Next step from lessons

[Oggy]

Dee Why. Usually the southern end, nice and forgiving.

[dtc]

Jaffa knows all about DY from memory

Surfing is like, well, lots of sports - you try and try and cant get it right and suddenly it clicks. sometimes you rarely ever think about it again (pop up), others are a constant battle to get it right. Perhaps its like golf in that respect; every now and then you get a drive down the middle, mostly its sort of ok and sometimes it goes 3m sideways.

[jaffa1949]

Here is Jaffa at 13 in 1962 on an easy Dee Why Point wave

This is what I was riding a 9'6" balsa pig board nicknamed the can opener, try turtle rolling this one. I could , you had to no leashes and rocks to eat the board.

You also had to register your board every year

Here is one of the Sasse brothers almost from the same angle when the wave has more bite , you can recognise the rocks

Here is a bigger day at Dee Why Point ( by Bob Weeks in 1962) you were only allowed out on days like this when the older guys figured you could handle it ( it was physically enforced)
I got out there when I was 12.

This is the southern end of Dee Why beach.

[Oggy]

Wow, great photos! Thanks for that. It certainly can get big at the point there. I make sure I'm tucked away in kiddies corner!
Was it hard work paddling the balsa boards?

[jaffa1949]

Balsa boards float differently from foam or anything else but are heavier, Kiddies corner was known as the basin at early stage!
Enjoy1

[Oggy]

Totally hooked now, getting waves every time I go out. Loving it!!!
The only downside is, you get some free time and it's flat or too big! Man that sucks!!

[dtc]

Totally hooked now, getting waves every time I go out. Loving it!!!
The only downside is, you get some free time and it's flat or too big! Man that sucks!!

Wait until summer....weeks on end of flat or knee high and the wind starts at 10am or earlier and thats it for the rest of the day

But cant beat sitting out the back at 7am when its already mid 20s and sun is blazing and the water is clear. Waves are just a bonus.

btw, if you have a few days off and want some uncrowded waves (less crowded than Sydney), head south. Even wollongong is 1/2 the crowd and once you hit south of Nowra it can be harder to find a beach with surfers than without. These arent secret spots, but Caves Beach, Bendalong, Narawalle, Mollymook, Lake Tabourie, Burril Lake etc all offer beach or occasional point breaks. The waves wont be too much different to Sydney, but the crowds will be less (except over holiday time!)

[Big H]

Wow, great photos! Thanks for that. It certainly can get big at the point there. I make sure I'm tucked away in kiddies corner!
Was it hard work paddling the balsa boards?

I have a modern balsa and is heavy but paddles and floats really well.....as the shaper says, "rides like a limousine".

[Oggy]

Yeah I've got to do that dtc. The northern beaches is just chaos. It can be 10am on a Tuesday morning, flat as, and there's still half a dozen people waiting in vain. The Mrs loves Mollymook so I might have to start working on that. I mean, she deserves a break!

[Oggy]

Hi all! I can now get waves pretty much every time I'm out. I just got a 9'2 which is making things even easier! My thing now is, I want to start surfing across the wave.
Do I paddle straight, drop, then trim across? Or is it a back foot turn? (Which I can't do).
Do you paddle at an angle? When I paddle at a slight angle I always fall.
I see shortboarders paddle at quite an angle but I've been told not to.
Any suggestions?

[jaffa1949]

All turns on a long board are based on back foot pressure and this should occur towards the back, or even better over the fins. The lean turns anywhere forward guarantee a bog the rail and fall off. There is so much rail that gets involved in a forward lean turn.

Yes you can do an angled takeoff and paddle but it is not straight into the face and is different for each wave it is angling down but not straight and you have to match the wave speed and take an extra paddle out two to ensure you are on and moving with the wave face.
Short boards fit differently into the wave face curve and because of the lesser paddling power have to get wave speed energy by being in a more powerful more critical part of the wave face.

Take your observations from the Longboarder's not the shorties

[waikikikichan]

Do I paddle straight, drop, then trim across? Or is it a back foot turn? (Which I can't do).
Do you paddle at an angle? When I paddle at a slight angle I always fall.

If we answer "Yes, you should Back foot turn", you stated you "can't" do it anyways.
If we answer "Yes, you should paddle at an angle", you stated you "always fall" off anyways.
So either way it won't matter.

But you need to approach surfing like nature, not man made- robotic. Nature is ever changing. low tide- high tide, wind direction, inside/outside the reef, back wash etc. That's not even considering your own physical condition ( tired-ness ) when you first enter the water and after an hour. It not always one way, all the time. You need to adjust you approach each and every take-off.

[Oggy]

Do I paddle straight, drop, then trim across? Or is it a back foot turn? (Which I can't do).
Do you paddle at an angle? When I paddle at a slight angle I always fall.

