Surfing Waves

Hey there!

I was wondering why I often miss the section while I pop up, initiate my first bottom turn or go down the line. I see other surfers when they pop up they somehow accelerate down the line already and get away from the breaking section while when I pop up and got to my feet I see the breaking section right in front of me or when I manage to get ahead of it, it catches up really fast with me. I'm sure Toledo or John John would've thrown a couple aerials on the same waves already. Any help or critique appreciated!

Thanks and keep up the stoke!


Nhat

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/9Ynp9EzBUJI[/YouTube]

It's difficult for me to make sense of gopro videos. I am going to guess that you are not lining up in the best spots and not making the right turns. Just kind of general stuff. I think you just need to keep at it

nhatphongtran wrote:when I pop up and got to my feet I see the breaking section right in front of me or when I manage to get ahead of it, it catches up really fast with me.

It's about timing, positioning and speed,and it comes to u when u build up a bit more experience.

Positioning: be in the right place where the wave lets u in, but not to deep for ur ability.
Timing: be at the right position at the right time, when the wave's shape is good for takeoff.
Speed: get to ur feet in time, and if the wave is fast then angle ur takeoff to stay ahead of the breaking water. Once on ur feet make ur own speed when needed. Check the forum on how to make ur own speed

I was stuck inside the other day and had the chance to watch a really good local surfer and his technique....really sectiony day, he took off on a slight angle then midway down the face as he popped up into a crouch that he then immediately exploded out of, lifting his arms and projecting down the line....it looked like he long jumped down the line and up the wave.....he then went down the wave bottom turned hard and projected down the line again, not jumping but just a good solid bottom turn.....he was the only one making that section.

depending on your board (what board do you surf?) you just cant rely on the wave pushing the board to create sufficient speed. If you head down to the bottom of the wave and then turn in the flats, you will lose speed. If you do an angled take off and head to the bottom third of a wave, you will lose speed.

Things like that - watch the aerialists and see how hard they pump before a maneuver

In short: you arent going fast enough. There are multiple potential causes of this. Could be contributed to by the board, where you are turning, when you are turning, whether you are pumping, are you picking the wrong waves. etc etc.

Give this a go - catch a wave and just try to go as fast as possible. Pump all the way along - if you outrun the wave then thats fine, its just for a wave or two. See how it feels, are you beating the sections?

Thanks for all the replies!!

If you head down to the bottom of the wave and then turn in the flats, you will lose speed.

That's exactly how it feels like! I drop in, go down the face and see how the wave already started breaking where I intended to go originally. So you bottom turn in the lower third? I thought the bottom turn is supposed to be done at the absolute bottom of the wave where there's no slope to gain any speed anymore.

If you do an angled take off and head to the bottom third of a wave, you will lose speed.

So angled takeoffs mean should just stay at the upper half right after takeoff?

Give this a go - catch a wave and just try to go as fast as possible. Pump all the way along

I rarely get to the pumping part because after the pop up wave's already gone. But the few times I get to pump I think I'm not pumping at the right height of the wave and also not hard enough (video at ~0:20), wave still outruns me.

Study your Frontside riding compared to your Backside riding. Going Left, you sheer water off your inside rail, then outside rail and back. You climb and fall. But going Right, you set you rail ........... and that's it. You need to utilize your feet, calves, thighs, etc. to engage and disengage the rail. There is movement of your arms swinging around like swatting flys, but everything from the chest down isn't doing anything ( backside ).

nhatphongtran wrote:while when I pop up and got to my feet I see the breaking section right in front of me or when I manage to get ahead of it, it catches up really fast with me.

Look down the line, before you even get to your feet ( even as your paddling ). If you look after your get to your feet, it's too late. Be Proactive, not Reactive. The throwing lip is there ........ ALREADY. You don't need to look for it.

( oh, and stop holding your breath on the paddle )

Forgot, On your Frontside, your front hand is more active. On your Backside, your front hand stays down at your side. Backside you mainly swing your back hand. You need to lead/steer with your front hand and drive ( create the twisting torque ) with your back hand. Mainly it is being used to counter balance ( reactive ).

Waikikichan, thank you so so much! Super helpful comments!

Going Left, you sheer water off your inside rail, then outside rail and back. You climb and fall.

Should I get rid of this habit?

Right, you set you rail ........... and that's it.

Absolutely, I need to practice the backside movement much much more.

Look down the line, before you even get to your feet ( even as your paddling ). If you look after your get to your feet, it's too late.

Good point, seems like I do that on lefts and lefts feel much more fluent to me.

( oh, and stop holding your breath on the paddle )

Have never even thought if that'd make a difference. I'm gonna try next time and see how the difference feels like.

On your Backside, your front hand stays down at your side.

