Getting through walls of white water

[will1212]

Hi there,

I'm looking for some advice about getting through reasonably large recently broken waves.
I recovered about 2 months ago after being out of action for 6 months due to an injury I got being bashed around by white water ( no board involved).I've been surfing around a year, not including the injury.
Today I've just pulled a muscle in my back when my head got yanked to the side while tumbling under a big wave.
I've tried being relaxed or being tensed up and being in a ball but still I'm obviously doing something wrong if I'm getting injuries much more than others in this situation.
I can't duck dive my board, it's 6' 6'' but with a lot of volume. I always turtle roll it fine, but when the wave is particularly big I obviously get slammed under.
Does anyone else have this problem of getting twisted and broken by the waves or do there bodies just take the beating better than mine, or is there anything I can do to prevent this?

Thanks

[oldmansurfer]

How old are you? That is a very complex issue with 2 major parts to it. One is avoiding getting slammed and the other is how to react to it. As far as avoiding getting slammed the easiest thing is to go around the surf instead of right through it. This means looking for a channel the lets you get outside of the surf without having to go through it. If you can't find a channel or break in the waves where there are no waves then look for the shortest distance you can go to get outside of the surf. Usually this is near the end of the wave. Then at worst you will get pounded for a shorter length of time. Then time it so that you are never right where the wave is breaking because that is where most of the power is and that is where you will take the worst pounding. So watch the waves and wait for a break where there are no waves then paddle like crazy to get out before the next set of waves comes in. You might edge out to as far out as you can get and still handle the whitewater coming in without exhausting yourself. I often stand on the bottom and hold my board and let the whitewater go by. The closer you are to the break the quicker it will be to paddle out between waves.

Then there is a variety of ways to get through the waves if you still get caught. Duck dive and turtle roll but not right where the wave is breaking. The more ways you know the better off you will be. There are many posts here about getting out through the surf if you use the search feature. I think in your case avoiding getting pounded is what you need.

As far as how to deal with the pounding. I think being flexible helps so stretching/yoga helps. Keeping track of where the bottom is and what the wave is doing helps too. If you panic it does not help. I think there were 2 other things that helped me to learn to take a pounding without injury. First is I used to body surf quite a lot before I surfed so I was accustomed to taking a beating from the waves. You take a much worse beating bodysurfing than you do surfing on the same sized waves. The other thing was Judo. Judo teaches you how to fall without getting hurt. If you practice it enough to where you have the reflexes this will help you surfing as well. I still do a judo shoulder roll when I hit the bottom head first surfing

[waikikikichan]

1) Are others making it out past the break on that particular big day ? Any longboarders at the peak ?
2) Is it a beach break or reef break ?
3) What size board were you riding before the 6'6" ?
4) How's your paddling power/speed ?

My advice if it's not a full beach break dump is to use more "brain" than "brawn". Maybe paddle around, look for the zig zag paths out or even wait inside for the end of the 3-4 wave set. Try not to fight mother nature.

Main thing is to figure out how not to take a beating. Listen to Turtle.

[dtc]

If you are taking a beating or being twisted then you are probably in the wrong place, as others have said. However, your technique might be a bit askew as well

- make sure the nose is under the water
- make sure the board is at a right angle to the white water
- it helps if you are are lined up with the board (ie not to the side of the board), although there are some turtle rolling techniques where you are to the side of the board. But you still need to be lined up in the same direction as the board ie right angle to the white water

And then relax - dont fight the water, its stronger than you. Go with the flow. If you are properly lined up and the nose is under, probably at worst you will be pushed back a bit. But if you arent lined up properly, you will be flipped sideways. If your nose isnt under/under far enough, then the board gets caught and you go with it.

[Big H]

Spend time on the beach wherever you surf.....watch how things change at different tide and swell levels. Watch how waves break, how good surfers get out back, how poor surfers get caught inside. If no one else is surfing, it is usually a sign that it's not the time to surf that spot. All my spots the regulars come out of the woodwork when conditions are "on"....same spots are devoid of regulars and most anyone else save for the few dogged tourists who don't know better when conditions are not surfable (reef inches below the surface, not apparent from shore is one reason).

