Surfing Waves

Hey!,

If I'm posting this in the wrong forum I apologize.

Well the thing is currently I'm riding a chili step-down 2 6'2, 20'1/2, 2'5/8, I'm a beginner-intermediate surfer (3 years surfing), I'm 18, 5'8 and weight 67kg, The wave height range where I surf is between 5ft and 7ft. Before buying it (7 months ago) I was riding a Lost SD II 6'1 and I remembered not having so much trouble with heavier drops... Now I wipe out very often.
Last year I had a kneecap disloacation and broken ligaments which left me out for about 8 months This because genetically I have ligaments hyperlaxity, in simple terms, more risk of having dislocations.

I would like to have some opinions on whether is that I'm having like a psychological fear and how to overcome it (which I think it is) or maybe is a surfboard type selection issue.

I really appreciate any help.

It probably is a mixture of both psychology and board.
Did you have your injury on the first board or the new one?
I am recovering from a knee injury and I have to deal with the distrust I have of my knee and the lack of surfing fitness from a 4 month lay off so I appreciate what you are going through
A suggestion is go a little longer and a littler wider so you have stable platform to pop up and make the drop.
Getting back to your old level is a challenge and you need to consider both the rehabilitation of your knee and your abilities step by step.
Choose slightly less challenging waves for a while get your act and your confidence back on them and slowly work your way back to them.
IMPORTANT;
See a sports physical therapist who can advise you on how to strengthen the entire muscle structure around the joints so the muscle add to the balance of the joint.
( dislocations occur more often when one set of muscles in the joint are stronger than others)
Often hyperlaxity is a product of that). There are other less common reasons for hyperlaxity of ligaments and they need to be clearly diagnosed by a sports doctor.

Appropriate board, physical therapy and then time enough to get your psychology backing you.
Patience.
Also about your level of surfing I still think you are over estimating your level, I read through your post and our previous conversation and I think you are trying to ride a board that is unstable because it is too small and you are having to take off more critically and do't have the full skills to do it. Trying to take too late too hard often will cause injury in the wipeout.
It adds up pretty much to that. Continuous wipeouts on takeoff also mess with your head.
Have a read of what you were advised and see if it fits!

Thanks! now is clearer, I was really confused about the type of surfboard. Regarding the injury in neither of both, it was going downhill on a Longboard...quite traumatic, the distrust even made me stop playing football at all , I was with a physical therapist for about 4 months, but I never fully recovered my muscle.
Well, now I can see i rushed too much on choosing the right surfboard for my level, however the fact i didnt have so much problems with the Lost still confuse me, hope I get my confidence back and get a suitable surfboard
Thanks again!, I was getting extremely frustrated.

Happy to help, land wipeouts ouch!
Go back to the physio, get them to design a set of exercises to stabilise the full knee joint and full leg exercises, do them for both knees and full leg. even after you feel better.
Genetic ligament issues means you have to keep the muscle fitness on to prevent too much laxity.
It is probably like suggesting you give up your religion by suggesting you give up Football but I think that might be worth considering ( football places amazing strain on the knee ligaments).
slow and steady

You won't get advice better than Jaffa here when it comes to questions regarding muscles, ligaments and their relationships.....I could help with your béarnaise but that's about it....

For what it's worth, all I've been working on lately is later, more critical drops on waves that are steeper and more critical than what I've ridden to date....it's coming along, and besides technical aspects such as body positioning on the board and in the water in relation to the wave, timing and pop up technique there is the underlying and overriding thing that seems to be the make it or break it......guts and total commitment.....I only make the wave if I am totally committed....I can be a little off on positioning, timing, paddle a little bit late, but if I'm not fully committed I screw the pooch every time.....if I had doubts over the stability of my knee floating around in the back of my mind that would be a deal breaker and I doubt that i'd catch anything as I'd always be holding back a little in some kind of way......

I have seen people wearing knee braces in the water....would that help either actually physically help protect overextentions or at least mentally? I don't know.....but I'd sort out my knee with rehab, braces, etc. until I had confidence that it would hold together in a wipeout before going for those critical waves....if you feel it is a confidence issue then maybe bigger boards and less critical waves for awhile, but it really is apples and oranges when it comes to breaking the lip on a 7ft wave vs gliding into a three foot fatty on a longboard....it might help a little with the confidence but what you really need is that mentality going in that you WILL make it.....you'll have to take a look at yourself as to what will build that confidence and erase the doubts that you are holding on to....my two cents anyways....cheers and good luck!

Just to share a bit more.....the last sesh I went out and all there was working was a closeout beach break....so I practiced dropping in over and over, working on angling and speed of pop up as well as timing.....I got in a lot of reps and learned a few things/made progress on what I'm working on.....reflecting on the drive home I realised that one of the things that I'd learned was to really let go and just go for it.....that went hand in hand with guaranteed failure......what do you mean you ask?.....I mean that I was able to forget about successfully making the drop and riding out the wave....the wave I was on you could get to your feet and had about 2 seconds tops before it was lights out and the overhead shore break rolled me.....I swear I got barrelled for the first time but don't really know or count it since it was an almost immediate lights out......anyhow, knowing that I was going to get pummelled going in, whether on the face, at the crest or after getting up and down, I was going to "get it" 100% of the time.....so it didn't much matter if I didn't make the drop, or my hand slipped trying to push one rail into the wave on pop up and overweighted that hand, or much of anything really.....just go for it.....by the end of the sesh I had a better feel for a later drop and improved speed on setting the inside rail and getting up quick in balance tight to the wave.....another 100 sesh's like that and I'll be getting somewhere....

The bottom line: commitment equals success (or at least a better chance at it....still need the technique to be correct ) for me.....have a feeling it holds true for everyone....

The tightrope guy who walks across the Grand Canyon and skyscrapers etc (Nik wallenda) says something like 'if you even consider you might fail, then don't bother starting' and 'if you think about falling you are more likely to do so'

Of course, falling off a tightrope from 400ft up isn't quite the same as missing a pop up

Yeah we all have had times where we repeatedly fail at some aspect of surfing. The trick is to wipe that failure out of your mind and take a "you can do it" attitude and keep at it. If you keep thinking you will fail that will cause hesitation which will cause failure. Throw in a physical ailment and that just complicates things. It is really amazing all that goes into surfing especially something like taking a steep drop on a wave but the good news is when you fail it's not like falling off a tightrope into the Grand Canyon

Over 7 months ago ? Could it be the simple difference of Winter and Summer swells. A change in how the wave break during each season.