Next time I'm just gonna go full forward, seems like backside I'm always leaning back a bit which makes it really hard to steer.

All super good notes! Can't wait to start working through that list!

Thank you so much!


Nhat

Looking at this again it is possible you are putting too much weight on your back foot. The front foot is like the gas peddle in a way the more weight there the faster you go. Because of the camera on the nose thing we can't see how your board sits in the water but if the nose is way up then you are putting too much weight on your back foot and causing the nose to come up which slows you down

nhatphongtran wrote:

Going Left, you sheer water off your inside rail, then outside rail and back. You climb and fall.

Should I get rid of this habit?

Right, you set you rail ........... and that's it.

Absolutely, I need to practice the backside movement much much more.

Sorry that was vague. When you go frontside Left, you have more movement of the board and use the rail(s) more effectively. That is a GOOD thing. BUT....... when you go Backside, you set your rail and just hold a straight line, with not much rolling of the rail. That is NOT good.

By the way,
1) What Al Merrick Channel Islands board are you riding ?
2) What size / dimensions is it ?
3) What size board did you ride before it ?

nhatphongtran wrote:

On your Backside, your front hand stays down at your side.

Next time I'm just gonna go full forward, seems like backside I'm always leaning back a bit which makes it really hard to steer.

NO, you need to constantly move / make adjustments. You can't be robotic-like in your approach. It shouldn't be Leaning full forward or full back, you need to always read the wave and work with it at a given moment. ( and actually be ahead of that like in Chess )

Looking at this again it is possible you are putting too much weight on your back foot.

I think so too.

I weigh around 145lbs @ 5'6".

1) What Al Merrick Channel Islands board are you riding ?

Fred Rubble and Pod

2) What size / dimensions is it ?

Fred Rubble 5'9", 18 5/8", 2 1/4" => 25.4l
Pod 5'6" is around 30l

3) What size board did you ride before it ?

I rode the Pod before the Fred Rubble for about 2 years. Before that I rode an Ian Wright 8' longboard.

The Fred Rubble is for advance surfers. If you can't make sections, that's the wrong board to be on. You need to get in earlier, so you can set up quicker and drive down the line sooner. You don't have the paddle speed/technique to get that pro board into your wave. I would look at the High-5 or the Mini so you can get more push off the back half of the board. Or at least go wider than 19", 18 5/8" is too narrow for you.

8'0" to 5'9" ?? Because you missed that funboard/hybrid stage of 7'6" to 6'6" boards, you never developed proper rail work. Unless you were doing round-house cut backs on that 8'0" ?

nhatphongtran wrote:Thanks for all the replies!!

If you head down to the bottom of the wave and then turn in the flats, you will lose speed.

That's exactly how it feels like! I drop in, go down the face and see how the wave already started breaking where I intended to go originally. So you bottom turn in the lower third? I thought the bottom turn is supposed to be done at the absolute bottom of the wave where there's no slope to gain any speed anymore..

There is no right or wrong place to do a bottom turn, it depends on what you want to do on the wave/get out of the turn. However, if you run down to the flats on a small wave, while you may be going the fastest you can for that wave, you arent going fast enough to make a good turn and get back up the wave in time to get past the section. So for smaller waves you need to turn earlier, indeed mid face or after take off and stay high. Most of the time (sometimes it might be appropriate to go further down the face and go around a section)

For bigger waves, you are going faster and can do a bottom turn at the bottom and be fine. For me, bigger means maybe head high face - under that and you are turning earlier (even on a long board)

Spend a bit of time practicing an early (high) turn, even if you dont think you need it, and see how it works out

I practiced one single thing this morning at 1ft tiny waves. I mainly focused on looking where I want to go WHILE paddling into the wave (which was usually the upper third of the wave) and it does make such a BIIIG difference. Pretty much stayed ahead of the main breaking section most of the time now, still looking super robotic on the rights but that just happened when being too stoked that it actually worked lol! Thanks guys!

Next item on the agenda would be to be more fluent with my leading arm.

The Fred Rubble is for advance surfers.

Noted, it's what I have to work with right now but I do really like it. The High-5 or Mini I would really like to try.

It's often just one or two small things that let you overcome a hurdle - then 25 years refining it!

Well done

I looked up the difference between the pod and the rubble and the pod has a continuous rocker and the rubble is more in nose and tail and less in the middle. I think staged rockers make the board more sensitive to weight distribution so if you were doing fine with the pod and the rubble is giving you trouble that might be it (if you are too far forward or back it will go slower)

oldmansurfer wrote:Looking at this again it is possible you are putting too much weight on your back foot. The front foot is like the gas peddle in a way the more weight there the faster you go. Because of the camera on the nose thing we can't see how your board sits in the water but if the nose is way up then you are putting too much weight on your back foot and causing the nose to come up which slows you down

This.