Surfing Waves

We always hear surfers say they are more than a beginner. What does that mean to you? I recently made it from a beginner to an intermediate. What I mean is that I can hold my own in the lineup. Not the best surfer but not a bumbling newb. To me an advanced surfer is one who can do more than the basic bottom turn, off the lip, cutback and floater similar to the pro surfers. Whatm does it all mean to you?

In my necks of the woods, where the level of surfing is literally world class, I could break it down into hundreds of different levels, but I only break it down into three (very broad) levels - can't surf, can surf, and advanced surfers.
Unlike a lot of places where the ratio would be, for example, 40% can't, 50% can, and 10% advanced, the ratio here is something like 10%, 50%, 40%

My reason for the broad levels is that, from a practical point of view, I don't really care whether the other guy (or 7-year-old girl...) can do a 360º air... I just need to know will they make the drop? Will they get down the line? Will they get down the line fast and far enough that I have to get out their way?

Me? A lot of experience, but firmly in "can surf". In a lot of the world, on a good day, I'd be scratching at the border of "advanced", but on the Gold Coast... no chance!




Update: After this morning's session, maybe I'm back at the can/can't border

Thanks OMS for posting a question I myself was wondering. Seems there's never any "beginners", always beginner-intermediates for some reason.
All I can say is I heard people say they " can surf " or they're " pretty good " and ended up needing to be rescued. While the people that say " ah, I'm okay I guess " end up totally ripping.

I remember at the first weeks of learning, people would ask me if I surfed, and I never said "yes", just "I'm trying to learn". I wouldn't even call myself a surfer until I could at least pop up and bottom turn.
I consider myself a beginner. I don't stand in the way of other surfers (with a few excusables exceptions ), I can read waves that are opening and close outs, and pick the ones I want while paddling. I can pop up, even though I've been noticing I need to work on it on late drops. Once I'm on my feet with good feet positioning I can bottom turn, ride the line and I'm getting close to learn snap.
But I still don't feel I'm consistent, meaning one day of surf can be really good, with some stooking waves (maybe not as stooking for a better surfer), and another can be a total mess.
The last sessions I had were a bit in the middle of those two scenarios .

Improving greatly ATM , good medium surf applied the knee in all capacities and was able do everything at the previous level, just lacking match fitness from lack of water time.
Where I had previously been hesitant I drove into steeper drops and worked the pop up straight into full powered bottom turns.
Happy happy joy joy!!!

Good stuff Jaffa, must have been frustrating to know you have the trip planned and not sure about the knee.

I've been out of the water for about 2 months with a meniscus tear, but its healing pretty well so must have just been the outer sheath. Still its very frustrating; when your knee is shot it is so restrictive to, well, everything. Now just have to get the pre existing MCL injury right and I'll be able to jog for the first time in 18 months...

Jog not on hard surfaces, try wading waist deep and on firm sand, the jolting on hard surfaces will irritate the meniscus, make sure you are doing exercises that balance all structures and muscles around the knee , do both knees and also have your feet checked in their structure , you may need orthotics in your shoes! often that is a structure point that breaks the knees down.
Was in my case

The accumulation of injuries that occur as you age affects your level of surfing in addition to restrictions on time spent surfing. Just look at John John Florence. He should be in the top five but instead is much lower this year. Kelly Slater too, he probably has the skill and knowledge to surf better but has nagging injuries that keep him from performing to his full potential (although he is still pretty awesome). Me too I have physical infirmities that limit my surfing..... not that I would be as good as Slater or JJF if I didn't

Thanks guys. My knee injuries were both trauma injuries - meniscus was from twisting in the gym (all my injuries seem to be in the gym, which almost defeats the purpose!), the classic cause of meniscus injuries.

I'm a terrible injured person - after playing competitive sports until late 30s (with only one major injury in all that time, well it took me out for 3 weeks), having to slow down is not something my brain will accept!

Rate? I don't rate hardly at all....

Well.....no longer a kook....good enough to join in a lot of places....not good enough to hold a spot in the lineup down on bigger or hollow waves (good swell uluwatu outside corner, padang2, keramas, mentawais or g-land). Goal is to be able to surf all those spots competently. Not there yet. So I'm good enough to surf with my not very good friends but not good enough to join in with my more serious long time surfer friends.....so I describe myself as a beginner who is not very good.

I like the rating system of Surfsimply.com:

Level 1: Whitewater, Learning to Stand & Manoeuvre
Level 2: Paddling out, dropping straight down the face
Level 3: Trimming Down the Line, Attempting Turns
Level 3.5: Performing Basic Cutbacks & Lip Hits
Level 4: Aggressive Top to Bottom Surfing
Level 4+: Professional Level Surfer

I would say on a good day I'm at level 3.5 according this system, but unfortunately there are many lesser days.. Surfing 6'6" high volumed hybrids.

