Surfing Waves

BOlinas is a small wave break ideally suited for longboards. For the last year, I've had a blast getting incredibly long rides with simple trimming turns, a few carves and even fewer floaters. In the summer, waves are 2-3 feet which is in my comfort zone but in the winter, they sometimes jack up to 6-8 feet which definitely is not. This Fall, I will trade in my foamie for an all around longboard and want to build the skills and confidence to use it year round.

I'm working on the stuff below but want to know more! Can you help?
*Sit 10 meters outside the shortboard lineup and catch waves early.
*Paddle hard to keep the board moving fast.
*Angle the take off and lean into the wave face.
*Make turns high on wave. Avoid the flats.
*Keep the center of gravity low going down
*Stand up a little coming out of turns
*Match the lean of the body with the angle of the board.

I wanna be this guy.

I think that's a reasonable list of what you want to do; but I think the bigger issue is learning how to do it. Although knowing your goal is always a great start to any process! Things like 'look at where you want to go' etc are pretty important in order to 'angle the take off' - but where do you draw the line on the list.

You also forgot 'have fun' and 'stay resiliant'

Although "Make turns high on wave. Avoid the flats" isn't always correct. Avoid the flats if the wave doesn't have enough power to send you down the wave onto the flats and around and back up. But there are certainly waves which allow you do to that

I don't see anything on the list except for the first one that is specific to a big board. But #6 "stand up a little coming out of turns" is not clear. I would make sure to adjust your weight to gain back the momentum you lost in the turn. With you at the tail ( over the fin(s) ) there's a whole lotta board out front. Sometimes a strong off -shore will catch it and prop you up, losing even more speed.

1. Sack up and go for it.......the rest will work itself out with hours......

dtc wrote:there are certainly waves which allow you do to that

Holy cr^#p, is that Teahupu?

waikikikichan wrote:I don't see anything on the list except for the first one that is specific to a big board.

Are there any LB skills missing? I'm hoping to get a solid list that everyone can use.

Big H wrote:Sack up and go for it.......the rest will work itself out.

You are right! My surfing has always been limited by only going once a month. You probably surf more in 2 weeks than I do all year… but starting in September, I will retire and get more time to improve.

I'd recommend setting a goal to increase the size range of your comfort zone from 2-3 foot to 2-5 foot. If a big day comes along, surf the reforms on the inside. Paddle out to a comfortable distance from the impact zone and then paddle back inside.

Keep working on the basics. When I first started I found the turtle roll exhausting and tried everything to avoid it; now it's my bread and butter. It's the best technique I know of for getting a longer, more floatable board outside. Right now I work on keeping my elbows on the board when I turtle roll so I don't end up with a bloody nose. I also work on getting the nose of my board pointed at the bottom before the wave connects with me. Build up your forearm strength because turtle rolls can sometimes turn your body into a sea anchor as you hold onto your board and the wave picks it up and takes you with it. That happens to me when I don't get the nose of my board angled down toward the bottom soon enough and I hold onto the board so it stays in my control. Sometimes the board still gets ripped out of my hands, but I've gotten better at judging which waves I can turtle roll and which waves I need the Wingnut board-to-chest technique. Good luck. Congrats on retirement

BoMan wrote:… but starting in September, I will retire and get more time to improve.

Result!

RinkyDink wrote:Right now I work on keeping my elbows on the board when I turtle roll so I don't end up with a bloody nose.

What I do is I pull the nose/deck of my longboard to my forehead as I flip over. It creates a wedge into the wave. Also there is less chance of the board building momentum to hit you in the face since it's already against your head.

waikikikichan wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:Right now I work on keeping my elbows on the board when I turtle roll so I don't end up with a bloody nose.

What I do is I pull the nose/deck of my longboard to my forehead as I flip over. It creates a wedge into the wave. Also there is less chance of the board building momentum to hit you in the face since it's already against your head.

That's a great suggestion. Keeping my elbows on the deck is awkward. I'm going to try the forehead trick. Thanks.

