Surfing Waves

ok... so ive been going to the beach every saturday for about a month now.. and i can catch the wave.... but i cant stand up... Sooo... i paddle like hell and i catch teh wave.... do i just pop up right after i catch it? because i cant get a good enough grip and i end up unbalancing myself or sliding off the side.... but if i wait until im ready then the wave has weakened too much?.... does it just come with practice and is it normal... or is there something im doing wrong?

What size board are you riding? This may be a combination of riding a board that is too small for you and not taking off early enough. If you're riding a big board, you might need to practice popping up to your feet on land, so as to commit the motion to muscle memory and this might just be a matter of balance. Popping up to your feet should be done in a fluid motion in which you push off your board with your hands and swing your feet under you. You don't have to stand completely upright when you get to your feet. You can crouch down, bending at your knees (not at your hips) to lower your center of gravity.

Are you taking off in the white water or are you taking off on the open face of the wave or before the wave has broken? If you take off in white water, popping up to your feet is difficult due to the turbulence & bumpiness of white water. Taking off earlier before the wave breaks or just as it is breaking at the shoulder of the wave makes for a much smoother take off.

Do not go to your knees before standing up. It takes too long to get to your feet if you're going to your knees first. Also, bad for the deck of the board and probably bad for your knees. Looks bad too.

Hope his helps.

4 sessions really isn't that long in the "learning to surf" world!

Listen to the advise given above, but don't get frustrated yet, give it a couple more months before panicking if you haven't got any better!

"Do not go to your knees before standing up"

veryyyyy important, i was doing this when i started, totally wrong way to do it

If that's your board in your avatar then you're riding too small (wrong shaped) a board to be starting, ideally speaking of course. You don't have to ride any size in particular, but starting off on that board will hinder yer surfing big style!

My first board is the one I ride now, a 5'8" performance fish, bought only because I needed it to be small (uni accomodation + getting it on train) and cos it was cheapy cheap cheap. And when I bought it I could already do the basics on a mini-mal. But my point is, although I managed to learn on it I think it hindered me a lot, I reckon I'd be a better surfer today had I learned on a (mini)mal.

A wider/thicker/longer board provides a far steadier platform to pop on and also they hold speed in the white water far better allowing you to pop up much later while you're learning.

*goes left and graps rail too look good*

Basicly what smallwavegrovellerchick said, practise doing it on land before. Have you had surfing lessons?

essex sucks wrote:*goes left and graps rail too look good*

HAHAHAHA!

You actually made me spit me tea at the monitor with that!

tea thats a plan

You do have a spoon right? Oh yeah you have a whole drawer especially for tea spoons!

yeah got the spoon but noo god dam milk

Nigthtmare! Essex is gonna be crabby at school tomorrow!




I think we've hijacked the thread by the way...mwuahaahahaaa!

noo his got his a anyway and tea in the staff room in the morow

smallwavegrovellerchick wrote:What size board are you riding? This may be a combination of riding a board that is too small for you and not taking off early enough. If you're riding a big board, you might need to practice popping up to your feet on land, so as to commit the motion to muscle memory and this might just be a matter of balance. Popping up to your feet should be done in a fluid motion in which you push off your board with your hands and swing your feet under you. You don't have to stand completely upright when you get to your feet. You can crouch down, bending at your knees (not at your hips) to lower your center of gravity.

Are you taking off in the white water or are you taking off on the open face of the wave or before the wave has broken? If you take off in white water, popping up to your feet is difficult due to the turbulence & bumpiness of white water. Taking off earlier before the wave breaks or just as it is breaking at the shoulder of the wave makes for a much smoother take off.

Do not go to your knees before standing up. It takes too long to get to your feet if you're going to your knees first. Also, bad for the deck of the board and probably bad for your knees. Looks bad too.

Hope his helps.

it does... well my board is 6'7'' and i weigh about 120.... and i havent had surfing lessons... i just go every week with my friend... who is equally hopeless... lol

Johnny B wrote:If that's your board in your avatar then you're riding too small (wrong shaped) a board to be starting, ideally speaking of course. You don't have to ride any size in particular, but starting off on that board will hinder yer surfing big style!

My first board is the one I ride now, a 5'8" performance fish, bought only because I needed it to be small (uni accomodation + getting it on train) and cos it was cheapy cheap cheap. And when I bought it I could already do the basics on a mini-mal. But my point is, although I managed to learn on it I think it hindered me a lot, I reckon I'd be a better surfer today had I learned on a (mini)mal.

A wider/thicker/longer board provides a far steadier platform to pop on and also they hold speed in the white water far better allowing you to pop up much later while you're learning.

well the thing is.... i got it used... i couldnt afford to have a bigger one much less didnt have space for it

im replying about a message up there about the shape of the board being wrong... actually isnt my board per say.... "normal" .... i mean its not a fish or anything.... what would you call it? it is 6'7''

TReMoR wrote:im replying about a message up there about the shape of the board being wrong... actually isnt my board per say.... "normal" .... i mean its not a fish or anything.... what would you call it? it is 6'7''

Theres nothing wrong with the shape of the board but i suspect that it is just too small for you to learn quickly on. See if you can hire or borrow a mimmal say of about 7ft3 long and then see how you get on. Also practise tyour popping up EVERY day. You can do it any where. Practise popping staright to your feet, remain crouched low with feet wide apart. Better still get yourself a cardboard cut out of your board mark where your feet need to land.
10-30 pop ups a day and this will improove your chances of sucess next time you go to the beach immensely.

KS

I think it's great that you're starting off on a shortboard. You'll become a stronger paddler out of necessity since you need to paddle harder to catch waves and it takes more strokes to make it out to the lineup than on a bigger board. It's easier to hang on to and control a shortboard than it is a longboard/mini tank. If you find yourself in a bad place, such as caught on the inside and a bunch of sets are coming, you can harm yourself or others if you lose control of a longboard. The same goes for a shortboard, but it's easier to hang on to. Duckdiving is easier with a shortboard. It's much easier to catch waves and balance on a longboard/mini tank, but it's way easier to turn and maneuver a shortboard.

Eventually you'll get a better idea of what you're looking for in terms of board dimensions, shapes, and fin set ups, but for now I think that with persistence and practice you'll learn the basics on the board that you have.

It's a thruster.

And I agree with smallwave chick. No reason to think you can't learn on a shortboard. Used to be the only way people did learn to surf.

Yes, it is a bit tougher, but you'll be a better surfer and once you get the hang of it, you'll progress way faster than someone starting on a big board and trying to move downward in size.

rich r wrote:It's a thruster.

And I agree with smallwave chick. No reason to think you can't learn on a shortboard. Used to be the only way people did learn to surf.

Yes, it is a bit tougher, but you'll be a better surfer and once you get the hang of it, you'll progress way faster than someone starting on a big board and trying to move downward in size.

All true but it also depends on how often you get to go surfing and the quality of the waves you surf as to how quickly you wil progress. Poor waves and not surfing so often your learning curve will be way slower on a shortboard and of course vice versa good waves and surfing lots then defo learn on a shortboard.

KS