Position and speed on a wave

[Thibb]

Once that you are trimming along the face of the wave, how do you get more speed? I have done some researching on the net and the two answers I found, seem to regard pumping and staying near the peak.

So I have looked up the pumping thing, but I am not sure I am getting the mechanics behind it. Is the point to lift the nose and then push the front part of the rail into the wave a little bit higher than the rest of the board is, while then proceeding to push the nose back down the wave? So in fact you would be linking a series of small and steep drops on a wave that is not necessarily all that steep? And the trick is to gain more momentum on the drop than you lose while lifting the nose?

The other trick seems to be to remain close to the breaking part of the wave, which is where the cutbackcomes in? I am not even going to start asking questions about the mechanics of the move, I need to try it for a couple of weeks first. What's bothering me is how you are supposed to know where you are surfing in relation to that breaking part. This far, I have always read that you are supposed to be looking ahead (i.e. where you want to go), but then how can you see what is happening behind you? Are you actually meant to keep checking behind you, sort of like when you are surfing backhand, to see how far ahead of the breaking part you are and if a cutback is needed to allow the wave to catch up?

Sorry if this question has given anyone a headache...

[twerked]

to the first question: ever try pumping a skateboard? get one, regular or a longboard (if it's a long board, make sure it has a kick tail, it'll be a lot easier). stand with your back foot on the tail, other foot mid-board. skating is a bit different, but similar motion. push down on the tail, bringing up the nose, and kind of rotate your body just a bit while balanced on the rear wheels. keep repeating, going left, then right, then left, then right. you have to keep going back and forth and transferring your weight front and back, but you can eventually pick up speed. similar concept with surfing, just you keep doing it on one side. you can also, if you just need a little boost on a small (knee-thigh high) wave, use your inside arm and kind of paddle against the top of the wave to give you a little more momentum.

for the second question, you can usually tell how close/far you are from the whitewater by the steepness of the wave. the steeper the faster and closer to the breaking bit

[pkbum]

looks like you have answered lot of question by your question.

[Thibb]

to the first question: ever try pumping a skateboard?

I tried skateboarding when I was (much) younger. I will give it a try and see how it goes. My question was mostly the result of the way I see a lot of other people pumping. They often seem to be ahead of the whitewater, going straight at the beach, and are kind of hopping with their front leg. I am no expert, but that actually looks like it would slow you down as you are pushinh water out from underneath the board at the front end...

for the second question, you can usually tell how close/far you are from the whitewater by the steepness of the wave. the steeper the faster and closer to the breaking bit

I'll see if I can spot the relationship, thanks for the hint.

Looks like you have answered lot of question by your question.

Like I said, I did look around a bit before I asked, but seeing as it is going to take me forever to transfer theory to practice, I thought I would check the gist of it and hope for some pointers. Worked well!

[drowningbitbybit]

My question was mostly the result of the way I see a lot of other people pumping. They often seem to be ahead of the whitewater, going straight at the beach, and are kind of hopping with their front leg. I am no expert, but that actually looks like it would slow you down as you are pushinh water out from underneath the board at the front end...

There's two kinds of pumping.
The first is pumping up and down on the face - go up, zoom back down and gain speed, repeat (it can be a surprisingly small movement, or a big sweeping move). A stylish move.

The second is what you descibed and is sometimes helpful, but is often the last desperate maneouvre to stay riding for a little longer. Put all your weight on the front to push yourself down whats left of the face, then correct the weight distribution so that the nose doesnt dig in, and so there's a push of water through the fins. Not a stylish move.

[Aloha]

Pumping for speed is the same as pumping on a half pipe when skateboarding. You compress and release through your knees.

Have you every started from the bottom of a half pipe (from the flat part, without dropping in)? Give a short kick so you go up the face of the ramp and then you start to pump. It's similar to riding a swing, you compress your legs and then release at the right time. That way you generate speed just by using your weight. On a half pipe when you reach the top you release then compress for the trip down again, reach the top release and then compress down again.

In surfing I can't remember what your knees are doing at a certain point as it's all instinct. I'm trying to imagine it here in my living room but it's just not the same. I think it's you bend your legs and turn to go down the wave then turn to go up the wave and release (straighten your legs) do this several times and each time you'll be going faster. It will appear as if you are doing little S turns up and down the wave.

With experience you'll be able to find where you need to compress or release to get the most out of the wave.

The other type of pumping is what I call bunny hopping, or just hopping. You use it to get over flat or fat sections, it's only worth it if the wave is going to reform, otherwise you are just prolonging the agony of a poor wave... Another way to do this is to roll the board from rail to rail, and then there is also tick tacking like you do with a skateboard which I think is what twerked was explaining.