Surfing Waves

I don't mean dropping in on another surfer, just when you are dropping down into a wave during which you're suppose to stand up. I mean see people glide down the face of a wave for a second or two and then stand up. But for me it seems that whenever I actually manage to paddle fast enough all I see in front of me is like a 4-5 feet air drop. And before I can even lift my body off the board I'm in freefall into the water. I mean I know I don't have much extra time to pop up on a shortboard but I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. I first thought that I'm just catching the wave too late but I see a lot of other surfers catching the wave at about the same time as me in similar positions and they seem to manage.

I see two possibilities:

1. You are catching the wave too late. From my experience, I get thrown into the water if the wave is on that curling point, which is very late. You may see other surfers catch those, but they are probably seasoned surfers. I am guessing you may be on a beginner level like myself. I would suggest taking baby steps before attempting to do what they are doing. You should really study the proper position to paddle in on a wave.

2. Your paddling speed is not fast enough to match with the wave speed. When you are fast enough, the wave should lift you, the precursor to your pop up. If you do not have enough speed, the wave will violently push the board forward like driftwood.

Have fun out there!

Well I do feel the "lift" from the wave and what happens is that once I get lifted up and get to my feet, I take the 3 or 4 ft drop vertically and most of the time I pearl. I'm trying to figure out how to keep my board relatively horizontal when I drop in so that the tip doesn't dive into the water. I've trying turning to the side but the same problem remains which is that I can't keep my board horizontal enough to avoid pearling. I've also trying to keep my weight toward on the back foot and stand further back but then I often miss the wave all together.

Surfing is a balancing act. Just like life.
1-
Find a spot thats not jacking so quick- maybe on more of a hightide or somwhere more full.
2-
Paddle faster- dont let your board lose momentum while you do the next step
3-
get up quicker, lean into the wave a little so you dont lose it, lean into the wall, push tail down with back foot.
4-
slowly develop into more hollow waves as time goes on.

But for now it seems the beach or reef you are surfing is too sucky or shallow.. If so it will take a long time before you get that together.So therefore find a more mellow break. In hollow waves it might help to reduce the length of your board and increase rocker aswell.However that will lower paddle speed.

Here a few things i like to do in jacking steep waves-
-look where the wave steepens-
-Sit just out from that ledge and wait for the right wave.
-Paddle fast onto the ledge timing it just right so the wave picks me up just as i get to my feet.
-In some cases i might be late so this is a total balncing act between front and back foot.
iF im late lower front foot then level out board as i swing it around into the wall or tube.
(In some cases the only way into the wave is taking off under the lip.Not easy)

If im right on time , lean forward a little, swing board around settle back..Watch good surfers, on video in slow motion if needed and think about it often..Mindsurfing is how i tought myself.

If you live in sydney i can give you private lessons if you want.

Thanks for the advice gutterball:

The beach where I surf doesn't have the best waves but it's not as crowded or expensive for parking as the more mellow break. So I'm switching back and forth between a mini-longboard and my 6'9'' shortboard and I think I just need to first keep working on my paddling speed.

It took me a while to learn how to drop into hollow waves.
After a while of surfing fairly empty hollow waves it all just came to me and your bodyy just does it without even thinking about what i was doing..Especially if its an airdrop into the tube..You sort of just work it out..But to work it out you have to stack it a few times first.

Just out of curiosity, how long did it take for you to learn to ride a shortboard along the waves comfortably? I guess from the time when you first learned how to surf (maybe on a longboard), to switching to shortboard, to comfortably catching waves on the shortboard? And how often did you surf during that time?

you want to be getting into the wave earlier. ideally you should be standing up before or just as you start going down the face which will also help generate some speed giving you a chance to get past sections or set up for turns etc. try sitting slightly further outback, when you paddle for the wave paddle like mad with shoulders and back arched, if you feel like you're not going to catch the wave drop your head (if this makes sense) and give it a few more strokes, usually works

looking at other surfers is good, but they probs have a good few years experience on you and know how to handle late/air drops with a positive landing.

Sillysausage wrote: when you paddle for the wave paddle like mad with shoulders and back arched

Now I'd say this is more or less completely wrong

Dont paddle like mad - paddle with measured, powerful strokes. A small number of correct and powerful strokes with a good rhythm is far better than trying to paddle quickly.

And dont arch your back (at least not more than you need to) - the reason you need to arch your back is so you can be forward on your board and kind of pivot your weight back and forth by arching. When you're paddling for a wave, you'll want to start with a 'normal' position (a bit arched) and then put your head down to tip the weight over the edge.
You'll see a lot of guys paddling with arched backs, but this is usually guys on very short boards and they're going to catch the wave anyway, and so arching means you can get up quicker. But for someone struggling to catch a wave, the last thing they should be doing is arching as they try to catch a wave.

