Surfing Waves

i cant turn
my wax melt off my board
sometimes the break is way too strong and fastand going under it just doesnt seem to work
Also, I keep getting cuts on my feet. I'm not sure what causes it... fins? shells? how should i protect myself?

PLEASE ANY ADVICE WILL BE HELPFUL

Advice no.1: Work on your sentance construction, if people can't understand what you are saying they won't give you good advice.

But, by what I understand you can't turn your board in the direction you want to, since you can't think when on a wave. Just try and move your board around in the whitewash. Look where you want to go and lean on your heals/toes. (depending on the direction, lean in the direction you want to go.) After a while when you can reason a bit more on a wave (you will eventually, since you get used to it after a while.) try and take of on the face, and as you reach the flats look at the face of the wave and lean into it. And the thing about the whitewater pushing you back all the time, look for a channel (a place where the waves don't break, since it is deeper there) and paddle in there.

oh yea.. thanks for the advice.. i fixed it, so its a little bit more clearer and simple

To turn just simple turn your head in the direction you want to go your body should automatically compensate and adjust its weight to that drection. When you can do a turn like that then you can exxagerate the turn making snappier by appling more weight. Keep in mind its much easier to turn a board if your back foot is over the fins i.e on the tail pad.

If you cant get outback (i think thats what you getting at) then learn to duckdive deeper and time your paddle outs. Or like faf said look for aids like channels or rips.

that your board in your avatar tremor? just an idea... might be a bit advanced for you?
you ever try a minimal or longboard?
not exactly kelly slater myself but fell into that trap a while ago. seems to be a very common problem. find it way easier to turn a minimal without falling off.

^^duck diving is seriously one of the most important aspects of surfing.. if you cannot duck dive well, you will be so exhausted by the time you get out to the breaks that you won't be able to paddle well for a wave. That was one of the first things I learned.. and if you barely have enough energy to get on the wave you certainly won't have enough to turn and have fun on the wave.

Get the right wax for the water, your local surf shop will supply it.

As for turning use your shoulders and head, look (as said above) at where you want to go. DON'T LOOK AT YOU BOARD or FEET.

get tropical wax and keep your board out of direct sunlight when possible or it will yellow or even delaminate. one thing that helped me turn better is learning to use my rail more and follow the contours of the wave. as for your duck diving, sounds like you're doing it too early or too late. too early and you'll be coming up as the strongest part of the wave is pushing you back. too late and you'll get pitched over. i once got pitched over on an overhead wave and dislocated my shoulder on the reef. i kinda learned the timing by watching videos and looking at those cool pictures of people duck diving, you know where they're underwater leveling their board and you see the wave breaking from underwater. and your feet sound like their just weak. try going barefoot more often so you can get callouses. you can also try wearing booties. it's looked down upon and some people might call you a kook, but i'd rather surf next to a dude in booties than some guy with webbed gloves.

garbarrage wrote:that your board in your avatar tremor? just an idea... might be a bit advanced for you?
you ever try a minimal or longboard?
not exactly kelly slater myself but fell into that trap a while ago. seems to be a very common problem. find it way easier to turn a minimal without falling off.

yea thats my 6'7'' but i cant fit a 7 foot board in my mom's car so .. didnt much have a choice, and the price was cheap

surfitch wrote:get tropical wax and keep your board out of direct sunlight when possible or it will yellow or even delaminate. one thing that helped me turn better is learning to use my rail more and follow the contours of the wave. as for your duck diving, sounds like you're doing it too early or too late. too early and you'll be coming up as the strongest part of the wave is pushing you back. too late and you'll get pitched over. i once got pitched over on an overhead wave and dislocated my shoulder on the reef. i kinda learned the timing by watching videos and looking at those cool pictures of people duck diving, you know where they're underwater leveling their board and you see the wave breaking from underwater. and your feet sound like their just weak. try going barefoot more often so you can get callouses. you can also try wearing booties. it's looked down upon and some people might call you a kook, but i'd rather surf next to a dude in booties than some guy with webbed gloves.

actually its not the soles of my feet that get cut up, its places like my heels, ankles, and the top part of my foot.

You should go rent a mini mal and practice it for a week, it'll help you a lot. How long have you surfed btw?

uhh well i started around late november ... i think.. i tried going every week... but i think i missed quite a lot because i only have a spring suit and my mom didnt want me to catch a cold.. so i guess uhhhh hmm 10 sessions... maybe more ...a session being atleast 1 hour...maybe more

10 sessions really isn't a whole lot. you prob could learn on that board but unless you're going every day you might just keep getting frustrated. if you don't have far to travel i'd suggest a bigger board and a soft roof rack. (don't think they are that expensive) don't know as much as a lot of people on here... but one thing i know for sure tho is surfing is supposed to be challenging but above all else its supposed to be fun.

it just seems so many people learning do exactly the same thing which is to buy the smallest board they think they'll be able to catch a wave on. i've learned the hard way that the best board is the one you can catch the most waves on. at least while learning.

garbarrage wrote:10 sessions really isn't a whole lot. you prob could learn on that board but unless you're going every day you might just keep getting frustrated. if you don't have far to travel i'd suggest a bigger board and a soft roof rack. (don't think they are that expensive) don't know as much as a lot of people on here... but one thing i know for sure tho is surfing is supposed to be challenging but above all else its supposed to be fun.

it just seems so many people learning do exactly the same thing which is to buy the smallest board they think they'll be able to catch a wave on. i've learned the hard way that the best board is the one you can catch the most waves on. at least while learning.

Thanks, your advice is probably right, yet i already bought the board and im still having fun, so i guess ill keep trying. I mean i did make some progress, ive stood up a couple of times My friend comes with me so its never boring. im hoping by 4 more sessions ill be able to ride parallel to the beach and maybe even a turn

in that case... go for it. I doubt you'll be the first person to learn on such a short board. maybe use it as motivation to get in the water more!

Sounds like you're young enough to be learning on a shortboard as long as you aren't 200+ lbs. Maybe you should try waxing your board with a base coat wax first. Carry a small bar of wax in your shorts pocket too.

I assume you're surfing a beach break which can be frustrating to paddle out in if it's breaking real consistently. Sometimes you just have to time your paddle out with any lulls in the sets if there are any and sometimes you just need to just keep charging ahead to make it out. Sometimes it's easier to make it out on a higher tide but that really depends on the spot. With more experience you'll probably become really good at duck diving just out of necessity (sp?).

Most of what you will learn in surfing will be through trial and error so try not to get frustrated and use each session as a learning experience. Analyze what you did and how you could have done it more efficiently and effectively.

Learn your basics before trying to rip turns. Learn how to make it out to the peak, catch open faced waves, and go down the line first. A lot of "surfers" that I see still can't even do that. From there you can learn how to trim and do small direction changes with your board. You haven't been surfing that long so it would be a miracle if you were already surfing like a pro.

Not sure what you're doing to your feet. Walking on reef? Getting fin slices? Whatever the case, make sure you get your tetanus shot every 10 years.

Hey, as long as you're having fun when you're surfing and you aren't endangering yourself or others...that's what matters, right?

i think your advice was one of the most helful but is it ok to take the bar of wax into the water?... well actually i dont hink i can if im wearing my spring suit because the temperature is usually in the 60s. Thank you for your advice. Actually last week there was record highs and the temperature was 90+ i think that was why the wax melted, but during the summer wont it start dripping off my board? im using warm water wax, by the way.