Surfing Waves

Ok when i am paddling I feel the wave pick me up and I wait a little bit then I wait to long and go head first in the water then get crushed exactly when do i stand up

thanks

Take a look at our how to stand up section on the main site. It should have the info you need.

You have to know the feel of catching a wave. If you don't know what riding a wave feels like, you won't know when to stand. You stand right when you are going down the face of the wave. This is when you get the most support on the wave. After than it becomes harder to pop up. The moment you absolutely know you are on the wave, pop up in one motion and bend your knees. The best time to stand on the wave only comes in a time frame of a a few seconds or less. If you are too in front of the board and pearling (nose diving), you need to scoot back a little. Another way to avoid nose diving is to angle the board and catch it going in right or left instead of straight. What kind of board do you ride?

I saw an old movie of a guy who rode down the face like on a boogie board, then got to the bottom and got up... it was kinda weird...

i have a 6'2

How big are the waves where you go? what kind of break are you at? I would suggest being comfortable catching waves lying down without standing first. Then when you can do that without pearling, try and stand. A shortboard is very hard to balance on so you need to be in constant motion, you can't stay still unless you are on a big wave. Its easier if you catch the wave going sideways (left or right) rather than straight because yo go faster and its more stable because of the speed. First catch waves lying down and try ride the wave diagonally. Then try standing. Remember to stand right when you know you have the wave. Lying down to catch the waves will help you know the feeling of when you should stand, which is going down the wave before you get to the bottom.

Hmmm not too sure about the catch a wave lying down trick. That's a sure fire way of nose diving. A 6'2" isn't a boogie board. Sure you can catch waves on your gut but you are going to have to lie much further back than you would if you wanted to ride it proper and stand up.

If you want to learn the feeling of catching waves then go body surf or boogie board. Once you got that go back with the surfboard. The second you feel it pulling you along pop up. Don't worry if you do it too early the worst thing that can happen is you miss the wave. If you do miss it then next time try to pop up a little later with perhaps another few strokes of paddling, then pop up. It's best to pop up too early and miss the wave than pop up too late, go over the falls and land on your board and damage it or yourself.

You can pop up too early and still catch waves if you want just, lean forward and put more weight on your front foot, or pump the board by standing on your back-foot and then back on your front, this sometimes can pump you over the edge and you can catch the wave that you almost missed.

As for popping up correctly stay low, don't worry about getting up nice and tall. If you ever watch surfers catching bigger steep waves they don't get up very high either they stay nice and low. Why? Because it keeps their centre of gravity nice and low and the weight in one place. That can really help when you are going down a steep wave that could possibly make you nose dive.

Some other anti nose diving tricks are as follows: Avoid low tide at certain shore breaks as the waves are going to pitch over very quickly even good surfers have trouble catching these waves in time before they curl over and break. Watch the waves if they are closing out quickly then wait for a higher tide, check the Internet or papers for the tide times.

Also catch the wave as far out as possible so that you have enough time to pop up. If it's behind you and the lip is curling then it's probably too quick for a beginner to catch, sure you will see guys going for waves like these and making them but they are experienced.

Next paddle like hell, that really is the trick the more confidence and power you put into committing to a wave the more of a chance you are going to catch it in time before it gets too steep. If you do see that it's too steep then either use your arms as brakes and push the water at your sides away from you toward your nose, or sit up and dig your feet in and lean back. If its too late for that, then kick your board toward the shore and jump backward over the wave. Or if it's too late and you are in mid air then jump away from your board to the side, just get away from the board as quickly as possible, it hurts if you don't and the board doesn't like it either.

One more thing, your position on the board is key when paddling. I had a lot of trouble with nose diving when I was starting out and everyone told me to scoot back further when lying on the board.

Nope!

That was the problem and not the cure.

I started out not paddling fast enough for waves and then trying to pop up too late.....-> nose dive.

So I started lying back further on the board. Problem solved? No

By lying too far back you end up putting too much weight at the back of the board and the board can't get enough speed this way. So what happens? You paddle hard as hell to catch a wave, because you board is slower you catch the wave too late, and then either the wave throws you over the side or you nose dive.

For a short-board you want to lie on your board with the nose just pointing out of the water by 2 inches or so, you'll notice that when the board is lying flat on it's own without you on it how it's nice and level, that is how it gets it's speed so try to replicate this when lying on it. Good luck, the rest is all practice and then suddenly you'll not know how you were doing it wrong the whole time.

I just assumed DoubleOverhead was in small surf, the kind that doesn't have a steep break or isnt that powerful. I may be wrong and if you are in larger surf then do not try the laying down method because you will definitely pearl unless you ride the wave diagonally. I dont ride a shortboard but I would recommend trying to position yourself at a slant when paddling for a wave. I do this with my longboard but Im not sure if it works for shortboards. When you are at a slant on the wave, you already set yourself up for the ride and are not as likely to pearl because pearling usually occurs when riding straight. Hope you understood that.

Oops I didn't mean to sound like I was saying the opposite of duhkine's posts.

