Surfing Waves

Hi guys

I've just started surfing (for around a month now) and am struggling a bit to get through the whitestuff to the line up.

I started catching waves by walking out with the board chest deep, waiting for a decent one, and then jumping on the board and riding it in. I can do this most of the time now and am keen to get further out. But.... on Sat the waves were breaking quite far out and there was loads of setty whitestuff to get through.

To get through em, I paddled out hard and eskimo rolled when the broklen waves came towards me. Seem to be able to do this ok, but I still get pushed back a bit... I saw other guys (good surfers with the same size or longer board) doing press-up like moves to get through the broken white waves - they didn't go under like a duck dive, more straight through it... What is this move? When a big unbroken wave came, they then duck dived under it.

Sooo... should I stick with eskimo rolling for now to get out there? Or should I start learning to duck dive instead? I have a 7' 6" mini mal, and weigh around 75kg. Which is the most efficient way of getting out there for a board my size?

God, I've got so bloody much to learn!!!

Cheers in advance...
Gaz

Very unlikely you'll be able to duckdive a 7'6, best off turtle rolling. Try searching the forum this topics been covered heaps,

Libs

What Libby said.

For the first part.. if you have good head of steam going, you should be able to get through the wash of a broken wave.People lift up a bit offf the front part of the board so it pass through and doesn't get lifted up/pushed back.

Again, though, this is trial and error to know when you can do that. You couldn't do it for a wave that just broke, for example(depending on conditions, again).

And I doubt guys with 7' + boards were duck diving. Maybe a small 7' board but past 8', no way.

Thanks for the input guys.
Glad you both agree I can't duckdive my board... Will stick with rolling for getting out back.
cheers
G

well on my longboard when i eski roll i go slightly to far forward so when i roll i can pull the noes over, it works a bit better, also try the press us possition but kick one leg up, i duno why but it works better

in waves bigger than about 3' you're gonna have to use the turtle roll. if its smaller then you may be able to just push ur board down a little and let the wave pass between you and the board.

but yeah look up all the old posts on this

The three Ts let me duck dive this.

9'6" x 23" x 3.25"

Technique, Timing, Training. Seems to be the answer to most things with surfing.

While I am at it... Here's why I love working from home... And dropping the kids off at school... Some mornings, anyway :D



-doug

Thanks for that post Doug!
Not only have you made feel useless not being able to dive a 7'6" board... but that bl**dy view of yours.... You lucky man!

i didnt think it was humanly possible to duckdive a board that size. you must have arms of steel

LOL! No, I am human. Very, very, very human. Did I mention how human I am?

The point is that it's possible. But the three Ts are critical (technique, timing and training).

The more volume a board has the more difficult it is.

It's called slice and duck. Also on here.

-doug

Thanks for the "slice and duck" link doug...
Will give this a go later this week and let you know how I get on !

No problems Gaz.

If you really want to "get it" I suggest you give serious thought to focussing on just that in the shallows for a while (i.e., until you get it).

And it's easier to pick up on small, clean waves.

If fact, the technique itself works best (at least for me) on clean waves of any size you are gutsy enough to surf. And no, I haven't tried it out on 10' swell :D But others apparently use it in big surf successfully.

Hope that helps,
-doug

Less a true duck dive and more a half roll/push.

I find it works ok if the surf is clean, but any kind of chop or wind on it makes it more difficult, which is why I just stick with the eskimo roll.

You can really duck dive that board?

It is all about technique and timing. You just got to keep practicing.

Is that really the view from your house? If so then im deffinately moving to Australia

That's not quite the view from my house.

Those were pre-surf shots after dropping the kids off.

I can see the first break from my balcony, but need binoculars to get that detail. Needless to say a pair of binoculars pretty much live on the balcony.

Oh, to work from home every day! Or at least days when there's swell.

-doug
PS. Do it. Move to Oz. You won't regret it!

dougirwin13 wrote:PS. Do it. Move to Oz. You won't regret it!

I hope I can once I finish my degree.

Hey Doug - think I've just about cracked it now. Tend to have a 50/50 chance of pulling it off each time I try it... When I get really tired though, I tend to fallback on just rolling. But I guess that's just a fitness thing.

Things kinda clicked when I started paddling harder into the wave, and more importantly, by lying a little bit further forward on my board - made it MUCH easier to sink the nose under the water.

Once I get the nose under, the wave seems to just break over me and I just pop up on the other side. Even I don't use my foot to push thorugh, it still seems to work, but it takes a bit longer to surface and get paddling again...

Anyway, thanks again for the tips
G

No probs Gaz,

Sounds pretty much like how it came togethor for me.

Glad to hear it is starting to click for you.

Keep at it and it'll become second nature.

As for fitness, just keep surfing as much as you can and that'll sort itself out.

Cheers!

-doug

Duckdive with Shortboards
Eskimo Roll with Mini-mals and longboards

Am i wasting my time trying to duck my 7'4" x 20"
Its a big short board with.

I tried turtle rolling today when I was fleshin' and it went flying from my hands.

thanks for the help