Catching Whitewater?

[Derekwl]

You definitely have the stoke now:P
Whitewash will never look satisfying again

The pop-up just takes practice and it sounds like you've already almost got it!
Grats bro!
It's such a satisfying feeling to catch your first green wave too eh?

[The Fafanator]

3ft at 5s is obviously going to be a touch messy. However its all good expo. Part of the learning curve is to surf a myriad of conditions and waves. That way you will know when its good and when its bad. Nothing replaces experience. Just look at it as a learning adventure and overall it will improve you surfing prowess. Many a time i have paddled out in wrecking ball mutant waves just to experience it .

Same here, and while I was in there I regretted it, but now, I am so glad I did, since now I am probably the most size-resistant noob out there.

[JupiterSurfer]

Today it was 2-4 feet (to me they occasionally seemed like 6 bearing down on me, but I think thats what they really were), and it was totally glassy and they came in sets. I did a few things differently:

1) I stopped trying to paddle through the whitewater. I just swam and pulled the board until I cleared the whitewater. This is MUCH easier.

2) I caught them in the blue. Lots of em. Sometimes they broke on me, sometimes I missed em but I got lots of em in the blue.

3) Whoah - if you catch the wave just right, it is MUCH easier to pop up as it crests! I didn't manage to stay up, but I did popup to my knees, and once I... fell back on the board and road for 30 feet with my legs in the air. I couldn't stop laughing for 2 minutes.

Amazing day of surfing. I was out there 3 hours. Next time I go out like this I'm gonna get the popup. I can feel it. Last wave I HAD it, but my ankle cramped on my popup and I lost it.

Good stuff my friend! Saturday was good down here as well. I got in about 2 hours and about five rides on unbroken waves - two all the way until the wave died. I also stretched my shoudlers out afterwards and it helped a ton - even on my elbows. There's waves here this week but my boards being repaired as my finbox is leaking - a phrase that sounds nasty but really isn't.

[LOLRuss]

The waves here this week are mean, powerful bastards. I tried to swim out, but heck no my board was sucking me back towards shore like an anchor when six feet of whitewater came over me. Felt like I was gonna drown and came in.

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Good call. Knowing your limits is a huge part of surfing. I had a friend who had a be rescued by lifeguards when she went out on a questionable day. You should NEVER put yourself in a situation like this. Imagine if she had been surfing at a spot without lifeguards.

Remember, surfing is supposed to be fun. Unless surfing is your job and you get paid to do it, you shouldn't be risking injury.

Stay stoked.

PS: sometimes, although rare, it is flat on all Hawaiian shores.

[seanydee]

You really don't have to go deep for it to work!

Thats not really a duck dive then, more of a duck dip

I believe a duck dip is all I'm gonna get on this big board with my busted elbows

I ride an 8' minimal, which is also hard to duckdive. So, in short period conditions (8 seconds or less) rather than turtle rolling, I flip the board onto it's side and hook the leg on that side over the rail, you get hit in the face by the whitewater but you get back on and paddling quicker than turning turtle so you can get out quicker.

Practise this in small conditions and it's a really useful tool if your break is often a bit messy

[LOLRuss]

I find that I'm a better swimmer than paddler in rough stuff so I just hop off the board, drag the leash and do the side-stroke. I get out much more often now, in stuff I couldn't have otherwise.

[JupiterSurfer]

Hey LOLRuss - How's the progress? I also wanted to ask you about the elbow pain. Mine has subsided however my left shoulder is now hurting. It's not muscle soreness. It doesn't hurt while I'm surfing but is really sore afterwards. Do you get anything like this?

[LOLRuss]

The elbow pain went away - but in Friday's big waves I messed up some muscle on my rib cage and it hurts like hell!

I still don't have the popup consistently. Hopefully I'll get it soon.

[996tt]

Good call. Knowing your limits is a huge part of surfing. I had a friend who had a be rescued by lifeguards when she went out on a questionable day. You should NEVER put yourself in a situation like this. Imagine if she had been surfing at a spot without lifeguards.

Remember, surfing is supposed to be fun. Unless surfing is your job and you get paid to do it, you shouldn't be risking injury.

Stay stoked.

PS: sometimes, although rare, it is flat on all Hawaiian shores.

