Surfing Waves

From "themathteacher SW Pro" : "I would re-post in the longboard forum"

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New member here and a noob learning how to surf!

I have a 9ft board I take out and I can get up and surf on white wash and very small 2-3 foot waves with a face. However, as small as a 4 foot wave looks from shore, I wipe out riding them. With the power behind them I usually perl, I even feel it's going to happen as I'm paddling.

What can I do to get up and ride that thing? Paddle faster,.... stay out in front of it....get up faster? Also, if I do get up and the lip is breaking on my board, what do I do?

Also, I was looking at used short boards in the store, they felt so much lighter and easier to handle than my big old long board, I almost though I could ride it easier...but probably not a good idea yet?

Any advice is helpful! Thanks!

All I can give is one years experience and I'm sure there are others here that could give better advice! First off its probably not worth buying a shortboard until you can ride the longboard; the longboard is much easier to catch waves on.

Getting up on white water is easier because the wave is pushing you towards the shore. The mistake I made was thinking "green" waves are the same, they are not. The mechanism is completely different in that you have to use gravity to accelerate down the wave, you can never paddle as fast as an incoming wave either. If the lip is breaking, you can sit up and hope!

You could be pearling for a few reasons, some of the common ones I've attempted are: too far forward, (is the front of the board under water when you paddle?), too far back and catching the wave as it folds over and getting thrown over the top, (how to look like a complete pillock in one easy lesson ), being on the right spot on the board but catching the wrong wave, (ones that dump really quickly so build up and are too steep, where reflected waves meet incoming waves and you get an upsurge of water and others), being on the right spot on the board but because it feels like you're falling, put your hands out in front and grab the rails, (did this a number of times having panicking surfers and swimmers trying to get out of the way as I sped past them and still feel like a pillock ), the problem here is once you have your hands out in front you cannot move so you either pull forward which makes you pearl or you hang on and hope.

What I have been doing (and this seems to work sometimes), sit on the beach and pick a breaking wave, see if the next set are breaking in the same place or a different place. If they are breaking in the same place, thats where you want to be, (make sure the reason the waves are breaking in the same place is not large rocks just under the surface of the water). paddle out and between sets, get to where the foam starts, this is where the next set is going to break, next paddle further out for about 5-10 paddles. make sure you are on the right spot on your board and turn round, (keep an eye on incoming sets as you may get hammered by the odd larger wave breaking further out. When the wave is about 20-30m away paddle towards the beach fast, the wave should pick you up after about 5 paddles and about 2sec before it breaks. You will feel the tail being raised and this is the time to pop up. If you hesitate at this point you wont get it. Ive been told and read that you should do 3 more paddles when you feel the tail lift but Ive found Im slow enough to not need it. Do not look down at the board, look where you want to go. Whatever you do, make sure your arms are at the sides in a "chicken wing" stance, you can then at least adjust where you are on the board and stop pearling by sliding backward.

I hope that helps

Greg

Greg, this is great info. I am going to definitely try your recommendations, thank you!

Based on my short 7 months of experience... In addition to what Greg wrote, I find that when the nose starts going under as the wave is coming up under me, if I arch back I can often save it. The arching gets my weight off the front of the board. I've definitely saved myself from pearling many times this way. The moment the nose comes back out of the water, I pop up fast. I arch with my hands where I want them to be for popping up, so I'm ready. But you have to arch as it's starting to pearl -- if it's too submerged arching may not help.

I've also skipped the moment of waiting for the nose to surface after arching and just popped up really fast. But that only works if I've caught the wave and the pearling is just starting. I think I arch until I can see that it's not pearling any deeper, even if it's not exactly surfacing, and then pop up.

If I'm repeatedly pearling, then positioning a couple of inches farther back on my board usually makes a difference. And sometimes I think it's a matter of needing to paddle faster...which isn't always an option!

Went out yesterday, 2-4 ft waves. On the larger waves I did not pearl at all this time, however, I did fall off backwards and to the side many times. I actually did not get up on any of the bigger ones. My legs weren't feeling as strong as usual, so I think it effected my balance. Will do more lower body at the gym tonight. Kept reminding myself to stop looking down. Even though I didn't do as well as I hoped, it still felt better and more natural than usual, so I'll keep at it. Thanks for the tips, I can't wait to go back out again!

If I can just put my 2 cents worth in. From what Im thinking , you can get up on the white water ok and go forward with the wave, but taking off on bigger waves you nose dive(or pearling as you call it.) Getting back abit will help, but are you taking off straight down the face of the wave and then trying to do a bottom turn? If so this will be hard for a newcomer. Try angling yourself to take off virtually pointing in the direction the wave is breaking. ie; left or right.
I started surfing nearly 40 years ago and after a bit of a lay off I got back into it with a longboard a year ago. This method of pointing myself into the direction of the wave was far easier to do than trying tough bottom hand turns with a long board.
Craig

hunsta, I usually just do go straight. Yesterday I tried angling myself a bit more, it did help on the large waves. I haven't pearled the last two times I went out!

