Recent SSW swell footage

[ConcreteVitamin]

4 waves from a recent SSW swell... Super stoked. Please send your constructive critiques my way.

Wave 1: my best wave of the day, surprise set, just after I paddled out. It felt like 1.5 OH at the drop.

Wave 2: nice kickout, perhaps could do a redirect off the top?

Wave 3: seemed like a bit of spray at the top turn (check) at the beginning. Stayed high.

Wave 4: too deep.

Does my fin look like lacking drive?

Hope everyone's getting some.

[Naeco78]

That looked like a really fun session. Wave #1 looked awesome.. that peeled like a dreamer. It was kinda hard to see some of the rides from a distance but wave #2 looked like it had a good section to try a floater/off the lip. Wave #3 looked like it had a section that was starting to break ahead of the peak when you kicked out but if you had enough speed going into the floater you can kinda ride over the whitewater section and make it back into the pocket on the other side. Its one of those maneuvers that can really extend the ride especially at point breaks and can be a big difference maker in adding more flow into the ride. Just my 2cents but looked like an epic day

[waikikikichan]

Does my fin look like lacking drive?

Looks to me like the fins are working fine. As for "drive", that's up to you.

I think you need to look at fins like tires on a car. The fins are where the "rubber meets the road". Tires don't have drive, the motor sends it's energy thru the transmission, drive shaft, etc. which finally ends up at the tire. How you transmit the energy from your body down thru your torso, leg, feet, thru the board and eventually out the fins ( tail and rail ) determines how much drive you have.

Would you put big tires from an American muscle car on a Honda import tuner car ? Big fins need a bigger "motor" behind them to get them to get up and go.

Are you fins slipping / sliding out from under you, like a too small tire, a bald, or old tire ? Doesn't seem to be happening. If they start to slip out, then you are over powering too hard or trying to put a square peg in a round hole. ( wrong time and place ).

Also you can't push air, you need to push against the energy of the wave. In the videos, you have a smooth down the line glide ( very nice as is ). But you want more "drive". Then you need to start using the whole wave, Top To Bottom. You need to come off the bottom turn with greater steeper angles and then need to come off the top with speed setting up to do it over again.

The wave were you were too deep, I don't think it had anything to do with your fins. A bigger stiffer fin wouldn't have mattered. Even a double pump from an advance surfer probably still would have ended up the same. That's why the guy sets up right at that spot on purpose to get on after the wave breaks ( closes out ) between you and him.

[ConcreteVitamin]

That looked like a really fun session. Wave #1 looked awesome.. that peeled like a dreamer. It was kinda hard to see some of the rides from a distance but wave #2 looked like it had a good section to try a floater/off the lip. Wave #3 looked like it had a section that was starting to break ahead of the peak when you kicked out but if you had enough speed going into the floater you can kinda ride over the whitewater section and make it back into the pocket on the other side. Its one of those maneuvers that can really extend the ride especially at point breaks and can be a big difference maker in adding more flow into the ride. Just my 2cents but looked like an epic day

Thanks, Naeco78. Wave 1... is probably the best, biggest wave I've ever caught, but I hesitate to call it the "best". My hypothesis is every surfer has just a few memorable waves that brought new sensations, where the size of the wave may not matter. This is one of them.

Only ever done bounce-off of white foam once or twice; need to force myself into it more. Only recently I've had an epiphany on where to hit a fall lip - hit the intersection b/t the white foam and the green wave. Theory to be tested.

In the videos, you have a smooth down the line glide ( very nice as is ). But you want more "drive". Then you need to start using the whole wave, Top To Bottom. You need to come off the bottom turn with greater steeper angles and then need to come off the top with speed setting up to do it over again.

The wave were you were too deep, I don't think it had anything to do with your fins. A bigger stiffer fin wouldn't have mattered. Even a double pump from an advance surfer probably still would have ended up the same. That's why the guy sets up right at that spot on purpose to get on after the wave breaks ( closes out ) between you and him.

Thanks, wkkkchan. Yes, top-to-bottom (and more angular turns; an advice I got from OMS a while back) is another thing I've been struggling/striving to improve. On this particular day, the waves were breaking so fast and they wall up in front of me. So I was not comfortable to go down low on the wave face and load the fin to pop back up. That instinct kept me higher on the waves, hence I think, the lack of superb "drive" or "spring".

For this kind of down-the-line, fast walls, where I feel I don't have enough time to do turns, is it still OK to do top to bottom surfing?

[waikikikichan]

On this particular day, the waves were breaking so fast and they wall up in front of me. So I was not comfortable to go down low on the wave face and load the fin to pop back up. That instinct kept me higher on the waves, hence I think, the lack of superb "drive" or "spring".

So there again, is it the FINS fault or is it YOUR fault ? YOU were NOT comfortable, the fins would be the end result of the input you give it. ( that's to say unless they were slipping/sliding out, which they weren't )

You are making section on those waves that are possible to do so. I don't understand why you need more drive on a down the line wave.

[waikikikichan]

For this kind of down-the-line, fast walls, where I feel I don't have enough time to do turns, is it still OK to do top to bottom surfing?

"Ride the wave not the board" - quote from Duke Kahanamoku.

Listen to the wave. Feel the beat, let it flow thru you. Look at the good surfers and how they flow thru turns and pick up speed (and decelerate), like a good dancer. Then look at the kooks in the water all uncoordinated and off timed, same as the bad dancers trying to be like the good dancers. If the wave tells you to stay high and go down the line, fine. If the wave tells you to cutback ( come back ) to the curl, then good. Sure, different boards and different fin(s) setups will make you approach the wave differently, but you still need to listen what the wave is telling you.

[ConcreteVitamin]

You are making section on those waves that are possible to do so. I don't understand why you need more drive on a down the line wave.

I guess I missed the feeling of a bottom turn, at where the steepest wave face meets the flats, slingshotting me up

Listen to the wave. Feel the beat, let it flow thru you. Look at the good surfers and how they flow thru turns and pick up speed (and decelerate), like a good dancer. Then look at the kooks in the water all uncoordinated and off timed, same as the bad dancers trying to be like the good dancers. If the wave tells you to stay high and go down the line, fine. If the wave tells you to cutback ( come back ) to the curl, then good. Sure, different boards and different fin(s) setups will make you approach the wave differently, but you still need to listen what the wave is telling you.

A great philosophical reminder... thanks.