Surfing Waves

so im constantly switching torq long and nps 7.2 and use shortboard to duckdive. i noticed that i once in a time i get knotted in the leashes i use. i find myself surrounded and you know that is a bad deal if there are loads of waves. i need to untie myself while being hit LOL. is there a nice way to walk and swim on the water without getting surrounded and wrapped by the leash?

There's solid advice on this thread...

https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26117&hilit=leash

Hold cord when walking, for swimming you can't do anything about it, store the leash laid out instead of in a spiral shape, that makes the material have memory of that shape hence why it wraps around you so often, my leash never gets tangled around me except when I get a heavy wipeout

After a while the leash becomes something you are aware of constantly, not that you are thinking about it but you know where it is. I place my leash tightly on my ankle with the leash pointing out to the side and slightly forward. After wiping out I will readjust the leash so that it is back to that configuration. I am not sure what you are doing that causes you to get caught up in the leash but leashes can be dangerous in bigger surf so stay in smaller surf till you are more comfortable with it.

Perhaps you can tell us what you are doing better then maybe we can tell you how to do it without getting tangled. You are walking in the water and carrying your board? Or pushing the board? I think if you are pushing the board then try carrying it on the side with the leash.

oldmansurfer wrote:Perhaps you can tell us what you are doing better then maybe we can tell you how to do it without getting tangled. You are walking in the water and carrying your board? Or pushing the board? I think if you are pushing the board then try carrying it on the side with the leash.

it happens: now visualise

me walking straight to the water. leash on right foot with leash sticking out on the back of my right foot
wave comes straight to me slightly going left. my leash goes that way as well unnoticed in the struggle. i walk and walk sometimes i put surfboard on right hand or left.(thats where i go wrong) i need perm patern perhaps. wave comes. oops leash tangled me.

plus its a 8 foot leash on the nps 7.2 perhaps i should go smaller? i have a spare fcs 6 blue one. i know it sounds rhetorical now

I haven't ever felt that a longer leash was more likely to get in the way while walking. There is skill involved in walking through waves. Maybe you just need more practice.

There are many ancillary skills in surfing including a variety of ways to enter and exit the surf. I originally learned to enter and exit while body surfing then learned to enter and exit paipo boarding and then surfing. I realized recently that I use skills I learned for paipo boarding and bodysurfing to enter and exit. One of my favorite ways to end a session is to exit the water standing and walking in and get hit from behind by a wave but remain standing (just let the wave push you in but keep your feet under you). Back when I was surfing at my old spot, you could tell the newbies because they would get pounded entering and/or exiting. One of the entry techniques I did long ago I have started doing recently on occasion. That is to time it and run down the sloping beach to the water and dive over the incoming wave while pulling the board under me so I am ready to paddle immediately. A variation of that which I used to do was to time it to catch a backwash out and stand and surf the backwash out (haven't done that recently)

If your leash is on your right foot, keep the board on your right side, keep the board pointed forward as you walk into the waves. Turn your body sideways to the right as the waves hit you so they don't push you back as much. I prefer to jump over the waves lifting the board above the waves. Keep the board to your side or slightly behind you. Never let the board get between yourself and the incoming wave or the board can hit you. I like to climb on top of the board just as the wave passes so the board is going down the back of the wave as I'm climbing aboard. I like to keep my leash strap tight and point the leash away from and behind my body. I usually turn to the right when turning the board around to catch the wave.

I never wrap my leash around my board, and carry the loose end in my hand while walking. I store my leashes hanging up on a hook and not coiled. It helps to keep the leash straight.

When walking with your board, pick up board and put under arm. Lift heel to butt and grab leash. Walk holding board and leash.

Big H wrote:When walking with your board, pick up board and put under arm. Lift heel to butt and grab leash. Walk holding board and leash.

Do you hold the leash when you are walking with the board in the water? I realize you mostly surf reef breaks so don't do a lot of walking in the water but that is what he is talking about. At sand breaks I hang on to the leash on land but in the water I don't. What I do is step forward with the foot without the leash and lean forward and hold the board over the top of the wave. I can take on shorebreak up to my shoulders doing this. I don't jump over the wave because the wave will push you backwards if you jump. But if it's bigger then I back up and time it between waves and if I get caught I grab the nose and push forward under water and try to pull the nose of the board down under the breaking part of the wave. I don't have to stop and untangle. If you do this walking the board out you will notice that sometimes even fairly small waves have a lot of water moving behind them that continues to push you back to the shore if your feet aren't on the bottom. I love my sandy beach break but lately the sand isn't shaped properly so not so good.

