What do you do/think about during a wipeout?

[billie_morini]

LOL Yeah . When I was a young kid (around 13 or 14 years old) I used to bodysurf waves that had 15 foot faces. I would sometimes intentionally ride the lip over the falls. At that size the waves are hard to take off on and usually if you get into one it ends in a 30 second hold down but I discovered that I could ride the lip over the falls and orient myself to a hands and knees landing. The lip would drill me into the bottom for a second then release and if I was quick (and I was quick) I could swim back out underwater avoiding any major hold down and thrashing. I found this a fun activity. So I would swim like I am going to take off but just tuck down into the lip and the I would come out on the lip going over the falls feet first. I could make myself come out of the water so it was like a slide or still be buried in the lip with only my face out. On days like that it is mostly a spectator sport so lots of people on the beach but little people in the water. I was all for clowning around for the crowd so I would give them the peace sign or the shaka sign or sometimes hold my nose and wave goodbye like a total kook. I don't think anyone knew it resulted in much less of a pounding because it looks so horrible.

To borrow a couple of phrases:
1. Wunnerful, wunnerful!
2. When we were young & fearless (e.g., indestructible, in our own minds)

[oldmansurfer]

I don't think it was about being indestructible for me but I had come to look at death as inevitable and not something to be feared and gradually worked my way into bigger and bigger waves so no sudden thing like having only surfed waves with a 5 foot face suddenly take off on one with a 10 foot face. It was a calculated risk that I had determined I could survive it and I must have been really good at making those calculations because I made it to 63 years old. I think initially I did that because I was trying to not take off on a wave I was swimming for and discovered the easy escape by accident/instinct.

[MidAtlanticNovice]

Big wave surfer Ross Clarke jones on wiping out (from a newspaper)

When he's being held under a surging cauldron, Clark-Jones visualises a nightclub. "It simulates the energy (of a wipeout). You've got the flashing light and the flashing lights of the sunlight (underwater) because you're being spun around and you're spun around on the dance floor bumping into people.Your noticing the lights, the interior of the floor, all these little details that take time to think about, and during that time you're getting thrown around and it takes up the time when you should be panicking. So you've almost deluded yourself into thinking about something else and all of a sudden you're up, it's over.'

So, basically - relax, appreciate you can hold your breath for at least 20 seconds and the average reasonable sized wave will hold you down for probably 4-5 seconds at the very most. Learn to fall properly ie away from and behind your board; and learn to locate your board before you surface and to surface hands first / hands protecting your head

No one likes falling, you can be twisted and tumbles and water goes everywhere. But you will survive and survive easily

Wait, does that mean people open there eyes while under?

I can feel the burn already... yikes.

I suppose you might have to on bigger waves, to see which way is up and whatnot. Will leave that to the pros.

[dtc]

Wait, does that mean people open there eyes while under?

I can feel the burn already... yikes.

I suppose you might have to on bigger waves, to see which way is up and whatnot. Will leave that to the pros.

No no, of course you can open your eyes under water. Even as a non pro

Think about what comes out of your eyes when you get a drop in on the best wave of your life....salty water (ok, different concentrations). But what stings your eyes when you open them underwater is chlorine (in a pool), sand or other stuff (in the ocean) or sunscreen. the salt wont be too bad. Most people can open their eyes in the ocean for several seconds at a time without it causing any issue.

Its quite fun - go out one day without your board and duck under white water and look up (make sure its not too shallow otherwise there will be sand everywhere). See all the white water and the patterns it forms etc. When you duck dive its recommended to keep your eyes open to see what is going on.

Of course, if you are surfing somewhere polluted then a different story

[oldmansurfer]

At least have your eyes open when you're not underwater When I was a kid we used to go diving with no masks. I could handle it easily for maybe 30 minutes or so but to extend the time we would hold our heads looking at the bottom then cup our hands from our noses to our eyes and blow a little air which would get trapped in our eye sockets and provide a barrier from the saltwater. The more you did it the better you got at keeping the bubbles on your eyes for longer periods of time.

[MidAtlanticNovice]

Wait, does that mean people open there eyes while under?

I can feel the burn already... yikes.

I suppose you might have to on bigger waves, to see which way is up and whatnot. Will leave that to the pros.

No no, of course you can open your eyes under water. Even as a non pro

Think about what comes out of your eyes when you get a drop in on the best wave of your life....salty water (ok, different concentrations). But what stings your eyes when you open them underwater is chlorine (in a pool), sand or other stuff (in the ocean) or sunscreen. the salt wont be too bad. Most people can open their eyes in the ocean for several seconds at a time without it causing any issue.

Its quite fun - go out one day without your board and duck under white water and look up (make sure its not too shallow otherwise there will be sand everywhere). See all the white water and the patterns it forms etc. When you duck dive its recommended to keep your eyes open to see what is going on.

Of course, if you are surfing somewhere polluted then a different story

Haha true, I've never really given it much thought as I use contacts. I do go without sometimes, but closing my eyes is just habit (from using the contacts). I imagine the salt content is much higher than tears, as I do remember salt water having a little bit of a sting to it. Could be something you get used to though.

[dtc]

Ah, contacts are a different issue altogether

Seawater is about 4-5 times as salty as tears (7-9000 part per million vs 35000ppm for the ocean)