Crazy bad days in my surfing

[Thedudeabides]

I surfed point today with 40 other guys but i was on my game, i was catching so many waves and doing big turns spraying everyone on the way, i hope it doesn't go back to kooking popups.

[oldmansurfer]

Well if you see Sebastian Zeitz (from Kauai) tell him all of Kauai wishes him luck and if you see John john and Freddy Patachia tell them Hawaii fans wish them well also. (I've never met them but I watch all the meets online and cheer for them)

[Thedudeabides]

I saw john john at the supermarket and i surfed with his mum this morning

[oldmansurfer]

So is John johns mom a good surfer?

[Thedudeabides]

She longboards and can hang ten, that's all i know

[oldmansurfer]

Just a couple more days to go. Hope the surf cooperates for the contest.

[Thedudeabides]

The surf seems to have cooperated for the contest!! I'm pretty stoked to have been working at it and have good conversations with the pros, i had a couple of good days in a row with some big turns and nice barrels, followed by yet again some absolutely tragic surfing!

[oldmansurfer]

Jealous. Those waves looked awesome and it must be cool to see all the pros and try to glean some bits of info from them. So is it still the popup problem? I don't know what is going on with you but I was inconsistent for a while and not making any progress for a while. I had a recent breakthrough in my surfing when I started doing exercises to loosen up my hips. I used to be a fairly decent surfer long ago and since I restarted I had not progressed as much as I had hoped (I guess it's that way for everyone ). Anyway I stated doing this stretching exercise where I push my hips around in a circle as far as they can go so push my butt backwards then bring it around to the right side as far pushed out as I can and then around to forward then to the other side something like if you were going to hula hoop but more exaggerated. I noticed immediately my sense of balance improved as well as my turns. Maybe you need to loosen up a bit so you can get your hips into the turns and stuff.

[Big H]

I'm pulling up an older thread rather than start a new one on the same thing.......

I don't have the problem of the OP to the same extreme plus he's a lot better than I am I'm sure.....

Grousing to myself all the way back from the beach today....waves were good, it was crowded....I blew all but one wave one way or another and I KNOW that it was entirely mental.....didn't get much sleep last night but not overly tired.....yesterday I was in a zone, so confident, felt like I could do anything....was surfing as good as I ever have yesterday and had a 45min space of time where in the zone I could catch early, late and doing manuevers without thinking, some of which surprised me as they were pure reactions in the moment.....it was awesome! I was getting hoots and shakas from all the boyz....they were stoked that I was was going so good.....I even got a sloppy shore break barrel that was not really hollow enough to call a barrel, but I rode in, got covered and then emerged standing from the wave as it closed out.....more hoots.

Today I went to a break where rather than the supportive environment of my home break surrounded by guys I surf with regularly, and going into the water I felt self-conscious going in.....later I would count 46 people in the water (ding ding....season is here!)....to get a wave I had to fight really dirty back paddlers, clueless drop ins, clever blockers and pigs that would go to the head of the queue every time and try to take every wave.....anyway, i got a little nasty and got some waves but just sucked....I moved off the main peak shattered and set up in a relatively empty section all the newcomers didn't know about (can't make this section from the main peak......ever) and caught some waves with no one close by.....sucked again.....it all felt wrong....my timing, my confidence.....I could feel myself tightening up and it made everything off and awkward....

Not the first time and I'm under no illusion that I'm alone in having bad surfs.....nothing chonic like this thread's OP, but frustrating all the same because if I lose it between the ears its hard to rally....I haven't had to really battle for waves like I did today for months....that's part of the problem....so it's time to get my game face together.....maybe if I'm prepared before cresting the hill and seeing the break loaded with sunburned newcomers with go pros all frothing for every single wave that passes, maybe if I'm prepared for that next time I'll be better able to deal with it.......


All the same, bad surf is a bad surf......annoying, frustrating and the worst part is that I can't wait to get back out there to prove to myself that it was a fluke not a trend...... :lol;

[oldmansurfer]

I have off days but mostly of due to no good surf or not too long ago from wearing a helmet mounted gopro. I feel like I am making progress but need some waves to test that theory on On the plus side my tiny wave riding skills are definitely improving. I guess for me there is an underlying assumption that it is just a matter of time for me to get better.

[mjames]

I definitely have some weird anxiety when people are watching me from the shore, not sure why but I start over thinking everything and get frustrated. When I'm out in the water with others I don't get the same feeling, not sure why. It's not like I have anything to prove by going down the line on my longboard.

[pmcaero]

It's like, on a bad day, my whole judgement of the waves is off, i trip on my board when getting up or my feet are completely out and all my normal wave riding is completely impaired.

Maybe electrolyte deficit from sweating in your wetsuit? I found out that even if I hydrate with water plenty, sometimes towards the end of the sesh or after I feel really loopy. Sport drinks seem to alleviate this.