Surfing Waves

Alright, so i'm having some real issues with catching waves.

So, there's a swell line on the horizon and i turn around and start to paddle early for it. I paddle like i've never paddled before, but everytime, unless it's just about to break on my head, it passes straight under me. Even if i keep paddling, it still passes me.

Is it my rubbish paddling skills?? I'm on a 9'1 after all...i should be catching everything out there. What am i doing wrong!??!

there could be a number of things causing this.

1 - you are too far back on the board when paddling thus the wave isnt gonna pick you up good.

2 - The waves are ultra soft this gives the illusion they will break but dont actually until further inside. This would mean that you re too far out.

3 - either your arms are very weak or your paddling technique is shocking

There are other reasons but they the most likely

also when you paddle into a wave its better to put your head down and shoulders lower to the board unlike when paddling out you want head higher and shoulders higher.

Errrm. If there are other surfers out there with you (even if you don't know them) you could ask if any of them could offers some tips on your style, etc. I'm sure most will offer advice based on what they see. Most are usually friendly.

"2 - The waves are ultra soft this gives the illusion they will break but dont actually until further inside. This would mean that you re too far out."

I put my money on that scenario. 1 is unlikely because it's a freakin 9'1". I could position correctly with my eyes closed on a longboard. As long as the nose isn't aim towards the sky you're fine. I'm not sure about number 3 because apparently you have enough paddling strength and sufficient technique to actually get out to where the waves are. And with a longboard, you really do catch everything.

So that leaves number 2. The sandbar probably is still a bit deep, not letting the swell fully form into a wave. You're pretty much getting raw swell the further out you go. Solution? Eyeball the point where waves start forming and end with breaking. An even easier solution would be to just paddle out to a location parallel to the other surfers. Good luck.

Ok, so i rode phillwilson's board today in the perfect conditions. His board is a little wider than mine, i'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, but i found catching unbroken waves a hell of a lot easier. Phill made the comment about my board that the tail rocker is severe enough that you can see the base of my fin when the board is just flat on the water and we noticed on his board that the fin was forward a little more. Would putting the fin forward help me at all?? I'm not so clued up on fin placement.

Fin placement wont help catching the wave, sounds like PW's board is floatier and that'll pick up the softer waves easier.

I notice when I surf hang11's 9'2"s (even tho the same length as mine) his are 23 wide and have a fair bit more float

If your board has more rocker in the nose or tail, it will be harder to catch a wave.

ETA. my 9'2 is 23.5 inches wide, the fuller outline makes it way better for big carvey turns than a narrower board