Back from 2 week surf, some questions...

[Dead_One]

well, thats me just back from 2 weeks in Mawgan Porth, having spent at least 2 hours a day in the water, i feel i have made some real progress with my surfing, turning, going across the face front and backhand etc, paddling is improved etc. and am generally feeling good about my surfing:-)
however... i have ran into a couple of issues.
Im fine in 2-3 ft surf, can get out back etc, have a lot of fun, but any bigger than that and i find i struggle to get over the breaking waves. I tend to get hit by the first wave, knocked back, then hit by every wave after that... after 4-5 waves im exhausted and head back into the white water for a rest. any advice on getting through this? i ride a 7'10 mini mal, 6' tall weigh approx 90kg.
second problem, and this may be partially the cause of the first, sometimes i see what looks like a wall of water about to break on me, and i find myself jumping off the board and trying to dive under it. this only really started last year when i got hit goin g outback, and suffered a concussion.
apart from that, all is good, apart from the 500 mile drive to consistent surf..... really need to get moved to cornwall:-) anyone got a house and job there they dont want:-)

[jaffa1949]

Sounds like a real loss of confidence!
Unfortunately your current strategy is going to get you smashed by your board again.

You probably are going to have a hard time duck diving so you need to learn the Eskimo/ turtle roll method of getting through white water.

First thing. You won't be able to over substantial white water the board will be smacked back at you.
Jumping off means you have no control over the board in the white water= danger to you and others!

Ok the turtle roll, paddle hard straight at the oncoming white water, gain as much speed as you can it helps.
Judgement is needed here; at the last minute but giving yourself enough time rollover so the fins are up you are hang onto the rails towards the nose pulling the nose downwards hang your body downwards from the board to act as a sea anchor, the white water pushes the board down into the non wave water below. You get a bit ruffled and a bit pushed back but much less than anything you are doing!
Roll the board back upright resume paddling
Judge your breaks, use rips to get out. A series of turtles will still tire you and can still dump you back to shore.

Like everything it is a skill to master!
longboarders have use this, few can duck dive big boards!

[drowningbitbybit]

i struggle to get over the breaking waves

Think about route - if it all possible, don't go over breaking waves, go around them.

It's not always true (particularly at wide open UK spots) but you can often paddle out between the peaks where it's breaking, or even use a rip to get pulled out back. Watch the waves for a while before you go in, and watch where other surfers are paddling out and see if you can spot a route that minimises the number of times a wave will land on your head. You'll likely end up paddling further, but it's a lot easier than trying to go through the impact zone.

Similarly, a lot of newbies paddle out in a straight line straight at the horizon and do nothing about the waves approaching them. By paying attention to the next wave, you can often zigzag around them and go over the unbroken shoulder - remember that the 'best' place to paddle out may not be a straight line all the way out!

[Dead_One]

thanks for the advice, will try that next time i am down. A lot of the time these last 2 weeks there was no lull though, was a 8-9s period, and waves moving from every direction, so no clearly defined path out.
Will give turtle rolling a go, messing it up can't make me look any more stupid than jumping off my board:-)

[jaffa1949]

A larger surf like you are talking about with a less than 9 sec swell period, often means the swell generating machine is on top of where you are you are trying to surf , hence the washing machine like conditions.
I usually don't bother going out in those conditions, as they tend to belt just about anybody into frustration, and are hard to penetrate beyond the break zone.
Rule of thumb here: The messier and strongly onshore a beach is the more frustrating your surf is likely to be.

[Jester]

I hear you man, I had a rant recently about conditions like this and what Uncle Jaffa and Oldmansurfer et all said in reply is very true..OMS gave a lot of helpful insights to his techniques but when it's really tough it feels like nothing you can do will work.

After facing the waves a lot I think like everything in surfing we'll eventually be able to tell just by looking.. Is it breaking on me, is this too big to punch through, am I gonna catch this, what point am I gonna make the turn. We live through sucky waves mate so we may as well learn how to ride em!

I'm still trying to work on some tips OMS gave in that post so maybe they'll help too. Congrats on the good waves tho mate!