Surfing Waves

Hey guys,

I've been surfing on a fish 6'3 for about 2 years (I'm 6feet) and I can catch waves around the 2ft size and duck dive small waves. However as soon as it gets big (3-4ft) I'm hopeless. My duck dive is not good enough and I often get caught in big waves and get smashed. Also my pop up is too slow and I end up at the top of the wave and get smashed. Finally my balance is not that good, when I try to pop up quickly I often loose balance and fall forward or backward.
Any tips on how to improve my surfing skills? I'm also thinking of buying a new board, what should I get? shortboard or another fish?
I really want to take it to the next step but it's hard when it gets big and good surfers catch all the waves I feel like I'm not making any progress. Any tips are welcome

Cheers

how often do you surf? sounds like you just need practice and to get away from the crowds a bit.
next time its 3-4ft find a peak to yourself somewhere even if it isn't as good as the one everyone else is on, you just need a drop and a turn and to catch loads of them... hopefully you'll be able to get loads more practice taking off on bigger waves this way and next time you go out in a crowd be able to compete a bit better.

as for boards, fish aren't really designed for big waves (harder to duckdive etc), 6'8 thruster or fatboy shortboard might be a bit better in those head high plus waves.

thanks mate, I usually go once a week I know it's not nearly enough... the problem is that where I live it always gets crowded even in poor conditions so it's hard to make some progress when the guys take all the waves... Thanks for the help

think you'll find that the best surfers usually surf the best peak on the beach... nearly always possible to find a peak that isn't as good with no one on it. trouble is surfers tend to have a sheep mentality when it comes to peaks so you usually won't have it to yourself for long if you are catching. but at least you might get a couple before the herd arrives.