Surfing Waves

First post and admittingly just coming here for reassurance.

Me: 33yo male, 6'0'' 210lbs. Took a lesson for fun a 2 years ago in Hawaii (Kihei cove) and stood up 30% of the time during the lesson. Took a lesson again in SoCal (Torrance Beach). Only stood up once. I'm thinking I was provided a larger board in Hawaii as the SoCal lesson was more of an uncontrolled group thing. My girlfriend also took the lesson and wants to surf regularly. (5'6'' 120)

Either way I got hooked and spent everyday since reading up on beginner boards here and elsewhere and watching youtube lessons. Originally planned on the 8' Wavestorm foamie from Costco for both of us to get in at a low price point. After doing more research I didn't want to get frustrated with too small of a board. So after some more reading here I settled on a 9' or bigger used longboard that we could both learn on. Assuming it will be a beast for her to handle on the beach but probably excellent for her in the water to stand up on. We aren't trying to rip on a shortboard by next week, just get outside, standup, and ride waves. As long as it's fun I don't really care if I look like a beginner as long as I stay out of other people's way. Cali sun and exercise being all part of the equation.

I spent the week scouring Craigslist and only found two decent boards and neither guy would respond to my emails with width/thickness detail requests. We went out yesterday on a mission from Long Beach down to Huntington Beach stopping at all surf shops and checking their inventory. After a few misses (they have TONS of used shortboards but very few longboards).....we came upon this guy. A 10' board described as a "surftech" but the super friendly shop owner lady. It seems to be a hardboard on the bottom and the rails, but there is a softop layer from nose to tail on the board. I tried finding another on the web but all I can find is one that has the softtop from logo to tail retailing at $715. We must have gotten an older model, but I'm still pretty happy with the deal ($300 with fin and new leash). It's a beast (the GF can probably even use it as a SUP) but hoping it will send us in the right direction for a while. Picture attached and link of a similar board also.

Any of you guys have any thoughts or experience with this type of thing?
http://shop.surftech.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1 ... gory=62871

Thanks in advance.

The softtops are pretty ok boards and are really good for beginners as they dont hurt as much!

The reason they arent more common is that they are heavier than boards without the soft tops and probably more expensive usually than the equivalent non soft top board. Plus surfers like waxing their boards... Actually, the softtop cover means you cant be very precise with the rails (the edges of the board), which as a beginner doesnt really mean too much but as you advance the rails do make a difference. But you are likely a good 100+ surfs away from having to worry about this.

I reckon its a great board to start on for you and a good price. I dont often say this (about beginner surfboard choices), but it might be too big for your girlfriend - if she is caught inside then it might just be too much to control. But in smaller waves, or if you are able to paddle out through a channel or something, it will be fine. Certainly if you start off doing some white water pop ups there will be no issues. Whether she can turn it we will see!

So just go out and have fun. For your girlfriend, see how she goes. If its too much, then maybe think of something around 7ft6 - 7ft10 minimal shape. You will both want your own board anyway soon enough.

Let us know how you go.

Thanks DTC. I'm now thinking you might be right that the board may be "too" big for her, but we'll head out a few times and hope she doesn't complain that she can't move the thing.

Worst case is we need to get her a board a bit smaller and then that is something I can slowly transition to. Doesn't hurt to have her being the one requesting adding another board to the quiver.

Apologies in advance to any of you out in North Orange County this weekend!

On the weekend I saw a women surfing what I presume was her partner's board (he was helping her), just on the white water. The board was probably 10ft and pretty wide - she could pop up no problems, doing the knees first approach, and was actually walking around the board and standing on one foot at one stage - that is how stable it was given her weight (probably about 120lb). So she probably thought surfing was totally easy (then again, maybe she is a good surfer anyway and was just having fun).

Probably the only tip is an obvious one - remember that if you have a 10ft board and a 10ft leg rope, you can hit people 20ft away!

Wow. I feel like I've been trying to think of everything, and much of it regards to not pissing anyone else off around me. But that imagery never crossed my mind. I (and will stress to her) that fact and we'll act like there is no leash.

I'm sure my girl will do well (former ballerina/dancer) so her balance is better than mine. Soon enough we'll be looking for a shorter *starter* board for her size that maybe I can slowly transition to when I'm ready.

Didnt mean to worry you! The 'rules' of surfing are that if you are paddling for a wave or have caught a wave and are standing up, then everyone else is meant to get out of your way (ie: you have priority over anyone paddling and not catching a wave). This is the case even if you fall off and your board goes flying - they are meant to be out of your way. However, you will probably feel more comfortable in trying to catch a wave if you know that falling off wont cause others problems or that you wont have to manouvere around them. That said, if you are surfing the white water near the shore, remember that your board will go a long way if you fall, so keep well away from the kiddies and swimmers etc (further away than you might think is needed).

The thing NOT to do is 'throw your board away' when going under a wave. This means that when you are facing a broken/breaking wave, instead of holding onto your board as you go through the wave, you let go of the board and dive under the wave (relying on you legrope to keep the boad near you). This is all well and good for you but, as mentioned, anyone within a 20ft radius is in danger because your board is now uncontrolled.

