Surfing Waves

Do you need to be really strong to duckdive?

because i cant really do it

help please, ive read the thing on this site but yeah

going away for a week, leaving 2day, but i hope sum1 can post oin the next half hour and help me

No you have to be heavy compared to your board.

I pasted a previous post on the subject:


I duck dive differently from most written examples I've read as I use my foot instead of my knee and I push forward slightly.

What I do is I lift myself up on my hands, as if I'm ready to pop up and then push down. If you do this fast you develop as sort of pumping motion the power from the raising yourself is pushed back into the board, once you are fully raised you push down. I use one foot on the back of the tail pad, instead of my knee, you get a lot more power this way.

Imagine your arms fully extended and one foot on the tail pad it looks a bit like a runner on the starting blocks at a track and field race, except your knees are not on the ground, in this case the board.

If you try just holding this position on a less bouyant board it will sink straight away.

Now to recap slightly, raise yourself in one motion and then push down on tail and nose, and here is another trick that I never see mentioned, push the board ever so slightly away from you to the front. On extra big waves where the lip is about to smash me I give the board an almighty kick with my foot under water to get the tail down deeper and this brings the nose up faster.

Of course you can't duck dive every wave cleanly even if you do it perfectly. Ever notice when you bail in large surf and you dive for the bottom how deep the turbulent white water goes if you open your eyes?

When I'm out there duck diving and I still get pummeled I look around and see that most guys are sideways or have fallen off their boards, you should however try to always keep hold of it, it can hurt your wrists a lot though of course if you are on a mal or minimal then don't even bother you can't sink that thing.

I can duck dive a 20 1/2 wide thick 6'6" board quite easily although it's very buoyant and when I sit on it my butt is practically at sea level, of course my 6'4" 19.5 is much easier to duckdive but sometimes the added bouancy in a bigger board can help you come up faster and gives you more stability in the turbulence. It's like in a tornado would you rather hold onto a bus or a motorcycle?

thanks man, appreciated

im way heavier than my board

my boards like 5 KG maybe less and im like 50 so tiws awesome

If you are still there? Here is another post of mine from a previous thread.

Try this in the calm water; Place both hands on the rails and raise yourself up at the same time keep one foot on the tail now raise one foot in the air. Don't have your knees on the board it should be similar to push ups, press ups or what ever you call them, but with one foot in the air. Now if your board starts to sink a fair bit then you are able to duck dive it, if it doesn't sink then simple you'll have to turtle roll it. Duck diving relies heavily on your weight and it's more your weight that sinks your board than you pushing it down.

So if your board doesn't sink while doing this then give up, you'll never be able to duck dive it. Get another board or alternatively turtle roll.

cool, is the turtle roll when you hold the board over your ehad and go under the wave like that?

You don't actually have to be heavy compared to your board really.

It's a matter of technique and there is really only one way to get it right... Practise!!

I say this like I'm the expert, but it's true - I've been trying for years, read everything I could find on the subject, but (like so much else in surfing) it's a feeling, sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don't.

I have to agree with Aloha - I use my foot, but I combine both ways.

I paddle at the wave, as it approaches I raise up on my hands and one knee, leaning my weight forward and pushing the nose under. Just as the wave reaches me, I straighten my leg, pushing the tail down and kind of scooping forward with my hands (same action as throwing a heavy ball in the air with 2 hands). If you get the tail lower than the nose, you will pop nicely up the other side. But, as the man says, you can't get it right all the time and you will get drilled every now and then.

Anyway, that's how I do it!

Cheers

Sinista

the biggest thing ive learned about duckdiving is that you cant wuss out at all. if theres a wave comin n u want to duckdive it just make sure that you put everything into it if you dont youre gonna get hammered.

small technique point (probably wrong as i cant do it very well) when i duck dive when ive sunk the board enough i push my head into the clean water just in front of the wave pretty quickly. i think this porbly helps sink the board some more. it only ever works for me when i do that.

Thanks guys, will practice next time I surf

surferdude_scarborough wrote:the biggest thing ive learned about duckdiving is that you cant wuss out at all. if theres a wave comin n u want to duckdive it just make sure that you put everything into it if you dont youre gonna get hammered.

small technique point (probably wrong as i cant do it very well) when i duck dive when ive sunk the board enough i push my head into the clean water just in front of the wave pretty quickly. i think this porbly helps sink the board some more. it only ever works for me when i do that.

probally because the wave is catching your head and body that are sticking up and pulling you back. Also try holding your board out infront of you when you get it sunk, and it will pull you forward and out behind even if your duckdive awsn't perfect.

instead of duckdiving, because I cant do it yet, I just grab the nose of my board and go under the wave, it works 4 me and I can generally hold on2 the board.

mate learn to duckdive, its so much more convenient all it takes is practice practice practice

it is really cool to practice duck diving on the sand bar as the wave will acctually suck u under so it givesw u extra momentum in the dive Although if u dont go down in time ...well u can guess.... :shock
muahahahahahaha

surferdude_scarborough wrote:the biggest thing ive learned about duckdiving is that you cant wuss out at all. if theres a wave comin n u want to duckdive it just make sure that you put everything into it if you dont youre gonna get hammered.

So true... i learned that the hard way.

I started yesterday and I improved a bit since yesterday. I´m using my foot too, which I find to be an advancement, since yesterday I was barely doing it and drank a lot of water.