Surfing Waves

I usually surf beach breaks and breakwater/jetties. I've been working on trying to keep myself close to the peak rather than taking off on the shoulder but I always find myself drifting away from it. Usually before I paddle out I look where the waves are initially breaking then paddle to that location and try to align that area with something on land (sign, tree, etc.) Then I as I'm sitting I see waves peak elsewhere. Basically I never seem to be in the right spot. I'm not sure if it's the current that is moving me away from the peak or just plain bad luck. I notice other surfers just sit and happen to be in the right spot.

You need to read the surf and currents a little more and keep positioning yourself between waves.
You can even do under water leg paddle and little thing s to keep yourself in position.
HOWEVER, beach breaks are notoriously shifty, small differences in the swell and things like water on the bank after the last wave will shift the emphasis and set up the next wave will take.
Points and reefs are relatively easy to read and set up for a full on beach break Hmmmmmm

As Jaffa said - this is why you will sometimes see surfers paddling toward the peak (rather than the normal away from it/down the line direction) and then do a 180 just before the wave breaks, because the peak has moved 5m sideways.

Aligning yourself with something on land is good, but sometimes its not that accurate because on the beach you may be looking straight out to sea but on the board you are looking back in at an angle. Hard to explain in words, but draw the crescent of the normal beach, put an X where the break is, where you are (on the beach) and the tree. That all aligns and looks good. But then draw the same picture but only an X where the tree is and draw a straight line from the tree out to the water - obviously it could end up anywhere because it depends on what angle you are using. On the water the angle at which you are looking back to the beach might be different to the angle you were using to look out at the water.

Personally, for what its worth, I do the same as you but only for a general area, then try to refine it once I'm out and pick another landmark if needed. Sometimes a 'side angle' as well can be useful, especially if there is a current, just to check I'm not drifting out

But, at the end of the day, the wave could break anywhere. Wind picking up or dying, waves as Jaffa says, the tide changing just a bit. My usual habit is to check the waves from shore and notice they are good, paddle out, catch say 2 waves and then have the tide change slightly or have the wind shift and spend the next 30 minutes vainly waiting for any waves to break anywhere near where I am...

Just thinking, what you need to fix up the 'angle' problem is 2 points on shore that you can line up. So maybe a tree and a bush or a tree and a bunch of seaweed. Line them up to the peak, then when you are in the water line them up again.

When you have landmark line up in the lineup, you'll be fine up in the lineup.
but you need paddle against the drift if you get my drift.
As you ride so will the tides changing water upon the bank
which either will stop or begin to crank.
Blow in the wind, it will push you aside
and help or hinder however you ride.
Surfing beach break is a movable feast,
you have to adapt continually to say the least.
So develop your skills in reading the beach,
enabling more waves to be in your reach.
finally and it is just as well
fitness to paddle and catch the swell.

Ah the drift, my arms hate it but damn its a good work out!

Uncle Jaffa is once again right on the nail, before you paddle out and after you found your peak, find a landmark and stay lined up with it, its hard then you think when you first start as your arms need to get used to the beating, but once they do it just makes you even fitter

I still have trouble lining up so don't ask me . There is so much that goes into lining up a break. Each day will be different. There are sometimes more than one swell coming in so the waves from one direction break a certain way and the waves from another direction break another way. On the really good days they all break the same but after a while You may come to recognize different swells coming from different directions. If you are at a reef break then the bottom stays fairly constant but the break will vary with tide and the size and direction of the swell. One of my favorite breaks is a reef break where there is a boil (water coming up out of the reef as a wave passes over it) and this makes it very easy to line up if the break is consistent. I love that place because if I can see the boil I know where I am. Other wise you have to line up 2 items on the beach like a tree and a building or two telephone posts so that when those two line up you know you are in line with where you want to be. Then you have to look at the waves to tell you how far out you should be. If you have another set of line ups at a different angle then you can tell where you are more closely with just the lineups. I surf a beach break and when it is small I can lineup things for where the break is on that day since the bottom is sand and the sand moves around it may not break the same the next day even. When the waves get as big as I like it then there is a strong current and I have to keep paddling to the right and in to try to stay in the same place. Often though I just drift and catch a peak wherever it comes to me because on days like that there are several peaks in the same close proximity and because the current is taking me out to sea it is also taking to bigger surf. It's an ongoing process for me. I am still learning how to line up breaks.

Also, you need to be fit enough to paddle onto a wave as soon as you get to the peak, rather than sitting having a rest having paddled there... then finding you have to paddle all the way there again...

Get in there straight away before you have time to drift off again. Also, position right on the peak is often easier to maintain than on the shoulder of one.

thanks for the input. i'll try using two landmarks.

on a totally unrelated topic,

I've been told to surf as much as I could no matter what. Do you guys paddle out even in choppy onshore conditions when it's almost nearly impossible to get out back or mostly just wait til conditions are fair or better? Does it actually help you improve or just a waste of time? The reason I ask is most of the breaks in my area have been experiencing heavy onshore wind (18-20mph) and wind swell, about 7s (I'm guessing bc it's spring time). So there will be weeks on end that conditions are poor and very few "fair" days. As a beginner would it still be productive to make an effort to paddle out? I feel being out of the water for so long causes me to lose the little progress I gained from previous sessions. I've been swimming at a local pool but it only does so much as a substitute for actually paddling out.

It's not necessary to play paddle in the washing machine, paddle in calmer beaches if that's possible hopefully with a chance of little fun waves.
Why,? Basically in washing machine onshore short period surf, you cannot generate a long period of paddling , moe turtling and duckdiving and exhaustion and being washed backwards. Doesn't really build paddle fitness.
My technique is to do paddle interval training . 100 yards of steady paddle sit 30 seconds twenty five high speed strokes ( like catching a wave) rest 10 seconds do another burst! Repeat say five times, rest sitting on board , do paddle out cycle then bursts. Rest do a swim dragging board by leash. Get out in as many good surfs as you can, the best paddle reward is catching that wave!

Every condition the ocean presents offers you a chance to work on some of your surfing related skills. One is learning to judge the conditions and your own skills/fitness. If all that you are going to do is be battered back to the beach then it would be better to do some other activity as Jaffa suggests. I go out in onshore stormy conditions all the time. I enjoy being out in stormy choppy conditions probably because it is most often like that but maybe because I learned to surf originally 42 years ago in surf like that. If you learn to surf in choppy onshore breaks then it will improve your surfing however if you aren't in good enough shape to deal with it then you need to work on your conditioning and your ability to read the ocean waves and currents. You can always work on your duck diving, turtle turning or whatever skills to get through the surf. Again though if you aren't fit then that is the priority. And be sure to stay safe so don't go out if the likelihood you are going to die is significant. If you don't surf then do paddle somewhere as that will help keep you fit till there are waves you can handle.