Surfing Waves

went surfing for the first time in four years yesterday and really enjoyed despite acieveing a neck rash that looks like ive hung myself thanx to my rash vest.
I have a 7'0 mal, and its very narrow im 5'11 and i had great difficulty cathcing waves which were by no means small and were powerful enough (boy readign was 9'5)
When ever i paddled i coaght the wave for a moment and then it just went underneath me, didnt matter whether i kept paddling or not the same thing happened time and time again, was i doing somthing wrong? the waves were going towards my right but i pointed my board directly towards the bay, should i have? i saw other surfers riding both left and right but couldnt make out how they started off

if your struggeling catching waves, try catching them right on the peak, where its got most power. i see so many begginers trying to catch a wave on the sholder which has no power. look for a good wave paddle into possition, and paddel realy hard facing the beach, look back to make sure you will catch it ( if it looks small and weak dont bother but if it looks strong paddel realy hard). that is about all you need to know for catching waves, as for going left or right, go straight and get used to the board befor you try turning.

when you say the peak of teh wave are you referign to the start of it or teh highest point?

well the start and the highest point are the same thing unless its a weird wave, the peaqck is generaly where the wave breacks first so it will have more power

thanx, the sea bed is uneven at teh ebach im at so the highest waves are actually a bit left of teh centre of teh bay when they start at the right.

but yea i was starting near the left of the beach so much i nearly got smashed onto the cliff. lucky i can swim well

having said that lookign at my typign you proabvly think i did hit the cliff, several times

You may be sitting too far out back or not paddling soon enough...

Driftingalong wrote:You may be sitting too far out back or not paddling soon enough...

not beign that experience i tired first of all where the beginners were in standing depth but found that when i did catch a wave by teh tim i stood up i was on teh sand. after that i paddled out to the experienced surfers and attempted to catch teh same waves they did with no success despite my paddling seeming no slower than theirs, i did notice they pop up very quickly tho where as i try to lie down for a bit before popping up.

being an experianced surfer( i think), i find that the pop up part of a wave seems to just drift out of your mind, you just do it, were as you are an inexperiances surfer, you are focusing on the pop up, once you have masterd it ( this will take alot of practice, practice at home on the floor, it helpd me) you will find you cant remember how you poped up once you have finished the wave

bluesnowcone2000 wrote:being an experianced surfer( i think), i find that the pop up part of a wave seems to just drift out of your mind, you just do it, were as you are an inexperiances surfer, you are focusing on the pop up, once you have masterd it ( this will take alot of practice, practice at home on the floor, it helpd me) you will find you cant remember how you poped up once you have finished the wave

very true, pop up will eventually be second nature

I had the exact same problem last week just watched as the wave rolled out underneath me, the waves are pretty useless where I am and don't have much power behind them, taking my rear fin off helped a lot, never ridden with two fins before but it made paddling that bit easier.

Of course I could be talking out of my rectum as I don't really know that much!

I went to Polzeath beach last month and surfed for the very first time.
I enjoyed it so much that soon as I got home I ordered a board.
I've bought a BicSports shortboard 7'8", when I went surfing yesterday at my home coast I struggled like mad with the board, it seemed to wobble whilst picking up speed so much it was uncontrollable :S as this anything to do with the rear tail fin ?

don't thinks so, i think fins are a bit like stablisers, tri fins are usually pretty stable whereas a single fin is looser. It may be the waves you're riding are just that bit bumpier!!

which beach where you at?

I find in the small barely rideable waves we get in summer here that you really have to thrust the board out forwards as you pop up to get enough momentum to drop in, and get as big a pump as you can with your front foot as soon as it hits the deck to keep that momentum up. In decent sized waves its not so much of a problem as they have enough face to build speed.

I was at Cayton bay near Scarbourough, the surf was poor to be honest..actually really was no point even trying to surf it. Just seemed strange that the board was wobbling as if there was a problem with it, being new and unused and knowing they aren't tested on waves before sale made me think there was a fault.

It did this when I was laying flat to the board also...

Maybe it's like riding a bike for thew first time when you take the stabilisers off..Just need to get used to it..

oh, i was asking the welsh guy cos he appears to live not far from me but nm.
The wobbling is normal for a beginner, probably caused by a combination of not being on top of your balance (that comes with practice), having your feet in the wrong place (too far forward, too far backward, too close together etc,), standing up too straight, and possibly the chop on the surface of the wave.
Bend your knees and keep your centre of gravity low as you take off, not soo low you look like your taking a dump, but its its easy to feel like your knees are bending when theyre actually almost straight if you not used to it.

Would of been ok if I could of made it to the point I looked like I was taking a dump..lol, but soon as I stood up I was on the beach...

Thanks for the advise, I did assume I was doing something wrong.. practice should sort that out in time .oO(Hopefully)

Surfing seems like childs play with a long board, but hard work with a short board, but I like to be thrown in at the deep end, thats the way I learn best..... also can't see the point of spending money on something you aren't going to use for long :/. so long as it's me and not the board thats good news

I am planning on surfing the same place every week now so will try sort it out, seems I've a lot to learn...

Cheers

well i wouldnt consider a 7'8 a shortboard, you should be ok on that but it takes time. Surfing is not easy, even for those with a natural gift for it.