Surfing Waves

When paddling into a wave, do you arch your back to let the wave pick you up, or press chest down on the board to weight the nose?


Been surfing for over 10 years now, mostly beach breaks.
Riding a 5,11 shortboard, bottom turn and cutback comfortably but feel like my paddle in / takeoff could be improved. Feel I miss a lot of waves

I current arch my back when paddling into waves but see a lot of surfers press their nose and chin to the board.
Different tutorials give opposing advice (Ombe surf, Waveki)

Which technique do you use and does it differ on conditions and timing?
Also if you're pressing your chest to the board doesn't it affect your pop-up? I find an arched back makes it easier to get my legs under

Really depends on your position on the wave. If I'm paddling too slow then I'll push my chest down to get the paddling and weight in. If the wave crest up fast and my nose is dipping into the wave then I arch up.

Generally I start with arching my back more or less, then depending on what the wave is doing I change or not. Definitely before I pop up I arch my back. If I am laying on the board in the right place then no need for adjustment usually but it depends on the wave. The initial part of the my popup is arching my back so before I popup I always do that but while I am paddling I am watching what the wave is doing and adjusting for that.

Question, if you drop your keys down into a metal grate on the sidewalk, do you reach down with your chest / back arch backwards OR do you place your chest / back flat to the concrete ?

Paddle deep. Move a lot of water.

Arching comes into play once/as you are gliding in. Yes, you can arch your back to get your feet under your body **........ but that is after you've "caught" the wave. Catch the wave first ( which involves deep paddling ), THEN pop up ( which involves arching ).

** Arching can act like a clutch on a manual shift car. You can lift your chin up or down, you can arch your back up or down, you can raise your feet / knees / thigh up or down to adjust the angle / resistance of the board during the drop in, to adjust for the "conditions and timing". ONLY chin down or ONLY arch backed doesn't allow for the "clutch".