starting to get a little frustrated -need some moral support

[Bub]

I went surfing last Sunday, conditions were nearly perfect (for me and my area break anyway)....4.5 footers, no closeouts, not too hollow at all, shortboarders, longboarders...everyone was really tearing it up...except for me. I did a 1 hour session before lunch and about another hour session in the afternoon, and after paddling in on at least 20-30 waves, I rode zero, and only 1 time did the wave actually catch my board and took off for me, but I was late on the pop-up and lost balance. Most of the time I miscalculated that the wave "caught me" and popped up too soon and the wave passed under me. I did catch 1 wave about 2 weeks ago for oh about a 3 second ride (it was only a 1.5-2 footer day so nothing was really working though in the summer slop).

Anyway, I feel like I'm having trouble actually catching the waves lately. Setting up more inside would have been my preference on Sunday, but the lineup was very crowded and I would have been in the way of others. Also, I ride a 7'2'' board and there were several shortboarders in the lineup right next to me catching plenty of waves so I figured I should at least be out as far as where they are setting up (longboarders further down the lineup and further out... getting the prime break naturally). I'm paddling really hard, deep strokes etc., makign sure I got the nose of the board planing right on the water really well (little drag occuring) but most of my attempts the wave doesn't I seem to not be able to catch the waves. It feels to me like the wave has caught my board but when I pop-up, my speed dies out and the wave passes under me. Anyone know what my problem is? I'm getting frustrated because I know I can popup fairly well and once up, I have decent balance on the board and all that, but I'm really struggling with the initial steps of the surfing process. Lately I feel like a decent skier who can't figure out how to step off the ski lift! Just needed to vent some. Surfing 2 hours on a perfect condition day without catching a single wave has left me quite frustrated. Please help me out! Thanks!

[RJD]

Hey mate!

Everyone has bad sessions, more so when your still learning (arnt we ever?).

The answer to your suckiness mystery I think is you need to ride a log...

Nah - guessing (clasic issues) that your possibly not paddling hard enough for it, not positioned on the board correctly or taking the wave too early.

And probably not being helped by your state of mind - no stoke & all worries, trying to 'force' it, relax a bit should help.

[surfing_cat]

Just guessing... Make sure you don't rock your board sideways, when you paddle hard it happens sometimes. Also when you pop up make sure you're not on the tail - that would stall your momentum.

[isaluteyou]

bio rythms. Sometimes they are out of whack and cause havok many times ive had botched sessions in perfect conditions for no apparent reason.

The only time you need to really take a good look at whats going on is that if its a reccuring problem over a decent period of time i.e too many bad sessions then its time to rethink

[phillwilson]

I can totally empathise with that hopeles feeling when you know the waves are good enough but you just cant seem to rise to it...

what I figured with me is that if i have to do the same thing over and over again , like all the steps of getting out, turning the board, getting on the board, choosing the wave etc,,,,then i do all them steps WAY to fast. I skimp on the preparation time cos i believe i have already "done that bit"...but in reality , certainly at my stage only a few months into it, I need to have a "method" for every part of the surf.

the mantra I give myself when i find myself "grabbing the pennies but missing the pounds" is ...GO SLOW TO GO FAST

if I work at each stage just a little bit slower then my heartbeat,adrenaline,excitement and frustration wants me to , then I almost always seem to get the wave as a reward,and then the plus is that it feels even better cos I know i worked my methods and it wasnt just a "fluke".

anyways, I hope there is something in this you may find useful, either way, have a really good sesh next time your out.

Phill

[raekwon chef]

Just quit surfing already.








Jokes. Really brother, keep surfing. With experience you will have more paddle power and your judgement of popping up will come. There's no "real" explanation of when to pop-up. The simple answer is once you feel the board moving faster than you're paddling, pop-up. For shortboarding, break through the face and ride down.

[surferdude_scarborough]

Bad sessions happen. they suck. they suck even more when the waves are good. dont let it get to you everyone has days when they surf like a kook. they make the days when you surf like a hero seem all the better. remember a bad day surfing is always better than a good day doing something else.

[pkbum]

Try to read the wave carefully, predict how the wave is going to bump up and start to break.

[tomcat360]

Hey I was out there surfing too, the waves were zoomin. You had to have some pretty good paddle speed going on there in order to get into them, I was having a bit of issue with them in the beginning.

Also I think going from our tiny waves to nice ones, the drop is completely different, the feeling is oddly different. With one you have to just stand up and like act like you are skating down a hill, the other you do a pop up and it pushes the board to the bottom of the wave, haha.

Send me a PM if you ever wanna paddle out, sometimes just having someone to surf with pushes you.

