New to surfing. Think my board is okay? Need advice

[chumbox]

Hey All

First up I'm new to surfing and the forum so hello. Long time forum lurker. Long time ocean dwelling body boarder who said he'd surf before he's 40. 39 now so making the transition!

After a lot of searching around and budget decisions I finally bought a second hand board 7'7" x 21 x 2 5/8. I'm 5'10", 78kg (173lb). I know it's not the longest but it seemed like the most buoyant secondhand in my price range. I'm confident in the waves and have been getting straight out to unbroken waves but the waves seem to always just pass under me, no matter how forward I lie on the board. The beach closest doesn't have the most powerful surf but I'd be willing to bet my paddling speed could always improve too.

With a little patience I'd be confident the board will be okay and but was hoping to hear others opinions? The rocker looks good and the board floats well. Feels like I could stand if I could just get it moving.

Thanks in advance, look.forward to being more active on here.

[dtc]

Re assess your body position - it might be ok but you need to be more forward than you think or which might feel comfortable. So go to flat water and move until the nose is 1 inch out of the water. That's your starting point.

Paddle harder. It's a sprint. Those guys you see paddling lazily are using position to reduce paddling - that will be you in around 5 years.

After you do a few paddles and the wave is almost there, try throwing your head forward (not arching your back as much) to get extra speed

Start paddling earlier so you are at maximum speed when the wave arrives

Move closer into the beach, catch the wave later - you can't catch a wave until it's reached a certain point.

All but one of these is the same thing - not enough paddle speed when the wave arrives. The other is positioning

One or a combination of the above is highly likely to be your problem

Of course there can be what I call 'teaser waves' - they hit the sand bank and build up until they are 95% of the way to breaking, then go past the bank into deeper water and disappear again ... i hate those waves ...but I assume you are trying for waves that are actually breaking

Add: I guess if you are angling too much it might be an issue. Make sure you aren't heading more than about 20deg to the face of the wave

Also - reslly useful to find a surf class and watch them try to catch waves. You can quickly see how people think they are doing one thing (paddling hard or forward on the board) but just aren't! Don't fool yourself as to paddle speed or body position etc - it's a v easy thing to do (or maybe that's just me...)

[chumbox]

Don't fool yourself as to paddle speed or body position etc - it's a v easy thing to do (or maybe that's just me...)

Hey dtc

Your informative reply was super helpful. That's really given me a lot of things to work with. I'm really confident this board will be okay if I can get the skill side sorted.

Thanks again!

[Big H]

Quick answer is that the board is too small for you and your ability; that's why you can't catch waves, confident or not.

Longer answer is don't despair, even on a longer board newbie surfers struggle....there is a lot that goes into catching and riding waves. Longer board would give you a broader range for error in positioning & paddle speed/ ability, but since you've already bought that board to make it "work" you'll need to dial in your positioning, timing and paddle speed.

[Big H]

The board is big enough to learn on; just might take a bit longer. You need a more defined wave than what you could learn on at minimum with a longer board, but so long as you have the "guts", grit and determination to break thru and get out back and take your lumps learning (and getting pitched) on shoulder high waves, the confidence that you have is a plus to this end and catching bigger, stronger waves is easier in a way since the power is there to plane you in your pop up, making the board more stable. Make sure that you are safe in the water; surfing with a friend, in an area watched over by lifeguards, aware of dangers (rips, shallows, rocks, currents) and able to deal with them should you need to. A very necessary part of going "out back" is the ability to look after yourself when you are there; always leave more than enough "in the tank" so that you can comfortably return to shore with or without your board (as it happens sometimes).....pushing your comfort zone in terms of wave selection is one thing; don't push when it comes to the ability to rescue yourself - stay safe and play the safer margins at all costs, even if that means a slower rate of learning. Last bit; surfing is 90% paddling, maybe more....you can never be in good enough paddle shape - the better shape you are in the safer you are in the water, the longer you can stay out and the more waves you'll be able to catch and return to the lineup from....don't shy away from paddling, be active in the lineup not just floating like a lump....the more you paddle the better your fitness will be and the more fun you'll be able to have.

