Surfing Waves

Hello everyone. I'm now able to go straight towards the beach on green waves. I'm trying to turn to go along the face of a wave but can't quite do it. Can anyone give me any tips? Thanks.

When you try to make the drop, try to angle a little bit, not too much just a little bit so that you can go down the face of the wave and make the transition to a smooth turn.
hope that helps.

Look where you want to go, turn your shoulder, transfer weight to your back foot, and lean into the turn, keeping your knees bent, then straighten out once you are on the face.

Sometimes I see surfers grab the rail of their board. Is that another way to turn?

flex wrote:Sometimes I see surfers grab the rail of their board. Is that another way to turn?

Its not 'another way', more of an addition to the existing way. Only required when moving fast, and no use whatsoever while you're learning.

Hang11's description is spot on. A way to practise is to point with your leading hand where you want to go. You'll look like a complete kook, but it'll teach you to look and turn where you want to go.

even if u go straight and don't make the face.....practice 11's tips on the flats in front of white water. they will transfer to the face.

What stance are you?? I found that I preferred (and still prefer) to turn left (I surf goofy footed) as that seems to be more natural for me. If you're regular, you might feel more comfortable going right.

Whatever, you'll certainly feel as though you're more 'in control' going one way than the other, so concentrate on getting the 'comfortable' turn down first.
In addition to the good advice already offered, if you're on a longboard, the turn will be a lot slower than if you're on a mini-mal or short board shape - don't think you'll immediately be able to do a big slashing cut back........

Once you've got yourself stood up, keep low to build some speed and then put your weight over your back foot when you're ready to turn. Try to pivot your body on your back foot, bringing your head and shoulders round to where you want to go. As soon as you've got the board going the way you want it, shift your weight back to your front foot to build up the speed again.

I found that if I tried TOO hard, then I dug the rails in - not the thing to do on a 9'3" board - so just relax and go gently with it till you get the hang of things, then try to push it by doing more extremes of weight shifting to get the nose round quicker............

Hope that helps..........

everyones advice is pretty good. I always find the easiest way to turn is to just look in the direction you want to go and your boddy will automatically shift. The better you get the more weight you will adjust thus making sharper turns.

isaluteyou wrote:everyones advice is pretty good. I always find the easiest way to turn is to just look in the direction you want to go and your boddy will automatically shift.

Exactly how I did my first turn. I read it here and it works. I was a wrestler and a coach for many years and one thing you learn as a wrestler "where the head goes the body must follow". So if you turn your head to look where you want to go your body automatically shifts to where your looking. All it takes is a really small shift in weight to turn. As you get better you will start throwing your weight around to make crisper sharper turns.

Sick. Thanks guys

What type of board are you using? With regards to the 'hold onto the rail' reply- I was told this by an instructor when having a lesson today. Start off by paddling straight then as the wave lifts you put presson the side you want to turn by leaning to that side or even pushing you hand on near the rail. Depending on the direction of the white water, it's easier if you go the opposite direction.

when you lean while turning you'll be surprised just how far over you can lean and still stay firmly on the board.

Also, remember to stay near the pocket of the wave were most of the energy is, don't go too far ahead of this area otherwise the wave will pass you by.

alimac2411 wrote:when you lean while turning you'll be surprised just how far over you can lean and still stay firmly on the board.

Also, remember to stay near the pocket of the wave were most of the energy is, don't go too far ahead of this area otherwise the wave will pass you by.

Is that if you're going really fast only? Because i tried leaning over on white wash and i just fell off sideways.

And I have a 6 ft soft top. I'm 5'10"

yeah its not so easy to lean into turns in the whitewash. no face for your rails to hold into. also softops re a bugger to turn. they're good for getting started on (which is why all the surf hire places and surf schools have them) but no use once you can stand up and want to turn and such. might be time to go for a real board. funboard or shorter minimal would be best if you're already starting to turn on a 6' board. soft or not.

Yeah maybe. I would of bought a fibreglass in the first place but my friend said that he bought a fibreglass and his little brother bought a soft top and because his little brother bought a soft top, he learned quicker and is now better my friend.

Look at where you want to go, and lean towards the direction you are going to turn.

Oh and btw get a nice big shortie or a smallish minimal/funboard. I really like my 6'6", my 7'2" held me back alot, but if you get a nice thick shortie then you should be cool.

Surfing-Innovation wrote:What stance are you?? I found that I preferred (and still prefer) to turn left (I surf goofy footed) as that seems to be more natural for me. If you're regular, you might feel more comfortable going right.

Whatever, you'll certainly feel as though you're more 'in control' going one way than the other, so concentrate on getting the 'comfortable' turn down first.
In addition to the good advice already offered, if you're on a longboard, the turn will be a lot slower than if you're on a mini-mal or short board shape - don't think you'll immediately be able to do a big slashing cut back........

Once you've got yourself stood up, keep low to build some speed and then put your weight over your back foot when you're ready to turn. Try to pivot your body on your back foot, bringing your head and shoulders round to where you want to go. As soon as you've got the board going the way you want it, shift your weight back to your front foot to build up the speed again.

I found that if I tried TOO hard, then I dug the rails in - not the thing to do on a 9'3" board - so just relax and go gently with it till you get the hang of things, then try to push it by doing more extremes of weight shifting to get the nose round quicker............

Hope that helps..........

That is perfect, but in addition to that, lean towards wear you want to go, otherwise you might loose to much speed.

I think I've found out why I can't turn. I catch the wave and stand up but instead of looking where to go and leaning towards that direction, I'm looking down at the nose of my board making sure it doesn't dig into the water and launch me up in the air. I've turned before but that's when I'm feeling relaxed and don't give a **** if I wipe out or not.

I should stop giving a damn if I nosedive and I should start planning where to go on the wave. Thanks for all the help. It was much appreciated.

flex wrote:I think I've found out why I can't turn. I catch the wave and stand up but instead of looking where to go and leaning towards that direction, I'm looking down at the nose of my board making sure it doesn't dig into the water and launch me up in the air. I've turned before but that's when I'm feeling relaxed and don't give a **** if I wipe out or not.

I should stop giving a damn if I nosedive and I should start planning where to go on the wave. Thanks for all the help. It was much appreciated.

if you're not wiping out you're not trying hard enough. dont worry about watching the nose of the board. remember unless its really big and or you're surfing some gnarly reef or something then you dont really need to worry about wiping out.