How To Avoid A Wave

[tony1904]

Hi
I started surfing on a funboard/shortboard of about 5'10 tall. My question is when I need to avoid a wave because its to big or for any reason, what is the best way to do that? (if i paddle hard towards the wave i will probably get knocked back, if i turn and padle out towards the beach i might be too slow and get caught in the wave). My second question is, is it safe to duck dive on my funboard of 5'10 shaped like a shortboard? or should I turtle dive. My last question is how far does the wave have to be before I can start paddeling for it? because I dont want to paddle to soon and waste a lot of energy.

[drowningbitbybit]

my funboard of 5'10 shaped like a shortboard?

Er, that'll be a shortboard then...?

Duckdive.

[Rogue_Shadow]

Watch what other Surfers are doing to avoid the waves. Here in Cornwall, Ive seen ONE person duck dive the rest so what I do and charge at the wave and hope for the best ha ha. Good fun though. Only time that it doesn't work is when there is a Strong rip tide and 2 seconds off your feet from a wave = 5 meters drifting back towards the beach....that was a tiring day

[isaluteyou]

any board under 7ft or so should be no problem to duckdive. Learn to duckdive, you cant catch waves unless you can get outback and duckdiving is the best method by far. The only time duckdiving becomes an impossibility is when the waves are absolutely macking but i dont think you are quite there yet

[LOLRuss]

My last question is how far does the wave have to be before I can start paddeling for it? because I dont want to paddle to soon and waste a lot of energy.

This is impossible to answer precisely because it depends entirely on timing. If you're too far outside, you may have to paddle way early. You will notice really advanced surfers can often do a two stroke entry to a wave - they just 'happen' to be at the right place at the right time for that to be possible. The reason being - they can read the waves, they know whats going to happen based on the previous sets and what is on the horizon. So, the key thing is: pay attention to those around you, the coming sets, and where they break at all times. You will develop intuition about where to be, and how much you have to paddle. You can actually ask people about it too, lots of people are willing to point out little things in the water than can guide your positioning. In fact, a nice old guy will even help you with your timing if you ask - "Paddle now! GO GO GO!" I've gotten some of my best waves when I was having trouble getting timing down, that way.

There's nothing like that feeling where you nail your positioning just right, and you paddle just a few times and get right up for a long ride. Hardly ever, ever happens to me - but it feels great when it does It just takes time. At first you'll find that you're out of position a lot. As your endurance and wave reading increase - you'll be moving around more and you'll just happen to be where the waves want you to be. There are no shortcuts.

In the meanwhile, I wouldn't sweat wasting energy. You're not wasting it - you're getting stronger

[jb987]

Don't think that you can avoid a wave by paddling to the beach! That is what you do when you try to catch the wave! Is that what you meant?

With the 5'10" board, you should be able to duck dive it. My 8' longboard has too much float, so I can not duck dive it even if I wanted to. The wave can nose dive it, but I can't duck dive it! Figure that one out. I have been able to paddle into the wave break and grabe the rails to keep the board from popping up too far, but sometimes I can't hold on. On larger wave breaks, I can turtle dive, though with thick rails I sometimes lose the board and the lease keeps it from going to shore. Your board should be fine for either turtle diving or duck diving. If you paddle into the wave, try to keep the board down by holding on tight to the rails. Your rails should be thin enough on your type of board that you won't lose your grip. The wave can push you back and it can pop up the board, but if the wave breaks are small then you can paddle right into the wave...but you take the wave break in your face, so if you don't like that then either duck dive or turtle dive. Don't do a 180 and paddle for shore unless you want to catch the wave break.