I can surf, now what.

[pmcaero]

happens to me often...I lean into the turn and just stall.

The key is to use your whole body to turn, lead with your arms, and your shortboard should just follow.

[oldmansurfer]

When you make a turn either the wave needs to provide the energy or the surfer. Energy is created by dropping down the face of a wave but this energy is rapidly dissipated if you go down into the flat water at the bottom of the wave. To keep from losing the energy you need to run before you lose speed in the flat water at the bottom. When you turn the energy from falling is turned into energy in a lateral direction down the wave or back up the wave if you turn it that way. If you can get back on the wall of the wave or back to the top then you can fall down the face again generating more energy. The width of the tail makes the board have more energy from a turn but requires more force pushing back on it. Your back foot needs to right over the fins. When you make a bottom turn you have to follow up with another turn or the board will keep going in whatever direction you turned it to (unless the wave hits it and forces it in another direction). If the waves are weak then you have to add to the force by crouching down into the turns so as you go to turn you crouch down and this shifting of your weight presses into the board then as you turn you can add more energy by extending your legs. This also launches your upper body in a direction and all together it moves the board along (ideally) so you lean toward the direction you want to go and when you release it is almost like jumping into that position from your previous one. I like riding bigger powerful waves because you don't need any of that but if you can do some it makes it even better.

[oldmansurfer]

To keep from losing the energy you need to run before you lose speed in the flat water at the bottom.

I meant to write "turn before you lose speed" but I no can spelll tooo goood.

[Peakysurf]

Ok.

So I think i've finally got down how to bottom turn, i havent been able to get too vertical yet, but I think I have a fair idea of how it's executed.

But now I got another question.
I was going to make another thread for it, but it's kinda related.

Top turns.
After the bottom turn.
Whenever I try to do it, I always, without fail, fall of my board backwards, onto the face of the wave.

Ive read and been told that i have to look where I want to go. (Down the bottom of the wave)
But I cant get the board to follow me.

Whenever I try to turn, I just fall of.
Am i doing anything wrong??

Thanks

[jaffa1949]

Great Peaky, try your top turn while you still have some speed from your bottom turn.
It sounds like you are doing it without speed ( essential ) and doing it by leaning (A recipe to fail it) Use the speed and just like the bottom turn drive the weight into your rear foot and force the board around and down leading with your eyes and arm then your upper body. and have your eyes towards where your next bottom turn will begin.
Repeat as often as necessary

[waikikikichan]

Forget about Top Turns for now until you can do proper front side cut backs. Work on the basic horizontal turns - cutting Left and Right before working on Vertical turns. You need to learn how to transfer from your inside rail, to the flat bottom, to your outside rail to properly get your board to turn down. Right now your inside rail is locked to the wave, and that's why you get fall off.

[Peakysurf]

Ok guys.
After trying for a few sessions Ive started to do a top turn im happy with. I still got along way to go haha.
But im alot better then I was 2 weeks ago

Im not done yet though. I have plenty of other questions. That you may be subject to in new threads

Thanks for the help and happy new years.

[TowelCircus]

Ok guys, it can be very confusing when you start trying to perform turns. First reason is that your wave's face reading is very poor, the second reason is that you don't master the correct sequence of movements, the third reason is that you don't really know what move is possible in each situation.

Considering these points you should avoid 2 major mistakes :
1. Training your body to perform an inefficient sequence of movements
2. Try to perform moves when the wave doesn't allow them

Learning takes a very long time because it's all about feeling and perceptions, here is what you can do to accelerate your learning process :

1. Whenever you surf keep your eyes wide open, focus on the waves shape. Ask yourself, where's the speed, what's next ? Always.
2. Focus on your speed, the more speed the better, soon enough you will figure out that to keep your speed up you have to turn. Turns are a way to get/keep speed not the other way around...
3. Weight the board, be very heavy, then unweight it, be as light as you can, the more you can get this heavy/light feeling the better you will become.
Watch Kelly load unload on very small waves : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPhjv4uS1sE

4. Learn the correct sequences of movements on ground, repeat them, it doesn't matter if you don't perform any of them in the water yet, this will come naturally.

Don't try to do a top turn, don't try to do a bottom turn, just try to get the maximum speed by loading/unloading you board, you should totally fail at first, ruin a lot of waves by experimenting but finally you will perform small turns without thinking about it. Small turns with speed then only, big turns with speed. Big board and small turns then small board big turns !

[oldmansurfer]

Considering these points you should avoid 2 major mistakes :
1. Training your body to perform an inefficient sequence of movements
2. Try to perform moves when the wave doesn't allow them

How do you know what movements are inefficient? and How do you know what the wave will allow or not allow?

[TowelCircus]

How do you know what movements are inefficient? and How do you know what the wave will allow or not allow?

At first you don't, but if you keep focusing on getting speed and observing the wave's face you will learn fast. On the opposite side if you focus on doing this or that on the next wave, you will force inadequate moves and you wont learn much. That's what i meant.

Inefficient movements make you lose speed and/or control.