Surfing Waves

Hey guys, I was off this week-end for the first time to a new break. Its only about 5 km south of my local break.

I really don't know how to get on these waves properly.

These waves are stronger, faster, longer and break real quick. The below happens:

-> I burst paddle and before I know I'm at a point where I'm looking down a deep drop, its prob only 2-4 feet (feels like 5-7' tho ) I'm at the crest as it curls, and I a) pull back in fear, or b) I glide down and if I'm lucky, I avoid pearling.

This break is very new and different to me... to say the least.

What am I doing wrong? Am I actually at the right part of the wave and at the right time?

sounds to me like you're maybe a little late and being forced to take a drop that's too steep. Maybe try getting on the waves a bit earlier, and paddle faster and harder if possible... Although sometimes it's just a case of taking the drop and getting to your feet early so you can move your weight about better.

I'm no expert at hollow waves though!

kamikaze272727 wrote:or b) I glide down and if I'm lucky, I avoid pearling.

Now think how much better that would have felt if you'd been standing on your board rather than lying on it. So stand up. Quickly.

So halfway up the face I should be popping on already then... Okay... geee I'll try that this week-end.

Um.. if I'm entering halfway through the face, that means there will be a spurt glide down the face right?

Which foot do I keep the pressure on down the glide?

it depends on the wave and how steep, but generally I try to keep my weight neutral, In smaller surf I put my weight on my front foot though as this helps catch the wave and lets your board gain speed.

I have a similar problem on overhead waves at my local beach break.
I catch small and medium waves up to chest high easily... i stand at the middle of the face push on my front foot then transition to a neutral position easy as cake.
But the bigger waves break faster, almost closeout like, so you need to move around to find the peak, the tallest point of the oncoming wave and try to catch the wave the nearest to it so you´ll be able to catch the wave sideways and earlier.
I need to be further out so that i can get paddling before the wave catches me to try to catch it the earliest possible.
Here is where the board you are using helps out or not. As a bigger board would help you get on the wave a little bit earlier in order to avoid dropping into oblivion.
If i dont position myself correctly or dont ppaddle fast enough i experience just what you are experiencing.

so proper position and getting a head start is what you probably need. what kind of board are you using?

Pornstar wrote:I have a similar problem on overhead waves at my local beach break.
I catch small and medium waves up to chest high easily... i stand at the middle of the face push on my front foot then transition to a neutral position easy as cake.
But the bigger waves break faster, almost closeout like, so you need to move around to find the peak, the tallest point of the oncoming wave and try to catch the wave the nearest to it so you´ll be able to catch the wave sideways and earlier.
I need to be further out so that i can get paddling before the wave catches me to try to catch it the earliest possible.
Here is where the board you are using helps out or not. As a bigger board would help you get on the wave a little bit earlier in order to avoid dropping into oblivion.
If i dont position myself correctly or dont ppaddle fast enough i experience just what you are experiencing.

so proper position and getting a head start is what you probably need. what kind of board are you using?

Mmmh... I'm thinking if I spot something I'll try headstart the paddle earlier, I'll take that advice, paddling faster is going to take time, I'm already paddling as fast as I can without passing out

I'm on a 7.3 minimal, which, just by the way on one of my wipeouts, I dinged badly against my kneecap. Its in repair now.

kamikaze272727 wrote: paddling faster is going to take time, I'm already paddling as fast as I can without passing out

Its not about paddling fast, but about paddling well.

A few powerful, confident strokes is way better than flapping your arms around in the water like a windmill.

drowningbitbybit wrote:

kamikaze272727 wrote: paddling faster is going to take time, I'm already paddling as fast as I can without passing out

Its not about paddling fast, but about paddling well.

A few powerful, confident strokes is way better than flapping your arms around in the water like a windmill.

mmh... point taken, long and strong

Good advise so far, but here is two more:

1) Angle yourself towards the open face, you should not be paddling straight to the beach

2) It might not be your wave position: you need to catch the wave a little earlier and paddle harder, the wave is steep as it breaks but by then you should aready be standing up and gliding down the face, watch the other surfers at the beach and see how they drop in to give you an idea

drowningbitbybit wrote:

kamikaze272727 wrote: paddling faster is going to take time, I'm already paddling as fast as I can without passing out

Its not about paddling fast, but about paddling well.

nice way to put it!

its not about how big you are, its about how well you use it.

I am using a 7´hybrid. We are almost using te same kind of board, but mine has a narrower nose.
Listen to the smooth vs fast paddling advice.
Look at the good surfers at the spot and they barely give two or three strokes and catch the wave.
They know exactly where to be to catch the wave, and they paddle more efficiently.
On smaller waves i do that. I position myself correctly and paddle with confidence twice or three times and before i can second guess if i have caught the wave or not i get on my feet to ride the face down.
If i had stood up too quicly i give it a little extra pump with the fron feet while staying low with my back leg really bent.

That´s exactly what needs to be done on bigger waves but you have to be more precise cause everything happens faster.

Our boards have an advantage over shortboards cause they give us some extra seconds of advantage to be able to stand up earlier on the wave. But they have the disadvantages of not having that much of rocker making it easier to pearl on steep drops; being thicker making it harder, yet not impossible, to stick a rail and go sideways fast; and generally being bigger therefore slower to move around to be able to react quickly.

So in order to use the advantages of your board try to do your best to catch the waves earlier because if you dont you will have the disadvantages of your board againt you and your lack of skill to make through difficult fast hollow waves.

