Surfing Waves

So I was out in some great surf this weekend. I had been out for about two hours having a great session when I think to myself that it's just about time for a set to roll through. I paddle to the farthest spot outside. There are four of us out there. My instincts, sure enough, were right and I see a big set coming in. I wait. First guy in the group takes off, second guy, third guy, me. I take off. Everything feels right. I got my big set wave. I hear a hoot. I look out and see 20 people on the inside just staring at me. It startles me seeing all these people watching. I feel a bit self-conscious, but then, just as I start to think about how I'm going to weave through the crowd, it feels like somebody pushes my board from behind. I lose my balance. I thought my popup was fine (I had caught every wave I took off on up to that point). In hindsight, I should have been in more of a crouch because when I made it to the trough of the wave it felt like my board suddenly shifted into another gear. I should have been ready (bigger wave = greater compression shock). Regardless, I started falling backwards off the back off my board. I wanted this wave so badly. My arms immediately went into whirlybird helicopter mode trying to regain my balance, but there was no avoiding the inevitable. I did a back flop behind my board. My board whizzed into the flats. ARGH!!!

You are thinking too much!

Ever wonder why it is you can talk easily and confidently in a room with 10 people, but put you on stage in front of 50 people and its regarded as a fate worse than death?

Either one gets better with practice.....and don’t make eye contact, view them as speed bumps to be avoided.

RinkyDink wrote:So I was out in some great surf this weekend. I had been out for about two hours having a great session when I think to myself that it's just about time for a set to roll through. I paddle to the farthest spot outside. There are four of us out there. My instincts, sure enough, were right and I see a big set coming in. I wait. First guy in the group takes off, second guy, third guy, me. I take off. Everything feels right. I got my big set wave. I hear a hoot. I look out and see 20 people on the inside just staring at me. It startles me seeing all these people watching. I feel a bit self-conscious, but then, just as I start to think about how I'm going to weave through the crowd, it feels like somebody pushes my board from behind. I lose my balance. I thought my popup was fine (I had caught every wave I took off on up to that point). In hindsight, I should have been in more of a crouch because when I made it to the trough of the wave it felt like my board suddenly shifted into another gear. I should have been ready (bigger wave = greater compression shock). Regardless, I started falling backwards off the back off my board. I wanted this wave so badly. My arms immediately went into whirlybird helicopter mode trying to regain my balance, but there was no avoiding the inevitable. I did a back flop behind my board. My board whizzed into the flats. ARGH!!!

Maybe you did get pushed from behind! By one of your friendly local Nor-cal great whites.

But seriously, if 20 people are just sitting around inside they probably shouldn't be in the water in the first place. So screw them. Which spot was this?

kookextraordinaire wrote:But seriously, if 20 people are just sitting around inside they probably shouldn't be in the water in the first place. So screw them.

couldn't have said it better myself.

kookRachelle wrote:

kookextraordinaire wrote:But seriously, if 20 people are just sitting around inside they probably shouldn't be in the water in the first place. So screw them.

couldn't have said it better myself.

That's Rockaway for you.

I also have stage fright, I'm terrible with those. Even at work I get those with my regular team meetings.

Surfing wise, I sometimes get stage fright when there are very good surfers out there. But when I'm at a kook break, then I'm the alpha male and I take all the waves.

I find myself very inhibited when there are lots of surfers inside of me, most likely because I am not very used to it. This past weekend there was a boogie boarder by me and the next day a bunch of SUP guys but I was inside of them by quite a bit trying to poach off the waves they are letting go by. I often cut out of a wave if I don't feel I can adequately maneuver in between them

kookextraordinaire wrote:Maybe you did get pushed from behind! By one of your friendly local Nor-cal great whites.

But seriously, if 20 people are just sitting around inside they probably shouldn't be in the water in the first place. So screw them. Which spot was this?

It really did feel like somebody pushed my board from behind. I mean I felt a jolt. My theory is that I'm not used to surfing overhead + waves so maybe the compression shock is gnarlier than I'm used to. Theory #2: My leash wrapped around a hefty chunk of kelp that was slowing me down until the seaweed entangled in my leash broke away and when that happened my board lurched forward. Theory #3: Playful mermaids.

