Can't Generate speed (Video)

[MBorrell]

Hi Guys, I have been surfing for a year know, and I recently change from longboard to a shortboard. I´m kind of a big guy 6.0 foot tall and almost 220 Pounds.

I have big issues when it comes to generating speed, when I used a longboard I only had to walk a little bit forward, but on my shortboard(6.4 x 21.75 x 3 1/16, I know pretty massive) I can't get it right, when I try to pump I don't feel confortable or speeding in any way, also, when I move my foot forward I feel that the board generates a lot of drag and slow down.

Any advice for this? You can see a video of it on the link below. Thanks and good vibes!.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xk0918myktjzz ... 3.MOV?dl=0

[oldmansurfer]

Well it seems like that board is too short for you but here is what I think you can work on. Try to do a good bottom turn. stand up as you drop then drop down into a crouch at the bottom and initiate your turn, stand up as you come out of the bottom turn and crouch into the top turn. That is how you generate speed on a small wave like that with a shortboard. Another idea is surf bigger waves then the wave will help to generate speed. Another idea is get an inbetween board but you still have to learn how to use it.

[MBorrell]

Thanks Oldman, I will try it the next session, but I really want to be able to generate speed on this kind of waves because those are the waves that I find 90% of the time, I have seen a lot of people in this kind of waves that can acelerate and do cutbacks without any problem, of course they look a lot lighter than me, but there must be a way for me to do it.

[waikikikichan]

Questions:
1) what size boards did you own and ride after the longboard and before the 6’4” ?

2) is the current 6’4” set up as a QUAD ?

3) what is your theory of how “Pumping” works, just so I can understand what you’re thinking.

4) is it harder to pick up speed also going frontside ?

[oldmansurfer]

Thanks Oldman, I will try it the next session, but I really want to be able to generate speed on this kind of waves because those are the waves that I find 90% of the time, I have seen a lot of people in this kind of waves that can acelerate and do cutbacks without any problem, of course they look a lot lighter than me, but there must be a way for me to do it.

If you can show us a video of them maybe we could say more about how to do it. I am guessing that you need to start by taking off deeper and making a committed bottom turn. Once you get stalled on a small wave it's difficult to pick up speed with a shorter board. You need to use your body weight to add push in the turns and it's easier to just keep turning but to start it all off you need to make a good bottom turn. It looked like where you were the wave wasn't steep enough to make a good bottom turn so you need to be a little deeper in the wave to start. Then drop down and put a lot of force into the bottom turn this will translate into speed for the next turn and then you need to keep it up. Once you stall you have to get your momentum going again which requires exaggerated turns where you use your body weight by suddenly dropping down and turning then pushing out of it. So you add your weight to the turn by dropping down and your weight again coming out of the turn by standing back up. Both of those add pressure into the deck of the board which will add to the speed generated by the turn. It won't be a quick thing to learn. It will take some time. In small slow moving waves like that you have to go up and down the wave constantly to maintain speed and once you stall it requires more force to get back to moving again. Do those guys who make lots of turns take off at the same place as you?

[dtc]

I get the feeling you are trying to generate speed like you do on a longer board (weight forward), but that’s not the way you generate speed on a short board

On a long board the wave provides the power ‘against’ the volume and hull line. You just need to weight the board in the most efficient way ie flat (your weight forward). That seems to be what you are doing in the video - just forward weighting

On a short board you need to actively create the speed - the waves power is not enough. So you need to use gravity to create speed ie going up and down the face rapidly via pumping (which, as the others have said, involves compression and decompression).

It’s like skiing - if you are going across the slope, you can’t generate any speed just by going across. You need to go downhill and let gravity create some speed for you. Then you can turn uphill a bit and then downhill again.

https://surfing-waves.com/surfing-speed.htm