Surfing Waves

Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster.

I've just come back from a weekend surfing. I've only had about 15 hour to 2-hour sessions so far in my surfing life spread over a year and a half. I'm a big bloke - 6'5" tall and 16 stones (220 lbs, 100 kilos). I've been snowboarding for years (not that it's helping me much at present!) so I've got decent balance.

I started off on small swells and 9ft+ longboards (foamies) but earlier this year moved to an 8'4" mal. I can catch (almost) every wave I go for, and on the 8'4" was standing up on most of them (I have to work on my pop-up, I still half-kneel sometimes) but this was on quite small, mellow waves.

This weekend was fairly large (to me!) and messy at 5ft. Therefore hired a 7'6" mal on the advice of the shop (22 3/4 wide, 2 3/4 deep) and didn't have too much trouble catching waves again, but was finding it much harder to stand - the board was far twitchier than the big planks I'm used to! I guess that's just going to take time to learn to use, right?

Anyhow, I found that it was tough to get out as the waves were pretty big and there was a lot of powerful whitewater or even breaking waves crashing into me on the way out. Ended up in the no-mans land in chin deep water just holding station and either trying for a big white-water just-broken wave or the occasional smaller wave that came through. If I went out a bit further, I found it tough to get stabilised in the water due to the continuous pounding of the big waves. I guess I could have made it out back if I'd presisted during a flatter spell, but didn't feel confident about what I could do once out there.

I find that if I catch the whitewater, no matter how hard I paddle, the backwash holds me in place, the wave slaps me hard and I just try and get up in messy white water. If I occasionally get a cleaner wave, I get that exhilarating accelaration as the board slides down the wave but I always struggle to know when I've caught the wave and end up trying to stand up when I've already gone 10 feet ahead of the wave... this leads to losing speed and sinking!

I suppose it's a case of either being incredibly lucky with the swell so it's just right for me, or I just have to bite the bullet and go out where the waves are cleaner and learn to get up as the board picks up speed? Seems very scary - the prospect of going out where the big waves are crashing in. Especially on a small, twitchy board! I have a friend who is only 5'10" tall and he has a 6'8" shortboard. I pointed out to him that my 7'6" is the equivalent of a shortbaord to me! I don't know whether I should go bigger or persist with learning on the slightly shorter board... In the long term, I suppose sticking with the shorter board will help me more?

Is the only way forward to go out where the waves are clean, stay clear of the mushy white water and learn to pop up earlier? I've kind of had enough of the "stand in chest deep water and get clobbered by wall after wall of white water" thing, to be honest!

I'm about the same size as you, and I love my 9' 2" longboard. In my n00b opinion, the best board for you is the one that lets you catch the most waves, and for an older (42) beginner like me, that's a longboard. My brother surfs a 10' board, and has a great time with it. They are harder to get out through the whitewash, but I live in Florida, and big waves are rarely a problem here. It's most often in the knee to chest high range (more knee than chest, usually) so a longboard is perfect.

At any rate, there are folks that post here that have been surfing way longer than me, and they'll give you good advice, mate.

A friend of mine that lives in Hawaii now, but used to snowboard quite a bit when he lived in Lake Tahoe came up with this regarding snowboarding v. surfing;

"Surfing is a lot like snowboarding, except when you're surfing, the mountain chases you"

Sykes wrote:"Surfing is a lot like snowboarding, except when you're surfing, the mountain chases you"

priceless quote. I'm pinching that!

Thanks for the encouragement. The mates I surf with are largely smaller than me and surf more often. Maybe I succumb to too much peer-pressure to have a smaller board? They were always making fun of me when I had the long board! Mind you, I just don't see how I would have had even the slightest chance of getting out back on a 9-footer as I was struggling enough with the 7'6" board!

Is it possible to get a long board out through nasty whitewater messy mush? Can't duck it, so turning turtle? Does that work or is it simply a case of using a shorter board if the conditions are too messy for a longboard?

My goal is to be able to catch a wave, turn onto it (instead of shooting out ahead!) and have a good cruisy ride along the wave instead of going straight into the beach like I do at present. Maybe do a few slow gentle turns up and down the wave, but none of this shortboard flipping and hitting the lip - not my bag!

frobisher wrote:

Sykes wrote:"Surfing is a lot like snowboarding, except when you're surfing, the mountain chases you"

priceless quote. I'm pinching that!

Thanks for the encouragement. The mates I surf with are largely smaller than me and surf more often. Maybe I succumb to too much peer-pressure to have a smaller board? They were always making fun of me when I had the long board! Mind you, I just don't see how I would have had even the slightest chance of getting out back on a 9-footer as I was struggling enough with the 7'6" board!

Is it possible to get a long board out through nasty whitewater messy mush? Can't duck it, so turning turtle? Does that work or is it simply a case of using a shorter board if the conditions are too messy for a longboard?

The Eskimo Roll (turning turtle) is what I do when the waves are too big to just push through the whitewash (as I said, that isn't very often here). Just make sure no one is on the wave coming towards you, as of course this puts you fins up, so to speak. It's a bit more difficult here, with the short period wind swell that is the usual, but it works fine. My thinking is that I might look for a 7'6" or so funboard next summer, depending on how much my surfing improves over the winter. Right now, I just think it would be a waste, as I don't yet surf well enough to get the maximum potential out of it.

My goal is to be able to catch a wave, turn onto it (instead of shooting out ahead!) and have a good cruisy ride along the wave instead of going straight into the beach like I do at present. Maybe do a few slow gentle turns up and down the wave, but none of this shortboard flipping and hitting the lip - not my bag!

