sometimes scared to paddle out to the back

[unleashed]

basically what the title says, i don't know why but im scared to paddle out to the back sometimes i don't know why but could do with a little advice i just don't feel confident enough sometimes becuase i don't usually surf with people i know i usually just turn up at tynemouth (NE ENG) and surf with people there.

[Unorthodox]

Are you scared of making it through the breakers or actually being out back? Is it a deep water/swept out to sea thing? On one hand, you want to condition yourself to not be afraid unnecessarily, but on the other hand, you don't want to push yourself too far past your comfort zone. It's a personal thing...

[unleashed]

deep water lol i don't know why.

[Unorthodox]

I had that problem at first too, despite having plenty of experience in the water. I was often completely alone, though.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact you're doing something entirely new. In any case, I quickly got over it just by getting out there over and over. Just be safe, and I expect you'll get over it before you know it.

[unleashed]

i think its because im not quite used to controlling the board when im not touching the ground its a weird thing.
i kinda think its because i can't move around quickly from like sitting on the board to lying and paddling, hopefully if i go along with some people i know it'll be easier but i don't really know anyone that goes often.

[drowningbitbybit]

It all gets easier with practise and experience. Being a little scared at the begining is normal, and keeps you safe. Eventually you'll appreciate having deep water underneath you (hurts a lot less than the seabed).

Going with others is the best way to get over this. Knowing someone else is there gets rid of the fear, and also pushes you that bit further.

Relax, dont worry about it, it'll come.

[naniekso]

it does get easier,

but for one thing, i would say sing your favorite song. keeps my mind off the most random scary thoughts that come up. Or just try to think about where to position yourself for the next big wave coming. You may find that taking these advices will help. I sometimes get nervious cause i think a shark will jump up and eat me. lol WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU!

[innocentsurfing]

Hi
Paddling outback can be intimidating the first few times as there is allot happening and allot to process. to alleviate the fear you have to go through a process of controlling the situation.

the way you control the situation is to go through a logical decision process establishing what tools you have to deal with paddling out.
you now have three options whenever a wave comes towards you as your padlding out.
1. push up over the wave
2. turtle roll the board
3. turn the board back to the beach and assume a safety position.

these are the only three things you need to know specific to paddling out to the green waves. which is good because its not too much to remember !

by being desicive as to what to do with each wave as it comes towards you, you are taking complete control of the situation. as each waves comes towards you decide fight or flight.
fight - then roll or push up ,
flight, turn round towards beach lie back on the board with your chest on the tail and your arms gripping on so the board wont nosedive (safety position). you can use this to get out of any situation always in anysize waves and 90% of the time wont nose dive

now as your paddling out you only have two choices, fight or flight. as long as you make that firm desicion to one of either, this will give you control i.e take the fear out of it

it doesnt matter what desicion you make as long as you make it, this will give you the feeling of control. the more you do it the more you get the desicion right. then your out further and can start figuring out what to do out there


hope this helps

saludos
alex

[Zeroman_IR]

it does get easier,

but for one thing, i would say sing your favorite song.

I thought I was the only one that did this. Doesn't help if you get freaked out by a piece of seaweed though

I find a technique that works for me is to accelerate at the oncoming whitewater and just before it hits I wrap one arm around the board, grab the nose with the other and roll the board up onto its' edge. Kinda like half a turtle roll. Works in surprisingly big conditions, and while not as effective as turtle rolling in really big conditions, you're still on the board after and can start paddling immediately as opposed to dragging yourself back onto the board after rolling (usually just in time to get hit by the next set wave while you're stationary...and the turtle roll doesn't work very well stationary). I also find roaring in temper as I smash into the whitewater kinda motivating

[garbarrage]

still get the heeby-jeebies when i'm out somewhere on my own. never enjoy it as much as having a mate along. if you're just starting out you shouldn't be out alone anyway, and it's debatable if you should be out on your own when you are experienced. did it a lot when i was starting for the same reasons as you (no-one to go with). but eventually you will pick up a few mates to surf with. in the meantime stick to well known spots (preferably where there are lifeguards) or at least other surfers.

although in my experience, you can't always count on other surfers.. about a year ago myself and a couple of mates arrived at a lesser known notoriously rippy beach, when a guy approached the car asking if we could help his friend. he said he'd been trying to get in for about 20 mins. we pointed out that he was trying to get in through a river mouth and that if he paddled 20 meters to his right he'd be able to get in. his friend was too exhausted to paddle back out so one of my friends suited up and paddled out to him while we called the coastguard. the thing that made me mad is that not 50 meters away there was a group of experienced surfers who could see he was in trouble and not one of them tried to help. in fact when i asked one who was coming in how long the guy had been out there he just said "don't know, glad it's not me." and laughed.

in the end the guy made it in and sat on the beach trying to recover just as the coastguard arrived. he asked the time, and when i told him it turned out that he'd been trying to get in for over 2 hours. he literally hopped in the water. got dragged out and spent the whole session trying to get back in.

not trying to scare you off or anything.. but that fear is a good thing. it'll stop you doing something stupid. just take your time and gently push your comfort zone a little at a time.