Surfing Waves

Hi

I have been following this forum for a while but this is my first post so be gentle please!

I've been surfing for just over 2 months, once a week initially but now twice a week, with an instructor and a fairly small group.
I've just come back from today's session and feel pretty despondent, I stand up sometimes, can trim along the wave sometimes but for every decent one I usually have at least a dozen dud ones! I feel like my progress must be anbormally slow.

At this stage do you think it is realistic to be doing better or am I just being too inpatient? Prior to starting I've never spent much time in the sea at all and used to scared of going under the waves but having had so much practice lately (spend more time under the wave than on it!) I'm not fazed by that at all anymore I'm no youngster at 42 and have a busy life with kids and work but really love being out on the water.

If anyone can share their learning curves with me I'd really appreciate it!

Sam

Bro, don't worry about it. Surfing is complex and WILL take time, most really good surfers if you asked them how long they have been surfing and they will say anywhere from 5+ years. Just keep ya head up and continue practicing (practice, practice, practice) focus on the positives of each session rather than the negatives (try to remember what you did differently and why you made it that time. Picture in your head what you are going to do on the next wave - set goals)

Eventually things will start to click. Keep the stoke bro and stick at it, learning is half the fun

It took me about a year to be able to catch unbroken wave consistently, and trim. For 2 months you are doing great!

Thanks!

Definitely no consistency yet! But perhaps I'm just being in too muxh of a rush to get it spot on every time, it just would be nice not to get dunked every time But focusing on the good bits is sound advice, thanks!

Sam

What size board are you using? I was using a board that was too small for me for quite a while and i finally got a decently sized board and my ability progressed by leaps and bounds (also helped me with digging my nose in during drops, i can only remember pearling once since i got the board).

everyone is different and thus learns at a different speed. One thing i try to tell everyone i have taught / asked for advice from me is to not think too much. If you over analyze your surfing you end up out thinking yourself and ignoring your instincts or focusing on the negative aspect which is invariably there regardless of your surfing level - i bet even the god of surfing kelly slater has aspects of his surfing he would like to improve . Just go out have a blast and let your instincts take over. You shouldnt have to think about how to ride a wave it comes naturally with experience. Oh and one other thing try to get out at least 3 times per week. Just to contradict myself a little bit of self criticism is good but dont over do it.

For me the thing that makes beginning surfing much more difficult is the variation in waves/ conditions. Other board sports you are riding a static surface which will have variations to handle but nothing even close to how dynamic a wave can be.

You could surf 20 times in a row at the same beach with similar size waves and every time its really different. But this only serves to improve your surfing ability. In many ways once you have the basics of consistantly catching green waves and riding across you then have to learn how to surf 4 or 5 different types of wave all with their own quirks.

My advice is to nerd it up by keeping a close eye or even a brief diary of what wind/tide/swell height/ period/ direction produce great conditions. Do whatever you can to keep stoked between surfs and enjoy!

Hi
and thanks again, all good advice!

I'm using a 9ft softboard, so should be plenty big enough?

Managing to get out twice a week at the moment, can't really fit it anymore than that as surf beaches are all about 50 mins drive away, so including surfing time, it's a 3-4 hour trip and I also work plus have kids with their own sports and hobbies!

Yes, I defnitely do analyse things too much, so will try and leave the head behind in the next session.

And yes, no 2 days are the same, in fact it changes in the time I'm in the water, as you say in most other sports there are not so many changeable factors but as you say I guess in time that means you are able to surf most waves, it's just at the beginning it's hard to know how to change your position and movements to match each wave.

So, definitely need to chill out a bit more and enjoy the moment!

That's great dedication! I would recommend dump your soft sooner rather than late, pick up a 2nd hand mal that's right size for you.

No bad days @ surfing, just enjoy every moment you are out there, be it a day filled with pearling etc. I remember when I first started, I keep telling myself every fall is a small step towards the right direction.

who said "the first 20 years is just to find out whether your interested"???? It can take a while






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LOL! Good quote.

Sammy - don't get too focused on your overall level/progression. Instead pick one thing you want to improve each session. Breaking the journey up into baby steps really does help with your overall progress.

