Surfing Waves

Last year I bought the NSP Element 9'0''. I thought it was going to ride similar to the my Torq 9'0. I was wrong, it rode differently and is not as agile as I expect it to be. Mainly because I surf much less, getting older and just lacking the skills. The nose felt thicker with less rocker and it is less forgiving with nose diving. It felt bulkier and floats above the water too much, considering I've lost weight and only 56-58kg now.

I've been eyeing on the Torq boards again. Turns out the old ones that I got is now called TET and the newer models are called TEC. Made with EPS and epoxy. They claims it is much lighter, less durable and tons of fun. However there are no shops around me that stores them so I'm going to be buying it blind again.

I spoke with a friend who surf them and he said he prefer the newer model as it's just more responsive and is like a performance board. He has surfed over 20+ years and I'm worried that I'm not able to handle the board.

Has anyone else tried them and what are your thoughts? I know another forum member talked about it but I want to get more opinions.

You will learn that it's all marketing hype. If they don't come up with a new model every year or tweak this and that to make last years model even better, consumers will search elsewhere.

As you get better you'll realize a good surfer can surf ANY board.

If you want to increase in your skills, try riding single for 2 straight weeks, then get back on your tri-fin set up.

Question: do you have the exact same fin set up on the NSP element and Torq TET ?

I have bought a Torq Tec The Don XL in 8.6. I am an old (53) and heavy (90kg) beginner, started just 4 years ago. I added it to my 9.0 longboard because the longboard does not fit into my car. But I now always prefer the Torq. It has a wider and flatter nose and is an absolut wave catching machine. Although it is Epoxy, they managed to give it a glossy finish, which looks nice, too. It has 3 layers of glass, which is supposed to make it more durable - I cant judge that yet.

waikikikichan wrote:You will learn that it's all marketing hype. If they don't come up with a new model every year or tweak this and that to make last years model even better, consumers will search elsewhere.

As you get better you'll realize a good surfer can surf ANY board.

If you want to increase in your skills, try riding single for 2 straight weeks, then get back on your tri-fin set up.

Question: do you have the exact same fin set up on the NSP element and Torq TET ?

I understand a good surfer can surf any board. I don't think I'll ever be that good because I don't force myself to try something different. When the wave is good, I'm just so stoke on catching waves and riding it. I don't force myself to try cross step or doing anything out the comfort zone. I'm just a summer surfer. When winter comes, I chicken out and take a 6 months hiatus.

For the NSP, I ride 3 fins when it is big. Like over 3 feet with wind chop. If the wave is super clean and long intervals, I'll ride a single fin if it stays under 3 feet. Oh and yes, I still do a weird thing with my back hand raising it up for balance. Been trying to stop that behavior but I do it without even thinking.

I'm also considering taking a private lesson when Autumn comes with bigger wave. I still need to learn the basic of cut back and trim the wave.

I don't have a Torq TET where I'm living hence why I'm thinking of getting one. I do have 3 x 9'0 Torq TET in other surf breaks that I go once a year lol.

Oldie wrote:I have bought a Torq Tec The Don XL in 8.6. I am an old (53) and heavy (90kg) beginner, started just 4 years ago. I added it to my 9.0 longboard because the longboard does not fit into my car. But I now always prefer the Torq. It has a wider and flatter nose and is an absolut wave catching machine. Although it is Epoxy, they managed to give it a glossy finish, which looks nice, too. It has 3 layers of glass, which is supposed to make it more durable - I cant judge that yet.

I have the old Torq TET and the only issue with it is that it doesn't have a glossy finish. Unsure if that is the case but my friends who own a torq also feels that the wax comes off too easily and you need to apply wax on every session.

I'm hoping you will never find out if those 3 layers of glass is durable or not

I also agree that the wider nose is nice and so easy to catch a wave with it. I really miss my Torqs and I think if I get one for my current location, it will become my main board and I won't surf anything else.

My quivers for the current home location is NSP 9'0 and 7'6.

BaNZ wrote:I understand a good surfer can surf any board. I don't think I'll ever be that good because I don't force myself to try something different. When the wave is good, I'm just so stoke on catching waves and riding it. I don't force myself to try cross step or doing anything out the comfort zone.

A good surfer "adjusts" his stance, timing, pressure and movement differently depending on the particular board he/she is riding at the moment ( or the same board but at different breaks ). It maybe since you are riding mainly in the center of your board, and not taking a single step back to the tail or to the nose, that you have problems nosediving and such.

You still have not answered my question about if the Torq and the NSP, have you tried using the exact fin set up. So have you tried putting the fins from the Torq on to the NSP and tried it that way ? My friend had a board that "kept nosediving", we adjusting the center fin back like 2 cm. and the problem went away.