Of course you can also gut surf waves if they are small enough he is right about that, and scooting back on the board is of course correct if you are too far forward. however, I just wanted to point out that too far back is also bad.

As for an angle duhkine is right there too, it helps keep the nose from going straight into the drink especially if you have trouble popping up quick or you are on big waves.

yeah your right we usually have waist to chest high waves

Another thing, like people have suggested, is to ride the wave on your stomach at first, and once it flattens out some but still has a lot of power try standing. I think it's a good method for learning how to pop up. But I also was practicing with a bigger board. Should be the same principals though. You'll just have to do it a lot faster.

Good luck.

hey thanks for all your help

one more question when i do stand up and i am going on the wave what should i do for example like turns

You can cutback, do airs, spins, pump the board, 360s, anything you want. Its your wave and no one can tell you how you have to ride it. Start looking up tricks or maneuvers if you want and practice them. Then when you know a lot of stuff you will be a great surfer. Main thing is to have fun. Dont do tricks or things just to impress. Do it because you want to surf. Whatever you have the most fun doing is what you should do. On the technical side I would try to be closest to the part of the wave that is the steepest and breaking (where the whitewater meets the clean water). That way you have more power on the wave. If you go too far from that then turn back into it and turn back out. Just try to be in the section of the wave that has the most potential for you to keep riding or the biggest part of the wave but not the part that already broke.

DoubleOverhead wrote:one more question when i do stand up and i am going on the wave what should i do for example like turns

I'd go practicing my pop ups before I attempt to do any airs anyway!

One question...if you're starting out which obviously you are if you're just learning to pop-up, what are you doing with a 6' 2"?

Yer better off learning on a bigger board & then dropping down. It'll take ages to progress on a 6' 2" in my opinion......Unless you're perhaps 4ft tall!

I thought I mentioned that a 6'2" board is small but I guess I didnt. You should really be starting on a 9' or higher in my opinion. That way you will paddle faster, feel sturdier and ride the wave much longer. Beginners tend to go with small waves and small waves tend to go with longboards. However it is evident that you have caught the wave but you jsut havent stood up. The fact that you can catch the wave is a great start. If you feel like you must stay with the shortboard then just keep doing what you are doing and it will all come together, I promise. If you want the learn the easier and to me, the better way, find a longboard. Renting would be your best bet but you can also buy pretty cheap longboards. You'll probably have more fun on a longboard right now, no matter how bad you may think the board is (unless its broken in half or something). Once you are good at the longboard then I promise that you will have a much easier time on a shortboard. Keep practicing. Lessons are also great if you can afford it. Practice as much as you can. Thats the best advice you will ever get even if you've heard it too much or you think its trash. Practice and be safe!

I am at the point where I can stand up and ride any of the breakers, and am aching to ride the real waves. When I bought my board (7'9'') a few years ago, I would just head straight out there and nose dive all the time, and developed a bit of a phobia. I just started surfing regularly (about 4x a week) a couple months ago, after a long time of no surfing. I don't think I need to be farther back on my board, as I already am pretty far back.

I am wondering what the ideal time to catch the wave is. It seems that a lot of beginners try to catch a wave while it is breaking over their head, and get mangled. But the more experienced surfers don't seem to be much farther out.

Also, I just bought a used 6'3" shortboard, very narrow, because with Clark Foam gone over here, I can't afford a new one, and wanted to hurry up and buy one in case they get super expensive. Should I try riding this, or stick to my longer board for a while?

Whit wrote: I am wondering what the ideal time to catch the wave is.

Depends on the wave, the board, and the surfer

Longboarders will be catching it when its merely a bump in the water, while a shortboarder might be catching the same wave as it breaks

Personally, I like the late take-off (when its not above headhigh anyway)

The only time that I'd say is 'wrong' is what a lot of wobblers do when trying to catch a clean wave and go for it just as its closing out on their heads

yeah i spent the first week doing that.. not very fun on the beach break near my place.. Not sure where on the earth you guys are, but the east coast of australia can be very unforgiving when there's a strong southerly on a southern facing break - now i tend to sit right at the back where only 3 or 4 guys sit, the advantage is, not only do you have priority when a nice wave comes your way (if none of the 4 are already on it), but you're also out of the breaking point of the waves. Disadvantage is you don't get many waves as they often break 10 ft in front of you.

Personally, i love the wait, and even better the ride on that perfect wave of the day - if i only get on 1 in 2 hrs i'm happy and i come out of the water with that big ear-to-ear smile.

As for what tricks to start doing - i'd say once you've mastered the pop-up, spend a bit of time getting the feel for the peel (so to speak), don't jump on any wave you can - get on a left, and try leaning into it, make sure there isn't too much pressure on your back foot, don't want to slow down to much just as you get on it.. Then wait for a nice right hander & lean into that.. IMHO i find frontside much harder to ride, so if you just want to look cool for a while find the direction you find easiest, and perfect it, then at 3 in the morning go and practice your opposite

most importantly, have fun, coz if you don't you'll hate surfing & you'll die younger.