This mistake was killing my wave count

[HaoleKook]

I was using my knees for stability while paddling - basically just having pressure on both knees. It was preventing the board from pivoting under me. In other words, my knees were holding the tail down. The wave wasn’t lifting the tail, so I kept scooting forward and was pearling all the time.

I tried a longer board with similar width/thickness/shape thinking the tail would lift easier, and to my slight surprise it wasn’t really any better. So I tried getting the pressure off my knees and started catching waves. Then I went back to my regular board and was catching waves like never before!

I can’t believe how many waves I’ve robbed myself of over the past 2 years, but I’m so stoked to have figured this out. Hopefully this can help someone else.

[oldmansurfer]

there are ways to adjust you center of balance while laying down. Pushing with you knees or lifting your feet up is one but the one I use more often is to push my head down to put more pressure on the front of the board to get it to go faster while i am paddling for the wave.

[HaoleKook]

I guess what was happening was, with pressure on my knees and keeping my head up, I basically had the brakes on already. I would physically move forward to keep the nose just above the water, but I had little ability to shift weight back without physically moving. So then the nose would drop and I had no way to stop the board from pearling.

Maybe it's hard to explain, but what has happened to my surfing since I figured this out is absolutely mind blowing! For me, anyway. No more pearling, no more paddling like mad and missing waves...even better pop ups and stance since I'm not fighting the board so much.

I notice that when I get tired I'm resorting to pressure on the knees, and sure enough that's when I'll start to miss waves again. The knee thing is a crutch for core strength and balance, so I'm working on that.

I don't really know what surfing levels are, but I certainly progressed to some kind of a different level of the past week. It's so freaking exciting! =D

[HaoleKook]

I can’t edit my original post, but I have a better way to explain this if anyone ever reads this:

I was too rigid and pinning the back half of my board down with my knees. I couldn’t feel the tail lift, so I missed waves. I kept moving forward and would then nose dive all the time. By taking pressure off my knees I can now feel the tail lift and also make body adjustments so much easier. It’s a night and day difference.

My boards have a domed top so they feel unstable under my hips, therefore I was using my knees to feel more stable. This was pinning the tail down. Taking pressure off my knees required some time to adjust to using core strength and trusting the balance. But now ithe board is more maneuverable and easier to position for waves, and easier to make body adjustments getting into the wave.

[Geezer]

Changes in weighting are more dramatically felt the shorter you go in board length. What you were doing works quite well actually in a shorter length board. Paddling arched up, stuck to the board from your quads to your rib cage like a remora, stability that three point stance, and provided your position on the board is correct, chin down like OMS said when paddling then arching back up once you’re in and ready to pop up works a charm on a board shirt enough to effect a change with such weight shifts. Now they’re added benefit and one necessary on a shorter board if this position facilitates is having your feet clear of the water, off of the board on a longer board, pop-up is a little quicker, I had to start getting your feet under you. Can’t use your toes to pop up this way, but that’s more ideal anyway.

Anyway, every board I have is a little bit different and nothing beats time in the water to sort out or where you need to be on it relative to the conditions. It’s good to hear that you are figuring it out!