Surfing Waves

i consider myself a begginer (around 1.5 months) and can follow a small wave pretty nicely. Well i whent to a different spot yesterday and the waves were coming in fast. They were really nice and 6-7 feet (2 meters high). I paddled for one but i was on the way top of the wave and it would have token me but im used to being a bit further down the wave before it breaks. I jsut stopped myself. Am i taking it too late? the wave would have tooken me but i was on the way top and was scared that it would just break on me. I ususally take waves pretty early.
i am on a 6.6 spider shortboard.

thanks for the replies.
its sooo scary when your on top of the wave and you see the ocean 6 feet below you.
I think the waves should be a bit smaller next week. im planning on going again.
I actually dropped in a smaller one but it was still really scary. i just sticked with getting it on the sides of the broken part to go on the unbroken part
still alot of fun.
thanks for the comments/tips.

sounds like youve got it pretty much covered it just takes practise and a bit of guts!!!

how about trying going on a bigger board until you're more confident?

It's pretty hard to say what you're doing right or wrong with out seeing it.

I'm no master of bigger waves, but I have gotten into a few.
The view can be a little intimidating, but you can try looking more across the wave than straight down.

But, generally you do sort of ride up the wave before you take the drop. You just want to make sure you can get up under the lip and going down the face before it starts pitching.

ok thanks for the info. i guess im just scared, maybe a too big transition. Whatever il try it anyways and i might die trying but a good surf session includes wipeouts (exept af the mavericks)

You said they were coming in real fast, this tells me you went out on a real nice mature swell.

They act a little different. Some swells are produced by local activity, and some are from a 1000 miles away (the good ones).

Chances are if you caught a swell that is moving fast enough for you to mention how fast the waves were, then it was a mature swell.

Just the fact that you have only been surfing for a month and a half and you were able to paddle out in it, is pretty impressive.

Here is the deal, I remember very vividly my first time paddling out into a mature swell, the waves were 6-8 and Fast, and I didn't know that they came that fast, I had been out on bigger days, but not with waves coming in that fast with that much power.

You need to be ready ahead of time, Paddle early, pick up board speed, that way the wave will pick you up easily. You will find that you are sliding down the face of the wave, and you don't even know it. Sliding down the face isn't really a talent, it just kind of happens, but when you find yourself sliding down the face, remember, the nose is usually pointing down naturally, don't help it. If anything worry more about stabalizing the board by keeping your weight more towards the tail, not on the tail, but just more toward it than toward the nose. I see a lot of guys stomping on more toward the front and then they get buried in water. Wait until you have control over the board to press forward on it.

Remember the stronger paddler you become the less time you need to catch the wave, but starting out, I would paddle early.

ya this one was from far away. thanks for the comliment about getting out. i love duckdiving even though it doesnt really work when the bigger waves come. Il just paddle faster next time and i feel alot more comfident when im standing then when im laying. Normally it should be about teh same next week, maybe a bit smaller. i do not know about the speed.

you need to paddle harder to catch bigger waves, but the main issue is bottle. I remember a day recently where my local break was nearly double overhead but it was clean enough for most shortboarders to get out. Lots of the less experienced guys seemed to paddling for lots of waves but werent getting any, they seemed to stop paddling before the wae caught them and pause at the top before getting left behind by the wave as it passed under than them. Im pretty sure they where doing the same - looking down as the wave steepend and thinking "im not gonna make it" and bottling out. The thing is, if theyd kept paddling and committed to the drop they wold have made them and probably had the ride of their lives, its just that self-preservation voice in their heads telling them not to.
A 6ft face wont hurt you (unless its a shallow reef or something, which i assume it isnt), and pearling a takeoff is usually not as bad as trying to pull up and getting thrown over the falls, ignore that voice and just go, look down the line to the section ahead as you paddle - not down, paddle hard, and commit to the take off. If you get nailed by a few then thats life, but itll be worth it when you make it - the speed you get from a big drop is something youll want to go back for again and again and is miles better than the little pick up you get from small waves, its also easier to learn manouvers on waves like that cos you get all the speed you need from the wave without having to pump like mad.

*thinks* its only wwater, its only water * /think*
time to listen to some hardcore music!
this time im decidid, im going for it no matter what!
watch me get pummeled!

gdude335 wrote: a good surf session includes wipeouts (exept af the mavericks)

dude mavericks is nothing; us guys on here surf mavericks all the time