Surfing Waves

Hello!

Question(s)

This year i started surfing. Religiously and regularly, every weekend or every good swell and some 3-4 day trips to the beach. I surf mid-altantic waves and now we are into the winter fun ...

my question(s) are, i learned on a 9 foot foam long board. I have recently picked up a 7' 6" Triple Stringer George Robinson board. Nice board, 3 inch width, plenty of volume and a little bit of rocker for steeper waves.

Issue 1:
Finding the paddling sweet spot on take offs. On the 9 foot board, being further out the back, allows me to catch the wave long before it breaks. So far in my couple sessions, it would appear with this 7' 6" board, i cant get into the wave as soon. Being unsure, i stayed out the back further, but scooted up on board so that the nose was basically only a hair out of the water ( like a shortboar would be), but i fould that the few times i DID catch the wave, it was Pearl City 2016 , even if i arched like a Mo-fo back to prevent...

Should i be further back on the board and just catch the wave a bit later? 20 degree angle as well?

I dont believe its a paddling speed/effort problem. I definitely believe its a body placement on board issue, for this particular length/style. Agree/disgree?

P.S. this was about a 2-3 foot calm day. ( new board, figured it would be good to take on a clean day )

thanks!!

This is an honest, non-smart ass answer.....

Try it!!!


All waves are different.....the same wave on the peak and a few meters to the shoulder is different....same wave at different tides, swell heights, different intervals is different. Your board is new.....one of the big things in getting to know a board is where to position yourself relative to where you are getting in and what the wave is like.....you'll get to the point where you will know that if you are getting in earlier on the same wave that you just rode 5 min ago from a later starting position, what compensations or adjustments you need to make if any.....even be able to slide forward or back a bit while paddling for the wave if need be.

Time to roll up the sleeves and spend time in the water with your new board experimenting a little this way and a little that.....you'll have it figured ----- THEN you'll get a new board and start all over again.

There are a number of things that can causing you problems. One thing is where you lineup to catch the wave. On a longer board you can lineup further out and still catch a wave. With a shorter board you have to be closer to the breaking part of the wave when you takeoff and also it takes stronger paddling to get into the wave although if you are good enough at lining up the wave then not so much. I don't know about arching your back to keep from pearling. I hear others say that but basically all you are doing is putting more weight on your back foot in an awkward if stylish manner. You could step back or move your body over your back foot without arching by bringing your hips back and either of these will be more effective than arching your back. It may well be that you have lined up too far forward on the board. That part is easy enough to see, like Big H says try it. However I have a 7'6" board with little nose rocker and I sometimes popup forward on the board to get it to go down a steep face rapidly and don't have a problem pearling but then I probably have numerous skills to keep the board from pearling. So basically you have to see what you can do with that board on those waves. Surfing is so complex that there is not one answer for everyone. So try paddling a little back and see if it helps. One of the things is if you have a board with a lot of nose rocker and you bury the nose when you paddle then you are pushing water in the profile of the board from looking at it from the nose toward the tail. The more nose out of the water the less water you push with the nose rocker but then the angle of the bottom of the board will start to create more water pushing as you paddle so finding the right spot may take a while and going from 9 foot foamy to 7"6" is a huge jump down in size. Just try it and see how it goes and don't get discouraged

Great feedback thx . Here is an update / question after today's session

1. Defiantly feeling more comfortable on the board. Still getting a feelski for the best paddle location on the board on the paddle into wave , but getting closer each time

2. Definitely catching the wave closer to break proved better (with a caveat) . Now today was a 1-3 foot day, pitchy beach break with some mush...
A 7'6" minimal (3 inch thick plenty of vol) shouldn't have a problem on small days right?

My follow up to that, is these smaller waves since I have to catch the "later" I'm on a bit more on "top" of the wave , thus the pop up has felt a bit troublesome (on the foam top... My pop up success rate is 90% and I can even pig dog it down the line /trim on head-high days... Is the minimal actually going to be easier on 4-5 foot days where the wave actually has a "face" to it?

I really want to become proficient on the 7'6" for a variety of reasons ( more maneuverable , upcoming trip to Costa Rica, location uses 7'6" boards in their surf school)

Is it better to suck it up and bring the 7'6" out in all conditions?

If you want to learn to use the 7'6" board then you have to use it. You can learn some general skills on other boards so I guess it depends on how hard it is to use the 7"6" board. There is little point in using the 7'6" board if you aren't catching waves or learning how to use it because the conditions aren't right for your skill with that board.

Small pitchy beach breaks are hard for longer boards. You need to angle the board at takeoff but that makes catching the wave harder...the same waves at high tide will be exactly perfect for your minimal.