I do both elbows on the board and board to head

Was on my new longboard yesterday (works awesome in big waves), it was a little more than 1.5 OH and I took a wave...just as I got up I see a guy under me on a shortboard off to the side who decided to ride the wave the other direction (into the curl) and was oblivious to me....anyway I did something I'd never done on a wave that big which was to manage to kick out just after popping up....the fact that it was a 9' board on a wave that size made it pretty dramatic and did catch the attention of the short boarder (who promptly left the scene and moved to the next peak after that ride) and the rest of the lineup....actually pulled it off pretty smooth and for the rest of the sesh I didn't get "tested" if I paddled for a wave by the young gun set....

I read on Facebook a guy who had buyers lined up for his board posted that the board was no longer for sale due to being dropped in on by a longboard....I think he described the board as "shredded"....big board skills for big waves should start with control of your board; can destroy someone's day with a big board at speed.....

RinkyDink wrote:Keep working on the basics. When I first started I found the turtle roll exhausting and tried everything to avoid it...

I still do....it's a last resort...I look for channels, shoulders, rips, soft spots in the waves or push up through whitewater timing the waves then racing past the break line in the ensuing period lull or just timing the sets waiting out inside until I get a window....the new longboard I have rolling is even easier (smaller, thinner, narrower, lighter), but not as easy as paddling out without needing to roll at all. Longboard is easy paddle, so taking the long way sometimes feels like the short way.

Big H wrote:I still do....it's a last resort...I look for channels, shoulders, rips, soft spots in the waves or push up through whitewater timing the waves then racing past the break line in the ensuing period lull or just timing the sets waiting out inside until I get a window....the new longboard I have rolling is even easier (smaller, thinner, narrower, lighter), but not as easy as paddling out without needing to roll at all. Longboard is easy paddle, so taking the long way sometimes feels like the short way.

I do the same thing, but then as I make a break for the outside and just about reach the lineup a set comes through before I get to the promised land. So at that point I ask myself, "Are you feeling lucky?" In other words, if I don't get through that set I'm going to get dragged back to the inside and lose all my progress. And so sometimes if I can get through the first set wave quickly, then I can often paddle over the second set wave in time and get outside. It's on those occasions that I start working the turtle roll. The annoying part is going for it and then not getting over the second wave and still getting dragged back to the inside after expending lots of energy. So it goes. It's all about being surf fit.

oldmansurfer wrote:I do both elbows on the board and board to head

You know, I think that's the best of both worlds. I'm going to do it that way.

I had an interesting experience yesterday when taking of late on a headhigh right with my 9'2". It was lowtide, the waves where fast and steep (well, relatively for Oldmans conditions) the wind was up and blowing crosshore head on to my angled takeoff and I couldn't get in early so had to take them late.

I got in and to my foot but even I angled my takeoff, the nose went under. I felt a strong resistance in forward motion but was able to counter that in my balance, I stayed in and saw in that moment I was in the perfect position on a beautiful wave promising a great ride.

The next moment the nose came up from under the water and there was a sudden and strong acceleration, of the board that is. I stayed in the same position hanging in the air with my feet up before I splashed down and understood I had learned a new lesson..

So the experience that must be transferred into a new skill is: brace yourself when the nose goes under during takeoff but be ready to adjust your balance forward when the nose pop's up and the board accelerates.

Big H wrote:..the new longboard I have rolling is even easier (smaller, thinner, narrower, lighter)

Sounds very good, what are the dimms? Who's the shaper? How is the rocker compared to your old 9'6"? I remember that one had a lot off rocker.

Jimmy Lewis HP epoxy 9’1″x22″x2.85″. Its a few years old but still light and much more nimble than my last longboard and even more rocker to the point that it really doesn't paddle that great but rides awesome.

http://jimmylewis.com/shop/surfboards/hp/

Stock picture:

Big H wrote:Jimmy Lewis HP epoxy 9’1″x22″x2.85″.

Jup, that's a great buy. I admire your ability to pick out the gems in the buy&sell, supposing you found it there.

Tudeo wrote:So the experience that must be transferred into a new skill is: brace yourself when the nose goes under during takeoff but be ready to adjust your balance forward when the nose pop's up and the board accelerates.

That IS insteresting. How did you change balance when the nose went under? Did you step back or lean back? When my nose goes under, so do I!

On smaller days when I can't make it to the peak I will sometimes fade my take off.an get closer to the pocket. It's fun to take a bigger bottom turn and get momentum for the ride. I haven't tried it on bigger waves because (as Big H says) I need to "sack up."

I imagine large wave fades should be done quickly or you get slammed. True?