Advice for a Great Lakes SUPer/aspiring surfer

[SUPerMorg]

Hey everybody, I'm new to the site and excited to be here! I need some advice. I own a paddleboard rental company here on Lake Erie so I spend a ton of my summer in and on the water.
My boards: My personal paddleboard is an ISLE Surf SUP (2+2+1 fin setup) at 9' 8" and 148L of volume and my surfboard is an 8' 4" Bic Magnum (2+1).
Me: I am a trim 6'4" dude weighing in a 195lbs.
The conditions: mostly right and left beachbreaks depending on a NW or NE (wind) swell. Pretty much always an onshore wind but I've tried surfing the Bic in 3ft waves and 5-6ft waves. I can use my ISLE to catch waves rather easily and my popup is decent but the wave is usually only caught about 20yds from shore max (lake gets deep quick). However, I have yet to stand up on my BIC in these conditions. I'm am planning a long surf/sightseeing trip down the pacific coast (starting in Seattle, ending in San Diego) over the autumn months of 2018. I want to get better before my trip and need some advice! How can I improve my BIC popups? What are some things to worry about or consider for WA, OR, & CA surf? Will a 4/3 wetsuit suffice? Can I even duckdive with a board as big as the BIC?

Thanks!!!

[waikikikichan]

Can I even duckdive with a board as big as the BIC?

Answer: You ? NO , especially since you said you can not even pop up yet. Me ? No way, max for me is about 6'4". Question: Why do you want to duckdive a 8'4" BIC ?

[dtc]

You should be able to pop up on a wave that breaks 20yds from the beach - suggests you are waiting until the board is in the white water. Pop up at the top of the wave, not the bottom

Obviously the main differences between lake and ocean is power of the surf and currents/rips. You may get a surprise at what 6ft ocean wave feels like; but you will get used to it.

Duck diving - nuh!

[SUPerMorg]

Can I even duckdive with a board as big as the BIC?

Answer: You ? NO , especially since you said you can not even pop up yet. Me ? No way, max for me is about 6'4". Question: Why do you want to duckdive a 8'4" BIC ?

Thanks for the advice! Well, sometimes the swell hits 6ft (storm) and I figured my life might get a little easier if I could duckdive my BIC, but was having a bugger of a time doing it.

[SUPerMorg]

You should be able to pop up on a wave that breaks 20yds from the beach - suggests you are waiting until the board is in the white water. Pop up at the top of the wave, not the bottom

Obviously the main differences between lake and ocean is power of the surf and currents/rips. You may get a surprise at what 6ft ocean wave feels like; but you will get used to it.

Duck diving - nuh!

Gotcha, I'll try popping-up earlier rather than later! I've only been in a 4ft ocean wave (Outer Banks) and that was definitely different that what I had been used to. I know that the key to surfing better is to keep trying, but do you have any tips for when the lake is flat? I.e. dryland training (pistols squats, clapping pushups, etc) or paddleboard techniques that may cross over?

[RobSF]

With luck you'll have a flat day or two on the coast, and then you'll look like a pro! Put the rest of us to shame. Seattle, of course, is on the Puget Sound, so no waves there. You'll be awesome. But if you go out to the Olympic Peninsula, it'll be another story.

I wear a 4/3 suit throughout the year in San Francisco. Assuming you're starting farther north early on your trip in the warmer part of the season, you may be able to get away with this for the whole trip. I personally wouldn't get a new suit ahead of time until you know you'll need it.

[dtc]

Out of water tips / fitness for surfing is hard because surfing requires a bit of everything.

For skills at this stage you I suggest dry land pop ups - get the muscle memory working, check how your feet land, check where your arms go etc

For fitness any general whole body strength stuff is fine, SUP-ing is good, some cardio (swimming is the best). You will probably find your weakness is paddling fitness/cardio rather than lacking the strength to do stuff, given your SUP activities. Of course once you start surfing, keep any identified weak points in mind and work in those

[SUPerMorg]

RobSF, gotcha. I might just wait until out there before grabbing a 4/3. Lol yeah Puget Sound is about my skill level rn xD

Dtc, would you recommend I take off the fins of my BIC and use that? Or just use the ground in general to keep an eye on foot placement? I'm in swim club at my university so I usually get about 3000yds (trying to get up to 4k-5k) a week from September-May so I should be good there but I need up my yds in summer.

[pmcaero]

paddle harder. I think you're too slow. Unless you're in white water, you need to work it. Plastic Bic boards are heavy and not that great for gutless waves. Actually not that great for any kind of wave (I have a 7'9" Bic Minimal I have been using for 5 years because I can't fit anything bigger in my apartment)

[oldmansurfer]

As far as practicing your popup goes using your board is good because it is more realistic but bad because you may damage your board while you aren't even surfing. What I used to do is create a cardboard cutout and practice on that. Whatever you do to practice make sure you are doing it right or you will just be creating bad habits that will need to be unlearned. I think as a beginner just go over the steps slowly at first then faster on the floor. Once you get that down then the cardboard cutout or board making sure you are placing your feet in the right places.