Im not saying the waves can't be caught when small and pitchy, just that it is harder. If you can surf at mid to high tide to start off, it might give you a bit more confidence and understanding for the board.

If you are catching the top of the wave then basically you aren't paddling fast enough when the wave reaches you - the wave has sucked you up the face; on your longer board you had that speed or were catching earlier and didn't realise. You might be starting too far out as well and just not making the wave (it's pretty common to mess up positioning when changing boards...or maybe that is just me )

I've been surfing a nice reef break recently - at 46 yrs old on my 7'4 I was the youngest out there by at least 10 years* and had the shortest board by probably 2ft. These old guys (and gals) were paddling onto these pretty fat (but 8-10ft face) waves and cruising down the face - I kept missing them. I realised that I had to paddle a lot harder and faster than them, and earlier (in time) but later (in positioning), almost entirely because of that 2ft difference in boards (remembering that a board 2ft shorter than mine is 5'4 and you would expect to surf that v differently to a 7'4, and surf a 7'4 differently to a 9ft+). Anyway, I guess the moral is that your new board is shorter and lower volume than your old board and you have to learn to surf it differently. Even though it's still long relatively speaking, it's not a 9ft foam board so don't surf it as such.

It's obviously just practice and more practice. Stick with the board in all conditions- sometimes you will be v frustrated and sometimes you will be happy. The more you surf it the more the happy times will occur

*until a guy came out, about 30, with his 5yr old daughter perched on the nose of his 9ft softboard and proceeded to catch a few of the smaller (head high face) waves - him standing, her just laying on the front. Impressive skills

dtc wrote:Small pitchy beach breaks are hard for longer boards. You need to angle the board at takeoff but that makes catching the wave harder...the same waves at high tide will be exactly perfect for your minimal.

Im not saying the waves can't be caught when small and pitchy, just that it is harder. If you can surf at mid to high tide to start off, it might give you a bit more confidence and understanding for the board.

If you are catching the top of the wave then basically you aren't paddling fast enough when the wave reaches you - the wave has sucked you up the face; on your longer board you had that speed or were catching earlier and didn't realise. You might be starting too far out as well and just not making the wave (it's pretty common to mess up positioning when changing boards...or maybe that is just me )

I've been surfing a nice reef break recently - at 46 yrs old on my 7'4 I was the youngest out there by at least 10 years* and had the shortest board by probably 2ft. These old guys (and gals) were paddling onto these pretty fat (but 8-10ft face) waves and cruising down the face - I kept missing them. I realised that I had to paddle a lot harder and faster than them, and earlier (in time) but later (in positioning), almost entirely because of that 2ft difference in boards (remembering that a board 2ft shorter than mine is 5'4 and you would expect to surf that v differently to a 7'4, and surf a 7'4 differently to a 9ft+). Anyway, I guess the moral is that your new board is shorter and lower volume than your old board and you have to learn to surf it differently. Even though it's still long relatively speaking, it's not a 9ft foam board so don't surf it as such.

It's obviously just practice and more practice. Stick with the board in all conditions- sometimes you will be v frustrated and sometimes you will be happy. The more you surf it the more the happy times will occur

*until a guy came out, about 30, with his 5yr old daughter perched on the nose of his 9ft softboard and proceeded to catch a few of the smaller (head high face) waves - him standing, her just laying on the front. Impressive skills

Thanks man. Sounds accurate. this location can get a little mushy high tide, if there isnt much size. ill be out a few more times this week, and look towards trying a couple things. Being in a 4/3 suit with gloves and boots, makes paddling feel like pudding

Fellow fairly new surfer here and I made a very similar jump to you, I went from a 9ft foamie to an 8'2" mini mal and I hit the exact same positioning problem as you found which stumped me for a month (I don't surf nearly as regularly as you living in a land locked city and having to travel at least an hour for a break). Same thing, my paddle position was causing me to pearl constantly, if I scooted back I didn't pearl but I found often the wave would pass me by or I'd end up up on the lip.

Possible help for you, I fold my legs forward for paddling. Ideal take off position on the board seems to be about 2 inches further back than what feels the ideal paddle position, so I get into the wave catching position but paddle with my feet touching my ass. The weight shift forward seems to have enough weight forward that my board position in the water is the same as paddling position. Then when the wave is almost on me, just as the tail of the board begins to rise, I put my legs back, take 2 or 3 massive strokes and pop up.
The balance was a bit difficult to get down when I started as it made me feel less table on the board but after a few weeks of forced practice I'm just as stable now. Keeps the paddle speed up for catching thew ave but also keeps me from pearling. Not sure how it fares on bigger waves as my usual break is between 2ft to 5ft most of the time.