Since I'm a Later in life beginner (in 2008) coming back from some injury years at age 52, my main focus is in fitness and building up my surfing frequency. This is a delicate process cos I live in a place where I can surf every day (moved here for that purpose) but if I don't give this old worn out body enough rest in between surfs, now about 3 days, I'm thrown back and can start all over again..

That is a nice simple set of measurements. I totally skipped level 1 and 2 also went straight to level 3. I never tried to go straight or catch whitewater. I never would have thought of those levels. I am probably between 3.5 and 4. So you are saying you have to rest 3 days after one day of surfing? How long do you surf for?

My sessions are about an hour. When the trapezius starts hurting I take the first bus home.

I try to paddle out in the most relaxed way, but commit fully on the takeoffs. I still make many mistakes though, that cost me a lot of paddling energy..

It happened a couple times this year that I went in again too soon, and I had problems. Pulled a muscle in my lats or had a cold. I just want to surf so badly it's hard to be patient..

52yo but still grom-liked enthusiasm..

Bummers, but I can see the temptation with you living in Bali. Are you improving in terms of gettting stronger and staying healthy longer?

As long I take my rest, I slowly improve.

But last time, in april, just when I felt ready to go down in volume the mosquitos got me, Denque. That took me out long enough..

Tudeo wrote:I like the rating system of Surfsimply.com:

Level 1: Whitewater, Learning to Stand & Manoeuvre
Level 2: Paddling out, dropping straight down the face
Level 3: Trimming Down the Line, Attempting Turns
Level 3.5: Performing Basic Cutbacks & Lip Hits
Level 4: Aggressive Top to Bottom Surfing
Level 4+: Professional Level Surfer

I have seen this and other similarly raw beginner weighted charts....I don't rate them because if I am half a point below pro surfer, which according to this chart I am, it is hard to take serious. Problem with wall chart type rating systems is that it doesn't account for conditions, late drops, wave positioning, paddle fitness, ocean knowledge, or any of a number of other attributes that I feel make the complete package....the chart rates the same for a surfer on a 2ft beachie with no current and a 60m paddle out as it does for someone who surfs in more demanding conditions.....it is a starting point I suppose if you must measure yourself.

Big H wrote:....I don't rate them because if I am half a point below pro surfer, which according to this chart I am, it is hard to take serious...

I thought the same thing... in my neck of the woods, the scales need to go 4, 4+, 4++, 4+++....420x+

It's obvious that if you do aggressive top to bottom maneuvers on 2 foot waves it is quite different from doing the same on double overhead waves and if you are a big wave guy then it becomes legendary or mythical to do those types of maneuvers.

I think within the skill set of surfers there are some things that individual surfers do better than others for instance I do steep takeoffs better than most. I did this even before my other skills were up to that of an average surfer ....what I would consider myself now. Even long ago when I was still struggling to do cutbacks or even to put together more than a maneuver on a wave I could take off on a steep overhead backside wave make a hard bottom turn smack the lip and do it again. Now it may have looked like I could surf much better than I actually could but I could do these maneuvers it's just that that was my entire backside repertoire. I could not do anything else but go down the line without turning and the timing was often off so I would smack the lip but it would smack me back much harder and toss me off the board. These days I can do more and rarely ever smack the lip as hard as I used to before because the chances of me pulling off that turn was less than 50%. By chance I might do three smacks in a row but the odds were I was going to fall down. I tend to surf conservatively so I try to not fall down so I still haven't gotten to the point where I feel I can pull that off better than 50 % backside but back then I did it because I wasn't good enough to generate speed and go down the line well enough. I could do a bottom turn and that was it or hit the lip but my ability to visualize what the wave was doing backside is much poorer now compared to before which is why that is a low percentage maneuver for me. I just can't comfortably twist my neck enough to see the wave backside so I now surf it more by instinct. I have an idea what the wave is going to do. I haven't gotten skilled enough to whack the lip really hard backside like I used to when I couldn't surf as well as I do now

I am sure within the skill set of surfers some have skills that are exceptional and other skills that that are mediocre or non existent, like I can't do airs. So it would be extremely difficult to come up with an accurate system to evaluate what level you are. Anyway good stuff folks but the purpose is more to gauge how you evaluate yourself more than what level you actually are. It's all related to what we hear all the time like "I am an advanced beginner" or "intermediate surfer". What does that mean to you?

What borders me is sometimes surfing is easy and everything goes without thinking but other times I struggle to catch the wave..

My level of surfing is that I still can't figure out why that is..

Level 3 (finally really got there this spring) and will probably stay there for a long time. My local break is two hours away, horrible even when it is on (it's also almost never on) and it will be at least 18 months until my next long term stay in Indo or anywhere else that's decent...

Hopefully, my struggles at the local spot (it's called Shitties by the few english speaking visitors for a reason) will make me a stronger paddler and able to handle more difficult conditions and translate to better surfing when I go somewhere good again. Or so I tell myself.