If there is no one around and its a big wave then its 'sort of ok' but still a bad habit. So you need to learn to turtle roll - google this (and I fear your girlfriend will struggle with this because she just isnt heavy enough - and probably not strong enough - to get the board under the wave). Anyway, if you are catching the white water waves this wont be an issue - just lift the nose of the board above the white water and its easy to control (when you arent on a surfboard but walking it out or standing next to it, hold the nose and stand to the side of the board - never put the board between you and the wave because you will find the board coming towards your head at a very very rapid rate). However, as soon as you start paddling out through the wave breaking zone its something you need to keep in mind.

Anyway, how you do it all is stuff you pick up through trial and error and experience and learning about waves and your board and what works and what doesnt. But you have a big head start having thought about the issues and obviously having a great attitude and wanting to avoid causing problems.

Let us know how you do. Frustrating but fun is how most people describe their first 10-20+ sessions...

dtc wrote:Let us know how you do. Frustrating but fun is how most people describe their first 10-20+ sessions...

No worries dtc, the worry was a good one.

Since we are only surfing whitewash as of now, the main concern was all of the non-surfers. Kids everywhere at the beach (Bolsa Chica) that we went to on Saturday. We figured their parents will always think it is our fault if their kid gets hit so that was a constant concern. We got out later than we wanted (shooting to arrive at 9am...arrived at 12pm)

Round 1: I went out and tried to paddle out. Found I could be very stable on the board when paddling but need to work on my technique as I didn't feel like I was going anywhere. In hindsight, I tried to get out much further than I needed. Got bashed around a bit by the waves when I was up to my neck. Used all I had in the tank just fighting the waves and didn't even attempt to stand up. Walked back to my GF sitting on the beach in shame.

Round 2: She wanted to give it a go, but is very concerned about the number of people around. I went out with her to help her handle the barge and get her set up. As expected, she floats with ease, but handling the massive board in waves seems to be an issue. After some intended "good natured" instruction from me we weren't on the same page and she wanted to head back to the beach. Probably more mad at me than at the waves. Ooops.

We sat around a bit more watching others. Some guys on shortboards catching real waves and I wasn't sure if today would be our day. Then we saw a guy/girl combo each with their own board. She had a longboard and was at our level. He paddled out to the big waves with the rest of the shortboarders, leaving her behind. She had the presumably correct approach, only going out to where the water was waist deep and paddling into the whitewash, standing up briefly and then falling.

Round 3: After we both watched her for a while, the GF said I should go and just try to do that. So I did. And it was much more fun. I still never stood up officially, but know that is the type of practice I/we should be doing right now. I'd hold the board next to my side, wait for a whitewash I was going to try to catch, and then hop on and paddle hard. First attempt I dove the nose into the water. Took that as I was too far forward on the board, so I shifted back and tried again. Found my sweetspot and then was at least able to "boogie board" on my board a few times. Then decided it was time to start popping up and although I've been practicing a "direct to feet" popup on land, I couldn't get there without stopping on my back knee first. Either I didn't have the balance or the waves didn't travel long enough at this point for me to have time to get all the way up. I tried this for a while but it was getting cold and even a bit rainy (this weekend was grey and cold by SoCal standards in our area) so I figured she would be wanting to leave. I packed it in after a few more tries and a few more times getting no further than front foot/back knee.

We started very frustrated (as I went into it expecting to be but hopeful we wouldn't) but at least I ended optimistically. We made plans to go out again Sunday morning to Torrance/Hagerty's where we had our lesson a few weeks ago and hoped there would be less people. Never made it out though. Although we didn't get out, I am still very enthusiastic about getting out as much as possible (hopefully tomorrow after work) and so is she, so I'm glad I didn't lose her yet.

It will definitely take a few more tries to determine if this board is just way to big for her, but I think thats the pending result. Either way we are still going after it next possible chance.

Thanks for the advice and the read.

Mate, you have just described 98% of people's first solo surfing session. So dont worry about it, it gets better - slowly but surely (and, dare I say it, described 100% of the times men try to help their girfriends do a sporting activity...).

I think the concept of standing in waist deep water and hopping on the board as a wave approaches is good. You should be able to catch plenty of waves and keep trying that pop up. You will fall over 90% of the time, then 80% then eventually maybe 25%, at which time you can go for 'real' waves. Once you are standing, you can also try turning - you wont turn much, but you can get the feeling (trick - just point your front arm/shoulder where you want to go - literally point at the beach or whatever - and it will weight your body to turn).

Two tips:

1. check out the tide, because at some beaches there is hardly any white water at certain tides and so you want to get in when there is a lot of white water (ie the wave is breaking a long way out). Generally speaking, if the beach is flat then there is lots of white water at high tide, if the beach is steep then hide tide the waves break right on the shore and there is no white water. But it depends on the beach - but keep the tide in mind to help your future sessions.

2. you dont need much time to pop up - on a wave its very quick. A lot of beginners catch the white water and wait until the board feels stable before popping up, but the board actually never really gets stable so they never pop up or pop up at the last minute. So pop up as soon as you feel the water is pushing the board (ie you are moving due to the water not your paddling) even if it doesnt feel 'stable'. The knee to the board thing can be for many reasons, for beginners I reckon its often either lack of committment (you think doing it more slowly will be easier - but its not - as I say often, its like riding a bike, if you ride slowly its harder than riding fast. So commit to the pop up and do it fast). Secondly, it could be that you are trying to stand up too quickly. You need your feet in place before you lift your shoulders/upper body - if you try to lift your shoulders too fast, you push your hips down and dont have enough space for your legs to come through.

dtc wrote:Two tips:

Thank you again. Your continued advice is very much appreciated.