Surfing Waves

Why is this board so hard to Paddle? Board on the Right? 7'10 x 23 x 3 + Tri with 8' Shapers' Fin. I purchased this board to replace my Longboard; I realise it would not paddle like my Longboard but I thought it would be at least adequate, but I am having real problems.

A few people have mentioned the thickness - it could be sitting too far out of the water; or, the center Fin might be causing too much drag. Could you guys give any insights?

Me: still a beginner (surfing on and off a few years), 6.1 tall, 16 stone in weight.

I thought it would paddle well due to the thickness 3' and rocker of the board - hard to see that I know. But it is a real effort to get the thing moving. The board to the left - the one I am progressing to - seems as easy to paddle as its big brother.

Shorter boards don't have as much glide as longer boards so you have to paddle more to maintain momentum. My guess is that most paddling problems are due to positioning on the board and lack of strength and/or endurance

Hi, I did consider the endurance question, I am not very fit but I do ok. I need to keep my weight around 210lbs/100kg/16 stone for my other hobby boxing (Heavy weight division)

I could get my longboard 9'2 x 23 x 3 to plain; it was a proper log and when it picked up speed it really moved. I can understand having difficulties with the 6'10 board as I have to learn to paddle with my feet in the air and try to keep the nose just above the water line without falling off the board. Moving even an inch forward and I can sink the board !! I am learning

I was just very surprised with the 7'10 board. Keeping the nose above the waterline when paddling is not an issue as it is a 3' thick board. Unless I use my weight this board always staying horizontal. One main advantage of my weight is that I could duck dive my long board and I can get duck dive this board, albeit only about 15 times before I am knackered.

Are there any technical aspects to consider? Is my 8' Fin the right size for a 7'10 board? Would it help if I just used a single fin?

The fin is irrelevant whilst paddling. I think the simple answer is that you're very heavy, so you need to be fit in order to paddle anything much smaller than your longboard. Either drop a weight division in your boxing, or work hard on your paddling fitness.

Endurance plays a big role, try doing what I did, I went out like 2-4 times a week and paddled a lot even if it was flat eventually in like 3 weeks my muscles adapted and I don't get tired anymore, my paddle power isn't strong enough though for paddle sprinting big waves(I push my weight forward on the board to drop in) but you should give it a try, if you can't get to the shore that often try pushups, pullups, jump rope and those little stretchy things(forgot what they're called, you pull them against your foot and use your shoulder muscles) they help.
But for the board I can't give advice since I don't know much about weight to volume dimensions, I'm new to surfing :p

At those dims it should plane pretty well(not as good as the longboard of course) but should be noticeably easier to get going than the 6'10. I'd have to agree with Oldman that it seems like an issue of positioning and maybe even paddling technique. At 7'10 your feet should pretty much be at the tail or just past it(ankle/bottom of shin) and you'll probably need to arch your back a bit as well to get optimum paddling position. As you've already noticed, on short-er boards small adjustments will make a huge difference when paddling.

Spring2016 wrote:
I could get my longboard 9'2 x 23 x 3 to plain; i One main advantage of my weight is that I could duck dive my long board and I can get duck dive this board, albeit only about 15 times before I am knackered.

Are you serious? Duck diving long board? I did not think it is possible. How do you accomplish that?

I weigh 210 and have a 7'6" board I am currently using. It doesn't paddle as well as my 8 foot board which doesn't paddle as well as my 9'6" board (but I still love the 7'6") What I really notice is paddling long distances with my longer boards I can pause a bit longer between paddles and still keep speed the shorter board needs more frequent paddling to keep going at the same speed.

Spring2016 wrote:I thought it would paddle well due to the thickness 3' and rocker of the board -

And by that, do you mean it has A LOT of rocker or LESS rocker in comparison to your longboard ?

Thanks for all the replies. I will work on building up some more paddling strength. Thanks for the tip re letting my feet dangle over the back of the board. Pure dimensions forces that position on my shorter board; as the 7'10 is such a long board I did not think of doing that, will try it out tomorrow.

I agree that longer boards maintain their speed for a bit when not paddling; my shorter board just stops dead as soon as I stop paddling

Yes, I could duck dive my longboard, only about 15 times at most and in 1-3 waves; I don't want it to sound too great! I used my weight to sink the front half of the board (advantage of being heavy), then performed a powerful press up (boxing training comes in) and the board shot under water. I could not use my foot as part of the duck dive as effectively as I do when I duck dive my short board. By the time the front is sunk and I have forced down the rest of the board under water, if I am too far forward to use my foot to get extra leverage.

There is a guy on youtube who is really good at duck diving his long board.

waikikikichan wrote:

Spring2016 wrote:I thought it would paddle well due to the thickness 3' and rocker of the board -

And by that, do you mean it has A LOT of rocker or LESS rocker in comparison to your longboard ?

This is where my beginner knowledge falters somewhat. I should of taken a side profile of the board. It looks like it has less of a front rocker than my long board did. It is pretty flat for a large section of the board, that is why I wrongly thought it would paddle well.

Spring2016 wrote:Are there any technical aspects to consider?