[will1212]

Thank you all very much for the replies.
I'm 26 and as all my older friends tell me I shouldn't be getting injured being pounded by waves!!
In regards to trying to paddle round the waves I try, but currently where I'm surfing beach breaks and the biggest channels are often a long long way from where you want to be surfing, so I always try to go for the least intense area near where I want to go. you talk about the serach feature what is this??
I stretch regularly, partilcularly after my last injury and am also doing some core strengthening.
The beech I was surfing on was a beach break where the nearest channel are around a km away.
It wasn't getting out that was the problem. The conditions were pretty good shoulder-chest high non-dumpy waves. It was just that I had surfed one a fair way then a much larger wave came and closed out 20m further back from where I had been sitting inside.
I probably was a little bit lazy turtle rolling because I was thinking about how big the wave was.But more or less I had used the technique above, but the board just got ripped away and I span not head over heals but like a corksrew.
I did relax and that is how my neck got bent sideways and pulled a muscle going down the side of my back, thinking about it it could have been worse.
Is it possible that the main thing I did wrong was not hang on to the board harder to take some of the impact? I spoke to a few of my surfing friends here and they seemed to be saying it was bad luck, but I'm convinced there is something I'm not doing quite right.

[will1212]

Also in terms of paddling back out, I don't see any other way of getting back through the recently broken waves if you take on near the beggining of the set so after I've ridden one, I often have to battle to get back out to the spot where you want to be. Often on the beech outside my flat the channel oare right near sections that colse out, so you don't want to get in around there.

Thanks again for all your replies

[dtc]

Sounds like you got hit by a 'set wave' - bigger wave that breaks further out. Sometimes also called a 'clean up wave' (or set of waves) because they clean up the line out. As you found!

In this case you just do what you can and hope! Better surfers than you and me have suffered from clean up set waves

[will1212]

Ok, so maybe a bit of bad luck involved.
I obviously try to never let go of my board when turtle rolling so it's not a damger to others. But in this case, if i'd have hung on for deal life would it have taken a lot of the impact? Because i wasn't sire if that would have been the case or I would have been getting tossed around with a nice hard object to come in contact with as well..

[oldmansurfer]

The hardest impact is generally the first part after that it is just getting tossed around. I am not sure what you are saying about your break. The waves break at an angle, you aren't riding straight into the beach? then end of the wave is the closest to get outside of the break? Anyway you got caught by a set and there are a couple things you could do, one is to go further inside to allow the wave to dissipate energy before it gets to you and the other is to let your board go and swim for the bottom but only if there aren't any people around to get hit by your board. As it was you lost your board so abandoning your board would have the same effect except if you dive down then tail of the board will pull down and this will allow the wave to go over it without pulling you along so it is a more controlled loss of your board. Lots of other surfers may call you a kook for doing this but you are getting injured so you need to protect yourself. In big waves everyone does this. It's kind of funny actually because in small waves the only one ditching are kooks but in big waves the only ones not ditching are kooks. In between there is a gradient of surfers who ditch but most won't if there is anyone around because they don't want to be called a kook. I have turned turtle on some pretty big waves and lost my board every single time but I didn't get hurt. So unlucky is a possible explanation as I am sure those waves weren't as big as some I have turned turtle on. I have held on to my board in smaller waves and got turned head over heels a few times while holding my board and either way I didn't get injured but I am sure I damaged my board by gripping it so tight in those cases where I managed to hold on. I put my elbows over the deck so that it braces the board and keeps it from smacking me in the face. I have wrapped my legs around my board to hang on but that was in the days before leashes and that is a way which will result in injuries more often. Then getting a fin injury was better than swimming for your board

[BoMan]

You can also use a forecast site like Magic Seaweed to plan your sessions when the surf is manageable.
http://magicseaweed.com/

[Tudeo]

You can also use a forecast site like Magic Seaweed to plan your sessions when the surf is manageable.

Euh...

[will1212]

Thanks,
Where I live in northern Spain we don't really get 6 foot plus in summer. And we don't get swell as consistently in summer as you guys seem to so magic seaweed is a necessity to plan sessions and even your week!!

[Millsy82]

Haha I was going to write pretty much the same question. Not read the rest of the replies yet but I know your pain. Usually I don't go out in anything bigger than 5ft but recently I have tried a few days over that.

I'm good turtle rolling and can roll successfully Up To about 5-6ft if I time it right on the wave. If the wave has recently broken I take an absolute pounding, usually the board gets ripped out of my hands or bounced off my head!

In the end the last time I was out if nobody was near me I dove into the wave and tried to anchor the board. I know that this is pretty much a big no no and if there were people anywhere near I would hold onto my board as best as possible.

I have recently bought a cheap 6ft10, 20 1/2, 2 1/4 or something like that and I took that out in 5-6 ft today and I managed to just about duck dive it although it probably didn't look pretty.

[Millsy82]

Having read the comments I find myself in the same position.

The beach I surf at regularly is a nightmare to get out. What I find is I spot the channels but they change really quickly so that channel can soon become where the next set is coming in, so you try and paddle where the channel is but by that time the set has passed and where your paddling to the next set is coming in there.

What I have found that works for me is if I catch the first wave in I have a gentle paddle back and wait for the set to pass then paddle like my life depends on it. The time I find I'm in trouble is if I mess up the 1st wave of a set and then the bigger wave behind breaks right on me!