[chumbox]

Thanks Big H. Coming from bodyboarding and heavy gym lifting I've quickly realised my legs are solid but paddling a surfboard uses a lot of shoulder muscles you don't seem to hit doing other exercises. Great idea about being active paddling, even just for fitness. Fully understand saving some gas to get back to the beach, it can be tough out there with a good current. I really appreciate all the safety advice too. I'm a little lucky in that I've spent most of my life at decently poweful breaks sand/rock reef out back, just on a bodyboard. Happy to take a beating to learn a new skill but being that surfing is not bodyboarding it really didn't hurt to read all your advice, even as a good reminder.

Here's to 'guts'! If nothing else in my head I reckon I can nail this in the next 12 months!

[Big H]

Just keep after it; your bodyboarding wave/ocean knowledge should be a big boon as are the comfort levels developed in surf. Only other bit of advice I'd give is, as hard as it may be, try to let go of any pre-conceived time goals for your progress....consider this a lifetime activity. There are so many things to learn; just try and enjoy the process rather than ticking off the milestones; that's where the fun is anyway. You'll get to where you want to go soon enough if it's enjoyable.

.....and then you'll start to go out on days or to breaks that you'd previously considered beyond your ability and you start all over again.....good times in store!!!

[chumbox]

Love those sentiments. Thanks!

[oldmansurfer]

I learned to surf on a 6t'10" x 18" x 2.25" board. I never really thought much about it. That is what you did back then (1971). It took me about 2 weeks of surfing every day for 2 hours or more to where I felt like I was getting it meaning taking off on a unbroken wave making the drop reliably and going down the line doing small turns to stay in the right part of the wave. I had been a knee boarder prior to surfing but I wasn't just a knee boarder. I could ride waves with 15 foot faces and get tubed and come out. Prior to that I was a bodyboarder but I wasn't just a boadyboarder I could catch waves with 15 to 20 foot faces and get insanely tubed and come out. The regular surfers were jealous of me getting so tubed so frequently. Prior to that I was a body surfer but I wasn't just a body surfer. I rode waves with 10 foot faces all the time and rarely 20 foot faces Somewhere way back then before I knew how to bodysurf well was the last time I ever tried to catch whitewater other than to come in. I can tell you that where you lineup for bodysurfing is different from bodyboarding which is different from kneeboarding which is different from surfing. For surfing you need shoulder strength and endurance but I was a bodysurfer first and also on the swim team and one of the fastest swimmers around. Also because I bodyboarded and kneeboarded such large waves I had to arm paddle to catch them. So for me the transition went quickly although it took me a year (averaging at least 2 hours a day) to get to where I was surfing waves close to the same size that I bodyboarded. I can tell you that it is possible to learn on a board that size since I learned on one smaller although I only weighed 165 pounds back then. But I can also tell you my experience learning to surf seems to unique to me. I never realized that till I started reading this forum.

So anyway it seems to be much easier to catch whitewater which I never did much except long ago as a child just learning to bodysurf. Since you aren't getting caught by the whitewater it's likely you are lined up too much on the shoulder and need to get deeper in the lineup. If you get deeper you may find the wave has broken before it gets to you then you can catch the whitewater paddle for it and stay laying down and ride the board like a bodyboard but turn it so you get onto the unbroken face of the wave then stand up. I do this from time to time these days when I get caught by a wave where my timing was off and it breaks before I can stand.

[oldmansurfer]

Oh yeah but be sure to stay out of the way of other surfers

[RinkyDink]

. . . I've quickly realised my legs are solid but paddling a surfboard uses a lot of shoulder muscles you don't seem to hit doing other exercises.

I've got just the exercise for you. Do pull-ups to work your shoulders, lats, and back. If you can't do a pull-up, do some assisted pull-ups.

Have fun.