Surfing Waves

Okay, so I am back from another week in Polzeath, some decent waves at the start of the week, then a flat spot and then some small ones towards the end of the week but a good time had nonetheless.

However, on one of the days I was regularly shamed by one of the Wavehunters instructors who came out on a break with a foamie and caught every wave that I went for and missed. Now I know that a lot of this comes down to fitness and experience, but I also found on the last day when it was only 2-3ft that the two other longboarders out were catching more than me as well.

So I figure that I must be doing something either wrong or not quite as efficiently in my paddling technique.
Could you guys just post up some general tips about paddling techniques, power strokes etc as it was pretty frustrating to be missing waves that I should've caught!

Thanks

I think the main thing that has helped my paddling is swimming.. three or four times a week, bang out as many front crawl laps as you can. Include the odd sprint.

Since I've been doing this all the paddling out to and around the line up doesn't tire me out at all, so I can easily put a spurt on to catch a wave.

Dig deep when you are paddling for a wave, push the water out behind you rather then pulling it towards you and paddle as if your life depends on it.

Timing and positioning come in to it too of course!

I use a swimming type technique in that my stroke is right beside the board no loss of power in flaring out to the sides and I found I got more power and speed if the paddle from the nose went under the board somewhat as it were going nearer the stringer but still physically comfortable. When I'm paddling around not specifically paddling for waves in a casual session, I hook in fifteen stroke hi powered high speed paddle and then thirty slow paddles and repeat this as interval training.

I also have a 300 meter paddle from jump off to the break so again I change speed and power as I go across!

Try the straight and under board stroke!

Thanks guys.
I did think that swimming would help as the missus swims and she paddles around with no problems at all.
Looks like I'll be getting myself a season pass for the local pool!

Uncle J, I'll try that slightly under paddle technique.

One thing I do is surf breaks that are way outside from the beach and I practice paddling out. What I find helps my paddling is to reach way out forward. Often this is most important when you are scratching for the outside to avoid getting drilled by a set which is exactly when lots of surfers shorten their stroke. When I decided I wanted to start surfing again I spent six months doing arm and shoulder exercises to get my arms in shape before I even attempted to surf. I didn't even have a surfboard so you can see where I think fitness goes in the scheme of things. Swimming would be really good but paddling a board would be better and if you are aging like me then you want to do some exercises that strengthen the rest of your shoulder muscles and also stretch them out. I have gotten a lot more power and stamina in my paddling lately but I was an even better paddler long ago when I could surf every day.

Timing/positioning is possibly more important than paddling - as in, if you are in the wrong place then you wont make the wave even with great paddling. This is what I get really bad at when I have a break - my timing/positioning goes to s%$%. Usually I think 'I'm out of practice so no late drops to start with' and then start paddling too late or from too far out and miss the wave.

So I have thought about this issue quite a bit! My last but one session I was out with a older woman (maybe 55) who was catching all the waves and I was missing them - and I know that I was a faster paddler than her. Was very very annoying (she was a good surfer but I still should have been able to catch waves if she was)

The other thing I've noticed is that after a break I'm a little bit hesitant, being out of practice, and perhaps just dont commit enough

So potentially the problem could be any of the following:

- in the wrong spot to catch a wave (in which case move forward)

- starting at the wrong time - probably too late (maybe worried about the wave breaking on you?)

- in the 'right spot' but not able to paddle hard enough (ie you are in the same place as the other longboarders, but they are better paddlers). Move forward in the water and work on the swimming etc

- not committing enough. Just do it...

- not laying on your board correctly - in which case your paddling might be fine but inefficient due to your board positioning (nose too high) - move forward on the board. Or stop looking around, or put your head down on the board - both of these create inefficiencies

As a general rule, I find that checking my body position and then moving forward in the water are the two things that work best - but then you have to commit and sometimes its a late drop.

CARBr6 wrote:I was regularly shamed by one of the Wavehunters instructors who came out on a break with a foamie and caught every wave that I went for and missed.

Oh, they just do that to show off

Many years ago, I was surfing at Putsborough in Devon and a surf instructor sprayed me while doing a 360 air on a foamie
I'm not sure that the surf instructors are a fair benchmark to judge yourself against

There are 3 things to catch a wave. Timing , Position , Power. You need 2 of the 3 to be successful. Of the 3, Timing and Position are way more important than Power. Being a strong swimmer doesn't matter much if you're sitting to the side of the break/peak .

Question : when you paddle, are you holding your breath ? Most beginners are soo focused on "catching" the wave , they forget to breath. Next time out watch the good surfers how their paddle is relaxed and breathing easily. Then watch the beginners grit their teeth and strain their neck muscles and not catch the wave.

The bigger the wave the more timing and positioning become important. I used to sometimes spend 30 to 45 minutes just finding a spot that will let me takeoff when the surf is big. If you are in the right place at the right time you can do a no paddle take off on some waves. Some won't allow that at all. Learning to read the waves is important. If you are failing to take off on the waves you need to look at the waves and figure out why. It could be you are lined up to much on the shoulder, it could be you are too far outside of the break, it could be the peak is shifting and you need to adjust your position for where the peak will be when you take off. But if the guy a foot away from you is catching the waves and you aren't it's likely they have a longer board or they are a stronger paddler.

Thanks Oldman.
I did actually get a no paddle take off on that same day! (That was a great feeling!) so its possible that I am being too polite then (along with my crap fitness) as I deliberately keep as wide a berth as I can to other surfers as I don't want my inexperience to get in their way and ruin what could've been a great wave for them. Maybe in future I'll just have to be a bit more competitive and just get stuck in there.

waikikikichan wrote: ... when you paddle, are you holding your breath ? Most beginners are soo focused on "catching" the wave , they forget to breath. Next time out watch the good surfers how their paddle is relaxed and breathing easily. Then watch the beginners grit their teeth and strain their neck muscles and not catch the wave.

this. I'm pretty sure my face looks so scary when I'm charging to get this log movinf fast enough. Sometimes I could literaly hear my teeth scratching each other!

i felt like chiming in here. everyone has mentioned swimming but not the core.

from my experience a good paddle starts with the core, a strong core will allow you to control the pitch of you board with ease, essentially a smooth paddle comes from being able to keep your board flat.

avoid rocking with each stroke, focus on keeping the board level and the rest will come with time

Yeah Peazz there is so much that goes into paddling it's often easy to overlook it. I know I have a good core strength but I think it is paddling that gives me that. I guess I may just take it all for granted. When I first tried to paddle a board after quitting for a few years or when I first tried to paddle a shorter board I was very unstable. After a while though you never even think about it.