Surfing Waves

so I have been trying to learn surfing for more than a year. By that being said I dont mean I surf quite often like 2-3 times a week. I only get to surf about once in 2 weeks.I usually surf about 2 hours per session though.

I have tried a 8' foamie, a 7'4 ,20.5 ,2.5' minimal and am now learning on a 7'6, 21.75 ,2.75 mini mal. I didnt have much problem catching whitewater with my foamie though I did not catch many "real" one with it either. I soon (6 months) dumped it because of its bad quality and because I thought I was too good to use it,

Then I bought a second 7'4,20.5,2.5 but after the first session decided to give up on it as I found it too difficult to do anything with it. And I bought this 7'6 21.75 ,2.75 and thought it would be a perfect fit for me But I am starting to think I am wrong again because I been out with this board 4 times but I fail to make a single real wave with it... And I couldnt ride it with whitewater like I did on my foamie.

I am 29 average fitness competent swimmer I think, but not making any serious progress in a year really drives me crazy. My paddling fitness is fairly weak I know but I think thats the thing I can only improve to a certain extent.

Last time out I was caught in a rip..it was scary, I was tired paddling for 1 hour so even the water was not deep but I just couldnt get out of it effectively, I waved for help and a surfer came to me. Eventually a wave caught me and push me to the shore..It was quite embarrassed..

I am not ready to give up yet but my confidence really drop down..Has anyone been to my stage ever or do you have any helpful tips?
I tried surf school several times but they didnt seem to do much except giving me a big push in the whitewater area...

Let's get a few things straight , you are trying to make surfboard decisions , when you don't know the information , you don't understand the beach because you did know how to deal with a rip! You are not paddle fit , all this adds up to awful surfing experiences!
We don't know how much you weigh, major factor.

So let's start with the advice that will start to fix your problems.

Get a longer board on which you can paddle well, be kind to yourself , catching white water is the most basic start!
Every surfer has been at this beginning!
Your progress has been hindered by your choices from lack in your knowledge.
Surfing is not easy , good surfers make it look so.
The best step you have made is admitting you don't know, things will improve if you heed the advice here.

Have a read of the posters here, get strong and confident in your swimming, learn the beach and its behaviours.
Know how to take care of yourself in the water and surfing etiquette,
Surfing requires you to be self sufficient in the water! A leash is not a life saving device!
So next step , height weight, where you are surfing, post this information , help will come!

jaffa1949 wrote:So next step , height weight, where you are surfing, post this information , help will come!

I am 29 standing at about 1.76m barefoot, floating from 71-74kg depending on how much I eat and exercise at a given time. I live in sydney and usually will go to maroubra and cronulla beach. Problem is that those beaches are usually packed with pro-like surfers. I usually dont go to line-ups occupied with them & dont want to stand in anyone's way but then if I go to a quite spot it might be a rip.....

A quiet spot , that might be a rip absolutely correct! At Maroubra or Cronulla the surfers are pretty good so your idea of being away from the crowd is right. There are peaks up the beach where could surf on small days but rips are on either side of the peak. Take some time to go to the life guards and get them to show you how to recognise a rip, and what to to get out of it to safety. If you could paddle properly and if you knew how to work with rip you would have had no problems.

You need to have a longer board to gain paddling strength and skills at this stage, you need to catch waves to learn to ride!

Much to learn much to enjoy in the adventure!.

Patience, a bigger board, more frequent trips to the ocean, time in the water building strength and skills.....like Jaffa said, its a long road and a lot to learn....enjoy the journey!!!.......... and really, get a bigger board!

There has to be spots where beginners go; find out and join in even if it means going a bit out of the way.....will mean more waves in a more supportive developmental environment (READ: If everyone else is a learner, it will free you up to make the mistakes that you will inevitably make that you need to make so that you can learn from them)

.....and wherever that learner break is, I would bet that the waves are better suited to learn on than that wave that I saw in the Bra Boys movie in Maroubra which looks like a super steep, fast and hollow beach break populated with equal parts budding pros and thugs.....got to be a better place to learn at 29 years old than that.