Good point about breaking it up, I find that each time I catch a wave, somehting different happens, I pearl, (frequently) stall, get to my feet but with a crap stance, slip getting to my feet, or just occasionally and wonderfully I get to my feet and ride the wave!

So my head is very busy with thinking about all the different things I need to improve on, instead of just focusing on one thing at a time. Will try and put this into practice next time.

Have just been out for 2 hours, and nose dived more times than I can remember so then I kept leaning back to avoid it but couldn't get to my feet like that but then I changed to an 8ft softie and found it much easier and was more positve on the pop up as a result. So I had a couple of nice ones (to me anyway!) just wish I could go every day!!

Ta again

Do you mind how much do you weigh and how old you are?

You and me both!

You are riding bigger boards like me so maybe I can be a little help.

It sounds to me like you are too far forward for the takeoff in most cases - after all you are perling a lot. And we hate perling.

It's important to realise that on bigger boards your paddling position varies depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Weight centered - While just paddling out and around you'll want to be about centered in the board - on most boards this will leave the nose about 1.5"-2.5" out of the water. When you work this out do yourself a favour and memorise that position - marking it with a sticker or a bit of wax or whatever to help you line your body up (useful in the beginning). You'll rarely use this position to catch a wave of any size.

Weight forward - You won't use this for anything much except catching rather small waves. Your weight is a bit forward of your regular "paddling about" spot and if you are on flat glassy water between waves your nose will be barely above the water. You'll feel the board slow down a fair bit every time you hit a lump of water as the nose digs into the water and the water goes over the deck.

Weight back - You use this to catch say waist high+ waves without perling! Your weight is back of your normal position and the nose of your board will be well out of the water. Like twice as much as normal, maybe even more. The board will feel a bit heavy and hard to paddle as it's pushing a lot of water directly against the bottom. When you are paddling like this and the wave catches you you'll feel everything shift and the wave should just catch you up and take you with it... Without perling.

On a longboard your weight being in the right place is an important part of successfully catching a wave, but there are other factors too. For example remember to arch your back when paddling for a wave (but not overly so).

If this has turned a light on over your head I suggest you focus your next session or so on getting this right.

Cheers!

Thanks Dougirwin

All makes perfect sense and I was getting much better at being in the right place on the board and usually able to quickly feel when I'm not right and shuffle back if needed but yesterday I was all over the place! I had been swapping between the 8 and 9ft boards so think that might be why my positioning was off, next time I'll try and stick with just the 8ft for the whole time and see how I go with that. Thanks for the tips!

Sam

Yeah switching between boards will mess you up! I'd suggest picking one and sticking to it for quite some time.

Once you have nailed the whole perling thing your next thing to work on is probably getting your pop-up perfect (first technique and then timing). And then turning!

But it's common to have other little things you'll need to focus on along the way

dougirwin13 wrote:Yeah switching between boards will mess you up! I'd suggest picking one and sticking to it for quite some time.

Once you have nailed the whole perling thing your next thing to work on is probably getting your pop-up perfect (first technique and then timing). And then turning!

But it's common to have other little things you'll need to focus on along the way

Yeah, I can imagine "one or two other little things" to work on!! I was very naive when I started a couple of months ago and had not appreciated just how many variables there are in surfing and how damn hard it is but neither had I guessed how much fun it was too

Just enjoying watching the surfing at Margaret River, Australia on TV, just awesome!

MR is a special place.

I assume you are watching the Drug Aware Pro? Awesome event... A pity MR didn't turn on the juice like at last years World Longboarding Title. Lots of broken boards at that one

I'm glad Mick, Taj and Sophia are all still in... BUt heartbroken Parko dropped out so early

dougirwin13 wrote:MR is a special place.

I assume you are watching the Drug Aware Pro? Awesome event... A pity MR didn't turn on the juice like at last years World Longboarding Title. Lots of broken boards at that one

I'm glad Mick, Taj and Sophia are all still in... BUt heartbroken Parko dropped out so early

Yep, that's the one, plain terrifying if you ask me but fascinating to watch.

Yeah I like it Did you see any of last year's MR WLT? Double overhead plus and everyone on 9 footers. Some amazing surfing!