Nosedive!!!!??

[blueazure]

Hi guys...

I need some advice...

Ive been doing the "thing" for around 8-9 months off and on and I ride a BIC 7'9" Mini Mal. Im getting to my feet nearly all of the time except for those times when youre either to tired or just plain not thinking about what you are doing. Im having fun learning and have shown a few friends how too do the "thing" and have been successful in that they have progressed too standing within one or two sessions (I had a good teacher - Get to the Bay Surf Shop in W'Coombe and ask for Spencer!).

The thing thats getting me down is that I can catch white water all day long but take this last weekend when its more flat and the sets are coming in less frequently and you have to get out the back in order to catch anything decent, all that i seem to do on these bigger swoolen waves is nosedive. I can paddel like a hero, catch it, and then down comes the nose and its washing machine time for me!!!!

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to be standing at this point?

Should I try and go across the wave instead of forward?

Anyone who has any ideas im up for all of em'

Cheers....


Blue

[jake]

bye the way im not the jake who asked how do i ride the line im the better one lol well its hard not to nose dive i did it when i first started too when catching a wave that is green water you have to stand up and face the board down the line at the same time u should not nose dive when u drop in it feels like u will nose dive but u wont is u are standin up soo lean forward really forward lol

[jonny]

aaaaah - the surfer's favourite - a good old fashioned pearl dive!! A sure way to get rid of a blocked nose......

Ways to stop this happening include one or a combination of:

- lie further back on your board

- get even further out back in the sea, way before the wave has even begun to break and try paddling and catching it from there instead - you may be catching the wave too late.

- taking off at a slight angle to the beach rather than pointing directly at it you are prone to catching a rail doing this though and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a pretty good surfer already.

[IrishGirl]

I'd say you're too far forward on the board. Push back a little (just not too much!) and yeah, try catching the wave a bit earlier.

[BrisbaneSurfer41]

I only have two years of surfing experience and I am having the same problem of pearling as BlueAzure (particularly on a steep wave). Similar to pearling, when I feel I have caught the wave (again, particularly on a steep wave) I can see that the front half of the board has no water supporting it and I can fell the wave bomb-diving me right into the sand or rock.
How do I overcome this ?

In addition to the advice outside which is to catch the wave sooner or to angle the board slightly while paddling into the wave, would you experienced surfers out there think that beginners like us are not standing up soon enough.

Would standing up near the back of the board at the moment when I feel I am going to pearl help ? Would that counter the pearling movement and also forcefully push the back of the board down into the base of the wave (a form of "taking the drop"). Doing this may even cut into the water of the wave, I think. I have thought alot about this (standing up sooner rather than later) and I am going to see if this works. Any advice ?

Desperate and frustrated. Please help.

[IrishGirl]

Less thinking and more practising I'd say!

Just get out there and try different things (ie. shifting weight, standing further back/forward) that's what I always do if I've a problem. Perhaps if you ask someone to watch you and tell you what you're doing wrong also?