Surfing Waves

I'm currently riding a 7'6 foamie and have been for the past month, I've basically mastered my popup, stance and white wave wave catching, I've been catching medium sized unbroken waves with it but it's not very manoeuvrable and terrible when it comes to large waves because I just nose dive no matter how hard I paddle because the water rises too fast at the tail, is it time to switch over to a fish board?
I'm not sure if I'm ready for shortboarding in general, any suggestions on what to do and what type of board to use?
I'm 1.65m (US: 5.4 feet) and I weigh around 50kg (US: 110 lb)
Thanks in advance.

It's not the board, it's your skill level. Do a search here for 'perling' or 'nose diving' and you will find a few threads. Basically you aren't paddling fast enough and may be badly positioned. Even though you think you are paddling hard, the nose diving shows you aren't. Maybe you are too far back on the board causing it to bog down and waste all that arm energy

Your next board should NOT be a fish board. Get a 7'6 or thereabouts fun board/ mini mal (but don't go much shorter). It's entirely fine to buy a proper board at your level and you may find it easier than the foamie at times, so go for it.

dtc wrote:It's not the board, it's your skill level. Do a search here for 'perling' or 'nose diving' and you will find a few threads. Basically you aren't paddling fast enough and may be badly positioned. Even though you think you are paddling hard, the nose diving shows you aren't. Maybe you are too far back on the board causing it to bog down and waste all that arm energy

Your next board should NOT be a fish board. Get a 7'6 or thereabouts fun board/ mini mal (but don't go much shorter). It's entirely fine to buy a proper board at your level and you may find it easier than the foamie at times, so go for it.

I go to a surf school and they have all kinds of boards, I don't want to buy my own board just yet not until I have a good handle on my skills.
I'll look around the forum, thanks for suggesting

Sounds like you haven't mastered popup, stance and wave catching or you wouldn't be pearling. I guess it is easy for a surfer to think "Gee if I only had a board that worked better then I could surf" Lot's of surfers are looking for that magic board that will make them a superstar but it ain't gonna happen. It's possible that another board might make things a bit easier......or not. Nose diving is due to a lack of skill and not due directly to the board. Some boards are slightly easier to prevent from nose diving but only a little bit. Get another board and you will still nose dive and maybe have much more trouble doing anything with it. However maybe it's time to get a solid board so I guess I like the idea of one around the same length as what you used but a funboard with some nose rocker to help with pearling. It won't solve your problem but it might make for slightly less nose diving. But mayebe you could try a bunch of different boards and see what works for you

Since you weigh very little, what might be considered a shortboard (less than 7ft in length) might be a good beginner board for you also.
So if you want to call yourself a shortboarder, while still catching waves, get a "shortboard" that is longer than 6'8" , wider than 20" and thicker than 2.5"

pmcaero wrote:Since you weigh very little, what might be considered a shortboard (less than 7ft in length) might be a good beginner board for you also.
So if you want to call yourself a shortboarder, while still catching waves, get a "shortboard" that is longer than 6'8" , wider than 20" and thicker than 2.5"

It's not about calling myself a shortboarder or status or anything like that, I just would like to catch unbroken waves that are taller than my height without nose diving, I'll try paddling like a mad man next time and see if it helps, I do catch unbroken waves and don't pearl, it only happens on larger waves around 3 meters and above

I've read around 10 different posts on this forum with the search thing and so far I basically got it's all about my paddling, I need to become a stronger paddler to not end up at the top of the wave then fall into a nose dive of doom, and about the manoeuvrability if I'm using a 7'6 foamie so what can I move to to get a bit more control over my turns, they're way too large and slow on my current board and lifting the nose to turn isn't something I enjoy.

Let's put this to bed You need to exceed the speed of the wave to catch it PADDLE like you mean to catch it
Foamies, long boards etc can be turned , you just can't turn well enough yet
Try angled take offs and I don't you are likely to be surfing 3 meter wave yet but if you are , you are not ready for them in any way
I hate to say this but a couple of the really good surfers can ride pipeline on foamies, so it is not the board. You will in the end be better served by a " real board" at your weight something 7ft 6inchish, and a basic fun shape, try one where you have had lessons. You are still going to pearl and struggle for quite while , long learning curves in surfing. .
Where are you learning?

jaffa1949 wrote:Let's put this to bed You need to exceed the speed of the wave to catch it PADDLE like you mean to catch it
Foamies, long boards etc can be turned , you just can't turn well enough yet
Try angled take offs and I don't you are likely to be surfing 3 meter wave yet but if you are , you are not ready for them in any way
I hate to say this but a couple of the really good surfers can ride pipeline on foamies, so it is not the board. You will in the end be better served by a " real board" at your weight something 7ft 6inchish, and a basic fun shape, try one where you have had lessons. You are still going to pearl and struggle for quite while , long learning curves in surfing. .
Where are you learning?

I'm learning at Ain Diab in Casablanca Morocco at a local surf school.
Mostly learned most of it on my own and using the internet for research all it really is, is they hand me a board and I just go out and they have a guy watch over me to make sure I don't get lost or drown and occasionally give me tips when I mess up.