[teaweed]

I'm guessing you're referring to the Bertha swell we got this past weekend? I was having some trouble with them too, after surfing a bunch of summer waves lately. Those were some fast waves

[craigar]

I'm guessing you're referring to the Bertha swell we got this past weekend? I was having some trouble with them too, after surfing a bunch of summer waves lately. Those were some fast waves

People were struggling down here, too. Being new myself I found the wave much faster than what I've been riding. Caught one, closed out and worked me good. I just continued on to the inside and finished out my Bertha riding there, out of the way of course. Even my experienced friends commented on how fast the waves were.

To the OP: Just try to take something away from every sesh no matter how small the lesson is.

Get waves, get none... get worked, or don't... I just love being out there. Stoke by the pound!

[justloafing]

The waves were very nice here too. Tomcat and Bub, Where did you guys surf? I heard the OBX were blown out this week during the Bertha swell. I heard VA. Beach was epic on Thursday. Here at Wrightsville Beach there were some overhead bombs coming in every once in awhile, mostly shoulder high.

Bub I have had those sessions too. Can be very frustrating. Just get get the stoke back. Sometimes trying to hard is the worst thing you can do as a beginner.

[tomcat360]

I surfed VaB on Sunday, the currents started making it really sketchy by the end of the day if you weren't surfing up against a jetty. I should have gone saturday, I was just feeling lazy and didn't go. But still had lots of fun on Sunday. No barrels but real fun.

[Ged]

Are you sitting too far back on your board. I spent ages basically not catching waves for various reasons. Also if it gets big you match the momentum of the wave pretty much so you have to paddle much harder. I dont know it depends, sometimes it just takes three strokes and your away if your in the right place at the right time. Where I used to surf it was pretty competitive to catch the waves so paddling to the right place at the right time is actually a real competition with loads of other people, If you feel bad about your surfing youll probarbly be lacking confidence to hack it out with the rest of the line up. you have to get it into your head that if you get that wave first its yours and just do it. Be brave and dont loose confidence.

I had a surfing session when I was just starting when this guy on a longboard told me that I'd learn much quicker if I'd bought a longboard, He really smashed my confidence by just saying that, and the thing is i was catching waves perfectly well beforehand but couldnt catch anything after. Thats when I realised the imprtance of confidence. I alreadt knew this really from rockclimbing, but because I was new to surfing it was quite easy to rock my confidence.

Just go out there and compete.

[Sar]

hey Bub, it sounds like the guys have already covered it. The waves were fast that day and perhaps you let the frustration creep in later in the session which made it all worse.

Just wanted to add my 2 pennies and say...dont worry about it, bad sessions happen. Dont dwell on it, dont carry it too the next session and get back out there

[tomcat360]

Yeah I remember a session when I was younger that I wanted to give up surfing. I couldn't even make the paddle out, I just kept getting thrown back inside. For like 6 hours. Not even a big day.

But then I realized it was the first day in about 6 months, my board was too small, I was freezing cold, and lots of other factors. And after a while I got over it, found a new board, and had a great year.

[Bub]

Its all good guys! Thanks for all the tips and comments from so many of you. I'm not giving up. In fact I'm ready to get back out there ASAP. I've been surfing up at Cape Henloepen St. Park in Deleware. I was surfing Indian River Inlet, but over the last year or 2 its gotten really shallow from the sand replenishment. The jetty at Henloepen is nice and deep with a nice break. It gets crowded due to the small zone (jetty on one side and surf fishermen take over about 100yds down from the jetty).

Late morning low tide was excellent, although as some others in the mid-atlantic area said the waves were coming in a little quicker than normal and they seemed to jack up out of no where which probably also added to alot of my late take offs and missing waves. Also the tip that I may be popping up and putting my back foot too far back on the tail on the pop up might be happening as well. I'll try to pay more attention to that next time out and move forward a few inches (even if it means pearling over the front of the board a few times until I find the sweet spot).

Afternoon session got pretty choppy, the currents picked up as Tomcat mentioned and as high tide was coming in around 2pm it was getting pretty challenging to paddle out through the white water rushing in. That was when I gave up, because it was getting to be too exhausting duck diving and paddling without gaining any ground to get outback.

All-in-all though the conditions couldn't have been much better for this time of year.

I am starting to question the purchase of this 7'2'' board though. I'm sure bigger would have been better, but a custom funboard for $225 including a roofrack...bought it off a guy who lives only 2 miles from where I work (considering the nearest surf break is 175 miles way...it all seemed like a no-brainer since I didn't own a board at the time. I still really like my board and plan to keep trying with it at least the remainder of this year. I need to invest in a better quality wet suit so I can surf well into fall and spring when the crowds aren't out.

[tomcat360]

Gotta ask, where are you located?

I understand landlocked-ness

[Bub]

Gotta ask, where are you located?

I understand landlocked-ness

I live in Frederick County MD (or Fredneck as we like to call it)!

[tomcat360]

Ah gotcha. A wee bit of a drive