Surfing Waves

Hey All,

Hope everyone had a good festive period! I've been having a bit of a problem of late and was just hoping to get some advice. Recently when I've been out splashing around I have been having a bit of a recurring problem when I pop up catch a wave and get into my bottom turn I seem to be missing the next section and getting caught in the white wash.

Now im taking off at an angle and trying to get into my bottom turn early as possible but I still seem to be missing the next section of the wave.

Now I appreciate its a bit hard to comment without seeing what I'm doing but just wondered if anyone had any advice or possible suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?

Any clues appreciated.

If you are angling your take off, then I suspect it is wave selection mate.

When looking for an incoming set, try not to take the waves that are 'straight' or 'flat' across the top these will close out giving you no where to go, Instead you want them to have an arc to them, then from your observations before you paddled out, you will know if its break left, right or as an a-frame.

Take what I say with a pinch of salt I could very well be wrong, Im still a relative beginner

There was the tall drunken Italian and two people from England....High tiddly Itai Pom Pom. sorry about that it just slipped out, now the serious question.
What sort of board are you riding? Cause different sorts require different answers.
As for Peazz and his answer: don't dismiss the answer so quickly or too easily, quite often when you have been surfing a long time the observations of why you do the things that work have been translated to automatic functions and you just do them. So an evolving surfer is still in touch with thinking about what they do!
I suspect loss of speed and I will explain why when I know what sort of board you are riding!

Thanks for the replys, no worries about the pom jokes just dont mention the Ashes!

I'm riding a 7'6" mini mal so nothing crazy small.

Hear what your saying Peazz and my wave selection could certainly do with improving but in some cases im sure the section is there to make im just not making it. Still a relative newb myself mate and any advice is welcome.

Cheers again guys.

Just thowing it out there, as I know its a lot more prevalent on longer boards then shorties... Are you weighting your nose to gain more speed on the drop so you can stall and get back on the face? more speed give you more time to outrun the face.

I do feel your pain as I have been struggling myself for nearly 6 weeks on this one, but I find my problem is I dont catch them when they are green enough therefore by the time im to my feet and going down the face they are already breaking on me.

So it could be a number of things... or a combination of them...

Picking the wrong wave. If it's closing out, you're not going anywhere, or if it's not really breaking, you're not going anywhere fast. Try getting a bit closer to the peak.

Too slow. Your board needs to be planing to turn well and get along the face. Try a steeper wave.

Foot position/timing wrong. So you put your weight on the front to catch the wave, but then what happens? You need to gain a heap of speed down the face, and then weight the back so that you can turn efficiently. If you've centred your weight for stability, and then don't move it, your board will turn sluggishly and you'll catch your rails in the whitewater - game over.

My money is on the last one. So next time you're out, go for big exaggerated movements - point in the direction you wish to go (arms out wide), weight the back, and throw your head and shoulders into the direction you want to go at the fastest point of the drop. Yeah, you'll look a bit of a fool and you'll fall off too, but it'll show you how much movement you need to put in to get your board to turn.

Generalising, I know, but a lot of mini-mal riders take a very cautionary approach to their wave, and do one thing at a time (...take the drop... then turn a little... then have the foam land on their head). Move much more than you think you need to, and do it when your board is moving as fast as possible - don't play safe and "make sure you make the drop", really go for it.

Thanks for the advice guys gives me some things to look at and see if I cant get it to click.

The problem with beginners, especially riding a bigger board, is that they are accustomed to taking of straight and then making a bottom turn, but if you surf a fast wave you will never catch up to the shoulder. So, try a pro trick that isn't really pro, take off, bend your knees and bend down and grab the rail and turn the board. The rail grab is not a pro move, it is a normal move that most experienced longboarders use to set the rail sooner in steep or fast surf. Try it, you'll look cool too

I realize grabbing the rail is a common thing but for me it isn't instinctive and my oldman knees prefer to stand a little less crouched than what it takes to grab rail LOL. fortunately I seem to do ok mostly anyway. I still have yet to do a grab rail anything...maybe I'll add that to my list of things I want to do in 2014. I am thinking about doing diagrams of a board and waves so that people can understand what exactly there is to taking off on a wave. With 3 dimensions it is difficult to explain it well. I think a diagram would help. Maybe I'll work on that this weekend.

Eh grabbing rail only works for backhand for me it just feels weird regular

Thanks for the tips guys. Had another session Saturday and can report despite me not exactly being on form managed a few good bottom turns and comfortably made the section and really got the board moving think I was weighting the front foot to much and drawing the turn out a little to much for the waves I was surfing. Now on to getting this dialled and improving some consistence on my wave catching.