Surfing Waves

A guy paddling out came to me and said he saw me on a really good wave. I was like ??? I could not even finish the wave. It's a two part wave, you got to time it well to be able to surf the second part where it catches up to another point break. I constantly mess it up with being too slow or too fast. I honestly thought he must have mistaken me for someone else.

Half an hour later, I caught one of the bigger set. Again, I couldn't finish riding it because I couldn't get my speed correctly to stay in the pocket. This time another guy came up to me and go sick wave man, you went rail to rail. I'm super confused because I don't even know what rail to rail means. Plus how can it be good if I didn't ride it all the way.

At least I think both surfer thought I surfed well. I rarely surf in this spot because they surf really well here. Single fin and no leash.

Must be doing something right, peer appreciation1

Maybe you're being too harsh on yourself, take those compliments as motivation! I'm guilty of being a bit too critical of my own surfing, guess those compliments reminds us that we are improving even if we not always notice it.

haha It sounds like you are complaining. Just take it and try giving back. That is how you make friends surfing. Not that I ever pay much attention to compliments. My usual response is which wave was that? Often what looks good isn't what feels good. Sometimes I am struggling to stay on the board and just letting it do whatever it wants to and people compliment me. Other times I am doing a trick I taught myself to do and others will express worry for my safety (probably because I am doing a maneuver they never saw before). Hey it's all good just accept it. It's a good thing people are complimenting you and it should be a positive take from your surf session don't turn it into a negative.

At one point I thought maybe they are being sarcastic. These surfers are so much better than me. They are so graceful with the cross steps and good with the nose riding. They make everything looks so easy. Whereas my feet is glued to the board and I can't surf as well as them.

After seeing how genuinely these surfers are, I started to feel the vibe and the compliment made my day and gave me a little confidence boost. It took me around 30-40 minutes before I decided to paddle out to furthest lineup where all the other good surfers are.

Thats great man. congrats on the improvements. I agree with OMS.. sometimes what looks good isnt always the same as what feels like the best ride in surfing. Even professionals have said that about how a board feels under their feet in interviews too. Anyway sounds like a good thing

You are being praised for catching the good waves, not for what you looked like at the end. It's not always easy to take off on a perfect head high waves, many guys that go surfing don't catch one at all.

It's like when your wife tells you that your are the best lover in the world, she means she likes what you got, not that you are better than me...