pointers with take-off

[cj]

I would try this (from start to finish) (I'm making a baked potatoe, so I have to kill some time anyway)

1) Before you even go in the water, take about 10 minutes or more, and just look at the waves, watch how they are breaking, where they are breaking, and try to figure out why they are breaking there, is it the sand bar, is it a reef, etc.

And then look at the shore and find some things up on shore that stand out, visual referrence points, that way you can look back at the shore and know exactly where you are.

Keep in mind the changing tide is going to move where the waves are breaking in a lot of breaks, especially by piers.

2) Practice duck dives, dive deep when you duck dive, you can NEVER dive too deep with a surf board when you are duck diving, so push down hard... And practice your pop ups up on shore, it will help to build your mid section and condition it for dynamic movements, like surfing.

3) Once you are out there, in the line up, if there is one, relax. Don't be so quick to take a wave, just hang back, it is best to stay out of priority, in other words, hang back where everyone else out there knows that you don't intend on paddling for a wave anytime soon.

Watch the waves as they roll in, you will notice that a lot of the waves you may have paddled for before are not the better ones, watch sets come in, they tend to form a real rhymic trend. Sometimes they come in with all the energy up front, in the first wave, sometimes the last or middle wave is the good one, Be patient.

4) Here is the big trick: CATCHING THE WAVE, STANDING UP, and RIDING IT.

Once you have a wave picked out, start paddling, slowly... Take long, purposeful strokes. Then as it gets under you, then you go crazy ass with the paddling to make sure you have the speed to catch it.

Once the wave catches you, use your arms and upper body to 'body board' .... yea just body board.... For a couple seconds. This is stabilizing the board, and you can turn the board down the line (which is your ultimate goal, to ride the line of energy just in front of where the wave is breaking)

Then Once the board is stable, and you feel like you can control the board, THEN stand up, or pop up.

Start off by just getting to your feet any way you can, one knee at a time if you have to, worry about popping up fast once you are catching bigger waves, when it matters.

OK, next

Riding the wave:

Basically it is pretty simple

Lean on the nose, and you will accelerate

Lean on the nose too much, and you will dump your board forward and fly off the front of it as it flips you.

Lean back on the board (stomp pad) and you will slow the board

Lean back too much and you will stall the board.

You can use your front or back foot to steer the board, this is just natural balance control.

BUT, if you don't have natural balance, then just lean your weight LIGHTLY on your front foot, in the direction you want to go. If you lean too hard you will bury your nose.

Next, if you start to slow down and you dont want to, lean forward, if that doesn't work, start pumping your board, that is simply bouncing up and down on it to create energy, but usually once you start pumping your board, you are better off to just carve the board backwards, and lay back down on it and paddle back out, if you pump your board too much you might just extend a shitty ride and have to paddle farther to get back out.

Hope this helps.

And remember, don't let your wax job chill too long on your board, or you will have a nasty board.

Peace bro.

[cj]

not to kill this post with too much, but another thing you might want to try is taking your board out in FLAT water, stand next to it in the water, and putting your hands in different areas of the middle of the board and press yourself up off your feet with your hands planted on the board.

This will give you an idea of where the center of buoyancy is on your board, it will also help you understand the limits of where you CAN put your feet.

[surfishlife]

cj you rock...again, thanks for that brief step-by-step i like the concept of "body-boarding" the wave for a few seconds...that gives me a better visual of what i should be doing right before i pop-up and how the wave should be taking me. a lotta the times i know you just gotta be out there on the wave and figure it out yourself, but it's been so helpful to me that you provide so much detail and bringing in your experiences.

how long have you been surfing, btw? you sound so pro

[cj]

Thanks, not a pro by any means, but I do want to share with you how I got into surfing, its my favorite story to tell.

As far as my personal experience goes, I have only been surfing for a little over 5 years now.

The first time I ever went surfing was with a buddy of mine in Lake Michigan, during a winter storm. The waves were 6-8 feet, with some bigger ones rolling in every once in a while. The water was 36 F. I don't know what that is in celcius off hand, but basically there were 2 foot balls of ice chuncks floating in the waves. The wind was out of the SW and was at 25-35 knots, gust up to 40, with the air temp around 30 degrees F.

We walked out on the end of a cement pier that goes about 3/4 mile out into the water, and jumped off, half way out there is a ladder that we climb down, and wait for the wave sets to pass by, then we jump off onto our boards and paddle away from the pier into the line up (usually isn't a line up in the winter though, only a hand full of surfers go out in the winter here)

I remember it was freezing rain mixed with snow that day, I was wearing my buddies 5/4/3 with a hoodie, boots and gloves (this is the first time I have ever put a wet suit on in my whole life too)

I was scared, but my buddy was out there with a 3/4 spring suit on, boots and gloves but no hood, and he was duck diving under the freezing waves. Insane.

He was riding a 6'6" epoxy fish and I had his long board, I think it was a 9'6, but I can't remember for sure. I just remembered his fish, because he still has that.

I paddled for a couple waves and caught them, but I only stood once, but I rode that wave for a good few seconds, then I tried to turn hard, and fell into the icy water, and the 6 feet or more of water pumalled me.

I paddled out and tried to catch more waves, I tried for a ton of them, but my arms were almost frozen solid, I couldn't even barely move them to paddle back in to shore by the time he finally called it quits.

That one wave I rode that day hooked me for life. I remember feeling the spiritualness of surfing on that wave, I remember my surprise at the awsome speed that it had when it first picked me up, then I finally stood up and I remember looking down at the white water breaking over my back, and then looking out at the water around me and thinking, I am on top of the water, I felt like God was there right then and there.

Ok, that is my story. Thanks for listening, or reading. Like I said, it is my favorite story. aside from the time I showed up to meet the governor of our state at a townhall meeting stoned out of my mind, wearing a suit and tie on a 56" Sector 9 skateboard, covered in sweat, but that is a different story all together.

If you have anymore questions, I don't have xxxxx to do most of the time, so I will do whatever I can to tell you what I know. Peace.

[surfishlife]

beautiful story, i could totally picture it. my first time learning to surf wasn't as epic like frozen, icy waters or 6 footers, but nevertheless, i felt the beauty of being on that wave. =)

thanks bro, you'll have to tell us about that encounter with the governor!