My surfing journey

[jwardmagic]

I have actualy been surfing 3x already so I'll do a quick update of what I did, what I found difficult, frustrations etc of the first three. I'm making my fourth trip to the beach tomorrow. If you haven't read my introduction to this blog, please do and it'l explain a bit about my goals in surfing and the reasons behind which I am pursuing this!

Day 1:

I had a few surf lessons a few years ago and thought that I still may have the techiniques I learnt (basicaly just popping up!) engrained in my motor memory still. I was wrong! The waves were perfect, and infact I heard some saying they were some of the best waves they had caught in months (excuse my kook talk!). I have made a goal designed to help me learn to stand up as quickly as possible (which is extra hard for me due to my ankylosing spondylitis) by standing / popping up and riding at least 10 waves. It doesn't matter how big they are. This took a LOT longer than I thought it would and I found myself exhausted after about an hour. This surprised me as I am a bit of a gym buff and do a lot of cardiovascular work.
I realised that I was trying to run before I could walk and was catching the larger waves further out which almost always I found impossible to stand up on; they would push me forward so quickly as soon as I'd stand up I'd lose my balance or the nose would go into the water etc. So I decided to move to the water water smaller, 3 - 4 ft waves which I found a lot easier and more stable and I did the majority of my pop ups on these waves. However, I found it quite frustrating that there were so many people older and younger than me that seemed to have no problem at all catching the larger waves, and on shortboards! I had a mini malibu. I tried not to compare myself too much and respect my limitations.
The feeling I get when I do stand up; weight distributed correctly etc is just amazing. It's as if I am one with the sea and all the struggle has paid off.
So about two and a half hours later, and ten descent rides later I went back to my car quite exhausted and to be honest, quite frustrated and upset at myself. However, I tend to set unrealistic expectations for myself and I compare myself against other people way too much (a problem of mine I am dealing with). Especialy when it comes to surfing, I have to learn to respect that it might take a bit longer for me as I have ankylosing spondylitis, but that does not mean it can't be done. Bethany Hamilton comes to mind, she does it with one arm! All I have to contend with is pain and inflexibility, both of which I can work on with yoga, diet and practice.
I just wish I lived next to a beach with descent waves! I'd be out there everyday for sure. But since I don't, I plan to cross train with yoga, weight training, balance training and I am considering purchasing the 'perfect surfer' pop up trainer to help me practice pop ups whilst not surfing. I know that it can just be done on normal ground, but I have found this to be nothing like the actual thing!

[jwardmagic]

My surfing journey: #2

Day two and I was hoping that I'll be able to get my pop up a bit more consistent this time. However, the waves were almost non existant. I had dedicated myself to get down there no matter what the surf is like though, as it is all practice. On the waves I did catch, I started to notice what exactly it was that I found difficult about popping up. I noticed that for whatever reason (flexibility maybe?) my front foot (I am regular footed) always slides/drags up the board. I can never get it high enough to not drag. However, I can still pop up like this although sometimes my foot will get stuck halfway and I'll wipeout. Also, my front foot will sometimes land off centre throwing my weight off the board. These are things that I tried to focus harder on after realising what I was doing, but also realised that when I practice popping up on the dry ground I should think about my weight placement as well. This is why I thought the perfect surfer pop up trainer would help, or even popping up onto a large balance board! Although I don't tihnk I'd be able to do that just yet .
I got quite frustrated once again seeing everyone else managing to pop up seemingly effortlessly but this drove me harder to keep persisting. I figured that I need to work on the flexibility of my lower back and hips and would incorporate more of this into my yoga. After two and a half hours and another ten successful pop ups/ rides later I left for home.

