Surfing Waves

Hi, took my new 9'8 out yesterday for the second time so still getting use to it. When paddling for waves, I'd angle to the left a bit and before I knew I'd be spinning around horizontally. Dont think I was angling too much, but someone out with me thought I might have been too far forward as from where he was he thought I could go back a fair bit more on the board. Could this cause the merry go round ride? Its a surftech noserider and still trying to find the balance between the wave passing under and pearling. Any suggestions?

Spinning horizontally? That suggests you haven't got enough fin depth at the back, what size fin(s) does the board have?

You friend might be right, if you can catch a wave further back on your longboard, it will be easier to position yourself on the wave after you pop-up as you will pop-up closer to the fins which will give your more control.


Since I am quite lazy, I usually lie relatively forward on my board (a 9'2" allrounder), heavily angle the wave and pop-up forwards straight into trim. As I said I think it is a fin problem, try borrowing a chunky 10" fin and see if that solves your problem.

Also you could be not paddling fast enough. If you have angled and is relatively slow to the wave speed when it catches up to you, it will catch the fin and spin you around a bit

I guess it is a more pitchy wave?

I daresay I'm not paddling fast enough, from the "paddle paddle" screamed at me by my friends. Paddling has been a constant issue for me between shoulder injuries and lack of paddle fitness due to only getting to the water fortnightly right now which is why I bought the new board, lighter and less rocker. Paddling out has definitely become a lot easier on the new board and losing 9kg certainly hasnt hurt.
It feels like the wave is grabbing the rear and pushing me around. The fin is a 10" that came with the board, and I'm riding it as a single. havent moved it from the position in the pic but am going to push it forward a bit too help with turning. Dont know about pitchy but it was smallish with onshore winds so not the best conditions especially with such a light board but was still a great day anyway

APH if you are going for the angled take off you are going to have to paddle harder because as Katsura says the fin is being driven around.
Think of it this way, if you are taking off on the face of a wave and not in front of the white water, you have to match and get enough paddling speed to get you down the face to a point where gravity begins to pull you.Often several strokes are needed after you feel that catch.
Angling requires a little more speed and as your tail is closer to the curl and unless you generate enough speed to pull the tail across the wave face at your angle, the steeper part of the wave where your tail is will use its greater energy and just push the tail straight down, hence the spin.
Once again practice change slightly what doesn't work and practice and and practice and prac...........................

I also have shoulder injuries so I know your pain bro .
What you can do to strengthen the shoulder, is to use elastic tubes (Pilate tubes???) and use them to do shoulder workouts to help build up the endurance on non surfing days.
Also, a thing most beginners seem to do, is paddle like crazy when they see a wave coming at them from 10 meters away. By the time the peak reaches them they have ran out of steam and actually slowed down and too tired to give that last few stroke needed to get in the wave.
If you look at the experienced surfers, a lot of the times they sit wait until the last moment, then turn around, and ONE, TWO, strokes and they are up on their feet.
I'm not saying you should try to copy this at this stage - it takes experience to read a wave correctly to pull this off, but pls do be aware of not starting your paddle way too early and run out of steam at the end.
I know your heard races, your are all tensed up ready to go on EVERY wave as a beginner, but eventually, that excited feeling will go away a little bit once you have taken enough waves, and actually, it will give you a clearer mind to commit better.

I just had a look at your fin, although it's a good 10 inch fin, the shape is actually a higher performance fin shape.
You may want to invest in a more stable fin, such as a hachet or just a big dolphin to see if it gives you more stability. This won;t help you getting intot eh wave better, but it will help once you got up to your feet.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Been thinking, maybe am too far forward as I've always tried to judge my sweet spot with how far the nose is out of the water but with less nose rocker now, I probably can afford to slide back a bit. Yes I'm guilty of paddling so early i can almost catch up to the wave in front...ok maybe not quite , so I'm usually pretty spent by the time I do need that explosive paddle power and stamina. Have been watching some dvd's and you tube clips and Katsura is right those guys make it look so easy, a few powerful strokes and they're off. So will practise that. Also I think I should paddle out and just watch other people to get a sense of their timing and position before and on the wave. I've been a bit curious re the fin, it looks a bit thinner and angled back than the dolphin fins I'm use to. Is a hatchet fin inappropriate for the novice level , am I better of chasing down a ten inch dolphin? @ Katsura, I use to exercise with the bands but found I was overdoing it so went the other extreme and stopped. Going to have to dust them off and start again. On a side note, I've ordered a Paddleair ergo rash vest which are supposed to help with injured backs and shoulders so will post a review of soughts when it arrives and I get to try it out, if anyone is interested.

Being a little bit forward isn;t necessarily a bad thing . I sometimes be forward a tiny bit to aid entering into a wave. The trick is know how and when to shuffle your weight back at the right moment so as not to pearl/ dive.

Remember the golden rule: Arch your back

Personally I think the hatchet is a good fin for beginners, it works well is smaller weaker surf learners tend to be in, and is very stable. If you are at the stage of just try to stay on your board instead of worry about turning them it is a great chocie to give you a bot more stability.

What is exactly gained by arching the back before the pop up? I tend to avoid it because of the back and shoulder problems. I tend to go to a downward dog motion to pop up rather than that cobra pose. Spot the guy who's been researching yoga as a potential rehab exercise

By doing the downward dog motion, you are putting to much weight forward! causing nose dive!
The cobra pose is putting less weight at the front