Yes....I hold it until I lay down to paddle, then sometimes tuck in under me when I paddle as well. That way I don't trip, no snags and more insurance against little nicks that can lead to leash snaps.

how to walk with the leash?

What's the problem? My dog walks with a lease every day!

Big H wrote:Yes....I hold it until I lay down to paddle, then sometimes tuck in under me when I paddle as well. That way I don't trip, no snags and more insurance against little nicks that can lead to leash snaps.

Interesting, there are lots of ways to accomplish things surfing.

well overthinking became overdoing. every day surfing. but it wont last cause my tank is getting empty and i aint a rockefellah or any jewish gold seller. ill make a puase and respect the once a week surf again. I just had to do a rush course.
My trick is based on what all you guys teached me. it all goes well now but as soon as i get on the board dont give attention to the leash anymore. i think this awareness like oldmansurfer says nees that second nature or 7th sense.

Big H wrote:Yes....I hold it until I lay down to paddle, then sometimes tuck in under me when I paddle as well. That way I don't trip, no snags and more insurance against little nicks that can lead to leash snaps.

I have been trying to think of when was the last time I walked on a shallow reef while surfing and I realized it was before there were leashes or at least before I had one. I used to surf Pakala and if you lost your board it washed in over a shallow reef and you had to walk, it was too shallow. But what I did and most of the guys did is to only walk till it was deep enough to paddle with the board flipped over so the fin didn't drag on the reef and we would paddle on the under side of the board till it was deep enough to flip it back over. I guess I avoid surfing reefs where I might have to walk on the reef, but if I ever do I am going to try to remember to carry my leash

oldmansurfer wrote:But what I did and most of the guys did is to only walk till it was deep enough to paddle with the board flipped over so the fin didn't drag on the reef and we would paddle on the under side of the board till it was deep enough to flip it back over. I guess I avoid surfing reefs where I might have to walk on the reef, but if I ever do I am going to try to remember to carry my leash

We do that too, but in this age, reef booties, though I don't like them, are the way to go.....walk until you can paddle and you can extend your time on a dropping tide outside knowing that coming back you can just walk relatively normally and not have to spend a long time picking your way back.

Back in those days I went barefoot all the time and my feet were so tough I could walk on most reef without problems as long as I avoided sea urchins. Pakala reef was really nice to walk on it was well padded with silt and seaweed, like walking on a carpet (to me). I think if I were in your situation I would wear reef booties.

Big H wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:But what I did and most of the guys did is to only walk till it was deep enough to paddle with the board flipped over so the fin didn't drag on the reef and we would paddle on the under side of the board till it was deep enough to flip it back over. I guess I avoid surfing reefs where I might have to walk on the reef, but if I ever do I am going to try to remember to carry my leash

We do that too, but in this age, reef booties, though I don't like them, are the way to go.....walk until you can paddle and you can extend your time on a dropping tide outside knowing that coming back you can just walk relatively normally and not have to spend a long time picking your way back.

i use regular o neil watershoes. they are very skinny. i do not have reefs. But there is a certain distance when i get that far in walking i stand on crabs and shells. i do not find it nice. and honestly i have a phobia for that.

oldmansurfer wrote:Back in those days I went barefoot all the time and my feet were so tough I could walk on most reef without problems as long as I avoided sea urchins. Pakala reef was really nice to walk on it was well padded with silt and seaweed, like walking on a carpet (to me). I think if I were in your situation I would wear reef booties.

in morocco in tahadart near distant larache there are loads of those urchins. i used to dive and collect them cause my family all of them wanted one. i didnt have the consiounce that they should stay alive. may god forgive i was young.(i wouldnt do that now) but standing on those is crazy it can go real deep. how do you avoid them? do u look in the water? some of them when red you can see them but when they are the color of the rock. you just never know. reefs in the past my biggest toe the stone would knife my feet. that sea was there also in the roman empire.so a lot of antique glass as well.