Surfing Waves

In the colder winter water I am always reluctant to turtle roll on my way out. I understand the easiest solution is to get a thicker wetsuit, but I wanted to learn about another option.

Wingnut's Art of Longboarding talks about a sitting pop-over that helps getting through white water where you would normally turtle roll. He starts by raising the nose of the board above the incoming whitewater. As it hits the underside of the nose, he lunges forward and grabs the rails ahead of the board's midpoint and comes down the back side of the wave.

Does anyone use this? I see myself getting knocked backward with a painful groin.

On my longer boards I do a similar thing but just do a push up with my hands forward (not in position for popup) then push down the tail with my feet (push my butt up in the air and then back down) this lifts the nose of the board over the incoming wave. But really on a wave that size I would probably just push up similarly but leave the nose down on the water and let the wave go between me and the wave

There's also a "standing pop-over" where you paddle hard, pop to your feet and get the nose over the whitewater. Are pop-over skills worth practicing or is it better to stick with the freezing turtle roll?

I would just test it on small white water walls and figure out how high of a wall you can reliably get over. If you're riding an 11 foot log and can get 5 feet of it over the top of a 3 foot wall of water, that 5 feet of board might have enough weight, depending on your momentum, to complete the pop over. You probably just need to gauge what your board can do and maybe refine your technique so your groin survives the testing process. Practice shifting your weight over the center of the board to ensure you keep going forward instead of getting slapped backwards.

I only turtle roll where the wave is going to smack me a good one as in a big wave whitewater or a lip coming over and going to land on me. Basically I do it when I screw up paddling out and find myself in the wrong place. To me it is like a duck dive but you do it upside down which places the board between you and the wave and so the board absorbs the impact. Most likely in the waves you surf in I would never turtle roll. I am working on my duck dip or half duck dive which is like a turtle roil but I don't have to flip over and then back again so the turtle roll gets little practice. I think if you practice the turtle roll enough you will get better at it and it will become your friend but as far as I am concerned at this point I rarely practice it so it's not a smooth movement and I find the duck dip easier and smoother (plus the other over or through the wave maneuvers I mentioned. ) However if you want to avoid getting wet then either you need a better wetsuit or you need to move to another climate

oldmansurfer wrote: If you want to avoid getting wet then either you need a better wetsuit or you need to move to another climate

I was afraid you would say that. It's time for a little overtime to pay for the 5/4 mm!

I've used that...it's a novelty move since it's only when you're sitting still and for fairly small walls.....if I was paddling I'd just push through (in Wingnut terminology).....what I do use that he doesn't mention is to spin and face the beach then sit back on the tail and hunch over, letting whitewater or a smaller wave break on you....if you've never done it you'll be surprised how heavy a wave or whitewater you can let just roll by without much incident....when I'm caught inside I'll do this and wait out the remaining set waves....if I'm energetic I'll paddle between waves then spin and hunch again....it is sort of like a sea anchor, you don't get pushed back much and if you're feeling lazy it's an easy pass through heavy walls of whitewater....you can do this in the shallows as well, just grab your board by the tail, point the nose to the beach and hunch over taking the wave on your back....push down on the tail when the wave comes.....bigger ones I'll hold the tail and lay back prone and let the wave pass by.....handy when you've finished off a ride inside on a heavy beachie and you need to let one go by before jumping on and paddling out/clearing the reform inside section.....

Big H wrote:Spin and face the beach then sit back on the tail and hunch over, letting whitewater or a smaller wave break on you....if you've never done it you'll be surprised how heavy a wave or whitewater you can let just roll by without much incident.

Great move. I will give it a try!
There will be a break in the storms next Saturday and waves should be 4-6 feet.

4-6 is a regular day here....should work like a charm.

Check this pop over technique as well....never tried it but looks like a better one as you can carry some momentum into the face.....really though for me it is push or punch thru with a push up or a duck dip and like OMS said, a turtle when I screw up and am out of position or in heavy surf when there is no other way....usually though if there is any whitewater to deal with (after getting out back and catching waves) I do the ocean anchor thing until the set clears then use the superior paddle power of the big board to get out back without incident.

Forgot to put the the link.

The fat tail on my McCoy nugget could launch me feet into the air, well if I wasn't so heavy. I should give it a go

one thing I started doing was paddling like mad 4 seconds before the wave hits me, let the nose come up over the white water and then kick my feet up behind me from the knees down.
This changes the fulcrum point to the front of the board which pitches the front forward and over the wave. The beauty of this is you don't have to stop paddling for so long as you go over the wave, like you do when you do the press up/up on one foot/least resistence thing..........or go through all that anxiety of time zapping/freezer head/breath holding turtle rolls!

voyager wrote:one thing I started doing was paddling like mad 4 seconds before the wave hits me, let the nose come up over the white water and then kick my feet up behind me from the knees down.
This changes the fulcrum point to the front of the board which pitches the front forward and over the wave. The beauty of this is you don't have to stop paddling for so long as you go over the wave, like you do when you do the press up/up on one foot/least resistence thing..........or go through all that anxiety of time zapping/freezer head/breath holding turtle rolls!

You will be surprised at what you can bull your way through by just putting your head down and digging deep....there are limits of course...practice press ups and you won't event break rythym or lose momentum in your paddle out....and you will be able to push thru waves or whitewater with a lot more energy or size than you would otherwise. Same for turning turtle....practice until you can break them off without much thought and are fast enough to throw one then be back on it clearing the wave before the next one comes....practice until the anxiety is gone.

Was surfing with the Kuta beach boyz yesterday....one of the best would end his paddle out to the lineup with a flat water duck dive each time....he's probably been surfing nearly every day for the last 20 some odd years since he was a grom and STILL sees fit to practice his duck dives....food for thought.