomed break on the sand !

If you are outrunning the wave - go a bit bigger if you can,
OR
Chill and get fit until a glassy day (perfect conditions) – a small glassy wave feathering hollow at waist to head high is better than a big mushy dumper any day and you get a good long ride too :

Always try to surf down the line – just go along the face – if you need to and can turn then the wave power will allow it, if the wave is not powerful enough you won’t be able to – end of, so go for a floater over the top instead.

You can play at the mega body twisting slash backs and whatever else but I reckon if the wave ain’t stoking you, you won’t be able to turn too good at all just due to lack of speed – this is the bain of all beginners. You get a really good wave, good line, good speed, stoking feel – so why mess it up by trying a turn ! ‘Holds everyone up for a long time until they decide to try a move on a good wave thus sacrificing the ride until it all comes together. You really need to practice on good waves all you desire to do.
‘You ever seen a 100m Track Olympian trying to beat his personal best in mid winter in a mud puddle on a rugby pitch (wait – don’t answer that !).

Basically - surf and try stuff - if you bog out its lack of speed - no worries - surf and try again !

You can play at the mega body twisting slash backs and whatever else but I reckon if the wave ain’t stoking you, you won’t be able to turn too good at all just due to lack of speed – this is the bain of all beginners.

Nice post Esonscar. Just wonder if I can pick your brains. You mentioned that at beginner stage you don't want to break the down the line surf cos fear of losing the ride by making a move that then messes up and that's exactly where I am. I've had a few 3ft glassy sessions recently and everything has been clicking - great popup and turn down the line nestled right up against the wall of the wave with stoke at an all time high.

However, it got me thinking, what do i do next? From what I can glean (correct me if i am wrong) i need to generate some speed down the line by going up and down the wave, rail to rail, (which will send me ahead of the wave) which will allow me to make a turn and get back to the breaking part of the wave - is this possible on 3 foot waves with a 7' 6" minimal? How would the turn work?

hi thanks for the reply just hope i get some good conditions soon.

hi surf noob cool to see someone else similiar to where i am.

surfnoob wrote:

You can play at the mega body twisting slash backs and whatever else but I reckon if the wave ain’t stoking you, you won’t be able to turn too good at all just due to lack of speed – this is the bain of all beginners.

Nice post Esonscar. Just wonder if I can pick your brains. You mentioned that at beginner stage you don't want to break the down the line surf cos fear of losing the ride by making a move that then messes up and that's exactly where I am. I've had a few 3ft glassy sessions recently and everything has been clicking - great popup and turn down the line nestled right up against the wall of the wave with stoke at an all time high.

However, it got me thinking, what do i do next? From what I can glean (correct me if i am wrong) i need to generate some speed down the line by going up and down the wave, rail to rail, (which will send me ahead of the wave) which will allow me to make a turn and get back to the breaking part of the wave - is this possible on 3 foot waves with a 7' 6" minimal? How would the turn work?

“ great popup and turn down the line nestled right up against the wall of the wave with stoke at an all time high. “

Okay – do angled take offs NOW.

No more pointing the nose to the shore, point the nose of the board to 45 degrees ish left or right the way you want to go. Instantly you have gained a significant ‘drop’ on the wave so to speak by not having to do a nasty bottom turn and dump all the speed you just paddled your ass of to achieve to catch the wave in the first place !
Look at the pros in small (non pipeline !) surf – always they angle take off, a down the face and a turn is for tubes and dull stooped fun AFTER you can surf proficiently.



“ is this possible on 3 foot waves with a 7' 6" minimal? “

Anything is possible on any ‘board if you are good enough and strong enough.



“ i need to generate some speed down the line by going up and down the wave, rail to rail, “

In good glassy surf there is really no more speed to be gained by going rail to rail – look at tube surfers – down the line is it – end of, no rail to rail in tubes else you’ll pop over the top of the wave or get drilled by the lip!

HOWEVER:
In mush and the most common non perfect surf there it the technique called ‘pumping the board’. It’s like making a bicycle move forward by shoving your body forward constantly to simply shove the ‘bike along without pedaling. Pumping the board it the same idea.



“ some speed down the line by going up and down the wave “

Up and down the wave and not rail to rail – yup - The amount of ‘wobble’ (soon to become a controlled rapid slightly up, drop slightly down, slightly up, drop slightly down depending on steepness) does help get some speed up to allow you to try and make sections. This technique can lead to a manic surf style which is completely dominated by constantly slaloming the surfboard up and down the face !



Styling smoothly rail to rail is for good sized glassy surf of three to eight foot faces plus – yum. Rail to rail does not yield speed – every time you change direction you loose speed. If you do a sharp change of direction you should be snapping back into the steepest part of the wave to ‘re-drop’ and go again.



Getting to out run and turn back into the wave yup – no worries there as long as you have the skill to complete the turn and the speed to carry you through be it from manic pumping or a superb wave.

There, how does all that sound to y’all ?

Cor, I just blew my brain !

Thank you sooo much for that post - explains loads! I have been angling my takeoffs for a while now and can stay quite high on the wave - I just run out of options after that - not really sure what to do apart from surf down the line, but now you've got me thinking and I can use some of that potential energy higher up the wave to build up some speed and cutback. Guess I just need to experiment and watch some surf clips and it will come, just like progress to date as slowly built with water time.

Thanks again - much appreciated and hope I haven't hijacked the thread too badly and it helps some others at the same level as myself.

nah surfnoob was a great question and thanks for the answers to both our questions its incredably helpfull

thanks guys