by Aloha » Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:34 pm
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......