[jaffa1949]

Morning Jward, I really good thing you can do for all of us following you progress would be IMO to put all your posts in one thread, that way we could read your questions see the answers and remarks and other learners could see the what worked for you, that would help their progress ( one of your aims)
You are right to be inspired by Bethany Hamilton, things are a little different for you with the Ankylosing Spondylitis, it's your butt end that is the problem, as the first joint effect is usually the Sacroiliac hence the challenge with your hips and that first pull through of the feet to pop up.
You are however getting some rides that work each surf so that's great some reward.
Have you a friend who you surf with?
The idea if you have is to get them to look at how you pop up (even better if they can video) and see if there is an alternate way you can get to your feet functionally. it also helps when they see what you do that works so you can repeat that consistently.

Don't frustrate yourself but judging your progress on other surfers, we'd all be dribbling messes if we compared ourselves to KSx10.
Surfing is the absolute personal journey ad yours is going to be unique and a particular masterpiece as is Bethany's.

Now stick your posts together so none get lost!

[surf patrol]

keep us updated on your progress jwardmagic. Phillwilson has done a similar thing here, it's proved quite popular.
(I've merged topics so you can update your progress in a single thread.)

[offshore]

3 to 4 foot is the 'smller' saves that day? How big waere the bigger ones?

O_o. Mad skillz dude and brave! 3 to 4 foot is a BIG-ish day for me! And they can have a lot of power depends on the conditions.

[jwardmagic]

My surfing journey: #3

Saturday and after my morning yoga was off to surf! Got to the beach around 1pm and it was completely packed with people. I always admire anyone I see with a shortboard because I find even the basics on my mini malibu challenging! But one day I'll ditch the minimal and be carrying the shortboard around too!
It was quite a windy day today and although the waves were consistant they were all over the place (not sure of the surfing jargon to describe that if there are any!). However, after watching lots of instructional youtube videos the previous week, I remembered to wait until there is a clear wave, with maybe 10m infront of it and no wave directly behind that looks like it has power. I realised today that the quality of the wave you catch plays a big role in your actual ride, balance, pop up etc. Previously I was getting fed up with paddling hard for waves and then having the wave pass under me; which I later realised was for numerous reasons. Also, previously I had been frantically paddling out past the waves, and felt quite exhausted by the time I'd catch some waves. I realised that although paddling out is a good workout, I get a very good workout most of the week with my yoga and weight training, probably a better one I'd get from surfing, and it seemed better for me to walk out to about chin depth duck diving and jumping over the waves (and maybe paddling a bit), rather than franticaly paddling...duck diving etc past every wave. I noticed a few other beginners also trying to paddle past everything when I don't think its entirely necessary. By taking your time and walking out without wasting energy, I found myself more focused when standing up and riding/balancing on my board on the wave.
One strange thing I noticed was that occasionaly the wave would seem to suck my board under the water and no matter how much weight I'd put on the tail, the nose wouldn't surface. I don't think (when this happened) it was due to my weight placement being too far forward because I took note of my positioning as it happened and it was fine. I figured it must have been something to do with my placement on the wave, my speed when the wave hit me and/or the type of wave.
During the times I was waiting for each wave, I'd stretch my lower back (I have spondylitis) by holding onto the board and curling inwards under the water and twisting side to side which helped with my mobility when popping up.
The ten waves I caught today didn't last long. I popped up on ten of them and rode them a short distance before losing power and stopping. However, that is a different obstacle than the one I am focusing on at the moment and just managing to pop up ten times was a goal well achieved for me!
I spent two hours in the sea today catching my ten waves, and a two hours well spent. I made a concious effort not to compare myself to everyone else this time, and although I failed to do this completely, I definitely felt more concious on my own journey and not how bad I am compared to others. Everyone is different, and there is no reason why, with practice...I couldn't be just as good, if not better than those that I compare myself too! All it takes it the dream, passion and persistance. Same with anything in life.