Oh, but if you start to fall down the face - arch your back. Quickly

gutterball wrote:Surfing is a balancing act. Just like life.

Dude, that's deep, almost had to put in a tampon...

themathteacher wrote:

gutterball wrote:Surfing is a balancing act. Just like life.

Dude, that's deep, almost had to put in a tampon...

Actually its a quote by Neil Purchase jr

0wnerer wrote:Just out of curiosity, how long did it take for you to learn to ride a shortboard along the waves comfortably? I guess from the time when you first learned how to surf (maybe on a longboard), to switching to shortboard, to comfortably catching waves on the shortboard? And how often did you surf during that time?

I might a bit here..
Actually i started on retro shortboards in the late 90's including single fins and early thrusters.
I rode skateboards and snowboards too.
The shortboards were old boards then, that were found under friends houses or bought from porn shops etc.
Rode whatever i found..Sometimes in rubbish tips or sometimes lieing on the beach.
At the time i was into bodyboarding at a serious level as i lived in cronulla, where there are several ledging reefbreaks perfect the the sponge.
However i didnt like bodyboarding in normal waves like the average beachbreak so rode shortboards on small days.

At first it didnt take that long to standup,maybe two surfs to get going along the wall..with a bad style ? but i found it easier to get where i wanted by surfing the board flat. (no turning on rails) Just to get a feel of trimming , straightening out, bottom turning in again, trimming etc..I found this way an easy method of drawing similar lines to how i wanted, but not as skilled or risky as "on rail turns".
I found pin tail single fins with a wide point around centre great for learning and actually occasionally tubed..
However early on i found surfing fairly frustrating for a few years and it was hard work.Thats because i didnt stick to it enough, sometimes partied too much and rode a booger on really good days..

Its only been recently that i have been riding mals and mini mals and completed my quiver.But can see how they are so stable and good to learn on.. (still ride a booger some rare days too)..

Imo you have to go out about three days a week for at least two hours a surf to improve.
If you keep at it and push yourself at a reasonable rate, you will be getting slotted in good waves in around two years. If where you live or travel to is consistant, it might be sooner.

What helps a lot is paddling. Paddle speed with the right technique is very important, so many people are paddling all wrong and getting tired quickly..They are not bending the elbow on the exit which makes it easier.
Imo the best thing you can do is learn on fat not too crowded (maybe on a windy day) pointbreaks, easy takeoffs with a long ride .. where you learn to carve a bit and get lots of time on each wave,improving balance etc while getting paddle fit due to all `the paddling you are doing.
After you get bored of that, advance to hollower breaks.
Skateboarding is good while your learning , especially on ramps and bowls..Not the ollies and all that so much but the pumping around bowls and getting used to heights and dropping in.

However learning on the average beachbreak is good too, even shoreys to some people are pointless, but i like them not only to get used to sucky waves but it really pushes you to get up quick.
If you pick the right one you can sometimes get a nice barrel or fun floater section too. Just watch your fins.

0wnerer wrote: But for me it seems that whenever I actually manage to paddle fast enough all I see in front of me is like a 4-5 feet air drop. And before I can even lift my body off the board I'm in freefall into the water.

Whoooaaaa Im feeling your pain!!! Got absolutley polaxed this weekend on some pretty decent 6-7 foot waves. Really knocked the confidence out of me and found myself continually pushing the board away and bailing half way up the face after this From then on as I started to get sucked up the face instead of thinking about popping all I concentrated on was how high I was and getting smashed lol

Ah well hopefully next weekend will be better

So I can catch small waves now and sometimes get a decent ride. But usually, more like everytime, I'm riding straight toward the beach. It's fun and all but I'm really working on riding ALONG the wave. I have a 6'9' shortboard and a 7'3'' mini longboard, which one should I be using? The mini longboard is easier to catch waves with but idk it seems harder to turn, which is basically what I'm trying to do.

dunno wrote:

0wnerer wrote: But for me it seems that whenever I actually manage to paddle fast enough all I see in front of me is like a 4-5 feet air drop. And before I can even lift my body off the board I'm in freefall into the water.

Whoooaaaa Im feeling your pain!!! Got absolutley polaxed this weekend on some pretty decent 6-7 foot waves. Really knocked the confidence out of me and found myself continually pushing the board away and bailing half way up the face after this From then on as I started to get sucked up the face instead of thinking about popping all I concentrated on was how high I was and getting smashed lol

Ah well hopefully next weekend will be better

its always better to be standing. it might not seem it but any owning will hurt a lot less if you get to your feet first.