Big H wrote: I would bet that the waves are better suited to learn on than that wave that I saw in the Bra Boys movie in Maroubra which looks like a super steep, fast and hollow beach break populated with equal parts budding pros and thugs.....got to be a better place to learn at 29 years old than that.

The wave that featured in Bra Boys is a death slab known as Ours which is near the mouth of Botany Bay quite a way from Maroubra! Maroubra is a typical Sydney surf beach , rock shelves at either end and a long sand beach with peaks between . Beach angle to swell determines what happening Sydney has 26 variants on that theme and then a number of rock shelf specialist breaks!, lots of places to learn about beach safety.

Suggest you trade in your board for a legit longboard in the 9 ft range(maybe a beefy 8'6 could work as well), that should help you out paddling and catching waves.

Read up/watch vids/ask other surfers/watermen regarding rips etc and what to do when you find yourself in trouble. Rips can be intimidating, but like Jaffa said, with the right knowledge of what to do in those types of situations, you won't(shouldn't) have any problems. Not sure exactly what happened the last time you got caught and needed help, but that could have potentially been life threatening. For now, I would err on the side of caution and not paddle out in any challenging conditions(your comfort level will dictate). The skills and knowledge are something that comes from experience so don't be discouraged, your comfort level will increase as you progress.

At once every two weeks progress will be slow. Don't get frustrated thinking you should be improving rapidly because you shouldn't. Stay with longer boards and learn to use them. They will be easier to paddle and to catch waves with. Learn about currents and how to deal with them. In general you don't paddle against them. They go in circles so you paddle to the side and that takes you out of them and if you can then use the waves to bring you back to the beach. Learn to read the water, You can usually see a rip before you go out.

To the great advice posted so far, also consider -.

Renting before buying a bigger board. Share your experiences with the local shop and try a board they suggest. Experiment until you find one that works best.

Using a surf report to choose optimum dates and times for your break. You may, for example, want to surf with the incoming tide on 2-3 foot days in the middle of the week. The surf store can also help you with this.

Here is a link to Magic Seaweed for your area.
http://magicseaweed.com/Sydney-Maroubra-Surf-Report/1183/

frostless wrote:I live in sydney and usually will go to maroubra and cronulla beach

Right, for a start, stop surfing Maroubra. The 'bra is a dreadful place to learn - steep jacking waves, crowded, and an aggressive crew
The 'bra was my local for about 6 years, and I swear my surfing went backwards. And I wasn't even learning to surf - I really didn't like maroubra all that much. I had a few great days there, but I had far more frustrating ones.

Cronulla on the other hand... which break are you surfing at Cronulla? Whichever one it is, move slightly further north towards Greenhills. Even if you're surfing Greenhills, move slightly further north. The waves get gentler and less crowded the further north you go. That's about the best learning spot there is in Sydney.

As to rips, have a look for 'Dr Rip' on the internet and buy his book (or borrow it from the library). Its not all about rips and will teach you about beaches in general.

Have you had lessons? There are surfing schools at Cronulla, get a 2hr lesson one morning just to make sure you are getting the basics right.

Get a bigger board as others have said, although you should be able to get there with your current board. Spend time in the white water first, figuring out how the board handles and - importantly - practicing your paddling and pop ups.

Count on it taking a good 75-100hrs of actual surfing time before you are catching 3-5 waves a session - you might not do anything with the waves, might fall off after 2 seconds. But you will start catching them without nose diving, without the wave going past you (you will still suffer these problems, but just a touch less often).

frostless wrote:I am 29 average fitness competent swimmer I think, but not making any serious progress in a year really drives me crazy. My paddling fitness is fairly weak I know but I think thats the thing I can only improve to a certain extent.