Just for all us newbies out there I found the advice here very useful:

http://members.shaw.ca/kevin_bartlett_1 ... _surf.html

Greg

I had that problem a lot, and think it comes from a lack of readjustment while taking the drop. What I do now is to pop-up into a wide stance, with my backfoot over the tailpad (my log had one when I bought it), and just lean back to lift the nose for the drop, straight into the bottom turn. It works for me, but I might also point out that it took a lot of nosedives and slipping off the back to get this down, so might not be a good idea for progression (it is fun though ).

Angling the take-off is good and I would recommend that if possible, but it depends on your proximity to the breaking part of the wave. If you are taking off close to the curl then you should angle more as the wave is steeper and easier to catch (and also more likely to nose-dive on ). If however the curl is still some distance away and you are catching the shoulder, you should take it straight (or straighter), as angling reduces the component of your paddle speed perpendicular to the beach.

Thanks Greg for the insights.. you sharing your experience was helpful to me coming across this post. I used to have that problem and now I see how it could have been easier learning.. It's just so hard with the longer board and when the water gets more powerful in the bigger size it's tough to control whether or not the board pearls. Still learning I guess.

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TC longboards

If your pearling too much try moving back on your board when paddling for a wave, a couple of inches can make a difference .I have a 9' 6" Hobie Slug that was always a peal diver , just too heavy in the nose and not much rocker to it. Also when your paddling for a wave keep your chest arched upward and keep your legs from dragging in the water by keeping them at a 90 degree angle to reduce any drag so it will keep your body wieght off the board and try paddling hard so you can get into the wave sooner. If your late getting up and and try getting up on a steeper drop your nose is going to pearl.

reminds me I need to dust off my longboard, been shortboarding shore dump at Imperial Beach all summer, need to drive over to tourmoline and get back into some rollers...

themathteacher wrote:reminds me I need to dust off my longboard, been shortboarding shore dump at Imperial Beach all summer, need to drive over to tourmoline and get back into some rollers...

I know what you mean, nice rollers that are perfect for longboards seem to be at a premium on the South Devon coast over the last few months. Starting to look forward to the better swell in winter

Ok so I will make this short and sweet for you. Pop up earlier.
I had the same problem and someone suggested that to me. I went surfing today on 4ft waves and it worked.

I suggest you try this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve

The type of wave and where you catch it makes a difference too. If it pitches up quickly and then dumps your going to find the nose pointing down a lot more. Also if you're taking the wave too late you'll find the same characteristics! I spent a lot of time recently taking the wave where I thought it was perfect but in actual fact taking it a good few strokes earlier was so so much easier. The board was much smoother, more level and you get to your feet before the drop as opposed to falling towards the trough in full on panic mode.. I've done this way too many times lol

Sometimes though in between the easy catch early on and the late almost vertical drop you can find yourself in a happy medium where the board is pointing down at quite a fierce angle but if you go for it balls out and commit to a quick pop up, your body falls into the gap between your arms and its a sweet sweet pop up, you almost fall into position on your board and the acceleration is wicked! You gotta fully commit and keep your arms well back which is totally counter intuitive as you're falling forward, I haven't managed it many times but magical when it happens!

Hope it helps

I have been surfing about 25 years. I still pearl sometimes. I live in cocoa beach florida and surf mostly thigh to chest waves on a very heavy 10 foot nose riding brown log (Clay Bennett Tipparillo). My last board was a 9'10" 1966 midget ferrelli stringerless. I think pearling is almost an art itself. You can use it to your advantage on hard offshore days to catch waves easier. Once the wave jacks up, your nose will pop out the front of the wave about the same time you jump up. It has to do with finding the correct trim on your board. If the waves are weak (8, 9 or 10 seconds) you will want to be trimmed a little farther forward when paddling into a wave. If the waves are 12 or 13 seconds, you will want to be trimed slightly farther back (1/2 or 1 inch) from your sweet spot. I always make a little black mark on all my boards with permanent marker right below where my eyes would be so I can judge my trim really quick. Pearling Is all about 2 things : Your trim compared to how much juice the wave has. Your first couple waves, you dial in where your trim should be and then rock on. Make sure the surfer girls are not looking when you pearl. Practice as much as possible. Ditch the leash. It slows you down a lot and gives you bad habits. Get a wooden fin that floats or use a thin squirrel tail fin with tons of flex for fast paddling. Lose weight. No drinking or smoking or going to bed late. Discipline. No food made with white flower.

CheaterFiveSurfBum wrote: Lose weight. No drinking or smoking or going to bed late. Discipline. No food made with white flower.

He is right for health and long life.
But to digress slightly;
For extra guarantees of great surf, you need to find virgins and sacrifice them in the nearest volcano.
Mind you, if it is an Hawaiian volcano , do not, I repeat do not take any stones from the volcano away. Pele will curse you until you return them.
Any body who is PC will also curse you for misogyny

If you are planning to sacrifice for Indonesia and you are a young man, do not wear green anywhere on your surf clothes Nyai Loro Kidul ( queen of the southern seas) will seek you for a lover by drowning you.
Most waterfront hotels through out Indonesia have a room dedicated to her majesty, those that haven't have been Tsunamied.
Don't worry with practice your riding will be on the nose.

4 years later, I was a lot better surfer back then. Still on same 45 pound nose rider and still got same fat ass to haul up when I pop up. Just older and can't stretch my body the same.