[jwardmagic]

My surfing journey #4:

I had some spare money today which I spent on fuel getting me up to the beach again! Felt great to surf again and not have to wait another week to do so! It costs me £25 to get up there and back, and the parking costs £5 (usually) so its not the cheapest sport for me! The parking actualy cost £7 today, and with the beach packed with literaly hundreds of people (200 maybe) I figured they must be making a fortune from it! How nice it would be to live right next to the beach! I'd go and surf everyday (or everyday I physically could).
Felt like the perfect day today for surfing, the sun was out, there was quite a bit of energy in the air, families on the beach, dogs running around, blue sky, blue sea. The wind was quite high though and the waves were like yesterdays; consistant but all over the place. When I first started I had a bit of a surfing ego about me. I didn't realise just how much of a challenge my spondylitis would provide to me when it came to surfing, and because of my past with skateboarding, I thought I'd immediately ace surfing! I was wrong. However, today I wasn't feeling greatly confident about my skills, but neither was I feeling pesimistic. I felt "however I surf today, I'll do my best, and continue to improve slowly over time. If today isn't a good day, there will be one around the corner". A good way to see life in general actualy if you ask me! I sometimes see life in that way. You learn to ride it. Without falling occasionaly, you'd never learn to strengthen your 'sea legs' and ride the wave of life better!
I didn't do any yoga or stretching today as I woke and quite randomly decided to go surfing again, and wanted to get to the beach ASAP (takes me 90 minutes) so I could get back in time to write this and do other things afterwards. I found that this didn't effect my pop up today (maybe because I had done some stretching the day before, I'm not sure...) and the first four waves I caught and popped up very well (for my standards) on. I didn't ride them very far, but my pop up seemed to be a lot less of a hassle and I almost seemed to glide up when I did it. I just remembered a few points that I'd notice when practicing on my carpet at home and repeat them to myself as I was about to pop up: #1 Keep my weight forward through the whole wave...#2 Stabalise before standing #3 Stand and pump and shift weight forward if I need to.
Just as I was about to pop up I'd slap my hands against the deck and this would give me a sort of momentum to just pop up in a fluid motion (not sure if I looked silly doing this but who cares).
I felt quite stoked about catching four in a row and popping up on all of them but didn't let my ego get in the way as the next six waves weren't as easy, although were much easier than usual! I think I only popped up badly about 5 times during the entire 2 hours I was in the sea (badly as in...popping up and falling immediately or my feet popping into a place where it would be impossible to recover from and just bail). I once again noticed that the quality of the wave plays a huge part in your surf. I also stayed nearer the little beginners waves and I found these 10x easier to pop up on. I did about 6 of my pop ups on these waves and the other 4 I ventured out where the slightly bigger waves were breaking and caught these. The larger waves seemed harder to balance on due to the speed, but the one time I caught one, popped up smoothly and rode it into the shallows felt so good, I couldn't stop myself from trying again!
Since today was going so well, I decided to make it "15 quality, smooth pop ups with a short ride" before I went back to my car and managed them all in 2 hours!
I did notice on most of the waves I caught though, that I'd ride them for a short distance, at times maybe only 5-10 metres, and then the wave would pass underneath me. I figured this was due to my weight being too far back on the tail of the board, so I conciously made an effort to pop up nearer the front of the board and put more weight on my front foot. This still didn't seem to help though and it made me wonder what I had done correclty the time that I rode the wave all the way into the shore. Maybe it was just the type of wave.
I also got hit in the back of the head by another surfboard but it didn't phase me, although I figured that I should try to be more aware of oncomming surfers that may not have seen me.
When paddling and floating on my board in the past, I noticed that I'd feel quite unstable when arching my back upwards. I noticed that my keeping my elbows wide and my hands close together as I arch upwards increased my balance by at least 100%. I tried sitting on my board and floating like I see so many people doing on their shortboards but I couldn't balance with it, maybe its just a shortboard thing or my spondylitis makes that extra difficult for me. But all will come with persistance! I am hoping that the smoothness of my pop up that I experienced today wasn't just a 'good day' or a 'fluke day'...that it actualy has become ingrained into my motormemory and I'll find my next sesh easier as well. My inflamation wasn't as high today either (I have been taking various natural anti inflammatories which have been helping and may have contributed; fish oil, green lipped mussel etc) which definitely increased my confidence and removed any hesitation in fear of pain. I still can't forget that stoke of riding the wave into the shore! I can't even imagine how good it must feel to ride a bigger wave in, maybe do a few turns, cut backs etc! Wow. Maybe in a few years I'll look back at this post and see how far I've come!