As far as the crowd goes, it was a carnival out there . . . people surfing inside, people in between, people paddling back out after a ride, people just sitting on their boards chatting, SUP riders on the margins, mermaids, kitchen sinks floating in the water, etc. It was fun and the crowd was casual and friendly.

oldmansurfer wrote: I often cut out of a wave if I don't feel I can adequately maneuver in between them

I do the same thing. In fact, I probably cut my rides short 30% of the time because I'm not confident I can maneuver around certain configurations of people. The other day I finally got around a whitewater section and into the pocket. I was moving down the line fast and, of course, that line is always getting closer to the shore. Suddenly, I see this woman with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face and I'm closing in on her with my board. I had been experimenting with popping up forward on my board to gain more speed so I wasn't really in the position to carve a turn. I wasn't thinking fast enough to scoot back on my board, get my foot over the fins, and make a sharp carving turn. I attempted to trim out of her way, but I could see it wasn't going to work. I don't trim my 9'6" board very quickly. So as I got about 10 feet away from her I just jumped off my board. Some things happen so fast in surfing that you don't really have the time to figure out a plan of action so you just have to let the wave go (at least that's my solution).

Keep in mind that if you jump off your board you still can hit someone 20ft away (leash plus board length). Easiest is to head to shore (ie turn down the face to shore) as its not a hard turn/gravity will to a lot of the work

but sometimes other people are just in the wrong place and you cant anticipate it. Whatever works to avoid running over them

I don't often takeoff if there are people directly inside of me because I am so unsure of where I might end up after popping up. Most likely I will be way down the line away from them when I get to where I might run them over but it's not guaranteed.

dtc wrote:Keep in mind that if you jump off your board you still can hit someone 20ft away (leash plus board length). Easiest is to head to shore (ie turn down the face to shore) as its not a hard turn/gravity will to a lot of the work

but sometimes other people are just in the wrong place and you cant anticipate it. Whatever works to avoid running over them

You're right. I knew that when I jumped off my board, but I didn't really have any choice. Once I jumped off, I pulled my leash back with my leg to stop my board, as best I could, from gliding forward. She turtle rolled. My board never hit her. The wave engulfed it before it could reach her. Still, it had potential to get ugly. One of the difficulties I've had in learning to surf, is that I often don't get the chance, in a crowded lineup, to really focus on my surfing. There's frequently some kind of distraction or obstacle preventing me from giving my bottom turn or something else my full attention.

Jumping off your board turns it into an unguided middle......always the wrong choice.....better to stay in your feet and control/turn the board out of the way the best you can. Like DTC said, turn down the wave will work quicker than anything.

Getting better at surfing in crowds if you surf in crowds is necessary.....learning how to take off late and grab an opportunity if one goes through without any takers, taking off with lots of bobbers inside you, learning how to pull off last second if you’ve lost a paddle battle and someone deeper than you gets on the wave you were going for, seeing your ideal line and adjusting that based on obstacles......sometimes I get waves all to myself and have a clean open face that I can draw the best lines I can across......usually I have to deal with ALOT of heads inside, compromising and adjusting my line, aborting a wave mid way due to inside traffic, drop ins and snow ballers, people hollering that they have caught the wave when they haven’t trying to clear a path for themselves, leash tugs, blocks, getting stuffed and reckless out of control newbs who say that they really didn’t have any other choice but to bail their boards........I have scars from the last one and IMO there is no excuse - it is just being reckless.

oldmansurfer wrote:I don't often takeoff if there are people directly inside of me because I am so unsure of where I might end up after popping up.

Amen to that. I paddle to clear spots before even trying to takeoff. (Of course you may not have as many peaks as my break) When a situation forces me to STOP, I step into the water and grab to the board.

Practicing control over your board, try to surf your board like you didn't have a leash, especially in a crowd. Stepping back on the tail, even without kicking out will stop you in your tracks in lots of situations.....if you are too deep in the wave to stall out quickly, then as was mentioned, a hard turn down wave to the beach.....even taking a step back and sitting down on the tail will work better/be safer than just jumping off.