It may be the rocker combined with the flat wide section of the board being under your chest.
As the the nose will be out of the water (and the tail likely to be ever so slightly sinking) and so you're 'pushing' water in front of you with the widest point of the board, rather than gliding on top of the water like a longboard.

So to get around this, you'll need to be a touch further up the board as you paddle. As a 'larger gentleman', it's also important to centre your weight on the board - not only will bumping forward an inch or two help, but you may find that pulling one or even both feet up over your bum helps. Also, make sure that your legs are close together (knees touching) otherwise you'll rock the board side to side as you paddle which will make things even slower.

Basically it's a technique issue which has been masked by being on a longboard until now, but should be relatively easy to fix.

Spring2016 wrote:my shorter board just stops dead as soon as I stop paddling.

That's just what shorter boards do and that's part of why they're harder to learn on

Speaking of paddling watch this video, I followed it and I paddle way faster than I did before

If you're too lazy to watch it here's what's in it.
Keep you head steady and keep your body weight dead center on the stringer.(Avoid shifting your head left to right depending on your paddle)
Paddle as deep as you can and drag in an S shape/zig zag so you use more muscles and don't get as tired as quickly

Hi, thank you. Looks like I have a few tips to try out tomorrow. Just so I understand: should the flat wide section not be under my chest when I paddle?

I will try moving forward a bit as well. I was trying paddling with my legs in the air this morning on my short board - otherwise they trail behind in the water - and my back is in a lot of pain this evening. Paddling with my chest up and legs up will take some getting use to.

I am determined. I had a lot of fun with my longboard over the last year and could surf the green waves down the line but I was pretty restricted when the waves got over 3ft and became steep - I just good not surf the board. This is why I am moving down to shorter boards so I can experience the feeling of dropping into a 8ft wave - sometime in the distant future

In the UK so turning in for the night now, but will reply to anymore posts tomorrow. Cheers for all the advice.

Spring2016 wrote:Hi, thank you. Looks like I have a few tips to try out tomorrow. Just so I understand: should the flat wide section not be under my chest when I paddle?

I will try moving forward a bit as well. I was trying paddling with my legs in the air this morning on my short board - otherwise they trail behind in the water - and my back is in a lot of pain this evening. Paddling with my chest up and legs up will take some getting use to.

I am determined. I had a lot of fun with my longboard over the last year and could surf the green waves down the line but I was pretty restricted when the waves got over 3ft and became steep - I just good not surf the board. This is why I am moving down to shorter boards so I can experience the feeling of dropping into a 8ft wave - sometime in the distant future

In the UK so turning in for the night now, but will reply to anymore posts tomorrow. Cheers for all the advice.

Yeah, keeping your chest up allows you to use your muscles on the side of your back which are very large compared to the small shoulder muscles you use when you're laying flat on the board so you won't get as tired and even paddle stronger, try keeping the board as flat as possible on the water, the more surface you can get on the water the better, just don't let the nose dip in the water

Spring2016 wrote:Just so I understand: should the flat wide section not be under my chest when I paddle?

Your chest should be exactly over the wide section... not your head! Get your shoulders in front of the logo on the board.
The point of the flat wide section is to put some volume under where the majority of your weight is, but a lot of newbies (and the effect is magnified for big guys) shuffle back a little bit, which feels 'safer'... but isn't. On a board that shape, it's critical that its flat on the water, and not slightly sinking at the back. Make sure you're as far forward as you can go without dipping the nose of the board under the water - this will mean arching your back and you will ache afterwards!

I had a little paddling issue with my last session, I don't know if it is relevant or helps but I throw it in anyway.
I was using an old heavily rockered 6'10" shortboard with a very thin and pointy nose in relation to the more hybrid shapes I normally use.
When I put my weight forward in what should be the right position, the nose sunk completely. But when I moved back a little bit to bring the nose up, I was pushing so much water that paddling was too hard.
After some experimenting I found out I needed to be in the more forward position and start paddling with some strong strokes to get the nose up from sinking, once in motion I could relax a bit and paddle comfortable in a non tiring cadence. Getting the board in the right horizontal position was key.

As DBB says, position yourself so the nose of the board is about 1inch above the water. Usually this means go forward more than you might think (this is also the general starting position for when you are going to catch waves).

Rocker is the curve of the board from bottom curve of the board from the nose to the tail ie from a profile or side angle. The more rocker the hard to paddle (essentially - the more rocker, the less of the board on the water, so its like the board is actually shorter than it really is).

Flat rocker is therefore usually easier to paddle, although in some conditions (bumpy, windy), I find a bit of rocker makes it easier because you arent ploughing through the bumps with the nose but going over the top. Even if you slide back a bit on a flat rockered board to lift the nose above the bumps, you then are bogging the tail/sinking the tail and that creates its own drag and paddling problems. But in smooth conditions, a flat rocker is definitely easier to paddle than something with more rocker. Also, a narrower nose can be easier in bumpy conditions, because it cuts through the water more than a rounded nose. So maybe its the conditions creating the issues?

Something that helps me is to think about pulling the elbows back rather than the hands. It just seems to engage the lats (back muscle) more than concentrating on hands, which uses the shoulder muscles. May or may not work for you. But this is no where near as effective as being paddle fit

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