Surfing Waves

Hi,
I have been riding a shorter board and catching a lot of waves, and when I get in early and take off at an angle I can maneuver the wave but best in weaker/small surf.

What I have noticed is that often when the waves are a little better I catch the wave, look down the line, pop up, crouch down, then immediately try to jam the rail into the wave face, and then lose my balance while standing almost upright. Exactly the same if I surf front side or backside.

I guess the question is, when should I be starting my bottom turn? I looked around and couldn't find a clear answer.

Should I try to chill out a couple of second longer and wait until I am in front of the wave before trying to maneuver back up the face? I should mention that I have a habit of rushing when surfing, and I often have to remind myself to slow it down and relax.

Thank you for any help,
cheers,

EqualizingDistortion wrote:I guess the question is, when should I be starting my bottom turn?

The answer is kinda in the question.

You do a bottom turn at the bottom of the wave... which means that you turn when you're almost out onto the flats in front of the wave and then turn back up it. You'll have crouched down and loaded your legs during the bottom half of the drop and initiated the turn as you go onto the flats or a little bit before if the wave hasn't got all that much power.

What you're describing is 'going down the line' - which is fine as long as that's what you were trying to do and - more importantly - you don't stand straight upright.

To practise your bottom turn, paddle straight towards the beach (not at an angle), get into the wave early, drop straight down the face, and then turn.

question - What was the size of the board BEFORE you started riding the current shorter board ?

"I catch the wave, look down the line, pop up, crouch down," - when you crouch down are you bending at back/waist ? or bending at the knees ? Some people just drop down "to" the board, while actually the "board" should be dropping into the wave.

'then immediately try to jam the rail into the wave face" - Jam implies FORCED it. A bottom turn needs to be smooth. By Jamming it in there , you might be chopping the speed or in your case, catching an edge. Work with the developing energy of the wave. Don't just Shove it in there.

" and then I lose my balance while standing almost upright" - of course you'll more likely to be unstable standing straight up like a stick. But sometimes you need to be tall ( upright ) and sometimes small ( crouched ). Thing is are you extending too early ? Like a coiled up spring, you can't compress and uncoil at the wrong moment. Try ride a swing extending and coiling up at the opposite moments.

question - how do you describe what a bottom turn is and what actions you do, to someone who doesn't surf.

It sounds like what you are doing isn't working so you need to change it. If you had a video of what you were doing we could more easily examine it and figure out what you are doing. I think answering Waikikichans questions first would be a good starting point so we aren't guessing so much as to what you are doing. But there are lots of options on waves depending on the wave and your skill and a little on the board you are using.

Hey guys thank you for the replies. I will try to be more clear this time around.

I really should have written this as "how do I go from going down the line to a full bottom turn, in surf that is big enough to have a bottom turn?" or "help!, my bottom turn sucks and i'm not sure if I should start my turn when still riding down the last bit of the wave face or wait until I am out in front of the wave and when I am in front of the wave how do I avoid ending up in white water?"

So far my surfing and even with this shorter board is the following routine, I catch a wave, I angle my take off, I let the wave take me on a little bit of a trip, maybe a few super basic turns on the board here and there and shift my weight back and forth and I run out of speed or the wave closes out.

I want to be more deliberate when I surf, right now I feel like every ride is just dumb luck.

question - What was the size of the board BEFORE you started riding the current shorter board ?

[color=#00BFFF]I was riding a 7'2 egg, I had it for a couple of years before my friend I was borrowing from asked for it back. Now I am riding a 6' Lost Lazy Toy, i'm 6'2" 200 lbs if that makes any difference. [/color]

"I catch the wave, look down the line, pop up, crouch down," - when you crouch down are you bending at back/waist ? or bending at the knees ? Some people just drop down "to" the board, while actually the "board" should be dropping into the wave.

[color=#00BFFF]A) I think I was trying to describe bending at my knees, or the conscious decision to bend at my knees once I up and stable on the board.[/color]

A)looking down the line for a second before popping up is my way of taking a full breath and relaxing on my take off. I used to feel the surge of the wave and get super amped and pop up too early or with a roll of the dice foot position. I take that second to really feel my self in the wave.

'then immediately try to jam the rail into the wave face" - Jam implies FORCED it. A bottom turn needs to be smooth. By Jamming it in there , you might be chopping the speed or in your case, catching an edge. Work with the developing energy of the wave. Don't just Shove it in there.

[color=#00BFFF]A) think you nailed what I was trying to describe or how I am feeling which is that I am catching an edge and then trying to fight against it by throwing my whole body into re-positioning the board.[/color]

" and then I lose my balance while standing almost upright" - of course you'll more likely to be unstable standing straight up like a stick. But sometimes you need to be tall ( upright ) and sometimes small ( crouched ). Thing is are you extending too early ? Like a coiled up spring, you can't compress and uncoil at the wrong moment. Try ride a swing extending and coiling up at the opposite moments.
[color=#00BFFF]
A) I feel that I maybe am catching an edge and I am over compensating with my body. The sensation is like slicing through the water like when an ice skate gets stuck in a groove and its super difficult to change directions or stay in control. [/color]


question - how do you describe what a bottom turn is and what actions you do, to someone who doesn't surf.
[color=#00BFFF]A) catching a wave riding down the face, turning the board to face the top of the wave and maneuvering the board up and down the wave to control position and speed. As opposed to surfing down the line which for me is taking off at a generous angle and cruising along the wave face, adjusting weight or board angle to control speed and stay on the wave.[/color]

My thought is you need to consciously angle the board less so you are pointed more to the beach then start to turn and crouch into the turn. If the wave isn't too fast you might be able to aim straight for the beach and then turn back to the wave. I rarely do this except if the waves are weak and slow or I will do it further down the wave once I have some speed on a fast and steep wave. But I do a bottom turn on most waves. It took me three years (surfing 30 minutes a week) to get to where I felt I had a good bottom turn. So plan on working on your bottom turn for a while. It is the first turn you do on most waves so you will get lots of practice.

When all this is happening, where is your back foot situated on the board ? It seems you might be caught up in the "front footed" shortboard hype.

You're 6'2" and you happen to be riding a 6'0" after jumping down 14 inches from a 7'2" ? Hmmm............ How were you bottom turns ( and top turns ) on the 7'2" ?

Thank you,
My bottom and top turns were pretty weak before I switched to the 6'. I kind of got myself into a rut of trimming down the line surfing but not doing much once I was on the wave. This goes for any board I have attempted to ride

I make sure my rear foot is set where the arch of my foot rests on the arch of the pad right in the center of the fin box. The board does have a lot of foam in the nose so I may still have more weight on my front foot than I should and catch a rail. ill try to really pivot off the back foot next session.

What is your fin set up ? Thruster or Quad ? ( hopefully not all five )

I have been riding as a quad

Change it back to Thruster, so you don't need to milk the bottom turn and drop a rail.