advice on drops or late drops

[996tt]

Newb would sincerely appreciate input. I am mainly riding a 9'2" epoxy, but I also have a 7'6" superfish design with 51/4 rocker in the nose.

I was doing real well catching waist to maybe chest high on the long board. The next day, the swells were shoulder to a little over head high.

I was getting hammered on the larger waives with the long board. My nose was constantly digging in during drop in sending me endo.

No problem on smaller waives, but the nose was really dropping in quickly and going under water on the larger waives.

This caused me to shift weight back on board which seemed to slow the board down to much were I was not catching most everything.

Should I stay forward and keep more arch in back, stand up quicker, turn immediately when dropping in, or go to my shorter board with more nose rocker.

I know the issue is me and not boards. I would appreciate if some could give me advice about keeping the board from nosing over in swells that are chest or higher.

Thank you in advance.

[RJD]

Slight angle on take off, get to your feet EARLY and get turning before the nose gets to the bottom..

[isaluteyou]

longer board with less rocker are generally harder to take heavy drops like was said you need to start off at an angle. However if he wave is to critical you wont have that option so you need to drop and quickly angle the board during the process grapping the rail and shifting the weight is good way to do it.

Im the last person to give good advice on longboarding but i have seen them take insane drops using that method Personally i wont touch a critical wave without having a decent amount of rocker

[The Fafanator]

I hear it is pretty hard to take drops on a longboard, so try out the shorter one for a few sessions, it might help heaps. Another thing is you might want to sit a little further off the shoulder/out back and take an early take off, so that the drop is less critical.

[Hang11]

Get it hard on a rail as soon as you get to your feet, and fully commit to the bottom turn. The board will just slot into the face of the wave and send you flying down the line.

Nothing like late drops on a longboard.

[garbarrage]

recently started riding a 9'4. since then drops have seemed much more intense. is this just me or is it actually the case?
just getting to grips with it. had a few good ones last weekend. aside from what hang 11 said i'd suggest keeping the knees really bent all the way down. helps getting a little extra pressure where its needed. seems to work for me anyway.

[parrysurf]

Angled take off is good tip....early take off is a good way to keep from pearling(endo). For sure the cleaner/quicker you stand on the way down, the better chance of making you bottom turn.

You may be in the right spot, but as the larger wave is picking the tail up your board, it forces the nose to pearl. you can scoot back a tiny bit as you are being picked up. This will keep the nose up as you drop. As you advance you will stand up quicker while the board is falling down the wave, this is where you will shift weight in the future.

keep trying!!

[uglystick]

shifting your weight back on your board is useful as it slows you down...weight forward speeds you up.

if you have made a steep drop by shifting you weight back and lifting the nose up avoiding a nose dive, simple shift your weight forward agin back on to your front foot.

surfing is all about weight distribution on the board, changing it will affect how the board moves through the water.

It depends on the waves you a riding as to what board would be suitable, as mentioned before a shorter board would help to avoid digging the nose...however if having a shorter board would mean not being able to catch any waves...stick with the longer one....combined with nose rocker, tail rocker is also just as important when takinging off in steeper waves.

i recommend talking to a local shaper about your ability level and suitable boards which you should be surfing.

[Jc]

So you stand up... once your dropping down the waves,so your up by the bottom?

[RJD]

You should be getting to your feet at the top when your starting the drop otherwise you have no control.

[Jc]

so once your staring down the wave, it is too late

I see where i am going wrong now, many thanks

[stonebrew4life]

maybe sit farther out and paddle into the wave before it jacks up?
ive never been able to paddle into a wave at an angle....

[Jc]

What really kills me is having to wait so long for good waves around here