Surfing Waves

hi, i suppose hundreds of threads have been started over this and i looked for one but couldnt find.... basically i "had" a 6"4 fish which was preeeety thick..and i found it quite hard to duck dive... i could get under the majority of waves but it was the 4-5ft crush and up which would just throw me off the board...i learnt myself how to duck dive but just cant seem to penetrate tht strong white water. i normally get half way and just feel the waves and get thrown off my board. im using the one knee method?? would 2 knees put me deeper into the water?? thanks in advanced and sorry if this was posted like 100 times, im a noob lol Peace

Check this out.

http://extreme.com/video/video.asp?vID= ... Which=SURF

hope it helps.

timing is cruicial and of course making a namby duckdive aint gonna cut it in bigger sets. Make it count. Im told using your foot instead of knee gets you probably 10% deeper. So if at all possibe try doing it that way. However i use the one knee method and have no probs duckdiving DOH.

Also a fish despite being small have a lot of surface area this makes it pretty tricky to get down in comparision to a shortboard.

So just practise and make em count

to get deeper plant a foot on the tail instead of your knee. then stick the other foot up in the air. this will sink the tail deeper. remember to push your board forwards hard just before you dive down to it. some surfers use a knee in smaller waves and a foot when it gets bigger.

thanks alot guys...realy good advice, never knew people actuly used there foot! only thought there was the 1 and 2 knee methods lol thanks again

great vid - thanks for posting hookturn!

Yep putting the feet on the tail is the important but also the most hardest thing in duck diving.

when you weight your back foot on the tail elevate your foot at the same time to help keep balanced, when under drive with back foot to push yourself through

hookturn wrote:Check this out.
http://extreme.com/video/video.asp?vID= ... Which=SURF

hope it helps.

That was a cool video. It makes it look harder tho than it really is. Don't focus on all the words and parts to duck-diving, pretty soon it'll just be one solid movement.

You can practice in a pool...less float in fresh water so it will be easier, may help technique..

you should get to the point where you can submerge your whole self and scoop under a couple feet of water.
The good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8diLduIU ... re=related
Bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7Tq1pSP0c
ugly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CeQyYOU ... re=related

the bad and ugly could be interchanged as needed!

That 'ugly' one is great!

Been there so many times! Im not sure my duck-diving has improved, but I sure know when to pick a different route out these days!

Haha the ugly one is one of the classic paddle out.

Hey I got a new board recently. Its a 7ft fish so its pretty wide and thick. I have not been able to duck dive it yet (the board just pops out of the water behind me) and am wondering if it is possible. I have been looking for some guides about the upper limit on board sizes for duck diving but have not come across much. I am about 5ft 10" (177cm) and weigh about 12 stone (75kg). Does anyone have any experience duck diving a board of this size?

I had a 6ft 8" short board before which was really too small for me but I could duck dive it like no ones business.

Just wondering if I should give up trying to duck dive this board and start working on the turtle roll. Ill try using my foot and the other leg in the air next time im out.

well it will be hard work to duckdive that board. a 7ft fish is an odd size really. if you can get the board down then you need to focus on pushing it forward. its important when duckdiving any board but more important if its a big one.

generally, you wouldnt use a fish to duckdive since they are built for mushy small waves, that's why they got so much volume...

but if you really want to use them for waves that are a bit bigger, do what they do with a longboard, just paddle as hard as you can and punch through the incoming waves like you would with a longboard

nah you can duckdive a fish. its a bit trickier but still possible. that s if you have a fish which is a sensible size for you. its going to be very hard to duckdive a longer fish jut due to the volume but i know people who can duckdive longboards so its definately possible.

Well I'm not sure you're talking about a retro fish, but the 5'6 fish(not exactly retro 3 finned but probably duck dives like a retro) I just got is super easy to duckdive, and even if the waves are mushy, occasionally a bigger wave comes, and you don't want to try to go right through the whitewash with your tiny board. I've only been surfing for 5 months, but this is how I duckdive:
1.Paddle hard, you want a bit of speed or duck diving just doesn't work.
2.When you're 5 feet(or something) away from the whitewash lift yourself up, then push the board as hard as you can under water( I push under where my shoulders are while paddling)
3.You guys are saying use your foot, I think prefer using my knee to do this: Put one leg up, and use your knee to push your board under water(on my 6'5 and my 5'6, I put my knee where my trackpad is). This usually puts the board almost flat under the whitewash, but aiming a bit toward the surface.
4.when I'm completely under water, I kick with both legs and my board just shoots up to the surface at like a 45 degree angle =).

It was really hard at the beginning, but there's no way to get out there without it, so you pretty much have to practice.

Luc

You can definitely duck dive a fish!, I can duck dive my 7'5 mini-mal, which has more volume than a fish. Ok in the big stuff I struggle a bit, I'm OK up to about 4-5 ft, but then the trick is in timing and not getting caught at that point. I have to admit that I haven't quite figured out the timing yet! I always duck dive a few, then instead of getting the channel between sets right, I paddle like a fool and usually end up right in the impact zone when the next set comes in, more fitness required methinks!!

I have heard you can use one foot, or use a technique where you push down with both feet, anyone had experience with this?