If we answer "Yes, you should Back foot turn", you stated you "can't" do it anyways.
If we answer "Yes, you should paddle at an angle", you stated you "always fall" off anyways.
So either way it won't matter.

It would help as it would give me something to focus on, a necessary skill to progress.

[dtc]

Its not either angle or bottom turn.

The easiest is to take off at a bit of an angle (say 20 deg from the beach) and look down the wave as you take off. As soon as you pop up, start nudging the board around - a 'mid face' turn (usually this is easier if you are going frontside).

Rather than either trying to take off at the angle which puts you down the line, or going straight down and doing a hard bottom turn. You do a bit of both. Some angle, some turning

So your focus is
- slight angle
- start turning ASAP (you will need to move your back foot back for this, but because you arent doing a really hard turn, the weight transfer need not be as much. Which is easier when you are just learning this skill)
- after you have turned enough, remember to surf in the top 1/2 of the save (ie if you turn and you are at the bottom when completed - which is fine - then just let yourself go up the face a bit to get the speed)

[RinkyDink]

Here are a couple of things I've learned as a beginner:

1. One of the reasons why surfing is so difficult, in my opinion, is because you have to start the sport by learning the most difficult and dangerous part of it from the outset--the takeoff. Every time I think I have it wired I encounter a different wave that requires some kind of takeoff modification. Make a note of the kinds of waves you're taking off on and what kind of takeoff works for them. I already have my own checklist for different wave types. Fast waves = angled takeoffs and an instant popup (no lazy, take-your-time popups), forget about bottom turns because the pocket will leave you behind. Slow rollers that never seem to want to break = position yourself inside and know exactly where the wave plunges, not to mention giving yourself some paddle room to get in front of the wave and reach your maximum speed at the lip plunging line. There are so many other wave types you'll need to make a note of along the way.

2. Find your maximum paddle speed and get it hard wired in your head. When you're paddling around during your session, stay conscious of the movement of your board and find a rhythm. I often visualize things like the following when I'm paddling from one spot over to another.

When my center of gravity is just right on my board, the nose of my board will be just right in the water, my paddling will be efficient, and my strokes propel me forward. I feel like I glide similar to the boat in that video. Sometimes I visualize pulling myself along two ropes, one for each arm, underneath my board. The times my paddling is off I feel like I'm going nowhere and just flailing. When I flail (usually when I try to gain a burst of speed to get into a wave) I find I have to stop and get my head back into the muscle memory of my efficient paddling zone. As a beginner, it's important to find where that optimum zone is for you.

Anyway, good luck.

[Oggy]

Appreciate all the help, as always.
Need to get out as much as possible. Which can be hard to find with a 2yr old and a newborn!

[Oggy]

Starting to get the feel for getting more weight back to turn, then weight forward to take off again. Really felt like I made some progress today. Pumped! Long way to go though.......

[Oggy]

Hi all and a big Happy New Year!!
Have been getting out as often as I can and have been making progress. Same days I’m getting waves and it feels like it’s coming easy and others I just plain suck.
Just wanted to see if any of you have any turtle rolling tips. Today I was caught in the impact zone and I’d have to turtle roll and just couldn’t get out. It got so exhausting I had to go in. I had been out for an hour or so getting hit by set after set just nailed me.
Any tips? I’m on a 9’2 mal.

[oldmansurfer]

getting out through the waves depends a lot on timing. You don't want to be where the waves are breaking and if you have to go through the waves you want the power to dissipate a little before you attempt to go through it. I usually do a duck dip which is what I can do with a board that can't be duckdived. I basically do a handstand to shove the nose of the board as deep as it will go. My rear end and the back half of the board are still sticking out of the water but when the wave hits I pull the nose up and this makes it like a duck dive because the wave pushes the back half of the board down as it passes by and when I pull up on the nose it makes it similar to a duckdive but not as clean. I also do turtle rolls and to do this I flip over and dive down then pull the board further down toward me keeping my elbows between me and the board so if there is a heavy impact my arms prevent the board from smacking me in the face. Fitness helps because if you are winded it all become a lot more difficult.

[dtc]

The key to turtle rolls is to get the nose down and under the wave. Grab quite close to the nose and sink under the wave - as old man says, the wave will push the tail down. If the white water gets under the nose you will be pushed back

But as old man also says, try not to paddle out where the waves are breaking. If that means paddling out 50m down the beach and then across to the peak, that is better than exhausting yourself. Find a rip/channel.

There are days when paddling out is just hard. Messy, short period waves give you no time to recover or advance before the next one hits. If you find yourself caught in the impact zone for a while, no shame in going closer to shore (away from the impact) and taking a rest for a while