How Good Are You At Surfing?

[hyber]

its becoming abit of a hot topic this one
I know what you mean about going away, when i went to biarittz for 2weeks my surfing improved so much in such a short space of time.
btw, i ride a 6'4 s-core afterburner and im 6'3 myself, Im pretty happy with the board and feel im at a good enough level to use it.

[Stylemaster]

Im 36 and have been surfing since I was 5. I ride a 5'11" fish , 6'10 single fin , 9'10" classic volane noserider(fav.) and an array of ancient craft.On any given day i think I'm the best surfer in the water cause I always have the biggest smile . Be the best surfer in your line-up simply by having fun , giving away waves and keeping it real. Just dont let too many people know how much fun it is. Everyone will do it.....

[Johno]

Rock on stylemaster, I can stand up and tur but i dont speend enough time in the water to improve fastly,

But every time i come out the water i,ve got the bigest happyest smill on my face, i love it

Surfing Rocks

[pkbum]

haha it doesn't really matter how well you surf unless you want to be pro. When I used to be a newb, thinking about paddling in the ocean is just mind blowing to me. Standing up is another dimension of mind blowing too....

[Milo]

Surfing`s a piss, compared to learning the guitar. Its driving me nuts, as for my finger tips. I lost all feeling in them weeks ago.
Anyone else play ?

[flyingvee]

Yeah......other way round for me - finding surfing tricky, but then I can't remember how hard it was learning to play guitar. I guess it's the same old cliche.......practice makes perfect

[Milo]

Yeah, but how much practise.

[flyingvee]

Million dollar question, that. As much as possible!!!!!........

[Silver Surfer]

Im not good at all actually. I been surfing since about 2003 / 2004 and regularly only for last couple of years. I live in both London and North Cornwall so do get in the water reasonably often. I can catch almost anything on my longboard and pop up a bit slowly (I am 42!) but can bottom turn and trim down the wave. Trying cutbacks but usually end up wiping out. Usually spend about 3 - 4 hours in the water but I do get out for a breather every hour for about 10 minutes. I dont have any fantasies about being amazing I just enjoy being in the water, the stoke of getting it right, being fit, and behaving considerately even to those who dont behave considerately to you! (The best times definately Sept, Oct, Nov when the tourists have gone home!)

[surfer/4/life]

i can cutback on mu backhand and forehand but have a problem when im gettin up i sumtimes use my knees but it doesnt seem 2 slow me down

[CHarvey]

I am not as good as I used to be due to a 4 year break in my surfing but I think I can hold my own for the most part. I can hit the lip, do cut backs front and back side etc. etc.
But even on days that I feel like I have 2 left legs and only catch one wave it's still the best day I have ever had in the water. Today is always the best day I have had in the water.

[Otter]

1967, 42 years. Just call me Methusella.

[Aloha]

Something I have discovered is: the longer you surf the more you realise that it's going to take a very long time till you are anywhere near as good as you'd like to be.

I think a lot of beginners don't realise how hard it actually is. They think once they are up and standing the rest is easy, and that in a few years they'll be as good as the average guy out there. I guess living in Australia the average guy out there is a tough target to aspire to, as Aussies generally rip.

If I didn't live near the beach, then I would give up. Unless you are happy being very mediocre, you have to go surfing a lot, or be realistic about your expectations.

The more you put in, the more you get out. The fact that surfing is so difficult, also makes it so rewarding. Every time I go out, I feel like I have learned something, and that drives my stoke.

I've been surfing for 3 years, with the minimum being about 4 times a week. I did have lots of water time growing up boogie boarding and surfing off and so on, and I have natural balance so didn't need to learn to stand up, however I only really consistently started surfing 3 years ago.

I can, top turn, bottom turn, sometimes hit the lip, cutback (but not the high speed slashing ones you see pros do). My backside surfing is terrible as I have a bad habit of always searching for right handers. My friends have all been surfing a few years more than me, but they are worse as they don't go as often.

My biggest improvements always seem to be in getting more waves, getting longer rides and take offs. I can go out in pretty much any size and get waves, and my take offs are pretty late compared to previous years.

My first barrel is evading me. I've been very close, with the barrel edge just over my head, but never deep in the proper barrel and making it out. I'm getting there though and guess it'll be a year or two till I get that sorted. My late take offs should help in that department.

I find my biggest hindrance in my improving are the crowds that you get here in Sydney. You just don't get enough time on the very good waves as there is a big queue of people fighting you for them, which means your average wave is probably only 5 seconds before it sections or closes out.

Whenever I go away and get some waves I improve by leaps and bounds. I'm off to Indo this year for 12 days (surfing for 10) I'm going to treat this trip as a training ground, and practice my whole repertoire hard.

If I'm lucky we should score perfect waves with only about 8 of us out. And that on a daily basis. Knowing my luck this won't happen but I hope it does. From previous good sessions I can only hope that it should improve my surfing considerably......

[niallhills]

surfin for a while, started at 11, but dont get to go very often, its kind of a hobby in between music, inspiring stuff..

[pkbum]

Something I have discovered is: the longer you surf the more you realise that it's going to take a very long time till you are anywhere near as good as you'd like to be.

I agree.
I still feel like a kook after 1 years of surfing.

[hyber]

just had some recent thoughts after reading some of the replies,
seems as though wanting to be good and comparing yourself to others if a young mans thing, would be nice if i truly didnt care i can pretend all i like but it matters to me still
a little update on my personal surfing skill, greatly improved recently suddenly passed the barrier of just about turning to comfortably doing top turns and getting at least 15 waves every time im out

[joem]

Surfing`s a piss, compared to learning the guitar. Its driving me nuts, as for my finger tips. I lost all feeling in them weeks ago.
Anyone else play ?

guitar is defo easir im learning some hendrix stuff but you want be charging pipe after 4 years

[Hang11]

Something I have discovered is: the longer you surf the more you realise that it's going to take a very long time till you are anywhere near as good as you'd like to be.

That's a good point. The next stage is that you stop caring. It's good to be able to enjoy riding waves without worrying what other people think, or to be stressing about how good or bad you are, because you can just chill out and enjoy getting stoked.

I reckon the biggest challenge as you get older is trying not to get worse at surfing, especially if other things in life get in the way of water time.

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

Surfing`s a piss, compared to learning the guitar. Its driving me nuts, as for my finger tips. I lost all feeling in them weeks ago. :roll:
Anyone else play ?

guitar is defo easir im learning some hendrix stuff but you want be charging pipe after 4 years

you can be really good surfing in hawaii regularly since you were a kid, and still not wnt to surf N.S. when its big. right now its 15-20. i might go up just to look at it if im ok with gridlock traffic and beaches packed with tourists out to see the big waves, but if i went out, id say if i caught one wave id be very lucky, after that one wave i wouldnt be able to get back out, and id be lucky id i didnt die trying to get to shore. the whitewash of those kinds of waves is insane. you cant ride it because its too big and fast, and the drag behind the wave means that even if you do survive the front, withing 50 feet or so behind it youll be drgged back under. thats my experience. plus pipeline has a rip current along the shore that reaches about 50 feet out to sea, so on the last bit you end up getting smashed and dragged by waves, then pulled back out to sea for some more. it feels like paddling on a water treadmill

surfing big waves is not fun unless you really know what youre doing, probably rich kids who live on the beach on the NS and have been going every day since they were little.

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

nevermond its 8-10 on the north shore, im going.