[jwardmagic]

#5:

Made it to Saunton Sands yesterday and damn, what a great day! Looking down at the waves from the cliff before I came to park, it seemed windy and the waves seemed all over the place. I was a bit bummed out to find out the car park cost £7! Might try Croyd bay around the corner the next time if the price is the same.

There were a lot of surfers there today, in the hundreds which at times was a bit frustrating but like last week, my pop up was once again consistent which I was very happy about. I felt I was catching more waves (and standing) than a lot of people just because of the quick pop up I developed by practicing so much at home. I also noticed that I was too far back on my board, and it was causing me to slow down a lot of the time after standing up as i was too far towards the tail. I shifted my weight forward and the balance and speed was much better.

Instead of focusing on standing up ten times, I decided to do 'at least' ten smooth pop ups and balanced rides. I noticed that popping up was not a problem at all for me this time. It still isn't effortless, but it is a lot easier than two weeks ago! I am surprised how quickly I managed it. I have been taking various supplements for my spondylitis and have been avoiding taking the conventional medicine for it and to be honest, they are working wonders!

I caught my first four waves within the first 20 minutes whilst sticking around the small 'easy' waves. Then I decided to venture out to the larger waves. Some of them today seemed huge! But I guess huge is relative to where you are. I saw a wave at least 4 feet higher than my head rise and start to break near me, turned my board around and started paddling. It crashed almost on my back as I was paddling which almost threw me off my surfboard but I managed to hold on and then pop up! It was the best feeling I've felt to date surfing and probably the closest feeling to actually flying I've had. I rode it past other surfers, zig zagging them by turning and shifting my weight slightly to my toes or heels. What an amazing feeling.

Each time I go I feel I become slightly more addicted and in love! I've actualy considered moving closer to the beach and getting a job up there so I can go everyday. I can't wait until I feel stable and good enough to progress to a short board and start learning cutbacks etc. I also don't want to get my hopes up too high, because there will be harder/less good days ahead...just have to remember that so I don't get discouraged along the way.

The other 5 waves I caught without fail and decided to make it 15 because I found it so fun. The hardest part was balancing when standing, but after a few bails, I feel the motor memory from my skateboarding days took over and I started to fall a lot less and readjust my body quickly to keep my balance. A few of the times I rode the wave until the board stopped moving, and was still balanced on it as it slowly sunk under my weight.

The only downside of the day was getting hit in the back of the head by another surfboard. Maybe a reminder to remember I'm not the centre of the universe and that I have to be aware of the other surfers there as well!

I'm considering purchasing a carveboard or some kind of balance board in the mean time which I might incorporate into my weight training and yoga I do at home and the gym. Originally I was planning on purchasing a contraption called the perfect surfer. Now it seems a bit pointless to me, but it is still on my mind as it may come in useful if I ever can't make it to the beach on a weekend.

Can't wait to go next saturday!

[jaffa1949]

it's Saturday here in Australia. I'm waiting excitedly for two things the jwardmagic surf report and the ASP contest in Teahupoo

[jwardmagic]

Day #6

Weather was pretty bad today and I was expecting the waves to be choppy and messy. I never bother to check the surf report because no matter how good or bad it is, the weekend is the only time I can go surf, so whether it takes me an hour, or three to catch a wave I'll be there.

I think the summer is over now in the UK at least and had my first day of surfing in the rain today; although you obviously don't really notice it in the sea!

The waves were surprisingly good for the first hour I was in the sea. Consistant sets with very little 'mess' between each one. My first 7 waves I caught first time without falling. I think I am finally getting the hang of the pop up! I have been practicing yoga everyday, along with popping up on the carpet 10x a day for the past 6 months and due to my spondylitis in the past when I tried to surf I always found it impossible to pop up. I am really feeling I've reached my first, personal milestone with my surfing. I can pop up quite consistently now in the sea and my balance has always improved tremendously. The entire two and a half hours I was out today, I think I only bailed three times. Every single wave I attempted to stand up on and ride I managed to.

