Surfing Waves

For 2' - 4' waves and a 7'6" board what would you recommend? Doing eskimo roll if the wave is about to break or has broken and you need to pass it?

Today I kind of had problems passing broken waves or almost breaking on me, duck dive didn't really work I believe, unless I was doign it wrong. Maybe I should go for eskimo roll?

saw your board in the other thread and reckon you'll have a really hard time duck diving it... those size waves i usually just punch through unless they are just about to dump on me... then i attempt a duck dive.... i suck at it tho so usually only get under just enough that it doesn't hammer me.

way too much volume to duckdive it

pushing it through may be the best way

My own 7'6'' minimal was impossible to duckdive for me, I'm even having a hard time on the new 6'8'' fish. Eskimo roll never worked for me, too slow, so I forgot about it unless I used it to keep my board from hammering the guy behind me. What worked best was a combination of doing that push-up thing where the whitewash can pass between you and the board or just pushing through if the wave was about to break.

My concern is if the wave is about to break... Pushing through might get you to the top of the wave and maybe flip you backwards... causing some injury to you or the board. I am just a little worried of those waves braking on me while paddling back to the ocean with this board. Trying to find a way to make sure I can safely pass those waves that are about to break or breaking... =x

try to match the rhytm of the lull and paddle like a monster, you can maybe getaway without duckdiving or getting smashed.

LucasG wrote:My concern is if the wave is about to break... Pushing through might get you to the top of the wave and maybe flip you backwards... causing some injury to you or the board.

Look ahead as you paddle and if you see that it might break on top of you, paddle like crazy to hit it just a little earlier. Then don't go high into the wave, but push your nose through the middle part. I found it really helpful to sort of flip the board 45 degrees sideways because the nose of a mal is so rounded and curling that it actually makes it harder to punch through a wave face. By keeping it somewhat sideways, you can push through more easily and you'll probably make it out the back as the wave mostly breaks behind you.

If I really think I won't make it, then I check behind me to see if it is safe to let the board go and swim under the wave. I know it's poor style and everything but sometimes I feel I can't do anything else.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will take them into consideration for my next session.

the eskimo roll works quite well- i use it when im out on my foamie. i found that when you get upside down under the board and sink the nose whilst raising the tail with your foot the wave passes over a bit easier and when you roll back over you are already in your position for paddling.

another way i found on a board with big volume (like you i am on a 7'6 and about 140lbs) is to paddle it whilst on your knees. then when a wave rolls in you might be able to lean back so the nose rises and then throw your weight back forward to kind of 'pop' it over the wave. I actually havent tried this but sometimes paddle like that and i guess the technique might be similar to what guys on stand-up paddle boards do.

If you can't duck dive, just paddle right through anything you can handle. The key is speed. You'll pop up through it just fine if its not too big and you have speed.

If I know I can't do that on my 11' beast, I slide off to the side of the board and hold it under my arm while I swim towards and duck under the wave. If its really big, and I'm gonna get creamed I will flip over turtle roll style.

Last week i had a jam at eskimo rolling a wave just about to dump on me. very strange thing happened, the wave picked me up and sat me on it perfectly.. was kinda cool but still didn't really help with getting past that wave. Im using a 7'10" board.