Surfing Waves

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and new to surfing. I don't know many surfers b/c I live in Nashville, TN but my job is in Wilmington, NC so I have access to a beach (and a little beach break) while in NC for work but don't run across many experienced surfers in my daily routines.

Quick background...I am 45 years old/6'2"/225 lbs. I skateboarded as a kid (both street and half-pipes) and I currently snow ski, and play competitive adult ice hockey. I say this because I feel like my balance is reasonably developed. Surfing is my latest activity and something I have always wanted to learn how to do.

So I started surfing about a month ago and generally go every morning and every evening. I have taken a few lessons the first couple of times but surf solo now and recently was able to turn down the line for the first time (woo-hoo!). Wrightsville Beach has regular 1-4' waves but the wind shifts a lot from on-shore to off-shore and back so it can be choppy a fair amount of the time and smooth and glassy other times.

For my first board, I bought a 10' Surtech Black Fin softboard (taking the advice about getting a big board first). I am pretty good at getting up when all the variables line up and I am straight when the wave is able to be caught. The current obstacle I am trying to eliminate is trying to maneuver that big, heavy log between swells. We don't have a huge break at my surfing spot so I have about 3 to 5 seconds to decide if I am going to try and catch it, maneuver that big board into the right spot on the break, then turn towards the beach to get lined-up to catch it.

I have noticed that the last 1 to 2 feet of the board drag a lot when I am trying to turn towards the beach and many times, it starts to roll over on me when I am trying to paddle and turn at the same time. as I try to recover, I normally miss the chance to catch the wave, then I am back to square one.

Now, I am not complaining at all, trust me...I am new to the sport and I know I have a lot to learn about picking waves, sitting and turning, timing, etc...totally cool with the problems I am having. I am just trying to figure out if I need to get an 8' board fun board that may be easier to maneuver in the "hunting" zone. i am not looking to buy a new board unless I absolutely have to...I know i have only been at it for a month...I have just heard that people can out-grow a 10' foamy pretty quickly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks for reading my post!

short period waves can be difficult with a big board - not just turning but getting it up to speed in a short period (because its a bit heavier).

One option is to just start a bit further out, maybe face the beach already, or be 90 degrees to the beach (rather than facing out to sea) and start paddling earlier (because you are a bit further out). Yes you have to make a decision on a wave perhaps a bit before you 'know' its the wave to catch, but you will pick up the skill (and if you get it wrong, probably it will just pass underneath you). This will give you time to turn, get some good paddles in and some speed up, before the wave starts to break. Even if you end up paddling 10 yards or whatever, thats fine.

You are doing the right thing with the 10ft board. It will help you catch waves, which is of course the aim of surfing; and it provides a good margin of error in terms of things like speed in popping up, foot placement, wave positioning etc. All of which are very useful as a beginner. going shorter might help with the turning thing, but at the expense of about 10 other things that are more beneficial and which you cant work around

You haven't outgrown that board yet....ESP at your weight and 4 weeks of surfing. Short period can be hard, but if you're patient a good one will come along mixed in with the rubbish. You just have to be ready and in position. Once you get the rythym you can anticipate and actually start to paddle before the current wave passes to catch the one behind it.

try to figure out a lineup which is two items on the shoreline that are a distance apart that lineup together when you are in the right place. So you paddle to where you saw the good takeoff point and look at the shore This will help with the left or right lineup and then try to use the shape of the wave to lineup the in or out part. To turn 180 sit on the tail and pull the nose up pivot around but I haven't ever surfed a soft board so not sure if it is the same technique.

Thanks for all the input...will put it to use this week (and going forward)...very much appreciated!

Grab the rail, it's not just a pro move. It will keep the board from flipping on you in the cur.

I take it that means the board flips on you in the cur.....curl? if you don't grab the rail? Interesting but I don't have that problem.

"Accelerate in a straight line". Imagine in a car or on a motorcycle you crank the wheels to the side and slam on the gas, ...... you get Donuts or flipped off. Same for paddling. Plus your motors needs to be pointed with the board.
As for the board be too large to turn around before the wave comes, DON'T buy another board, make the current board smaller. No not with a hacksaw, just sit further back, pull with one arm, paddle with the other and Egg beater circles with your feet. If you make that 10 footer into just a 3 footer, it'll be way easier to pivot around.

Turning around quickly is another of many skills that you will pick up eventually. When I started with a costco 8' wavestorm I thought it was such a pain to spin the behemoth. 2 years later, I found it a piece of cake. I do find myself still a bit slow to swivel on my 9' boards (one of which is pretty heavy) but hopefully with time I can manage better. I have a feeling you are trying to catch waves a little too late. Set yourself a little more outside, be ready for a wave and start paddling earlier. There's always another wave to paddle for.