Oh sorry, I misunderstand. I thought you meant the fin setup as 2+1 or single fin. I did not know that you meant using the exact same fins from the Torq. I don't have the Torq with me so I can't try it.

My nose diving problem is from the popup. My paddle strength is too weak so I try and stick the nose as close as possible to the water. When the wave pushes my tail up, the nose goes straight into the water. My silly workaround for this is bring the nose out the water by positioning myself further back, at least 5-6 inches which makes my paddle slower. I need to take off when it is steeper so I have to angle my board to the left or right. I'm doing the popup late and this is kind of risky because if someone drops in, I cannot pull back. When the conditions are bigger like 4 feet, I cannot do the late popup because with 5-6 inch nose above water, I cannot paddle fast enough and when I look down, it is a steep drop. What ends up happening is that the wave takes my board and I jump backwards and pray that no one is riding the wave.

I can do sharp turns when I take a step back onto the tail. I only do this when I'm about to hit someone. But I don't do it when I'm riding the wave because I'm always at the wrong section or that I'm not able to gain speed. My way of trying to gain speed is by standing closer to the middle of the board and getting the nose of the board as close as possible to the water. I think I have an idea on how to fix this, if I ride my 7'6, I have no choice but to put my rear feet closer to the tail, I won't be able to stand in the center of the board.

Here's the video I posted of my surf last month. I should be riding up and down the face of the wave to gain speed but I can't do it. If I was riding the wave correctly, then I should be able to avoid the close out.



I know even if I buy a Torq, I will still have the problem of surfing poorly if I don't fix the issue.

BaNZ wrote:My nose diving problem is from the popup. My paddle strength is too weak so I try and stick the nose as close as possible to the water. When the wave pushes my tail up, the nose goes straight into the water.

On a steeper wave I angle the takeoff and arch my back to raise the nose and keep the board from pearling. When struggling to catch a rolling wave I paddle with my head down to help the nose drop into the gravity chute.

BaNZ wrote:Here's the video I posted of my surf last month. I should be riding up and down the face of the wave to gain speed but I can't do it. If I was riding the wave correctly, then I should be able to avoid the close out.
.

Your main problem here is that you surfed the entire wave at the bottom of the wave. The power part of the wave is the top third - at about the 5 second mark it looked like you were going there, but you then just drifted down to the bottom. Admittedly you probably needed to do some 'speed pumps' to get through the closeout, and even then maybe not. But being at the top of the wave would have helped

As to catching the wave - see if this helps. You catch a wave through gravity, by going down the face of the wave. Only then does the power of the wave pushing you along (though the fins, concaves, rails etc) plus any additional use of gravity you generate. So you need to go down that
steep slope - get into your mind that you need to go down the slope, its a friend, not an enemy

dtc wrote:Your main problem here is that you surfed the entire wave at the bottom of the wave.

This is what I'm having the trouble with. In my mind, I thought I'm at the top half of the wave but now looking at the videos. I'm staying at the bottom part of the wave on every single video. This is what I've been doing for the past 3-4 years. What do I need to do?

As for popping up and catching waves. I'm fantastic at doing that, if I go for it. I catch 8 out of 10 waves that I paddle for. But when it is overhead wave, this is when I struggle. Perhaps due to my mind and my strength.

BaNZ wrote:This is what I'm having the trouble with. In my mind, I thought I'm at the top half of the wave but now looking at the videos. I'm staying at the bottom part of the wave on every single video. What do I need to do?

Look closely at two moments, One after you get to you feet and try to set your line and Two when you "turn down" as the wave closes out. You do this Click Spasm movement. That's not a turn up the face or engaging the rail, all it's doing is upsetting the flow and speed you need to make the section.

BaNZ wrote:This is what I'm having the trouble with. In my mind, I thought I'm at the top half of the wave but now looking at the videos. I'm staying at the bottom part of the wave on every single video. This is what I've been doing for the past 3-4 years. What do I need to do?.

I'm not sure how to answer this other than 'turn so you are at the top of the wave'!

So this is either turn earlier on the face or do a sharper bottom turn. On this wave, around the 2 second mark you probably could have turned more so you were heading across the face (like 90 deg to the wave) rather than head down to the bottom at about a 30 degree angle. So pop up, turn hard straight away - and there you are, near the top.

Or go down the bottom and look up at the top of the wave and get your board to head around. This requires a bit more speed to achieve, but on the wave in your video it was totally possible.

You are looking forward (at the beach) the whole wave (other than a brief look behind for some reason). But the wave is behind you - look at the wave face. Look where you want to go.