One thing I noticed sometimes helps when you paddle for a wave and are carried a few metres as the wave starts to pass underneath you, is if you push your board forward (and your body back) as the wave starts to go underneath, it often catches the wave again. You then just have to pop up and compensate for being further back on the board.

Nearing the end of the session I started to get very tired (hadn't eaten much) and suddenly my popups became more difficult. I could still pop up but there was a lot more drag when bringing my foot underneath. I don't thing this matters too much to be honest because I still manage to stand up despite of it and I suspect as I continue improving my flexibility the problem will slowly go.

After the first 5 or so waves I caught I felt more confident and ventured out to the larger waves further out. I did feel a bit apprehensive about it but I actually surprised myself when I found these to be not much harder to pop up on than the smaller waves; the only problem was making sure a breaking wave doesn't knock me off the board as I start to move forward!

Being a slightly comulsive perfectionist I set a minimum number of goals to reach before heading back home to make sure I feel I've made the most of my day surfing. Today was to pop up smoothly and ride at least ten waves which I did although in truth it was probably more around the 15 wave range.

The only thing I find a bit frustrating is when I've caught that perfect looking wave, I've managed to pop up and balance, and then a few metres later it passes underneath me! This happened many times and when I felt it happening I tried shifting my weight more toward the nose and pumping the wave a bit, neither of them worked. To be honest, there were very few surfers who were riding very far today, but I noticed a few were consistently managing it with every wave they caught so I'm thinking they either know which waves to catch in order to continue riding...or, there is something wrong with my technique.

Anyway overall I'm feeling quite stoked about my pop up, although I still need to continue working on it. I'm thinking in a month or two if I keep up with the progress I've been making I will be learning to turn and carve .

Only downside today was noticing that I had snapped a fin when walking back to my car . It looks like the kind that can be unscrewed as there seems to be a small bolt of some sort holding it in. It says 'FCS' on it. So I'll either have to buy a new one or find some very strong glue and glue it back on.

[jaffa1949]

Hi Jwardmagic, the FCS fins are replaceable in the two plug you will notice either a little grub screw or a hole where it should have been.
The bottom of an FCS fin or clones there are two tags or lugs that fit into the plugs , they are designed (hopefully) to break if the force is too great and sacrifice the fin and not the integrity of the board. New fins, grub screws and fin keys (the screwdriver for the grub screws) can be purchased at your surf shop.
Have a look have you snapped the fin or has it just popped out, if a lug has broken get a new fin. Very few glues will stand the forces placed on a fin in turning, DO NOT glue the fin in the plug.

BTW there may be a different set up on your centre fin if you have a long fin box where you can change position of the fin. These are usually fairly self evident as to what to do.

Good work on the steps you've taken

[jwardmagic]

Hopefully my fins will arrive before saturday. I ordered some fibreglass FCS G-AM's which should be just as good as the plastic ones I have. I couldn't find single fins so just ordered the tri set. I guess if I break any of the side ones in the future I can replace them with an old fin. Anyway, looking forward to the weekend!

I noticed some 'pop up change tents' available pretty cheap which would make it much easier getting changed in a car park with about 200 other cars for me and my lady friend. At the moment we make do changing in my tiny peugeot 106 hatchback which is a pain, especially when we've come out! But we'll see. Going to hone that pop up and my balance a bit more on Saturday

[surf patrol]

I've never seen anyone get changed in a pop up tent, although in my younger days having surfed in Cromer in a howling north westerly in the middle of winter, then trying to get changed on the prom when my fingers could barely move, it might have come in handy.

[jwardmagic]

Day #7

I guess the summer has gone and the winter is on its way now because it was pretty rainy the entire day. Theres something about the rain and surfing I like though. It kind of makes me feel as if I'm 'even more' in the elements, and it is an even better feeling when I do something like catch and stand up on a wave.