[SUPerMorg]

pmcaero, okay I'll try to work on my shoulder, bi, tri, and lat strength to help me go faster in the water. Thank you! Think I should take my surfboard out on flat lake days on do "sprints"? Haha yeah, I think that I should've gotten a better board.

oldmansurfer, thanks for the tips! I like the idea of a cardboard cutout so that I don't take any unnecessary risks to the board. I have also found that part of my problem is balancing on the board as I try to pop-up, like half the time I end up pitching to either the starboard or port side and fall off the board. Any tips on this?

[waikikikichan]

I have also found that part of my problem is balancing on the board as I try to pop-up, like half the time I end up pitching to either the starboard or port side and fall off the board. Any tips on this?

Look at your photo on the side. What problem(s) do you see ? Figuring those out will help you with your falling.

[SUPerMorg]

Well the photo on the side was taken while I was riding a surf SUP and about to bail. I dont really have any issues with that board since its so bouyant. But do you see any issues (minus the fact that I was falling in that pic ). It could be that my hand placement is off or that I favor one arm too much when trying to pop-up.

[waikikikichan]

It could be that my hand placement is off or that I favor one arm too much when trying to pop-up.

Okay that's two points......... and what else ?

Hand placement, your front hand is "okay" ( rather have it higher ), but the back hand is doing nothing. So I guess you're right about favoring only one hand.

[dtc]

pmcaero, okay I'll try to work on my shoulder, bi, tri, and lat strength to help me go faster in the water. Thank you! Think I should take my surfboard out on flat lake days on do "sprints"? Haha yeah, I think that I should've gotten a better board.

I think with the swimming and SUPing you are probably fit enough ie its unlikely to be your physical fitness that will hold you back (might make a shorter session but only surfing gives surfing fitness). I'm assuming no flexibility or stretching issues either. Not that doing exercise is ever bad, but its not your main issue

Which is of course skill development; totally expected at your level.

Other than following old man's pop up suggestions, have a watch of the 'surf simply instructional videos' (on you tube) - some of these may be a bit past your level now, but all are worth watching and you will get to the stage of needing that information pretty soon.

Surfing does involve a lot of 'feel' - we can tell you that you need to paddle to catch a wave, but there is no rule as to where to sit before you start paddling so you are able to catch the wave. Every wave is different, you need to learn through experience. Timing of popping up will differ, what to do on the wave differs. So understanding why things are done and what happens when you do them (and the videos help a lot) provide some background structure, then you just have to surf a lot. If it takes you 25hrs to catch a wave and pop up and surf straight to the beach, you are probably doing better than most. 100hrs to start catching 50% of the waves you go for. Who knows how long until you do a bottom turn and surf along the wave. Its not an overnight thing; you very much dont seem to be a person who assumes it will be easy, but just in case it proves even harder than you are thinking - it is!

[pmcaero]

pmcaero, okay I'll try to work on my shoulder, bi, tri, and lat strength to help me go faster in the water. Thank you! Think I should take my surfboard out on flat lake days on do "sprints"? Haha yeah, I think that I should've gotten a better board.

more about focus than raw strength

[SUPerMorg]

UPDATE: I think I figured out my problem areas.

So I went out today (2-4ft) and didn't even bring my surf SUP because I didn't want to be tempted to take the easy road. So I paddled out with my BIC and caught about 25% of the waves that I went for. Gt the pop-up down pad and was even able to pump a tad. As I was paddling out I realized that my feet were dragging so I made a conscious effort to keep them from dragging. Once I got to the wave, I realized I wasn't paddling long enough (giving up to early). But my pop-up wasn't difficult once I caught the wave. I think all the experience of using my paddleboards and popping up created a sort of muscle memory.

waikikikichan, I think I'm still favoring one arm slightly so I'm gonna work on that, and also making sure that my foot placement is good.

dtc, solid, I'll check out those vids for sure! Nah, stretching and flexibility is good but I definitely understand what you mean by "feel." I think just getting out there and trying different stuff was/is helpful.

pmcaero, once I got out there today I tried to focus on how to improve and I see what you mean about making it more about focus than raw strength. My shoulders are a little burnt but it was really analyzing the situation and problem-solving that saved the day.

[SUPerMorg]

Bonus moment of the day: a couple of little 8yos saw me rinsing my stuff off and were really interested in surfing, so I told them the little information that I knew and let them know that if they ever wanted to hear about what I've learned, they were more than welcome to flag me down next time I'm out. Always cool to see the young kids interested in the water.

[dtc]

I hope you used the terms 'frothing' and 'stoked' and threw them a Shaka. The key bits to being a surfer

[benjl]

More to the point, why are you focusing on the bic when you have a perfectly good sup that you don't even need to duck dive