Surfing Waves

Hi,
I'm new at surfing and I'm struggling a bit. When I'm paddling to catch a wave should I be paddling straight toward shore or at an angle? I'm sure the problem is I just need to paddle harder, but I'm not really clear if I should be paddling at an angle or not (from a begginer's persective). When I do get close to catching a wave (still laying on the board), many times my tip out over the wave and I end up tipping over and burying the tip in the water (downside of the wave). It seems if I was at an angle maybe I wouldn't tip over? When I try being farther back on the board, I don't get any waves. Also, when I'm close to catching a wave, lots of times it has already started to break so it is really unstable am I too late? (even if I didn't wipe out).

Anways, any pointers would be helpful.

Nic

Paddle at a very slight (5 degree) angle away from the breaking part of the wave, also pop up early, otherwise you will pearl.

Fully agree with RJD, I've had same sort of problems too, (i've been surfing since march this year) basically the steeper the wave the more i angle the board down the wave, and if the nose is pearling i try to pop up earlier than i normally would, this works most of the time.

So far spot on, angle the board.
Also, when paddling you need to hold your head high and arch your back. What happens with many biggers is that they slouch ont he board and so when they pick up speed the first thing that happens is that the board tips down, cause you are leaning forward! This has a two fold effect, one it lets you dig in your strokes resulting in better paddle speed and also catching waves easier and two when you arch your back while on the wave the nose of the board will also be slightly more raised, thus helping you avoid pearls.