Surfing Waves

Undoubtedly a common question but every wave either totally passes beneath me or if go for it I’ll get pitched, tried angling take off as 8’4” board is not gona fit in a 3 foot pocket if I’m head on to the beach.

This is been the case since June I reckon, I’ll get out once a week for a few hours all depending on the variables of home life, weather, sea and work. I kinda thought by now I’d of got up once twice successfully? I’m putting the time in practicing pop up, yoga, balance work every other day.

Gotta admit I’ve considered just accepting it’s not in my skill set to do this !

It sounds tough. There are a few who teach surfing here who can say something but I will say my point of view now so take it with a grain of salt as I may be wrong. When you are paddling for a wave you need to match the speed of the wave. So maybe you need to focus on this first. Just paddle for the wave and don't popup and ride it laying on your board. It may be that you are going for shorebreak where the wave lurches up and dumps onto the beach in which case you need to find another place to learn where the waves don't lurch up suddenly as these type of waves are more difficult to catch. It probably would be a good idea to have a video so we can see exactly what you are doing but most likely the other posters can figure it out. so wait to hear from them but do post your weight height and age so they have more information. Often beginners make the mistake of staying too far back on the board to try to keep the nose from going under but that stalls the board slowing it down. that is another possibility.

Do you have a video of the break that you surf? Perhaps it just doesn't break nicely. I've been to Longsands in Newcastle upon tyne. That is a great surf break for longboard.

When I first started, I also had issues with nose diving. This was resolved when I got a new board. But there can be like a million different reason of why you're not catching the waves. Some people don't position themselves right or can't read the waves. It would be easier to tell what you're doing wrong if you have a video of you surfing.

If you surf a beach break, it's also helpful to know that waves break over sandbars. Locate the sandbar at your break and make that your launch pad.

Here is one of my favorite posts from DTC...

Waves tend to break at a depth equal to about 1.3 times their height. (3 ft wave breaks in 4 ft) If your beach has a gently sloping sea bed, then waves will break further out directly correlated to their height ie the bigger the wave the further out it breaks

Most sea beds are not consistently sloping but will have sandbanks ie deep then the bank builds up to be shallower then goes deep again (sand banks are not not upside down U shaped, they are more pyramidal shape, so usually they have a slope leading up to their peak).

A bigger wave will break toward the outside (seaside) of the sandbank, whereas a smaller wave might not break right until the peak (shallowest part) of the sandbank. Depending on the seabed depth variations, the bigger waves might break 3m further out or 20m further out. And, of course, if there are outer sandbanks that are deeper, then bigger waves may break there and smaller waves just go straight over the top

if you have somewhere that goes deep -> suddenly shallow (like a reef or a point), then the deep part might be more than 1.3X the height of all waves, so all of the waves break right at that point. Because of the sudden depth change, the speed of the bigger waves is still pretty high so the bottom of the wave is suddenly slowed (as it hits the reef) but the top of the wave is still going very fast. Result.... barrels. But even small waves will still break at that point. Which is why point (and to a lesser extent reef) waves are easier to surf, because the take off point is almost always within a small area.
note: formula is db =1.28Hb

where
db - depth where wave break
Hb - height of breaker

as to sandbars - sandbars move slowly if at all during normal weather. Sand is pretty hard when compacted. However, storms can wash sandbars away entirely and the new sandbars will then need to form. Most of the time they will form roughly similar to where they were before (since the beach, rocks, headlands etc are usually similar and so water - carrying the sand - travels in similar patterns) but not always, and of course it will take time to rebuild grain by grain.

I suppose the summary is - day to day (excluding storms), you rarely notice much difference due to sandbar movement (i mean, tide, winds, swell direction etc etc are far more important). But if you visit every 3 months you may notice differences; if you visit after a storm it may be completely different and remain completely different

I'm experiencing the same thing at my shore break. I found going a little further out helped a lot. My beach has them go from a swell to standing fully faced very quickly, but hitting them before they face helped. Also advice from a beginner so take it with a grain of... Oh it looks like you already have it

Another thing I experienced is a plateau in my progression for a while. It was very frustrating and I had thoughts like you that this may not be my sport. Push through! It gets better and it's so worth it! I'd rather miss waves all day than be at home! which i may be because it's going to storm this week.

