Surfing Waves

Hey guys, looking for some advice on what a beginner should focus on once she is starting to pretty consistently catch waves and ride down the line when it's available--unfortunately the beach break I surf has very short rides. Right now, my main focus has been reading waves, figuring out the best way to catch them (usually angled take off), trying to correctly guess if it's gonna break right/left, and then trying to do a little mini turn or just an angled slide down the face and then ride down the line. Should I just focus on this for awhile or should I push myself to learn a new skill? I have a blast trying to properly execute those things but wonder if I should be trying to do more? I know progression in surfing can be quite slow and I have made some pretty solid improvements since spring, mainly upping my wave count and expanding my wave reading knowledge. BTW, I'm riding a 9' CatchSurf foamie that is working great for the 1'-3' waves we have this summer. I'll eventually get a "real" longboard but think I need more time on the foamie.

Thanks!

check out the Surf Simply 'tree of knowledge' for the way they see progression (you seem like you are toward the top of level 2 - so you can start there and look at the lower end of level 3)

https://surfsimply.com/surf-coaching/th ... knowledge/

if you are currently riding down the line, my suggestions are

1. on the right wave, try to go straight down and then do a bottom turn (rather than an angled takeoff) to go along the face. Much easier frontside for most people. Once you have this, now and then see if you can do a really hard bottom turn so that you turn from the bottom straight up the face (you will probably go right over the back of the wave, but thats ok - you are practising the turn not the surfing along the face)

2. at the end of the wave, do a sharp turn either straight toward the beach or up and over the back of the wave (surf simply call this 'trimming to the flats' and then the progression of 'carving to the beach' - note the difference between trimming and carving. There is a surf simply video on this if you google it up)

3. try doing some 'S' curves along the face ie go down at 30/45 degrees then up the face again. Link as many of these as you can (so you are doing a sideways 'S' along the face). It can be hard on short rides, definitely. As you progress, make the turns sharper (eg at first its a pretty flat wavy line, then the curves get sharper and sharper)

4. if you feel like it, try some late drops/takeoffs. Move 7-10ft further in than you are used to and see if you can catch the waves

You can see that most of these suggestions (and just my opinion, no science there) are to start doing turns. Make sure you do the turns properly eg hand positioning, head position, leg compression and extension, foot over the fins and weighting over the fins). You can 'muscle' a board through small turns without much technique, but as soon as you start trying sharper turns that stops working.

oh, and dont do all of these on the same wave - just pick one or two options and do them, on different waves, during a surf session. Maybe spend 8 waves doing turns and the rest of your time just having fun and doing whatever. If you fall over in your first 8 waves because you are trying things, thats ok, because you will have the rest of your session to surf along the face (surf coaches commonly say that the biggest hurdle to beginner surfing development is that surfers want to maximise the time surfing ie standing up; and thus minimise any risks that might cause them to fall ie trying new things. So the solution is to spend part of your time trying new things and part of your time going back to the natural behaviour of maximising time on the face)

There are plenty of web resources to assist with turning technique. One of our frequent posters/master surfers (waikikichan) has a blog with a lot of technical tips for turns (scroll through the many entries!)

http://alohaki.jugem.jp/

Of course, above all, just keep enjoying yourself. If you are having fun and in 10 years time all you can do is an angled take off and surf along the face and you are still having fun, then you are a success.

[edit: the other thing you could look at doing is creating speed, which can mesh in with some of the above https://surfing-waves.com/surfing-speed.htm )

nooshie wrote:Should I just focus on this for awhile or should I push myself to learn a new skill?

What's the rush ? I've been surfing for 25 years, and still learn new things all the time. I would say you need to get really good at one skill. To the point it becomes 2nd nature and done without thought. THEN move on to the next skill. Think about Monkeys swinging on vines. They make sure they only let go only after they have a firm grasp, then they move on.

Thanks, guys. And I hear ya waikikikichan! I am of the mind that I probably need to get super solid in wave selection and the very basics but then when I do find myself with a longer ride, I am feeling like I'm ready to try something new. I've been a competitive athlete all my life (soccer) so that drive to "get better" and push myself is there but one of the reasons I am surfing is to relax so gotta keep that mentality in check. For the most part, 90% of my time out there is focused on wave selection and figuring out the best way to get on the wave. The crowds can be bananas where I surf but I went out close to sunset the other day and had a peak to myself and it was just sooo fun even though the waves were 1-2 feet. One thing I like to do is paddle parallel to the wave as it's coming in because it helps me pick up speed and it's fun to try to get to the peak for the takeoff.

DTC--thanks so much for the tips! I can do a baby bottom turn but am yet to do one hard enough that I go back over the wave. I do usually like to angle my takeoff because sometimes when I go straight and try to bottom turn I just end up caught in the whitewater and sometimes can't get out lol. Definitely an area to work on. I also tried sitting further inside the other day to take some later drops which was fun and pushed me out of my comfort zone. The S curves seem like something a little down the road for me I've tried to do the turns either to the beach or over the wave at the end of the wave. Sometimes I just don't time it right so miss the opportunity. I'll look for that video. Would definitely like to have a better dismount strategy. But I like your idea about focusing on one thing to do for a few waves and then just having fun for the rest. That keeps a nice balance.

I discovered the Surf Simply podcasts a few months back via this site and they are amazing! I just printed the Tree of Knowledge

And oh yes, and have been reading through waikikichan's website for a few weeks now Love the noseriding posts... one day hope to get there

Those are great tips DTC!

On Surf Simply they also recommended doing harder bottom turns that purposely send you back up and over the wave. Don't do it every wave for an entire session, but do a few to start practicing a harder bottom turn, mixed in with your regular rides. I need to start doing that, sometimes the waves are too small for proper bottom turns without getting caught behind, but it doesn't matter if you are purposely going up and exiting. I mean I can bottom turn, but relatively weakly without really getting low and compressing.

After you get a good feel for good bottom turns, I guess then you can start thinking about top turns.

steveylang wrote:Those are great tips DTC!

On Surf Simply they also recommended doing harder bottom turns that purposely send you back up and over the wave. Don't do it every wave for an entire session, but do a few to start practicing a harder bottom turn, mixed in with your regular rides.

Local groms do this on closeouts....they take a wave that is otherwise unrideable and will catch it, bottom turn and go over the back before it closes out......watched one group of 6 do this a few months ago for more than an hour.....no rest between waves, they would just go over and over again, sometimes two on a wave.....good way to learn......

Big H wrote:Local groms do this on closeouts....they take a wave that is otherwise unrideable and will catch it, bottom turn and go over the back before it closes out......

funny how after enough beach break sessions your body realizes the wave is closing out and it's not worth trying to go down the line so you instinctively turn harder to get out the back.

steveylang wrote:Those are great tips DTC!

On Surf Simply they also recommended doing harder bottom turns that purposely send you back up and over the wave. Don't do it every wave for an entire session, but do a few to start practicing a harder bottom turn, mixed in with your regular rides. I need to start doing that, sometimes the waves are too small for proper bottom turns without getting caught behind, but it doesn't matter if you are purposely going up and exiting. I mean I can bottom turn, but relatively weakly without really getting low and compressing.

After you get a good feel for good bottom turns, I guess then you can start thinking about top turns.

Thanks for this! I am going to try this next time on the first half of my session