Surfing Waves

ok... so i went surfing today and it sucked...
but then it was some crumbly rolling waves at about 1 foot high :/ bout an hour later..
and i had time to try some turns and stuff.. and i guess it might be a snap?
i just go up the face and turn back down... no great explosions of spray ... . BUT.. the thing is.. today i just kept falling off backwards as i turned back down.. or being left behind by the waves :/ i have stuck on and rode off before.. and i was wondering if it was just because the waves were small today.. or maybe some advice?

watch the 2008 gold coast quiksilver pro final, you see slater vs fanning, plenty of snaps

sounds like the waves might have been a bit small but hard to know without seeing it.

probably too small. when it's that small it's hard to really do the same aggressive turns that you can do when it's bigger. there just isn't enough wave energy to keep you moving. i dunno, when it's small i usually just kind of cruise around, small turns, nothing too crazy

after you make your top turn try to touch your leading hand off thedeck of your board, someone told me that once and it made the world of difference