Some extra thoughts you will need when you start to surf bigger waves; you actually need to paddle down the face to match the speed and let gravity do its stuff
All successful turns on any board involve lifting the nose, short boards have the entire control system over the fins, long boards turns are generated from the tail of the board moving forward is a basic skill to generate speed.
Do you know whether you are goofy or natural?
see if you can try a hard board of the size being recommended

jaffa1949 wrote:Some extra thoughts you will need when you start to surf bigger waves; you actually need to paddle down the face to match the speed and let gravity do its stuff
All successful turns on any board involve lifting the nose, short boards have the entire control system over the fins, long boards turns are generated from the tail of the board moving forward is a basic skill to generate speed.
Do you know whether you are goofy or natural?
see if you can try a hard board of the size being recommended

Actually I'm goofy footed but I tend to do both stances depending on the waves

icetime wrote:It's not about calling myself a shortboarder or status or anything like that, I just would like to catch unbroken waves that are taller than my height without nose diving, I'll try paddling like a mad man next time and see if it helps, I do catch unbroken waves and don't pearl, it only happens on larger waves around 3 meters and above

I was in your situation with a mini-mal board and a weak paddler, would pearl all the time. that or the offshore wind would pick the board up and not let me make the drop at all.
A board with a sharper nose and more rocker helps on those steep drops. I have never ridden a fish, but I understand their relatively wide nose makes them harder to drop on steep waves.
I also had a 7'4" board shaped like a shortboard, but proportionally wider and thicker, of course, and it would handle steep drops well but was pretty slow down the line.

So, for you, from my limited experience, I recommend that you become a good paddler and, for extra help with steep waves, pick up a board with a sharp nose and some rocker.

pmcaero wrote:

icetime wrote:It's not about calling myself a shortboarder or status or anything like that, I just would like to catch unbroken waves that are taller than my height without nose diving, I'll try paddling like a mad man next time and see if it helps, I do catch unbroken waves and don't pearl, it only happens on larger waves around 3 meters and above

I was in your situation with a mini-mal board and a weak paddler, would pearl all the time. that or the offshore wind would pick the board up and not let me make the drop at all.
A board with a sharper nose and more rocker helps on those steep drops. I have never ridden a fish, but I understand their relatively wide nose makes them harder to drop on steep waves.
I also had a 7'4" board shaped like a shortboard, but proportionally wider and thicker, of course, and it would handle steep drops well but was pretty slow down the line.

So, for you, from my limited experience, I recommend that you become a good paddler and, for extra help with steep waves, pick up a board with a sharp nose and some rocker.

Yeah I'll work more on my paddling, I'm adapting quick though in one month I went from an hour per session before getting tired to two hours and a half of paddling, I'm pretty sure it's not the paddle strength but the technique that I have to master since I'm quite light

You may be paddling fine but

- starting too late, longer boards (esp foamies) need a bit of time to turn and get up to speed. So move 2-3m further out and start paddling for the wave earlier

- laying too far back on the board. People nose dive and think the solution is to raise the nose of the board and so move back. But that slows the board down and creates the very problem you are trying to avoid. Make sure the nose is only about 1inch above the water when you lie on the board in flat water

And, of course, paddle hard and commit. Nothing worse than paddling hard and then hesitating just before the wave reaches you. Surfing punishes those that don't commit - hesitating and trying to slow things down seem like a way to regain control of a 'weird' situation but the result is the complete opposite. You lose control

Nose diving is something that almost all beginners go through and it's really frustrating; but eventually you figure things out and it goes away (mostly!)

dtc wrote:You may be paddling fine but

- starting too late, longer boards (esp foamies) need a bit of time to turn and get up to speed. So move 2-3m further out and start paddling for the wave earlier

- laying too far back on the board. People nose dive and think the solution is to raise the nose of the board and so move back. But that slows the board down and creates the very problem you are trying to avoid. Make sure the nose is only about 1inch above the water when you lie on the board in flat water

And, of course, paddle hard and commit. Nothing worse than paddling hard and then hesitating just before the wave reaches you. Surfing punishes those that don't commit - hesitating and trying to slow things down seem like a way to regain control of a 'weird' situation but the result is the complete opposite. You lose control

Nose diving is something that almost all beginners go through and it's really frustrating; but eventually you figure things out and it goes away (mostly!)

I do actually start before the wave but most of the time I don't get quite up to speed in tipe and fall off the breaking lip into a glorious faceplant into the water then I get mangled like a ragdoll, but I guess that's where you all started I'll get a hang of my timing eventually, I mostly believe it's an issue with my timing and technique.

If you aren't getting up to speed then maybe you aren't starting early enough. I know short boarders can spin and paddle and catch a wave in a few seconds, but longboarders and foamie guys need a lot more time to get the momentum going. Make sure you are out there along side the 9ft longboard guys and see when they start and copy them.

dtc wrote:If you aren't getting up to speed then maybe you aren't starting early enough. I know short boarders can spin and paddle and catch a wave in a few seconds, but longboarders and foamie guys need a lot more time to get the momentum going. Make sure you are out there along side the 9ft longboard guys and see when they start and copy them.

I do stay close to them like 50 feet but I don't like to stay too close to not end up as kook or smash into them or even take their wave accidentally I have bad vision so I wouldn't notice them until it's too late.

It was the board, I went surfing and asked for something harder and they handed my a board close to the same size slightly shorter that wasn't a foamie, it was slippery as hell but I got a hang of it after 20 minutes and surfed unbroken waves just fine without nose diving, so it was definitely the foamie the cause of the nose diving and not my paddling.

Well lots of people ride foamies without nose diving....but I am glad to hear a new board worked better for you. Everyone is different. It's good to hear changing the board fixed your problems.

icetime wrote:Actually I'm goofy footed but I tend to do both stances depending on the waves

Either you have a very rare talent or a very big problem you'll need to address. When you pop up, is your belly button facing the front of the board usually ?