I wasn't feeling great either as I've had a chest infection and therefore felt generally quite weak, but missing my weekly surf sesh for that reason would make me feel worse!

As is becoming common now, I caught my first five or so waves perfectly. My pop up seemed almost flawless. After the first five waves things got a bit trickier but I'm not sure whether that was because of the change of wind/conditions or just the fact that I was becomming increasingly tired. I remember watching a girl paddling out past all the waves and wondering how tired she must feel doing that. I am a fit guy; I work out 3x a week and have a personal trainer. I'm also studying nutrition. I decided to try to do the same thing she was doing. Yes I could do it, but I found it difficult and very tiring and almost pointless when I could save energy and just jump the waves (although slower). However, my surfing has become and almost spiritual thing for me. It has helped me become increasingly 'mindful' about my own thoughts, and how they effect my feelings, judgements etc and I've noticed that I have started to slowly be able to catch myself during my thoughts and stop the on-coming negativity.

Anyway, I think that my general pop up is getting quite good now and rather than continue to focus on standing up, next time I think I will focus on popping up sooner and balancing better. I noticed that 75% of the time when I caught a wave, the wave would carry me a short distance, five metres maybe, and then pass underneath me. I have tried shifting my weight in an attempt to stay on the wave, and even pump/bounce to try to stay with it but nothing seems to help. I tried to pop up sooner to see what effect that would have and...wow what a difference that made! Usually I would allow a breaking wave to break and then when I was comfortably moving forward I'd attempt to pop up. I decided to just go for it and pop up as soon as I felt my board get sucked up into the wave. I did it and it was a completely different feeling to surfing the white water! It felt so smooth and effortless. Then however, the wave continued to break and the nose of my board got caught in the water and I fell. I learnt a lesson that I will try to stick to in the future. Pop up sooner! I've noticed that a lot of learning to surf is a mind game. You hear people always tell you 'commit' etc...and I understand what they mean by that now, but its a lot harder than simply 'commiting' to standing up, or at least for me. A lot of it really is simply about the amount of time you spend in the ocean and more importantly (I think) the number of times you fail to do what you're trying to do. We can't expect to do it perfectly first or second times. Thats why we fail. So we can learn to do it better in the future, so we learn to balance and what NOT to do. Why do we fall? To learn to stand up again.

As I write this I'm full of positive anticipation for the future and my surfing. But I know if I were actually surfing, even that anticipation would be silenced by the sound of the ocean, the waves breaking etc...the very moment, not lost in the past or thinking about the future.
This isn't a journey for me to compare my skills to others. This is a journey for myself. To become the best I can for myself at surfing. My own best. And each time I surf, it almost feels like I've reached that 'best' and there is no journey anymore because I am not worrying or thinking about the past or future. Just the present moment.

Walking my way back to the car I was thinking ironically how just two months ago I thought it would take me a year or so to learn to pop up. That fear almost made me give up but now that realisation has given me even more motivation to GO FOR IT, no matter what setback I might create with my mind.

I still haven't come across a more perfect feeling that being carried towards the shore by a wave. The effort followed by the natural simplicity of it is like no feeling I've ever felt and I'm sure there must be others that feel the same way.

[sarahjayne]

i'm hooked have to say you're doing really well though! Hope i can be at that standard after 2 hours back in but i doubt it very much lol, enjoy

[jwardmagic]

Day #8

As I drove down today towards the beach I noticed the waves looked...HUGE! Got a bit excited but they also looked sloppy and I figured that because of the £3 car park charge (usually its £5 or £7) the wave's must have been crap. I never bother looking at the surf forecast because I'd rather go when its a bad day than not go, and just wait longer for a few good waves.

