Surfing Waves

Hi!
I'm a beginner surfer, surfing in summer (1month 2 times a day every day) for 2 years. I'm 15 years old, from France and i surf in Oleron, in France too. I came to this forum to talk about surf, to get (and maybe sometimes to give ) some tips.
Uh and I live in Paris, far from ocean :/ , very frustrating.
Right now I'm surfing an "Olaian 900" 7' , a kind of egg but I'd like to change because it has not enough rocker which means I can't ride waves bigger than 3ft.
I hope I' ll find my answers in this forum and be able to participate to the community!
Sorry for my strange english, that's all I could learn at school 'till yet

Welcome, doing well on the English for a 15 year old

Your egg should be fine for larger waves - the rocker shouldn’t be an issue. What is your actual problem eg not catching the wave, or nose diving at the bottom or whatever?

The nose is diving, this board works in flat waves, even over 4 ft, but when the wave makes a barrel it dives immediatly, whatever is my position on the board, even if i started paddeling early.
Same problem for late-takeoff, even on 2ft waves.
In my opinion this board was designed to be a 6', the 6'version works great in all conditions, but it looks like they tried to make a 7' , with less rocker.
I will keep my board for very small conditions(1ft-), but i need a board for waves over 3ft and for not-flat-waves (I dont know the word for not flat lol)
Thx for your reply !
Here is a screenshot of my board i hope it works

...and here is the 6' version (44l)

The ‘easy’ way around nose diving on steeper waves (after you have caught the wave) is to take off at an angle - not heading straight to the beach but at about 30 degrees in the direction the wave is breaking. The nose won’t dig into the water then

If it’s nose diving before you caught the wave, then it’s not the board, it’s your paddling - you aren’t paddling fast enough. The wave is hitting the tail of the board and pushing the tail up (and the nose down). The nose actually has nothing to do with it

Steeper waves can require faster paddling. More rocker causes the board to go slower as it pushes water before it

Make sure your body position on the board is correct - don’t make the mistake of moving back to raise the nose; it makes it worse

https://barefootsurftravel.com/livemore ... -surfboard


If you want a new board then by all means buy a new board. But make sure you are buying it for the right reasons

I think its not really about my position cause I tried other boards (nsp 7'2, softech 7'6) and the nose didn't dive at any moment, even on 4-5ft waves. Maybe it is about paddeling and my timing, but I think I have to have a board that doesnt require too much skills to be surfed in "big" conditions, so that i can take waves and progress instead of nose-diving on every single wave during two hours.
And i need something smaller to reach the peak with my small weight.
Btw the surf instructors i met were clear about my board, they all told me the olaian shapes are not that good because the nose dives very easely thats why they don't use them in surf school.
Anyway thank you for your replies, i' ll try your tips... next summer
I' ll go to a shaper next hollidays he should know what kinda board is good for me

Adding to what DTC said, it's also helpful to arch your back if you feel the board start to pearl. You can do this while making the last few strokes before catching a wave. Arching will raise the nose and open space for your feet to land when popping up.

Thank you for your replies, i checked dtc's link, and I think i am doing everything right... I am always arching when i am paddeling, even when i am not catching a wave... I don't really know what to do.
Even when i try to pop up early on the wave before the nose dives, it dives when i am popping up. And when i am 30 degrees away from the beach direction, the board either doesn't take off or makes some kind of a turtle.
I created a topic about the new board I'd like to get, you can check it out if you have the time
Surfing lesson for all >> Surfboard advice