How many tries did it take you to ride your first wave ?

[travelzomg]

I started up surfing in a surf camp on Fuerte and got a 7ft softie which worked well on the first two days in the white water...
i managed to stand up on the 5th or 6th wave on the first day (my experiance from wakeboarding surely did help me)... i was stoked...! a grin all over ma face...
but from that day on, it all went down hill...
the teachers thought, i should go with the intermediates after the 3rd day, so we went out on the reefs and the outside, bigger, beach breakes.... its save to say, i basically didnt catch any waves the propper way for the following 7 days... i either nosedived, (and i did so a lot) or fell off the board as soon as i tried getting to my feet, if managing that at all.... i swallowed so much water and got washed and wrecked by the waves.... after those 7 days, i was very very frustrated....
on the 10th day of surfing we went to shark bay and we had a 7.10 NSP hardboard spare because one of the guys didnt show up and i grabbed it for me for that day... it was the day, as we use to say, when the coin fell....
i paddled out, arrived in the line up just when a set rolled in.. paddled right away into the take off, tore my board around and started paddling as if there was no tomorrow... the wave sucked me in, felt the push, poped up and there i was, standing on my board right on the pocket of an 6-8ft reef wave riding it all the way in....
all the pain, all the salt, all the washing and every single nosedive was gone..vanished, obliterated by the oh so sweet full body sensation of me riding down this wave...
that day, i rode more waves than all the days before together... i was a happy bunny....

[Kaaimans]

I started up surfing in a surf camp on Fuerte and got a 7ft softie which worked well on the first two days in the white water...
i managed to stand up on the 5th or 6th wave on the first day (my experiance from wakeboarding surely did help me)... i was stoked...! a grin all over ma face...
but from that day on, it all went down hill...
the teachers thought, i should go with the intermediates after the 3rd day, so we went out on the reefs and the outside, bigger, beach breakes.... its save to say, i basically didnt catch any waves the propper way for the following 7 days... i either nosedived, (and i did so a lot) or fell off the board as soon as i tried getting to my feet, if managing that at all.... i swallowed so much water and got washed and wrecked by the waves.... after those 7 days, i was very very frustrated....
on the 10th day of surfing we went to shark bay and we had a 7.10 NSP hardboard spare because one of the guys didnt show up and i grabbed it for me for that day... it was the day, as we use to say, when the coin fell....
i paddled out, arrived in the line up just when a set rolled in.. paddled right away into the take off, tore my board around and started paddling as if there was no tomorrow... the wave sucked me in, felt the push, poped up and there i was, standing on my board right on the pocket of an 6-8ft reef wave riding it all the way in....
all the pain, all the salt, all the washing and every single nosedive was gone..vanished, obliterated by the oh so sweet full body sensation of me riding down this wave...
that day, i rode more waves than all the days before together... i was a happy bunny....

I hope you mean the face of the wave, because any instructor who takes a beginner out in 6-8ft hawaiian (from the back) should be shot. Waves are measured by the back where I live (South Africa.) which is basically half the size of the face. A 6ft wave would be 12ft on the face.

[travelzomg]

nah - definately on the face...
was just about shoulder to head high...

i kinda still strugling with the mesurements of the waves.. they allways seem to be so huuge (way bigger than they actually are i guess)...

[surf doc]

I stood up my second try on an 8ft foamy, but we're talking white water straight ride into the beach. I guess I didn't really understand the concept of riding across the face of the wave, I thought that you were just supposed to go straight and hang on for dear life. I then spent the next 2 months pearling over and over again, with the usual beginner reflex of: oh, I'll just move further back on the board (wrong!). Then I remember reading somewhere that when you're on a long board, once you feel the wave lift the back of the board, that's when you put in your hardest paddle- previously this had been when I tried to stand up. That one little tip helped me to catch my first face, it was el porto on a warm spring morning, and although I don't remember if it was a right or a left, I seem to remember every other detail about the ride.

[Wave4Surf]

Too many

The first time I surfed was on a long board, and even on such a thing it took me a lot of time before I finally stood

[BlueCrush163]

Being the 1st time i had ever actually dropped down the face of a wave, verses being pushed by whitewater, I discovered and interesting tidbit of knowledge. Put more weight on back foot, instead of the front foot. Yep you guessed it. My nose dug in hard, I pearled and got my 1st experience being worked by a wave. I paddled back out and repeated said move 3 more times, before that tidbit of knowledge sunk in. On the 4th attempt I managed to make the drop and do a turn. Granted the ride was far from being very long, though it was one of my most memorable ones.

I had the exact same experience with my first wave. I didnt know what to do at the moment, and nosedived as I popped up. Then I figured maybe if I put more weight on the back foot and angle my board more that I would make the drop.

[daddylonglegs]

For me, it took my whole summer vacation just to that successful ride in my surfboard. It was a very good experience and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very fulfilling to do that surf for the first time.

[Sh0Rtb04rder]

New here and thought I'd share my comments

I actually just caught my first one 2 days ago after a lot of attempts. I was out with a couple kids around my age (I'm 15) and after enough tries I finally got it. It was with my friend's fun board (7' 2") and the wave was a rolling 1.5' or so. I was getting close to shore, pumped my fist, and fell backwards yelling what I could finally do. I've recently taken an interest in surfing and plan to learn a lot here. Quick question (sorry if I'm de-railing), I have trouble catching the face. I've caught about 10 total waves so far and I find myself hesitant to get up until white water. I'm short for my age (5' 3") and even when, I'm leaning on my knees on the back edge of the board and yet it still would nose dive. So how can I get up without nosediving and still get the face?

[jaffa1949]

Time more waves under your belt and read through the posts a mountain of advice size doesn't matter you have a lower center of gravity ,Tom Carroll is a short muscly guy but surf the nuts off most waves Simon Anderson is over six foot and a great surfer. Covers most size then