Let me know how it goes cause it seems we are in a very similar moment of our learning process. I used to bodyboard for over 10 years and i used to catch very big and powerful waves; yet surfing turned out to be a copmplete diferent experience.
It was harder than what i expected it to be... but also 10 times more fun.

find the peak and look for a nice shoulder, this will make the drops easier and not AS steep. You could just be at a spot that tends to close out on certain tides or swell angles.

Pornstar wrote:I am using a 7´hybrid. We are almost using te same kind of board, but mine has a narrower nose.
Listen to the smooth vs fast paddling advice.
Look at the good surfers at the spot and they barely give two or three strokes and catch the wave.
They know exactly where to be to catch the wave, and they paddle more efficiently.
On smaller waves i do that. I position myself correctly and paddle with confidence twice or three times and before i can second guess if i have caught the wave or not i get on my feet to ride the face down.
If i had stood up too quicly i give it a little extra pump with the fron feet while staying low with my back leg really bent.

That´s exactly what needs to be done on bigger waves but you have to be more precise cause everything happens faster.

Our boards have an advantage over shortboards cause they give us some extra seconds of advantage to be able to stand up earlier on the wave. But they have the disadvantages of not having that much of rocker making it easier to pearl on steep drops; being thicker making it harder, yet not impossible, to stick a rail and go sideways fast; and generally being bigger therefore slower to move around to be able to react quickly.

So in order to use the advantages of your board try to do your best to catch the waves earlier because if you dont you will have the disadvantages of your board againt you and your lack of skill to make through difficult fast hollow waves.

Let me know how it goes cause it seems we are in a very similar moment of our learning process. I used to bodyboard for over 10 years and i used to catch very big and powerful waves; yet surfing turned out to be a copmplete diferent experience.
It was harder than what i expected it to be... but also 10 times more fun.

Ok Ps, I'll let you know how this week-end pans out. I'll take everybody's advice here, but my board is still in the repair shop, so I'll have to go home break and rent a 7.3 bic.

as if it wasn't difficult enough already. Last week-end: I dinged my board 1 pm, rented 9 foamie (coz they were all out) then replaced it with 8.6 NSP, then 8.4 fun. Very confusing.

Let you guys know. If I master these big hollows, you guys will be to blame

Keep on going man. Yesterday i was the only one out. It was too big for the beachbreak i usually surf so the waves were breaking closeout like.

I headed out anyways and i catched my biggest wave ever.

It was crazy the sets were 8 overhead and a half high waves in a row with very few lull times just enough to get inside.
I catched one of those huge ones but couldnt make the drop.
The fall hurted a bit but gave a lot of confidence since the ride in the washing machine wasnt as bad as i tought it would be.

I manned up and caught a fast breaking head high wave.
By far it has been the biggest i have ever caught and not only i made the drop fine i was riding the wave face.
It is kind of dificult for me to hold the line on my backsides, so i tend to grab the board to stick the rail in even the smallest of waves, well on this one i kept myself from doing it I was riding the wave face balancing on my own.
I was so thrilled i didnt care much when the wave face got so sucky that turned me over.

You just need to get out there as often as possible. Practice will give you confidence and eventually youll be having longer rides.

Just follow the advice:

Position yourself (Try to find shoulders at the beggining)
Pddle smooth and efficiently (Stay calm few deep paddles are enough)
Stand up as soon as possible ( If you think its time to get up its probably too late already)
Put some preassure on that front foot ( Follow with your body)
Stay Low

Boy they fix boards up pretty fast. My board will be ready on sat when I hit my break. God bless the dude that patched up my board so quick!

I feel much more comfortable riding my own board as I'm a little um... pearlphobic after last weeks rentals.

Let you know how it goes... todays swells looks sweet, I wish I could go today.

Hey guys I was out three times last week, with the above advice in mind and man I think I did pretty well.

I went to see betty - shes the break that pounded me relentlessly last time - and she was in the same mood again Saturday.

Anyway besides a sidewash that left the line-up paddling the whole morning I took on some of the hollows that threw me like a rag doll two weeks ago.

1. Position is key, you guys were right, I was too far in.

2. Paddling is key, paddling well, paddling strong gets one into the perfect position for the hollows. You don't have the strength to mix your speed in with the oncoming to be hollow, it will eat your ass up. Thanks for this paddling tip. I dig hard and long, and it takes only a couple of these to make a difference. Thanks guys

3. Angling can be key. On the late entry, sometimes the angle gives me the extra space I need and time to dig in one more time with less hollow given the poor rocker my mini-mal has. Might I add that obviously one needs to be angled towards the closest shoulder for any chance of catching up. I went the wrong way once, straight into a barrel, nearly took out a whole shortboard line-up. (Pheew - sorry fellas)

So yeah, because I'm now doing all the right xxxxx thanks to you bros, I was FINALLY able to slide down some hollows. I'm stoked beyond now, cos now I have the speed to catch the shoulders properly, insted of only getting there when the wave is out of oomphf, or if I want to... finally do a proper speedy bottom turn.

although I must be honest I'm actually not used to the speed that I now have off the top, so the bottom turn is a bit wild, i.e. very little control

But I'm not bitching - I feel good guys. I feel really strong, and the fact that I can make the drop makes me paddle even better for it

Thanks guys, I think otherwise this could have taken me months. Respect.

Congrats!
Dont worry about the speed thing.
Eventually things are going to settle on its own as long as you keep on practising.
You seem to be doing things just right.
Cheers.

Thanks, I've been having the same problems. I'm gonna try this out tomorrow, the waves should be awesome!