Surfing Waves

I'm a beginner surfer, been surfing for about a month. I'm staying with my grandpa in Waikiki right now. It's winter, so usually the surf is pretty tame down here, but the last few days have been intense, big waves.
I manage to get out past the breaks, but once I'm there, if I'm too tired to catch an incoming wave it will toss me around like a rag doll. It's really scary, even though it's a bit of a rush too.
When I catch the waves, if I fall off too soon, the water is still really turbulent and I'm worried the board is going to slam into my head, or maybe I might get pushed under and hit my head on the coral. Also, as soon as I fall off there's usually another big wave coming at me, and I can barely get on the board in time.
The upside to all this is that it is easy to catch the waves .
I know the best advice is probably to avoid this big stuff until I'm ready, and I think I will, but out of curiosity, what should a person do in this situation?

Learn to duck dive or turtle roll...duck dive is far preferred. Work on conditioning, and endurance. Only way to get comfortable in the bigger stuff is to go for it.

Keep the stoke!!

Thanks I'm checking out those techniques.

parry, is it easier to duck dive a log or turtle it?
sorry if i hijacked this thread

I use the duck dive because it is a better way to get under the wave and still come up ready to paddle. The turtle roll seems to be a beginner last resort move...it does get you through the wave but no forward momentum, and you have to right yourself b4 you can continue paddling.

Scars, as for what is easier...the turtle is easy just less effective.
Remember not all people are heavy/ strong enough to force a longboard under water to perform the duck dive. if this is the case for you, the the turtle is your only choice.

The duck dive is as important as the drop in..it will get you wave count up in a hurry if you are out and ready for the next set. It is a complicated set of moves that brings it all together..practice much.

I weigh 250, and can duck a 10'6" under head high waves.

Hold your breath and dont panic. The worst thing you can do is panic. Just let the wave beat you up and go with the flow. Hold your hands over your head if you are worried about the coral

parrysurf wrote, "I weigh 250, and can duck a 10'6" under head high waves."

Billie responds, "Holy Godzilla! I'm a shrimp by comparison." This also reveals why duck dives with my floaty 9-footer are tough. I better bulk up!

I weigh 180 and I can't duckdive a 6'8'' fish. Talked to some guys at the beach and they told me that it would be possible but very hard. How you do it with a 10'6'' is beyond me.

I can get a 9'6" under if my life depends on it But usually just stand up on the thing and jump and down to sink it a bit then dive over the top of the white water if there's nobody near me.

The best tip I ever had for coping with a pounding is to relax and count the seconds away - you'll hardly ever get past 10, and it keeps you focussed on how long you have got before you drown, so you relax a lot more.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll give them a shot.

The 10'6 is some work to get down, I have to have some momentum. My 9'4, which is my usual surf choice is easy to get under OH surf. It is all about timing, positioning on the board, technique and momentum.....it is possible.

Thibb,
You are doing something wrong. AT 180 you should be able to get an 8' under let alone a 6'8".

As the wave is approaching, use your momentum combined with a push up motion, your hands at the front 1/3. You also need to to put one foot on the tail and the other pointed at the sky, this will force you deeper than just a push up. All must be timed to be at your deep point as the wave hit your ass..this will force you even deeper, you then scoop under the white water.


Works for me.

Geez, Im 170 and can duck my 7'4" mini-mal no problem! Its all about technique and experience

I get what you mean about being too tired from getting past the breaks to paddle into an incoming wave.
My recomendation is to rest a little bit after paddling out.
Im 30 and even though i have good condition i get pretty tired when i paddle out into big waves against strong currents. Whenever i tried to catch a wave i was too tired to paddle fast enough or my popup was all sketchy. Either way i ended up in a wipeout situation.
So now what i do on those ocassions is to rest a little bit.
I would rather let a nice big wave go and wait for the next set to come and be fully ready to commit to it, rather than go for fit and get pounded anyway.

Eventually youll get fit and wont need to do this anymore. Yet, ebven after a year there are some days that i need those minutes to catch a breath.
This little advice has made big wave surfing less frustrating to me.

Aloha bdforbes! Welcome to Hawaii!

How long are you staying? Where are you visiting from? Where have you been surfing? South shores have been a little crappy lately, and it's been a (brrrrr, cold) 75 degrees too.

I duckdive every time, but you have to realize that the size of the board will determine the effectiveness.

I can duckdive my 6'10" fish and my 8' fun gun, but not easily. When you duckdive it's not as important how deep you can do it but how effective you are:

1) swim at the wave with speed
2) push down the nose
3) push down the tail with your foot
4) after the wave hits try to kick swim down one or two times
5) after the wave goes by pull on the nose.
6) use the board floating up to project you forward
7) start paddling right away, work on this
never stop paddling, always be moving forward, forward momentum gets you out there.

Being a beginner, I'd be more selective about surfing only when the waves are smaller (under 5 ft) with light/no wind/ocean currents and longer intervals between wave sets. Surfing in Hawaii with reefs and all to deal with, I'd worry about you getting hurt trying to surf on big days (or even worse). Surfing floaty/longboards you'll benefit with much greater paddle speed so you need to work on vision and timing your paddle out better so you don't get yourself caught in the impact zone. Experienced longboards no how to avoid bad situations (i.e. getting stuck in the impact zone) just as well as learning techniques to successfully execute duckdives/turtle rolls. If you are like myself attempting to surf bigger than my capabilities, I get most exhausted from falling off or missing a waves then getting caught in the impact zone vs. just paddling out. Its the lack of endurance of paddling with all your might to catch a wave, getting pummelled, turning the board around, then trying to paddle out before the next wave breaks right on top of you again.

Hang11 wrote:The best tip I ever had for coping with a pounding is to relax and count the seconds away - you'll hardly ever get past 10, and it keeps you focussed on how long you have got before you drown, so you relax a lot more.

i like that.

Hmmm... I never realised you could duck dive larger boards. I just wrote it off as being impossible on my 7'4, but then I'm a skinny guy who weighs about as much as a gnats left testicle.