Surfing Waves

ive been surfing for a couple of months, and i recently moved down to a 7 footer, but i cant seem to catch any larger wavves with it. I move to the breaking point, paddle along the wave, but im usually pitched nosed first (pearl). ive tried leaning back...idk, maybe its just that im not getting up fast enough...if so are there any excercises/things i could do that will help?

im having the same problem i think it's popping up too late or too soon and not arching the back that much..good exrcise would be push ups..hope this helps

Angling a bit when making the drop helps a bit too... Other than that it's all about timing and positioning.

Practice makes perfect, eh...

When you're positioning yourself, you may be a little too late. If you move a little further out you may find that the wave picks you up early enough to get to your feet before you get pitched over.

The other thing I would advise is STAY LOW, if you can keep your centre of balance low, you will take off more effectively.

Cheers

Sinista

sinistapenguin wrote:
The other thing I would advise is STAY LOW, if you can keep your centre of balance low, you will take off more effectively.

Cheers

Sinista

yea.. that's a problem that I also have. I tend to shoot straight up after executig a pop up, instead of crouching low to make the drop.

Have you checked your hands'position pushed on the board just before popping up ?

how does that effect it?

thats what i thought!!

If your hands are too far forward when you push up, you'll be pushing the nose into the wave and will pearl.

I push off with my hands at the top of my ribs, bottom of my chest - but that's on my board.

Cheers

Sinista

so do you want to push so the center of the board is the part recieving the most pressure?

Right, a bit more detail.

If your hands are too far forward, you will sink the nose, too far back and a) you'd have to be he-man to get to your feet and b) you'll sink the tail and slow the board down.

Essentially when you push up, if your hands are round about where your front foot will be (or just a little behind that), then you will be keeping the weight in the right place to maintain speed, but not enough to sink the nose.

Also, it may help to push off the deck rather than grabbing the rails. If you grab the rails, then you have to make sure you let go with both hands at the same time, otherwise you may pull up on one rail and destabilise the board as you are getting to your feet. (That said, I think I grab the rails!!)

If when you are getting up, you push your weight back onto your legs too much you will slow the board down. The pop needs to be one smooth movement to work well.

Hope this helps

Sinista