Quick update (for those who are bored and want something to read...ha)...all week I have been putting all the advice to work and its improved my wave counts so thank you for all the insights!

a few notable changes I have made:

1 - I practice sitting and turning on every wave...I am not perfect yet but I am more proficient, in fact that is now my preferred method of turning 180 degrees to line up for the wave (way, way faster than paddling) - I just had to be further back on the board and get the balance dialed in on that section of my board

2 - I am more choosey on the waves I am trying to catch and letting the crappy, mushy ones go by and just focus (and wait) for the swells that are more promising - huge difference maker and my arms aren't totally smoked from paddling back out all the time

3 - I also moved more towards the middle of the board when I start paddling - I read somewhere that too far back creates too much drag - this seems to have helped me pick up a little more speed as I am trying to catch the wave

anyway, thanks for reading and, again, appreciate all the advice!

CSAWS wrote:3 - I also moved more towards the middle of the board when I start paddling - I read somewhere that too far back creates too much drag - this seems to have helped me pick up a little more speed as I am trying to catch the wave

anyway, thanks for reading and, again, appreciate all the advice!

thanks for the update - its always good to know that its helping

In terms of your last point above, I did a post on this recently viewtopic.php?f=6&t=31257#p207673 but also read through that whole thread. yes, too far back creates drag and is a really common problem for learners. It seems like you want to keep the nose high and out of the waves, but that means you are slowing down and so you miss the wave or perl (nose dive)

CSAWS wrote:1 - I practice sitting and turning on every wave...I am not perfect yet but I am more proficient, in fact that is now my preferred method of turning 180 degrees to line up for the wave (way, way faster than paddling) - I just had to be further back on the board and get the balance dialed in on that section of my board

When I'm waiting for a set, I never line up my 9'6" board perpendicular to the horizon. I line it up parallel to the horizon so when waves come through I only have to turn the board 90 degrees to begin my takeoff. This also gives me a better vantage point of who I need to keep an eye on on my flank closest to the peak. I make adjustments though depending on the glare on the water and other things. You can also experiment with your arms (one arm pushing water up and the other pulling it down) to see how fast you can turn the board that way.

I sometimes lineup to the side if it's close interval waves but more often I do it because I am hunting down a peak and intend to paddle to the side to get to the peak....of course that means once in a while if I guess wrong I have to do a 180. If I have a decent lineup and the waves are regular and not the usual irregular stuff then I may just have my board turned in the direction I want to surf so if it's a right then pointed to the right and if it's a left then pointed to the left. (usually I am deepest in the lineup)

So another point I added into my surfing that probably those who know how to surf, already know. I took another lesson on Friday morning and i asked the instructor to let me do what i am doing normally so he can evaluate me on the things i am doing wrong (and right). Btw, i LIKE getting instruction from surfers that know what they are doing.

anyway, the guy watches me and immediately says my paddling is hurting me big time. So, what he had me do was move WAY up the board to better center/balance the board. I probably had to move up about a foot and a half from where my chest has been normally. Immediately, i could tell the difference in my acceleration when charging for a wave.

He also had me bend my legs at the knee (so the bottom of my feet are facing the sky)...this helped take even more pressure of the back. The last thing he had me do was really arch my back and stick my chest out (so basically putting my head up)...he said this will help center all my weight on the middle of the board from both ends (not just my legs, but also my upper body).

So putting all this together, i now firmly believe my paddling form really sucked before. i was dragging way too much weight on the tail, which really prevented me from getting any kind of speed and the board wasn't balanced so turning was difficult.

Putting all this into my form, i really am shocked at how much of difference these "little" things made. The board was so much more responsive to my strokes and turning was easier, etc. The main thing i need to be careful of, as was stated earlier by dtc, is being too far forward and pearling when i catch a wave.

i am looking forward to getting back on the water this week...i will say though, my friggin arms and neck were sore after that lesson...at 45 years old, i feel that for a day or two!

Anyway, thanks again for all the advice and reading my posts!

Just to clarify - perling usually isn't due to being too far forward. It's actually because the wave pushes the tail up (thus causing the nose to drop) rather than due to the nose itself being the problem. And the tail gets pushed up because you are paddling too slow - which may be because you are too far back in the board and that causes drag...

So one of those weird things - go forward to stop your nose diving!

10-4, appreciate the clarification