Surfing Waves

Hi everyone, great forum! I’m a long time reader however this is my first post. Looking for your thoughts/advice...

I’ve always been a longboarder and spent years surfing a 9’1 board. Recently wanted to try something slightly smaller and more maneauverable so picked up an 8’ mini mal. I’m having real trouble transitioning to it. When I paddle it feels like I am going now where. When I paddle for waves I struggle to get up to speed so my wave count is low. I’m 6’5 myself. Figuring out the sweet spot of where to lie has been a learning curve and I often get it wrong so the wave passes me by or I nose dive.

Any advice on things I can do to improve?
Should I just stick with the longboard?

Thanks in advance!

J

Try taking our the side fins, use it as a single fin until you get used to it. You will notice it glides easier and you catch more waves.

The difference is that you give up performance, but since you aren’t catching waves you might as well try it to help you catch them

Figure out the where to lie on the board (nose about 1 inch above the water) then mark your board at your eye level (or nose). That way you will know straight away whether you are a long way off or not (although as you know, sometimes that spot is wrong and you need to be further forward or back, but if you are having trouble then it’s a good starting point)

You shouldn’t be struggling too hard with an 8ft if you are doing well with a 9ft. You will need to be slightly closer to the shore (catching the wave later). I often find, when I move down to one of my shorter boards after surfing a longer one, that I lazily position myself too far out from habit, and then miss the waves or get stuck at the top. So you need to consciously move yourself in 5 -7 metres or so.

When going down in board sizes you have to get closer to where the wave breaks to catch it.

That often create another problem. The wave will make your board go directly into a nosedive. To avoid this you have to turn/angle your board. I found this video in another comment about big waves and longboard. However the idea is the same as on small waves. Your take off have to be angled, and if you are a regular grab the rail going left. If you are a goofy you can grab the rail going right, it will stabilise your balance and secure you have more control.

see from 0.40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... =emb_title