Surfing Waves

I think im ready to take the unbroken wave on but Im such a wuss I cant take the tinyest of drops (and I do mean tiny). This little voice in my head just keeps telling me Im not going to make it so I bail out! I have common sense and know I should ignore this but I cant!

I went indoor rock climbing on friday and got so scared sometimes cos I ran out of strength that I wanted to quit but they made me keep going and I eventually did it(yey for me )....but I always knew the saftey harness was there and nothing bad could really happen - a bit different to surfing.

The thing is, I cant build up confidence until I take the drop but I cant seem to bring myself to taking that drop - whenever I have, Ive pearled (I seem to have lost my sense of positioning also)- nothing really bad has happened but its been a little scary at times.

So now I cannot bring myself to do it and I paddle slow and dont catch the wave- its like a mental block and I just look at the white water and want to go splash about in there again - Im fearful of being out of my depth and too far away from the shore and I hate the thought of other people thinking they have to babysit me in the water - should I give up surfing? its not like I have a massive amount of time to dedicate to it even though I usually enjoy it I cant see myself progressing past this point!

Ive decided to take up swimming and to try and build up my strength so Im a bit more physicly able in the water to try and build my confidence up and practice pop ups but are there any more tips/tricks to get me over this? - I dont want to look at the waves with a knot of fear in my stomach any more.

Usually, if someone tells me I cant do something (even myself) I kinda say 'wanna bet?!?! watch this !!!' and then I go do it , which always fills me with a sense of massive pride and self confidence, but it seems in surfing, I have met my match! and I dont like it. That sodding ocean! it can be pretty intimidating.

Im sorry for rambling and being a drama queen - Ive kinda treated this post like a shrinks couch, been thinking about it for a while now, I know I think too much but dont try and tell me to stop that - it's just me.

On the technical side, your probably poping up too late, you have to be getting to your feet before your suer you've caught the wave, make sure your at an angle (not straight at the beach), should be ok.

On a wuss front, go snowboarding. After 2 days of pain from that falling off into the sea is most pleasant....

I am at EXACTLY the same stage. How about at the summer meet all us scaredy cats surf in a little pack and egg each other on?

sounds good to me libs! can we all wrap ourselves in bubble wrap and wear crash helmets so I wont be the only one??!!?!?

no? just me then

Practice the holla's 'PADDLE PADDLE PADDLE, GO ON (insert name) YOU'VE GOT IT! UP UP UP, GO GO GO!

I feel sometimes that way, scared of the water I mean. I ALWAYS have nervous butterflys in my stomach before going near the water, and I still feel intimidated when a big set rolls in. But I push myself, and I ALWAYS am glad I did. But don't give up hun! It seems like there's a lotta people in the same boat. You seem like a pretty courageous kinda person, so I'm sure you'll be able to overcome this fear given time!

BIG group hug!!

RJD wrote:
On a wuss front, go snowboarding. After 2 days of pain from that falling off into the sea is most pleasant....

after two days your but is so flippin sore!
but after day 4 its so great because you can go down blue slopes with some speed and withought falling, mmmmm

hey, its just water!
whats the worst that can happen, you'll go, catch the wave, you fall,stay under for less than 5 seconds, come back up, grab your board and try again.

I know what feeling you have, it happened to me in overhead waves because i did not have enough experience and freaked out because i would pop up and not go down the wave.

try to catch it and not pop up, so youll do it bodyboard style.
go down and then pop up, after this, pop up while on the unbroken

paddle into one properly. pop up. take the beating if you get one. stay alive. get back out and do it better next time.

sorted.

weve all been there i was out on a 6-8ft day n terrified to paddle into anything once but when i did i got an awsome ride!!

what sort of board you riding? im guessing it something fairly big and bouyant? in which case you sohuld be able to catch the fat shallow-sloping waves you get at a lot of uk beachbreaks (the sort of waves longboarders love). Fat slow waves dotn have much of a drop to them, you tend to slide rather than drop in on them, if theres somewhere near you which gets waves lilke that, practice there till you got your confidence getting to your feet on your balance as you "slide" in and youll have more confidence on steeper waves with a bit of a drop.