I don't think you can make serious surfing progress if you're of average fitness. I admire your persistence in sticking with the sport, but if you're still at average fitness after a year of surfing, then I don't think you're taking the physical demands of the sport seriously. Surfing is a great sport, but the beginning stages of it don't really have much to do with building skills as much as they do with getting into shape to gain skills, in my opinion. I met a Canadian surfer today who asked me if there were any point breaks around. He said he just wanted a point break where he could walk out to the top of the point and wade into a lineup because he couldn't make it to the outside at the beach we were at. I thought to myself, "I don't know where you're surfing, but you gotta earn your waves around here. You either muscle your way through all the chop and slop to the lineup or you're practicing in white water until you can." I guess there are places that don't place such physical demands on a surfer, but in my experience you need above average fitness to get started surfing. There are exceptions obviously. Anyway, I would recommend that you start thinking more about getting into shape so you can develop surfing skills before you focus on the intricacies of specific moves.

jaffa1949 wrote:
The wave that featured in Bra Boys is a death slab known as Ours which is near the mouth of Botany Bay quite a way from Maroubra! Maroubra is a typical Sydney surf beach , rock shelves at either end and a long sand beach with peaks between . Beach angle to swell determines what happening Sydney has 26 variants on that theme and then a number of rock shelf specialist breaks!, lots of places to learn about beach safety.

Yeah, that death slab is brutal......but not that one....I was just talking about the shots that they had from the beach there in the movie, like during the contest when he beat Slater...."normal" Sydney conditions I'm sure but not an easy learners wave. I had that issue as well first starting out; lots of good to great waves around here.....none really classed as a gentle learner's break.

drowningbitbybit wrote:
Cronulla on the other hand... which break are you surfing at Cronulla? Whichever one it is, move slightly further north towards Greenhills. Even if you're surfing Greenhills, move slightly further north. The waves get gentler and less crowded the further north you go. That's about the best learning spot there is in Sydney.

I usually surf at the beach near the cronulla surfing school. That is also where the surf school go. Didnt know Greenhills is the best for beginners. I thought manly was the best because I went there once and all I saw was gentle slow-moving waves with heaps of beginning to medium level surfers.

RinkyDink wrote:I don't think you can make serious surfing progress if you're of average fitness. I admire your persistence in sticking with the sport, but if you're still at average fitness after a year of surfing, then I don't think you're taking the physical demands of the sport seriously.

Unfortunately I cant do too much about my fitness because I need to commit to a full-time office job. I am always inspired by those who are not fit at all but could surf in a relatively decent level. like this guy.

Plus I am not intending to be a pro surfer or anything all I want to achieve is to nail the "real waves" and perform some turns...

I think anyone of us would be frustrated if every time we picked up a bowling ball to throw, it was different each time. Different weight, size, finger holes, etc. What about in tennis ? Each time the head size changed and the tension of the strings.

You should go back to a bigger board and get really really good on it BEFORE you go down in size.

frostless wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:I don't think you can make serious surfing progress if you're of average fitness. I admire your persistence in sticking with the sport, but if you're still at average fitness after a year of surfing, then I don't think you're taking the physical demands of the sport seriously.

Unfortunately I cant do too much about my fitness because I need to commit to a full-time office job. I am always inspired by those who are not fit at all but could surf in a relatively decent level. like this guy.

Plus I am not intending to be a pro surfer or anything all I want to achieve is to nail the "real waves" and perform some turns...

There are some people who are exceptional athletes even though they aren't in the best physical shape. For instance that guy or Bethany Hamilton who surfs with one arm. You are not an exceptional athlete. So you don't have time to get in shape and don't have time to surf more than once every two weeks then don't expect anything to come quick and stick with a big board. A longboard makes it easier to catch waves because it will catch waves in a larger area in the lineup. The shorter you go the more accurate you need to be in lining up the wave. Longboards are also easier to paddle so even though you aren't in shape you might be able to paddle as fast as someone on a shorter board who was in better shape. If surfing was easy every one would be doing it.

There was a guy in the lineup the other day with a surf class that was on the break.....I know the instructor and after I cheered a particularly large student who finally got a wave though it was the instructor who he threw all his power behind to help push him into the wave from his board....... he paddled by and told me "155kg! That's not easy!"

inspiration.....
https://surfeuropemag.com/features/the- ... P2lFzLx.97

If any of those guys was surfing well over 60 years of age I would think they were inspirational as well:)

frostless wrote:
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That's cool. Keep on keeping on. I would recommend that you read up on rip currents so you learn not to fear them. Have fun..