18 weeks of surfing, need some tips

[dosel83]

Hello, I've been recently hooked on surfing here in southern California.
I surfed on sat/sunday for last 18 weekend mornings for about 2 hour each session ..
I also got a longboard skateboard to practice on when I can't be out in the ocean.

I have 7'6" funboard that's 2 3/4 thick and I surf in knee to shoulder high beach breaks.
6'1" tall 180 lbs.

I am catching some of the smaller waves, and of course the broken waves, just
enough to say "yea, I can stand on my board" but nothing like how I see others do it where they
catch a shoulder/ head high wave and ride it for good 10 to 15 seconds with good amount of speed.

I feel really comfortable doing carving on my longboard skateboard and snowboard so I'm guessing
I'll have tiny bit of more luck doing little bit of carving once I'm riding these bigger waves, but
catching them seems like my biggest challenge at the moment;

when I am close to catching these bigger waves, it feels like as I try to pop up, my board is being sucked away
towards the peak of the wave and I lose my balance because of it. everything just happens
really fast, what can I work on to make this happen?



And any other word of wisdom on what/how to improve surfing .. will be sweeet : D

Thank you for your time!

[IB_Surfer]

It's your paddle, not your form. Seems like you can pop up fine, and carve. So, here is what it could be:

The most common is a lack of paddling ability, so when you paddle you don't get enough speed to glide the board, which causes the boar to suck back and either you miss the wave or you pearl. So, headh high, arch your back, paddle with down strokes instead of out, the normal stuff.

The second, you are too far back on where you lie on your board, move up and inch or more. If you are too far back you push water instead of glide.

Third, and this is something I keep posting, might be your fins. If they are big they drag, yet most funboards come with big fins to hold up in big surf, not taking into consideration begginers or small waves. So, try smaller fins or at least put a smaller center fin on that big plank, might suprise you.

Hope that helps

[Kaaimans]

I'm with you on fins, people underestimate their importance.

Also, I will say, lie a little more forward on your board. Move up till the nose just just digs underwater, and then move a tiny bit back. Also, get closer to the breaking part of the wave, and don't panic if you see a big drop, just jump up as fast as you can.

Do some push ups, and some pull ups, that will help with paddling too.

[garbarrage]

Mathteacher is bang on. If you are only beginning it's most likely your paddling. Paddle hard as you can, then paddle harder. Also, looking down the line as you paddle will help slow things down a touch. Used this analogy recently but will use it again as its pretty close. Looking at the nose of your board as you take off is similar to looking out the side window of a car as you drive. Just makes everything seem faster. If you look where you want to go it lessens the sudden rush somewhat.

Best of luck, post how you get on in your next sesh.

[dosel83]

Thank you guys for great tips. I've surfed few sessions since the post & I haven't nailed the problem, but working on it. You guys are definitely right about the main problem being not generating enough speed & not positioning myself more forward on the board. What I'm working on right now is arching my back more so I can move further forward on my board & have more control on distributing weights when paddling, and surf/exercise on every chance I get. In terms of fins, I do not have big fins, luckily. Looking down the line instead of being short-sighted makes perfect sense. However, I realize that I didn't even come close to try this analogy.

Mainly because waves got little bit tough for me and I've been working on how to duck dive, since it gets really hard to get in the line up sometimes where I surf (beach break where waves constantly breaking) I bought a used 6'6"/20.75"/2.5 epoxy piranha board to practice duck diving, it's quite floaty so it's not too hard for me to paddle but at the same time it's not too easy to push it down underwater* It seems like
neither getting in the line up or catching wave got easier for me by switching board for now. But I'm hoping learning how to duck dive and learning to paddle without relying too much on flotation of board will help me in the long run.


Catching really good open face wave seems soOo Close, I can taste it; but I haven't pulled it off yet.. Arggg haha

It's often frustrating to catch myself still stuck, not being able to get into the line up or lose a chance to catch a wave in what seems like a perfect chance. But it's also rewarding when I see myself building up some shoulder/back muscles or in rare occasions, feel something had gone right, knowing soon or later; I'll get there.

Thanks to you guys for awesome tips again, it's greatly appreciated.
I'll keep working on the things mentioned previously; and I look forward to more feedback down the line!!

[tony g]

Hello,
You need to be patient, surfing takes time to get any good at it. I do like your perseverence as you will need that if you want to becaome a good surfer. Here are a few tips that I think will help you. It is not always just how hard you paddle. It is being smart out there as well. That is why I said it takes time. You need to develop wave judgement and that does not happen overnight. If you understand about how and where a wave is breaking that can help you a lot. Sometimes just moving a foot or two closer to the curl will make your take off steeper and much easier to catch the wave. If you are however to late you may pearl or wipeout or go over the falls. My point is positioning is huge in surfing. If you watch surfers who really know what they are doing you will see that sometimes they hardly paddle for the wave they take a few strokes and are instantly up and flying down the line. They know where to be and where to take off. If you are not catching the wave move closer to the curl. If you are getting pitched on your take offs move a little closer to the shoulder but not to much or you may not catch the wave. Practice doing pop ups at home on the floor. You go from lying down on the floor with your hands not to wide and do a fast push up and pop up to your feet in a surfers stance all in one motion. Go back down to lying down and repeat till you can do like 20-30 of these smoothly with good form. You want to keep your back straight like sitting in a chair (kind of like basketball defensive stance) hunching over will cause you to lose your center of balance and you will be fighting just balancing on your board instead of going down the line and gaining speed. You have to feel it. Do continue to try hard and catch lots of waves and stay persistant and you will get it. If you really want it. One other thing I see a lot of beginners do and was mentioned earlier is they are way to far back on their boards. You want to move forward to get your board planing on top of the water quickly when you are taking off on a wave. Then when you arch your back a little it should pull the nose of your board up just enough to keep it balanced as you are paddling. If you are to far back you are pushing water and making it more difficult for yourself. I hope something in here will help you! Good Luck and keep surfing! I think the longboard skateboard will help you as well.

Tony
http://safaritownsurf.com

[dosel83]

I'm working on all the things mentioned above* I think it might take me little bit of time
I'll let you guys know once I feel like I'm at the next stage , thanks much
Andy

[dosel83]

Hello guys, some updates here. So I've been surfing about 1 year and 8 months now, twice a week in average. Thank you guys for all the tips, it helped a lot to stay motivated. Between the last post to now, I did make some progress, actually probably big progress, thanks to helpful people here again. I caught some nice waves about chest to head high, mostly just going down the line. And I can do some pumps to generate speed on some smaller waves which is also lots of fun. I've been surfing a lot of reef/point breaks lately and it really is making my surfing more enjoyable, only downside is it gets challening because take off spot, being consistent, often gets real crowded. I'm hoping to get some advice on how to increase my wave count as it will also Improve my surfing. I actually read some articles on web, but I was also curious to know if there were any pointers you guys have found really useful from your personal experience. Thank you !! Andy

[SoCalSurfing]

Someone else had posted this but this guy does a good job explaining things, should help or be a good review!

http://www.surfsimply.com/podcast/