You have to be quick when it comes to the pop-up. As soon as the wave picks you up then stand up asap.

Also, paddle across the wave not straight down it. This will prevent you from pearling and will set you up to ride across the green stuff.

I think if you hesitate then you will crash and burn. Just go for it and concentrate (but relax) and you will find most take-offs will be successful.

Oh, and if you get scared then think back to this youtube video - your waves probably have nothing on these waves (its of the Bra Boys - a group of sydney surfers who are just plain crazy).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFKAzlNcC3o

adrian wrote:I think if you hesitate then you will crash and burn. Just go for it and concentrate (but relax) and you will find most take-offs will be successful.

+++

As I said, use the very inital push of the wave (once your at speed) to pop up, before your sure you've caught it.

I end up stood on my board many times as the wave passes (tho les often now), and pearl evry very infrequently.

cheers guys, more trips to saunton then I did ride one unbroken wave (it reformed) there but didnt realise till I looked down, there was just no 'steepness' to it

Slow pop up and loads of hesitation is the problem then, I never really know when to go and when I do I kinda 'struggle up' rather than 'pop up' and once I fall off once I turn it into a big issue

First bit of advice I got from here was to practice my pop ups in the living room - I havent quite followed that as I should sorry. but I will do now!!

You're not a wuss! don't give up! I've only ever riden a few unbroken waves and they scared me to death.. I felt like I was clinging on for dear life! sticking to white water seems much safer I know! Keep at it though. With all that practice you're getting I'm sure you'll soon get the hang of it and impress us all at the summer meet!

plese don't give up who will i surf with if u do

Hey Sar, you're not a wuss.
That day you paddle out at k-bay, I was impressed. Its a fairly intimidating place - straight into deep water, over the rocks, immediately into the impact zone

You werent having much luck catching them that day, but it was all down to confidence (and that two extra paddles)
And that'll come with time.

It'll be summer soon - nice gentle waves with a drop thats fun rather than intimidating.

Saunton will do the trick

drowningbitbybit wrote:Hey Sar, you're not a wuss.
That day you paddle out at k-bay, I was impressed. Its a fairly intimidating place - straight into deep water, over the rocks, immediately into the impact zone

You werent having much luck catching them that day, but it was all down to confidence (and that two extra paddles)
And that'll come with time.

It'll be summer soon - nice gentle waves with a drop thats fun rather than intimidating.

Saunton will do the trick

Here, here!

drowningbitbybit wrote:Hey Sar, you're not a wuss.
That day you paddle out at k-bay, I was impressed. Its a fairly intimidating place - straight into deep water, over the rocks, immediately into the impact zone

I was shitting bricks that day but that was cos I got so tired from paddling as I couldnt just stand up when feeling fatigued and had to just keep paddling and then realised I was miles away from where I should be. I realy need to learn to sit on my board . Phew that was hard work - fortunately I didnt have to paddle hard/swim my way out of trouble so it was all good.

Saunton will do the trick

excellent - I look forward to your update of whether north devon is going to be working this weekend

Sar wrote:excellent - I look forward to your update of whether north devon is going to be working this weekend

Its looking fleshin' excellent all week, and then all going wrong at the weekend!!!

Plenty of time for that to change though *cross fingers*

And if there's gonna be some surf this weekend, Im there - and then we'll have you on a clean green face in no time

you just got to stick at it, think everyone goes through those moments, i was getting frustrated a while back becuse i wasnt progressing much but you get through those parts

and theres no feeling like catching a clean glassy wave, so just stick with it

Its looking fleshin' excellent all week, and then all going wrong at the weekend!!!

expect lots of txt msgs over the next few days

Alot of what you need to do has been told to you already....just go for it....Unless you are surfing a shallow reef break, there is little chance of slamming into some rocks/coral....so just giver...

Oh, and just for you Sar...."I bet you cant do it"















*From the first post she said she is spitefull to people who tell her she cant do something....