Surfing Waves

Can anyone explain to me, how the hell these guys are surfing Pipeline (for example) with such shallow reef (3-6 feet?) without smacking against the reef when they wipeout? What's the trick here? Besides not wiping out :p

Partly they do hit the reef sometimes but knowing how to wipeout without penetrating too deep is a useful skill. There is some awareness of where you are underwater and if you are heading to the bottom then arrange yourself into a position that would result in less injury such as landing on your back instead of your head or doing a shoulder roll. I haven't ever surfed Pipeline but I have surfed shallow reefs. My theory to shallow reefs is don't surf there much:) I figure the more you surf a shallow reef the more likely you will have a serious encounter with the reef. So while I do surf shallow reefs once in a while I don't make it a habit. I think if you are a good enough surfer then you won't get yourself into situations where you may get hurt on a shallow reef however there is always the unexpected. On Kauai there is a shallow reef break called Cannons. Every surfer I knew who surfed there frequently (with maybe the exception of Bethany Hamilton) has some major scars to show for it. I surfed there 3 times and never had a problem but I am not surfing there again. I bet the majority of Pipeline regulars have scars as well if not a list of injuries they have had. Partly the wave breaking on a reef bounces back up and this pushes you away from the reef so unless you are right where the lip is going down then you aren't likely to hit the reef initially.

Thank you man that's some good info!

Things you can practice is try diving and jumping into a pool, pond or whatever deep water so that you won't hit bottom if you screw up and maybe have someone else there to spot for you and jump in if you should screw up. But try jumping both head first and feet first and find ways to limit how deep you go. When I drop feet first on a wave in potentially shallow water I move my feet out laterally in front of me to limit how deep I go. It changes the downward momentum to sideways. If I think it is really shallow I will land more flat on my back if possible. If I am falling head first from the top of the wave I do a tuck and tumble. You can practice this diving into a pool I hit hands first like I am diving then as soon as my hands hit I tuck into a ball and this causes a sudden rotation and stops the penetration or if I am caught in the lip headed to the bottom I do a shoulder roll which is a judo move I learned as a kid, you bring one arm over your head bent at the elbow 90 degrees and tuck your head so that instead of smacking straight down you roll on the bottom. Taking judo would be a good preparation because they teach you how to fall and not get hurt. But in order to do this you need to learn to wipeout in control so that you can position properly. This I am not sure of how to do just experience?

I said I move my feet out laterally but meant to bring my legs up in front of me keeping them straight and bending at the hip. I learned to do this in a pool from the diving board and then from the three meter board. When I am falling from the top of a wave in deeper water I let my legs go straight down till my hips contact then bring them up which allows a little bit of penetration but changes my direction to a horizontal plane. Oddly I penetrate much less with my head first dive from the top of a wave using the tuck and tumble technique I described. I think I can do that with a 10 foot drop into 4 feet of water without touching the bottom

Another technique when falling in the trough in shallow water is to fall flat and then roll with the wave. This seems to let the wave pass over me. So I kick the board forward (no one nearby) and when the wave starts to push me I roll toward the beach. This results in the wave losing its grip on me and passing by. So that is flat with the bottom and parallel to the wave

Other than falling properly, keep in mind that when surfers fall they are usually falling into the same place that the lip of the wave is landing - so the water is temporarily deeper (think how the white water adds to the depth of the water). The water is frothy and not as dense but it does help protect the surfer

If you are ahead of the lip you can fall back into the wave and, again, it’s deeper

Of course sometimes surfers fall off in the wrong place

dtc I must be different because mostly I fall in the water at the bottom of the wave in front of whitewater or whatever where it is relatively shallow