Haha, no doubt. I was out in large storm swells on April 11. Made a mistake and only brought the 9'2" as the report that morning just said chest high. The water was rough and coppy and many sets were head +. I was at a beach with no liefeguard and well on the outside of only about 10 people really spread out.

I really wore myself out getting out. Just as I got out just past the lineup and was about to sit up for a rest, a huge swell rose right in front of me. I thought I would just go over the top as there was no white water at all. It hit me, spun me, and next thing I know I was hauling ass toward shore on the face of the wave. I should have rode it out, but I was so exhausted I just bailed off the board.

I got beat down. My leash broke, and I had what felt like a 30 second hold down. I have great cardio, but was afraid another swell was behind that was going to keep me down. Luckily I was able to grab the board when I surfaced. I kind of wrenched my back so I rode the board into shore and when I got out, my wet suit was bulging full of water. Probably a good thing I was able to grab the board since I was full of water, worn out and there was no life guards.

[LOLRuss]

It gets a little scary when its pushing overhead height paddling out, and you think you can make it if you really push it, but... what if you're exhausted and you get hit with a big wave? I've learned to sometimes NOT push it, and to get clobbered, instead of padding hard as I can when I'm almost outside after the long paddle out and getting nailed by a wave without a decent breath. If I go limp I can handle the spin-cycle, but if I'm huffing to get outside when a set comes it can be a bit dodgy. So I'll just take the beating sometimes instead of getting too winded. I can always get washed in and make it out in the next lull. At least - when there are sets at all

I figured out that... there's no way I can get decent practice on white water on a Florida beach break. The outside break doesn't last long enough for that to be practical - once the sandbar is over, so is the wave. What would happen is that the board would stabilize on the whitewater and I would pop up right as it was ending - not good practice.

So, I've been surfing fewer days, when there are waves to be caught 'in the green.' I still don't have the popup down consistently, but I practice it on unbroken waves. Or, more accurately - right when they break. Still can't catch em very early. Often mis-time it late and eat xxxxx hard.

Its not as good as long-carrying whitewater, I guess, but its my only option. I'm having to learn wave timing, etc. along with the popup and so its a little frustrating but I'm keeping at it. Part of the problem lately has been fear - the other day I was out in 5 foot waves and half the time I would bail during my pop up cause I expected to fall of the front of the wave. Funny thing - that never happened, I woulda been fine every time.

I've also ordered a 'safety fin' as I have cut myself twice (once heel of foot - took 3 weeks to heal! and once slashed my leg), and almost took a fin to the face the other day. It has a rubber lined edge, and I'm removing the two side fins.

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Yeah, taking off on waves that are bigger than you're used to takes confidence, which you should aquire with more experience. Sometimes you just have to take the drop and tell yourself that you're going to make it even if your gut instinct is to bail or hold back.

Make sure to cover your head/face when you fall off your board. Uhhh...through personal experience, having a longboard land on your head really hurt.

[LOLRuss]

Yeah. I've gone from being scared of sharks to being afraid of my board.

[isaluteyou]

Yeah. I've gone from being scared of sharks to being afraid of my board.

ya surfboards can be lethal. When you are gonna eat it try to fall or kick your board away from you and always curl up into a little ball and cover your face. Also when popping back up for air use your hands to feel for the board many a time i have immerged with the board on my head Its seems theres an art to taking a good wipeout as much a sthere is making a big drop

[LOLRuss]

I somehow pulled the muscles between my ribs and its been like 5 days and I still can't lower my right side or it hurts like hell. Arg!

[waverat]

get to a physio as soon as you can. Mine fixed me up real quick.

[LOLRuss]

It doesn't hurt as bad. I'm about to go out.

[LOLRuss]

Got about 6 waves today, all in the green. I can get up every time to one foot and one knee on the initial pop-up. Then, I have a bit of trouble getting the other foot up but this is so much more fun than climbing up from both knees that I am super stoked.

[waverat]

I have been teaching 2 girls to surf over the past few weeks and they have progressed very well. J has got her feet after 3x 2 hour lessons and k is still struggling to get both feet on the board. They are very determined girls!

[Jc]

I got my first green wave of the year last month, but no surf has come since, I wish i lived in florida