Surfing Waves

So I have a new board and while I know it's going to take a little getting used to - there are a couple of things that I'm struggling with.

Basically I've had a play in the white water just to get a feel for it before going straight out the back - I can stand up no problem - but when I try and get on to green waves I am having more trouble.

Now the first couple of times I went out was pretty messy, small and low tide - I managed to get on a couple of green waves and have a fairly short ride, so far so good.

This morning it was 3-4ft swell, high tide, which is usually my favourite time to go out as it's not too big and the waves tend to be a bit softer.

But today I definitely struggled to catch waves - paddling, this will improve with time, I changed position so I was a little bit closer to the inside, but found that when I caugh the wave the front of the board pointed straight down - I wouldn't say it was perling but it was suddenly extremely steep, trying to stand up on it, did not go so well.

I also found that the board shot out from under my feet a couple of times - this is a problem with my pop up no?

Any suggestions, advice, tips gratefully received

None of what you just described seems that much of an issue - all of it is covered by catching the waves a bit earlier, getting up a bit quicker, getting your balance sorted sooner. Just more practise required!

If the board is shooting away from you, as well as doing everything quicker, make sure you get down low straight away and keep you centre of balance near the board.

nickyb wrote:This morning it was 3-4ft swell, high tide, which is usually my favourite time to go out as it's not too big and the waves tend to be a bit softer.

You surf the eastern suburbs if I remember rightly? A "feature" around here is that on a small day, the high tide will help you out and make things a bit fatter and more forgiving... but... on a bigger day, the swell will come all the way to the first bank without breaking, jack up, and be much less forgiving and a lot more ouchy. Mid-tide is a much better idea when conditions start to get bigger.

Gonna be huge this weekend...

Comedy flailing - advice gratefully received:

Two surfers walk into a bar, the first one was wearing a duck,

Sorry, could not come up with duckdive joke, hence the comedy fail...

*groan* I thought only Jaffa came up with terrible puns.

DBBB - hmm good point about mid tide, I hadn't thought about it like that at all - cheers

I thought I'd let others have go at puns! All the advice already given has been good, surf more it is also possible you may taking a step back own the better board causing the board to cork out ahead of you.
We all get caught by sudden acceleration and sort of step off the back of the board!
Most correction is done by lots of surfing ! The Bondi beach assessment is spot on too!

Yeah the acceleration is a bit of an adjustment it flies along - one little confession I have is that I use my toes to push off the back of the board when I pop up - should I be working on getting rid of this? Or should I not worry about it at the moment. Also in terms of paddling to catch waves there are two pieces of advice that seem to conflict - one is keep your back arched and head up so your board is balanced and paddling more efficient, the other is keep your head down when you're sprinting. The only thing that seemed to explain it is this.



But am always wary of random youtube videos - although this seemed to make a fair bit of sense.

It's not a bad video, think about this if you push down on the board with your toes in the pop up you are effectively pushing down the tail of the board which makes it stall in the water.
If you can pop up with your weight supported on your arms positioned as he show then that will work the weight transfer forward will also push the board into better responding to gravity and gaining the speed of the wave. There is an invisible power line on a wave where once you cross you are powered by gravity and your need to paddle is finished but it is 2 to 3 strokes more than you might normally do.

About the paddling the sprint doesn't have the head right up and the back arched but you have to have ability to see to your periphery as you could miss another surfer on the wave. ( awareness of other surfers is a big plus in busy lineups)
When you arch your back strongly you allow more space for your feet to come through to your standing position and it adds a little more downward push to your board to get you over that gravity line!

BTW I don't recommend practicing pop ups on your board out of the water no matter how you pad it, you will damage the board

This was a pretty go spread of pop up questions and answers that may help too> viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18814
See how you go!

That's a great thread Jaffa!

Happy to help Nickyb

nickyb wrote: Also in terms of paddling to catch waves there are two pieces of advice that seem to conflict - one is keep your back arched and head up so your board is balanced and paddling more efficient, the other is keep your head down when you're sprinting. The only thing that seemed to explain it is this.

Head down is to speed your board as you paddle for the wave - as Jaffa said, head up puts more weight on the back of the board which bogs it down, which is what you dont want when paddling for the wave. But as you catch the wave, head up puts weight on the back of the board and helps dig the rail in and stop perling and for the pop up. You dont always need to arch your back or arch it a lot, but after a while you figure out when you need do - part of learning how your board works as well.

nickyb wrote: but found that when I caugh the wave the front of the board pointed straight down - I wouldn't say it was perling but it was suddenly extremely steep, trying to stand up on it, did not go so well.

Two thing: one, keep your head up, arch your back, it helps you keep paddle and at the same time will help some with your pearling problem. Also, work on your popup, on land or in the water, but do it more often. If you are slow at popping up you will be at the bottom of the wave or worse in the skids before you stand up

I just noticed I gave the same exact advice as dtc LOL

IB_Surfer wrote:I just noticed I gave the same exact advice as dtc LOL

I'm honoured!

Thanks guys,

have been working on my pop up on land when not in the water, to get to the same place in one movement where I usually take two and have noticed a definite difference (hurrah) but it was only at the gym (no waves) so hopefully it will translate in the water.

Also tried the head down for the sprint before catching the wave thingy definitely helped me to get on it, next time I just have to keep my eyes open

IB_Surfer wrote:Comedy flailing - advice gratefully received:

Two surfers walk into a bar, the first one was wearing a duck,

Sorry, could not come up with duckdive joke, hence the comedy fail...

My favourite walking into the bar jokes

1. An Irishman, an Australian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, a horse and Bill Clinton walk into a bar

The barman says 'what is this, a joke?'


I always feel self conscious doing pop up practices in the gym. I mean, no one is looking at me (unmuscley middle aged guy), but even so.

2. Two sufers walk into a bar

"Ouch" said the first one. So did the second.