[waikikikichan]

I have recently bought a cheap 6ft10, 20 1/2, 2 1/4 or something like that and I took that out in 5-6 ft today and I managed to just about duck dive it although it probably didn't look pretty.

Last month you had problems popping up and nose diving. Now you can duck dive a 6'10" in 5-6ft. beach break ?

[Millsy82]

I have recently bought a cheap 6ft10, 20 1/2, 2 1/4 or something like that and I took that out in 5-6 ft today and I managed to just about duck dive it although it probably didn't look pretty.

Last month you had problems popping up and nose diving. Now you can duck dive a 6'10" in 5-6ft. beach break ?

Not so much popping up but yes the nose would go under for a second or 2. Having listened to advice given on here and have slightly altered my position on the board and bingo only happened maybe once or twice a session max usually when I'm rushing.

My duck dive as I said is probably not the prettiest and it is a struggle (probably a combination of poor technique and big floaty board) but it has got me through 90% of the waves yesterday.

I got my 6'10 board because it was cheap and I could fit it and work from my van at the same time so it was more of a get me out on the water a bit more often but because I've had great fun I am now using that a little more often than I originally thought.

[RobSF]

This is one kook's method of dealing with white water, and thus probably to be taken with a grain of salt. First, I'm not a strong swimmer, but I'm about 6' tall, so I often walk as far out as I can before getting on the board to swim. When big white water comes in, I grab the nose of my longboard and squat down and/or swim down low, do my best to let the water go over us. Even if some of the current gets under the board, as long as I'm holding the nose tight, I don't lose control. This is only effective in certain conditions, and if the water's too big or the periods are too short, you get as exhausted doing this as you do turtle rolling or anything else. I have the same problem locating the channels that a lot of beginners do. In general I try to follow the other surfers out. Because it's pretty much a kook's beach, though, this isn't as effective a strategy as it might be elsewhere.

[oldmansurfer]

Lots of time kooks try to follow good surfers out through the lineup and fail miserably because they lack the skills that the goods surfers have. So in general that is not necessarily the best strategy. It might be good if the surfer you are following isn't really good at going through waves and has a similar board compared to yours but the better surfers will make it look easy and it won't be for a beginner. Also if you follow a surfer out don't go right behind them make sure you are a bit down the line from them. If you paddle behind them you are at risk if they loose their board and in the way if the want to swing around and catch a wave. There are lots of beach areas where waves break all over the place. They don't actually break all over the place because it is the ocean depth that makes them break. These areas change slightly over time but new surfers get caught in current and moved out of position so they think the area it was breaking in changed but in reality they were dragged away by the current. I often surf an area like that but am careful to pick an area to surf where I have a good option in paddling out. The shortboarders usually will opt for an inside portion where there is less current but they have to duck dive waves a bit. I can surf that area too but if the shortboarders are there I go elsewhere because I don't have time to share waves with a crowd and because of my secret to not getting caught by big waves. I can't duck dive my board but I can do a half duck dive where I never escape getting pounded but it reduces the force on me and my head and shoulders generally escape the pounding but the wave pounds my back and helps to shove the back of my board down so I can complete the duck dive. I almost never do a turtle roll but in emergency situations I will. A couple of months ago I did a perfect turtle roll on a well overhead wave that was coming down on me. No pounding, just flip over and back and paddle back out but usually my turtle rolls are less graceful and slower to get back up and take a bit of a pounding at the very best except for that one wave. Mostly I am careful to avoid taking on breaking waves but some days the break I want is inside and requires it so some days in my 30 minute surf session I might do 20 half duck dives (or more) but rarely turn turtle. I currently surf either an 8 foot funboard or a 7'6" funboard both of which are just big wide fat shortboards made for an old man. My secret to avoid getting caught by bigger waves behind the one I am taking off on is to always take off on the biggest wave

[dtc]

This is one kook's method of dealing with white water, and thus probably to be taken with a grain of salt. First, I'm not a strong swimmer, but I'm about 6' tall, so I often walk as far out as I can before getting on the board to swim. When big white water comes in, I grab the nose of my longboard and squat down and/or swim down low, do my best to let the water go over us. Even if some of the current gets under the board, as long as I'm holding the nose tight, I don't lose control. This is only effective in certain conditions, and if the water's too big or the periods are too short, you get as exhausted doing this as you do turtle rolling or anything else.

I think this is fine as a method ie I do it as well when conditions are right. Maybe we are all kooks.

Two tips

- if you flip the board it's much easier when the white water is a bit bigger, as the rocker does part of the job for you

- wax the nose a little bit (top and bottom). Gives you a much better grip