There were only about 50 (max) surfers today on the 2 mile stretch of beach which was good however my pop up seemed more difficult than the last weeks. I didn't manage to stand and ride a wave until about my fourth try. I figured this could be for a few reasons; 1) The previous week I upped my gym workout and bettered my diet whilst doing less stretching. The increase in weight lifting and less stretching might have made me more stiff. 2) The waves were pretty sloppy and all over the place which didn't help, especially for balancing.

I did manage in the end to pop up although I spent about 2 1/2 hours in the sea getting to my targetted 10 rides as I kept venturing out as far as I could to catch the larger waves. One good thing was the size of the waves today. They were huge! And even the white wash was so powerful it almost knocked the wind out of me at times just standing there. It was taking so long to walk out because of the strength of the waves I started paddling and found it much faster, although tiring.

I was feeling quite frustrated to be honest for the first half of the surfing today. I'd see the few experienced people catching and riding waves all the time and noticed that maybe I wasn't as good as I thought I was, but it's always a good thing to be brought back to reality sometimes!

I caught 3 or 4 waves after spending 10-20 minutes getting out as far as I could for the 'big waves'. I found these quite difficult to balance on though which I'm sure was due to the conditions. I caught and popped up on the perfect wave, at least 4-5 foot and just breaking, but my boards nose got sucked under infront of me and I couldn't compensate by shifting my weight and ended up with what probably was a perfect wipeout .

I also noticed that the shortboarders (more experienced than me) and most of the people surfing were surfing the whitewash. I think that may have been due to the fact that the sea was so sloppy it must have been easier nearer the shore. When I got to 8 or so pop ups, I started to move closer to the shore with the majority of the people surfing, and found it 10x easier to balance and pop up. After I did that I started to manage to surf every wave I caught again, effortlessly like the previous weeks. I think therefore it must have been the conditions and not my 'skills diminishing' (I hope! )

When I had reached my ten pop ups, the weather turned and it started pouring with rain, followed by a hail storm. Might sound strange, but I found it quite a nice feeling, in the ocean like that. I stayed in a caught another 2-3 waves then decided enough was enough and went back to my car.

Originally I had planned to change from ten simple pop ups, to ten pop ups with smooth rides (to make sure I progress as quickly as possible), but because of the conditions I kept it at ten pop ups. Theres always next week!

After a while of being frustrated with the bad conditions I started to just let the waves pass me by. It may sound strange but I've found myself managing to do this more in life in general after I started surfing. Situations I'd usually get overly stressed about, I don't get caught up in and they pass by almost un-noticed. I don't get attached to them. A symptom of the surf disease?
Also, 'bad days' are inevitable. Without them how would we appreciate the good days? There'd be no perspective for the good days to make them good . It keeps getting better

[jwardmagic]

i'm hooked have to say you're doing really well though! Hope i can be at that standard after 2 hours back in but i doubt it very much lol, enjoy

Thankyou! I have to say though todays surf wasn't great, but I think the hard times (if we persist regardless) are what help us grow/get better. And today was frankly s!%@ ! Have to have bad days to appreciate the good ones though!

[Rickyroughneck]

Another corker, thanks for sharing . That pretty much describes Fistral when I surfed it last Sunday, battled with the waves to get outback and never did quite make it (didn't have my shortboard with me so was using my big fish which is a bit of a cork). Anyway, gave up and surfed reforms and had a whale of a time .

[jwardmagic]

Another corker, thanks for sharing . That pretty much describes Fistral when I surfed it last Sunday, battled with the waves to get outback and never did quite make it (didn't have my shortboard with me so was using my big fish which is a bit of a cork). Anyway, gave up and surfed reforms and had a whale of a time .

I've definitely found surfing the white water much easier today and got fed up with constantly having to get past all the waves since each time one hit me I'd get pulled back about 5m each time. Was good practice and fun paddling between them though. Not sure what you mean by reforms? Reformed waves? I need to start learning more about which waves to catch! ( ) I just wait till theres a clear 10m or so infront, and theres no wave behind it to make it lose power. If its about to break, then even better.

[Katsura]

Sometimes after a wave break, they go over a deeper bit of bottom, and they reform into unbroken waves.