Its not that hard to tell when you are high on the face, because the water in front of the wave (the flats) is a few feet below you. If the water is right there next to your outside rail (the one facing the beach), then you are too low. If you cant slip down the face, you are too low. Once you get there, you will figure this out pretty quick

My suggestion is as per above - next time you catch a wave, turn hard as soon as you pop up in a mid face turn.

not much to add except that wind should be a factor in board choice. A heavier board can handle stronger offshore winds than a light board. Probably nose shape plays a role in that as well.

I gone out this morning to try and fix the problem. It wasn't easy because I can't do backside surfing that well and the swell direction is mainly backside today. Wave was very clean and long interval. Around 2-3 feet.

I used 2+1 on my 9'0 today. I also moved the fin a little more forward. No sign of nose diving today.

I tried to improve on 2 things.

1. Popup and turn into the wave fast so I stay in the top half of the wave. This was harder to do on a small weak wave but fine on more powerful waves. I also position my rear feet closer to the fin. I do feel like I was generating much more speed than I used to so I always fall off at the end of the wave when it closes out.

2. Bottom turn. Three things can happen, I turn back into the face of the wave and I go over the wave. Or once I get back to the face, I try and go back down but I lean backwards so I just fall off. Or I do a fail turn and now I'm in white wash.

Not sure if I'm still doing the spasm movement as wkkk says but I'm trying to not make sudden jerk movement to upset the flow. I do feel like I'm generating more speed today and because my rear feet is on the fin, I need to lean forward to keep the nose dow and my backhand is not flailing around.

Overall it was a fun session, still got a lot to learn.

BaNZ wrote:2. Bottom turn. Once I get back to the face, I try and go back down but I lean backwards so I just fall off.

Great to hear you're having more fun!

When you go back down adjust your weight to keep the board in trim. Either lean or step forward to lower the nose and keep the rail engaged.

You won’t get the new skills right away. Like leaning backwards- you know you need to do a carve turn as a trim turn is impossible (you can’t set your rail at the start doing a top turn), so you just need to keep working on it. Same with going over the back - I suspect you are trying to do a trim turn and it’s just not working (nor will work).

I wonder if you are trying your new skills but being too tentative- you can’t do a little upper body twist, you need to commit to it. Going harder actually makes things easier

I did not fully understand the term carving and trimming. I had to go to simply surf videos and educate myself. I never finished watching all the videos, I watched the ones on how to pop up, basically all the ones that teaches you how to catch a wave.

I'm doing a stall and trim when I popup. I put weight on the back feet and then turn into the wave. It's most likely as you said I'm just doing trim turns. I think I was able to do carve turn when I'm forced to. Like when a kook drops in when I'm already riding the wave. I loses speed when I dig my fins into the wave and I try to gain speed by shuffling my feet forward which offset the balance. For now I'm just focus on leaning forward rather than moving my feet.

Simplysurf video does says 1/2 of their students have been surfing for a couple of years and still unable to carve nor do they know the difference between trim and carve. Glad that I'm not the only one!

Surfing a very crowded break does not allow me to practice moves that I'm likely to fall off as it endangers other surfers. I'm thinking of practicing on those smaller waves near the beach break where no one wants to ride them. I do have a 9'0 board and I don't want to ride my board into the sand. Would using a smaller 7'6 funboard work? Or perhaps a 8'0 with thruster setup?

If you're wondering how crowded the break is. This is on a working day and if you go on the weekend, it is so much worse with the schools and weekend surfers.

BaNZ wrote:I did not fully understand the term carving and trimming. I had to go to simply surf videos and educate myself. I never finished watching all the videos, I watched the ones on how to pop up, basically all the ones that teaches you how to catch a wave.

Simplistically - A trim turn is when you lean ('dig', 'bury') the rail of the surfboard into the face. The rocker and curve outline (sides) of the board then bring the board around in a slow turn. A carve is when you turn off the tail of the board, using the fins.

So why is this relevant.

Look at someone doing a bottom turn - all you have to do is lean into the wave and the inside rail will bury itself and around you go



However, when you are on the face of the wave, if you want to do a top turn (or head down the face) and you lean on the outside rail to turn the board ....well, what are you burying your rail in? (picture is of our legendary Jaffa)



So...trim turns for the start of the top turn just dont work. You need to do a carve turn (ie use the fins and your body to bring the nose around) until your outside rail stops being airborne and can be set into the wave face again (rolling from inside rail to outside rail). It takes a fair bit of time to learn, but the key to remember at this stage is...trying to do a trim turn wont work

Be aware you never know where or when Uncle Jaffa will turn up currently terrifying Austria river, next month Moliets France