High waves: What am I doing wrong ?

[m3csl]

I have no problem catching waves up to waist height. The problem starts when the sea is higher than that.
I paddle to catch the wave but then it feels like an abyss is created below me with a steep cliff and I cannot catch it.
Than in most cases I just turn back (or fall down the cliff in the worse cases)
What am I doing wrong?
Is it just fear that takes over me ? (although it seems to me that the cliff is steeper in the higher waves while in the lower it is much friendlier)
Or is there actually a different technic for the higher waves.
(And by higher wave I mean just over waist to shoulder height and not the monstrous waves.)

[dtc]

Is it just fear that takes over me ?

This. You seize up, stop paddling, try to slow down, try to get things under control

But - for my usual analogy - its like riding a bike. If you go slower, its harder.

To catch a wave you need to paddle and paddle hard and commit. Its scary - you want things to go slower, let you get your head around what is going on, feel comfortable. But it just doesnt work that way. Slow down and things will go wrong. But go hard and you will catch it and things will actually come together. You have to want to get the wave, want to go down that slope.

The technique isnt any different from smaller waves; although perhaps you have to paddle a bit faster because bigger waves tend to move faster.

[oldmansurfer]

The bigger the wave the faster the water is moving up the face and the harder you have to paddle for it. When fear gets into the picture then you may tend to try to take off from a safe place (on the shoulder) which makes it more difficult to take off. So try to get deeper into the lineup and paddle harder. I have ridden really big waves and they are sometimes incredibly hard to take off on. I learned to just go down deeper into the lineup and eventually I can find a place that allows me to takeoff. When waves are double overhead and I am paddling to take off, if I catch myself hesitating to go I stop and paddle back out for the next one. On smaller waves the consequences are smaller but you still want to give yourself the best chance of catching it so don't hesitate the sooner you get into the wave the less steep the drop will be.

[BaNZ]

I have the same problem when it is overhead. Which always ends up badly. I paddle for the wave, push my chest up and look down the giant slope. Wet myself but lower body is already in the motion of popping up, I hesistate and quickly get back down but by then it is too late and I'm sliding down the slope. Usually face plant and do a somesault down the wave looking like an idiot. Then I try and cover my head from getting smacked by my own board.

I have my own ways of getting pass this. 1. Don't look back at the wave when you start to paddle, just commit and go for it. 2. Take off at a bigger angle, harder to paddle but I find that it gives me more time to popup.

[oldmansurfer]

well BaNZ for me if I am popping up it's all in for me already. I have commited and there is no backing down. I am not stopping for nothing including getting pitched over the falls.

[waikikikichan]

Where you look, is where you go. If you want to go to the right, look right ( good thing ). But if you down into the abyss, where do you think you'll go........ down of course. Right before your hands begin to push off the deck , you need to be looking down the line. Your neck, shoulder, waist, knees and lastly feet will follow. If you look down, you will go down.

About paddling for a wave, I always check/glance again. Looking back only once, putting your head down and going for it seems brave. But the waves aren't like a swimming pool or highway with lanes. Waves change directions, curl and curve in and out. First thing we learn in Hawaii is to " never turn your back to the ocean ". Sure we have to turn our board and body away from the wave. But we still need to know what it is doing. Don't "blindly" just go for it.

[drowningbitbybit]

About paddling for a wave, I always check/glance again.

...and I don't
Okay, I do if its a large wave, or if there's a lot of traffic in the water, but assuming it's not a monster wave, I'll assess the wave, and then commit and paddle. I have a 'zen moment' where I stare down at the board and clear my head while I paddle and then, if I've timed it right, the wave arrives at just the moment of max paddle power and min distraction.

In reality, I'm pretty aware of what's going on around me, and I completely agree with the big waikiki, but I also agree with some of the surfers here that it's easy to spend too much time looking at the wave and getting intimidated when you should in fact be getting on with it

Think of it this way... the wave is going to catch up with me anyway, and as long as I'm sure I can make it (even if it closes out), I don't need to know how big it is

[drowningbitbybit]

One bit of advice...
If you're going for a big wave, paddle more... much more... than you think you need. You learnt it as a beginner - "Paddle! One more stroke!" - and you need to learn it again for bigger waves.
It all goes wrong if you stop paddling early and all goes surprisingly smoothly if you paddle right over the edge of the cliff face.
There will be a moment when you absolutely know you have caught it and suddenly the board will feel like it's floating but is perfectly stable, and by that point you should be halfway through your pop-up.

Easy

[oldmansurfer]

Interesting Dbb. I guess we are all surf different in some way. On good sized waves at some breaks the only way for me to catch them is to start paddling before the wave reaches me then as I feel the wave lifting me I paddle like crazy. But always I don't pop up till I am fairly sure I have the wave. I guess rarely it might be an air drop or something but I generally only make mistakes popping up to early on smaller waves. In those cases where I am paddling like crazy I am looking to the side and below me to see what the wave is doing but I don't look back. If I am not making good progress I may abort the takeoff or it may not matter and I will end up being pulled over the back and off the wave. I recently took off on a wave of consequence even though I was blinded by spray from an offshore gust as I was paddling. I felt the rear of the board lift and start to move forward and knew I had it so I stood up. It was really exciting to me because the break is often really steep and gets steeper quickly and I may have to adjust for it but that wave wasn't too bad as I was in a good position for it and got into it right away and also I figured once I stood I would be able to see. It's really quite amazing the split second decisions we make in those instances.

[dtc]

About paddling for a wave, I always check/glance again.

...and I don't

Yeah, I dont really look back much. I think you can 'feel' the wave and know where it is and adjust paddling speed etc. But, that said, I probably as a result pull out of a few waves I could catch because they 'feel wrong' (usually feel like 'dumpers' or close outs). Maybe I should look

[waikikikichan]

Guys, guys .... I didn't say LOOK back. I said I Check or Glance to see what the way is doing since the time I started to paddle. Of course at a beach break we're talking milli-seconds. I mainly surf reef breaks. But remember there is a difference. " I swear to God, Honey. I wasn't looking at that other girl ". ( maybe glanced )

[TowelCircus]

In "bigger waves" (depending on what you are used to) the only technique is "GO GO GO", take a beating then surf. The more committed you will be the more waves you will make, hesitate before paddle out, when you are in the line up you have to throw yourself in.