That is exactly what my goal is, with perhaps a bit of hanging ten thrown in for style. "Soul Surfing" is the operative term, I believe, for what I want to do on a surfboard. I'm currently at the "ride it straight in to the beach" phase of my learning curve, but given the beach break we have here, the advice of the several different surfers I asked before buying my board was to not buy a 10' board, as was my initial intent, but to go with the 9' 2" board because it would turn a bit easier, leading to longer rides. When I asked about a shorter board, they pointed out that a longer board floats better, paddles eaiser, and is more stable, making it easier to learn the arcane art of the pop up, and leading to more actual surfing sooner than is the case with a shorter board.

One final word about your friends making fun of you. Sod 'em. As long as I'm having fun, I could care less what anyone says. Remember, the best surfer is the one having the most fun. Longboards are fun. Enough said.

One final note. As someone who is old enough not to care what the kids are saying about me, I bought an NSP epoxy board. A lot of surfers think these boards scream "n00b", and they might, but my surfing screams n00b at any rate, and the NSP boards are tough, extremely bouyant, relatively inexpensive, and in my opinion, perfect for a beginner, for all of those reasons. I'll leave the custom glass board for later, when I can appreciate it more, and keep buggering on with my bulletproof NSP.

Many wise words there Sykes! I think I agree with you wholeheartedly on those points and it's time I pointed out to my friends that I should use the board that I have the most fun on, even if they want to call it an oil tanker!

frobisher wrote:Many wise words there Sykes! I think I agree with you wholeheartedly on those points and it's time I pointed out to my friends that I should use the board that I have the most fun on, even if they want to call it an oil tanker!

My brother who surfs on a 10' board has also pointed out that when you are chugging along a wave on a 10' board, people tend to get out of your way

"Tanker" and "log" are terms you will hear alot should you decide on a longboard. When ever someone cracks wise about my board, It always reminds me of when I was lad, skiing at Park City in Utah, and the lift they had there to a back bowl that they wouldn't let you on unless your skis were 180cm or longer.

One other bonus to longboards, I can catch waves starting with shin high and on up. A longboard can damn near catch a ripple, so you can maximize your surfing by going out on days that are unsurfable for a shortboard. That may not be a problem there where you are, but we have lots of small days here in the Florida Panhandle.

Just to add a little regarding the cross over of snowboarding to surfing - I just learnt to snowboard this winter (in Australia) and found that the technique for turning a snowboard is front foot dominant. (I might be doing it wrong, but that's how it worked for me).

Surfing is the opposite. If you want to make a turn, particularly on a long board you MUST get your weight on the back foot above the fins. If you don't the board will catch the rail, and just go straight.

I usually ride a short board, and every time I get on a longboard, I forget to move around for the first few waves, and I always end up catching a wave, and then leaning into a turn, only to find the board just goes straight ahead and I fall off the side... embarrassing.

So keep that in mind when you're starting to make a turn onto the face.

Once you're on the face, with the board going where you want it to, then you can start moving back and forward to get a feel for how positioning affects board dynamics.

Also, I'd suggest getting out back on a smaller day - 5ft is probably not the best day to just give it a go. You'll find that when you're catching unbroken waves the board is more stable so it's easier to pop up a bit earlier. Also, as is often said on here, angle the board slightly in the direction you want to go, rather than just aiming straight at the beach.

Once you get the feel for riding the face, you'll never ever go back to the whitewater!

I was going to chime in but my ADD did not let me sit throgh the entire post...

Jimi wrote:I usually ride a short board, and every time I get on a longboard, I forget to move around for the first few waves, and I always end up catching a wave, and then leaning into a turn, only to find the board just goes straight ahead and I fall off the side... embarrassing.

i always do that. i have to make a mental note the first few waves, 'move back.' my friends longboard that i was riding had a pretty small single fin so it was pretty easy to turn even in the middle of the board. it would slide out in a quasi-drift and then just hold. i loved it. but now when i ride the companies' longboards, single with side bites setups, i just fall off.

as to snowboarding and surfing, turning is essentially the same, but instead of using your back foot to guide the board like in snowboarding, you use your front foot, much like skateboarding. the initiation of the turn is the same though, look where you want to go, rotate with the shoulders, point where you want to go, that kind of thing. usually if you just do that, your feet will follow.

Jimi wrote:I usually ride a short board, and every time I get on a longboard, I forget to move around for the first few waves, and I always end up catching a wave, and then leaning into a turn, only to find the board just goes straight ahead and I fall off the side... embarrassing.

i always do that. i have to make a mental note the first few waves, 'move back.' my friends longboard that i was riding had a pretty small single fin so it was pretty easy to turn even in the middle of the board. it would slide out in a quasi-drift and then just hold. i loved it. but now when i ride the companies' longboards, single with side bites setups, i just fall off.

as to snowboarding and surfing, turning is essentially the same, but instead of using your back foot to guide the board like in snowboarding, you use your front foot, much like skateboarding. the initiation of the turn is the same though, look where you want to go, rotate with the shoulders, point where you want to go, that kind of thing. usually if you just do that, your feet will follow.

Cheers guys. I think the key to all this is getting into the cleaner waves. I do notice that the pop up and balance is far easier on cleaner waves when I catch them, I just need to put in some time (on slightly smaller days!) getting out to the cleaner stuff. I've never really had time to really get set and turn the board - as has been described above, I have been weighting the side of the board and it has just tipped me off! Now I know what to do, I can't wait to get out and give it another go, but I may struggle to do so before Spring now...