Surfing Waves

Hey Folks! SO I learned how to surf on Waikiki Beach, HI back in 2008. I've surfed several beaches around Hawaii for the duration of my vacation there. I was living in California at the time and surfed San Diego beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Santa Monica. Unfortunately, I've only used an 8' Foamy which I got rid of around 2009. Fast Forward to 2016... I tried to test my Mettle in the surf of Cocoa Beach, FL. I had it comin' to me. I cannot stand up for the life of me. I've grown so rusty, I am going to need several cans of oil to get me going again. I live in South Georgia, around Savannah. I occasionally check out Tybee Island, but the water and the waves are no good. My only chance to get practice is a 4 hour drive into Florida, and that could get costly.

Now.. my Gear. Since I ditched the Foamy... I've since been to a Ron Jon surf shop and bought an 8' Fun Board (Epoxy) with Tri-fins. I slide off way too much despite the globs of Sticky Bumps Wax I've smeared all over it. I manage to catch waves, but only manage to get on my knees. For the rest of the times, I end up missing the wave because my hands slip out from under me when trying to pop-up. I've tried waxing the rails to help, and it does for the most part, but I am just not getting on my feet fast enough... It doesn't help that the majority of the waves on Cocoa Beach peak at 3 feet, and are usually in water that's knee deep (I'm 5'10").

I'm going to try Daytona in the future and maybe I'll get better. I just don't live close enough to water to practice.

Anyway, guys, thanks for havin' me. I'll appreciate any surf tips and may even come out and visit anyone living close by for some sessions.

Jimmy

7 years off of surfing. It's not like riding a bike especially if you are older. You have to start all over again and really the only thing that will fix it is time in the ocean catching waves. But you can swim and do weights when you can't make it to the ocean.

Are you using the right wax for your water temp? If you are using wax for water warmer than you are surfing it can be slippery

Also if you need to wax the rails for your pop up, your hands are on the wrong place. They should be flat on the board - if you wrap your fingers around the rails then you only have 1/2 or less of your hand pushing and gripping. So that can cause you to skip as well

Thanks Guys. I use Sticky Bumps Tour Wax, it's for tropical water over 74 degrees.

http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Coc ... er/seatemp

May-Nov the tropical should work. Outside those dates you should change wax to a cooler water wax rated for below 74*F.