I usually only surf at South Shields, it just seems choppy no matter what MSW says so I just go regardless now. I’m 6’1” was 100kg but now 95kg, tried to lose weight to see if it would help with the Bic Magnum.
I do kinda regret getting that board as it’s so bloody heavy, and despite its 72 litre buoyancy feels really unstable and a massive chore to paddle out compared to my mates Torq 8’ board.
I’m spending hours watching videos from surf continuum, surf simply etc

Saltymedic wrote:I usually only surf at South Shields, it just seems choppy no matter what MSW says so I just go regardless now. I’m 6’1” was 100kg but now 95kg, tried to lose weight to see if it would help with the Bic Magnum.
I do kinda regret getting that board as it’s so bloody heavy, and despite its 72 litre buoyancy feels really unstable and a massive chore to paddle out compared to my mates Torq 8’ board.
I’m spending hours watching videos from surf continuum, surf simply etc

I hate the bic magnum, I always nose dive when I rent one or I get hit by the board. Everything changed when I switched to the Torq. I went from catching 1 wave a session into over 10 waves a session. It's faster, stable and much more responsive. Most people here knows how much I love the Torq and I always promote them. You should try your mates board more and switch to that one. I'm only 64kg and I ride a torq 9'0.

I always let my friend ride my board when they have difficulty learning. They always end up buying their on Torq.

So surfing 3 to 4 times a month at 40 years of age on a 8'4" board and you are 6'1" and 96 kg. You are right about my weight and height although I am 25 years older. Did you not have problems before June or is June when you started? Have you had any lessons? Is there lessons available where you are? One thing is that there are pluses and minuses for every quality of a board. But for your purposes in general the longer the board the easier to catch waves with it. Longer boards are however more difficult to handle heavier and slower to respond than shorter boards. A general bit of advice for beginners is to get a board about 3 feet longer than your height which would make it about a 9'1" board to start. One other consideration is fitness at 3 to 4 times a month it's not quite enough to be fit for surfing. You might take up swimming for additional fitness when you can't go surfing if possible. I am currently doing stretch band exercises and weights that seem to help keep my surfing muscles in shape when I can't surf so that would be another idea. I am not familiar with either of those brands of boards but as you can see others are. If you can catch waves with an 8 foot torq then you might consider that or if you can't then a 9'6" torg might be the answer. I surfed a lot when I was younger and then stopped for 12 years and restarted. In that time I went from a semi fit slightly overweight (180 pounds) 40 year old to a completely out of shape 50 (around 215 pounds) something year old. I started on a 9'6" and I surfed 20 to 30 minutes once a week. I did do exercises and weights between but found that my learning rate doubled once I went 2 x 20 or 30 minute sessions a week. Currently I surf an 8 foot board. I realize that 2 times not catching any waves is still not catching any waves but I am thinking you probably need a longer board.

Can you convince your mate to take a few videos of you paddling into waves?

Your difficulties could be due to a variety of different factors, and most likely a combination of them. It sounds like it isn't the easiest break, and if your timing is a bit off then you end up either missing waves entirely or pearling.

As oldmansurfer says, you have to match the speed of a wave to catch it. I see a lot of beginners struggle with timing in beach break, they tend to stop paddling as soon as they feel the wave lifting their board and try to pop up. But since they haven't really paddled into the wave, they go up the face of the wave which points their nose down and they pearl. Then they paddle out further to try to compensate, which just causes them to miss waves entirely. There are times when I see beginners out there, they are trying, but I pretty much know they have zero chance of catching anything that day (I try to give tips if they are close.)

This type of thing can happen regardless of the board or wave, but is usually harder in beach break. You can fit that board into 3 ft. break, you just have to get the timing down. Once you get a couple to give you a sense of how it works, that should get you started on your way.

But yeah, people can give you much better advice with even just a couple of videos!

#1 You are too far back on the board ( move your chest up a centimeter at a time until you pearl )
#2 You have a too weak paddle ( cupping your hand )
#3 You are paddling too early ( how many paddles are you taking )
#4 You are angling in
#5 You are not ready for waves like that ( and some waves, even in set, are not meant to be ridden )

I nose dived a lot less when I came off the 9' and went to an 8' or a 7'4. It's because of those tall faced waves. I'm kind of a hear nerd and I buy a lot of boards though

Hi sorry for late replies late finishes and all. Yeah I had lessons and probably would benefit from more. I’m reasonably fit, attend gym for strength and cardio 3/4 times a week I’m not a unhealthy 96kg.
I try so hard and really commit to learning and improving, think I’ll get my mate to video

Don't worry, If you *really* want it, you'll get it.

Paddle strength, when you paddle for the wave and the nose goes under, it can pop out if you paddle hard enough.

Actually, you should position yourself maximum forward on the board, so when you put your head down while paddling for the wave, you create maximum power to get in.

Later you'll learn to adjust your shoulder/head position according to the wave steepness. Steep, lift the head to prevent pearling; Not steep, drop the head to gain gravity momentum.

To be simplistic
- wave passes underneath you - you are too far back (away from the beach). Remember that you catch a wave through gravity (going down the face). So you need to be in a position to slide your board down the face (use gravity). If you are too far back, then the slope of the wave isnt steep enough (assuming the wave breaks a few metres further in. If it breaks 20m further in, then you just picked the wrong wave)

- you nose dive. 95% of the time, because you arent paddling fast enough to be in the right position when the wave hits you. It lifts your tail and your nose dives (so its not your nose diving, its your tail lifting)

As waikikichan often says, catching a wave is timing, positioning and paddling. You can catch a wave just with the first two (eg no paddle takeoff), but most people need paddling to fix up their timing and positioning (and also waves break in different places so you rarely will just happen to be in the exact right place)

So that is the cause. Wrong position, not paddling fast enough.

What is the solution - well, depends on why you are in the wrong position. But first step is to make sure you are getting the basics right:

- position on board, make sure its right - https://barefootsurftravel.com/livemore ... -surfboard

- position in line up - this can be hard, but if the wave is passing beneath you, then you need to be closer to the beach when the wave arrives. Either paddle harder, paddle earlier or start closer

- paddling - make sure your paddling is efficient (see link and waikikichan's post above). Keep paddling until you have caught your wave. Remember you need to be going down the slope, so you may need to still be paddling when your board starts tilting to go down the slope. Thats fine/what is needed. Dont stop now or you will miss the wave or nose dive. Maybe you need to start paddling earlier to get up to speed; on steep shallow waves you might need 4 or 6 paddles just to actually start moving due to the speed of the water being sucked up the face.

- dont think starting further back and trying to catch the wave extra early is the answer. Usually that means you get hung up at the top of the wave. Have a look at the pros - they pop up 1/2 or 3/4 up the face, not right at the top. steveylang hit the nail with what often happens to beginners. For a steep wave, that might mean positioning yourself in a spot that is almost under the lip rather than out the back. The other thing that can happen is people stay a bit further out so they can get over the larger set waves, and then just miss the waves they go for because the smaller waves are breaking just that little bit further in.

- dont stop paddling and try to pop up too soon. Maybe you need to push your weight forward (eg bob your chin down to touch the board) and sometimes you will need to pull your weight back. But you need to have the board sliding down the face. It feels weird, wrong - your brain doesnt like being at an angle especially a downwards angle. But if you stop paddling or slow down now, then something is going to go wrong

In short: get your positioning on the board and paddling right. Play around with where you are starting in the line up and when you start paddling. Keep paddling until you feel gravity taking over. Accept that it feels a bit scary. (although, as a guess without any actual evidence, I bet you are starting too far back and not paddling fast enough to get to the right position/catch the wave)

Admittedly some waves are much harder to catch than others (low tide shore break requires very very fast and accurate timing, for example). Some waves suit some boards more than others (eg longboards on small steep waves can be hard because there is no where for the board to fit); but that said this is only a question of degree. Most boards can catch most waves - so its the surfer lacking the skills

For what its worth, I think everyone goes through this phase. In a year or whatever you will be catching these very same waves without even thinking about it. If you can get a video that would be great - we can get stuck into all of your flaws...

Thank you so much everyone, lots of fantastic advice that echos the same. I’ll get back out soon since I’m due some leave away from the nee naw

One other important tip- DON'T look at the nose of your board when you're paddling to catch a wave, look at the wave face to the left or right (whichever side you want to go) as it approaches you. When you pearl, it's easy to get stuck into the pattern of looking at your nose to watch for pearling, but that gives you no information about the wave itself that you're trying to catch.

Looking to your side will help you judge and anticipate the wave as it reaches you, and also will help you better judge when you have actually matched the speed of the wave (thus not pearling) and should pop up. I find that giving your paddle a little burst just as you see the wave is reaching you (so just before you actually feel it) helps you catch the wave and also makes the transition a little smoother.