Board getting looser the more I surf it?

[benjl]

Hey guys, I can confirm that nothing has changed with the tide times or anything like that. As mentioned- I haven't consistently had this problem before aside from about the same time I noticed my board had taken in some water.

I just don't seem to get that breif feeling of when the wave has you and know it's time to pop up moment anymore. Today I struggled to even get on to many wave faces and constantly got stuck at the top. After 3 hrs of frustration, I jumped on my 6'2 and got that split second more of an early pop up before the wave gets too critical.

I made a couple of drops but also got smashed on a few too. On one (I'm not sure what happened) but I ended up free falling separately from the top to the trough of the wave.

Re. The bails, sometimes if I lean too far forward I'll get the front of the board stuck under the wave and get the back lifted up behind me (flipped). Some times it might be rail over rail? It seems more often that I might just get to my feet and then the wave will close out behind me and I'll get flipped.
I feel as though the board used to get me earlier on to the wave though so this never really happened?

[jaffa1949]

All boards should have a name, this one should be named after a famous French artist, with a little Whaikikamukau added.
So TOOLOOSE Lautrec is now your board's name. So should be head over heals with this naming

[oldmansurfer]

How often do you surf? Boards that have more tail rocker get less push off the wave as you take off. Boards with more tail rocker require less force to turn. Boards with more tail rocker fit the shape of the wave better. Boards with more tail rocker are slower at planing speed. So maybe you need to get a little more forward on the board when you paddle? I don't know but that would be my guess. Try bigger fins would be another modification that would make it less loose and slower.

[benjl]

@jaffa- hahahaha! Unfortunately I don't know artists very well so had a quick google and that is hilarious. Deal.. The 6'3 is now clef tooloose Lautrec and will refer to it as such

Any suggestions for my 6'2?

Re. Back to my board queries, I consistently surf 1-2 times a week. I also train 3-4x a week and am fit as anything so I know it's not my fitness or paddling that should be causing this.
As mentioned, I've never consistently had this problem until I noticed the board had taken on water. How would I know if there's still water in there?

[dtc]

I think the water in board is a red herring. Water makes the board weaker and heavier. But on its own a heavier board should make no difference to catching waves; as you will appreciate board are all different weights anyway even if the exact same dimensions (eg one might have heavier glassing). Epoxy boards can be much lighter.

Unless you can actually feel the board is noticeably heavier or unbalanced I don't think it's a factor (except maybe in your mind).

I still go back to timing and positioning. If you are trying to surf both boards the same way (ie from the same start point and same paddle timing), even unconsciously, then you will have to stop and realise that the boards have to be surfed differently despite being superficially similar. Just like a 7ft requires different positioning to a 6'6; a rockered board requires difference to a flat board.

The fact you can easily surf your 6'2 but struggle on the 6'3 suggests you are trying to surf the 6'3 as if it was your 6'2, despite there being differences. At that size, small differences can mean big differences in how they surf.

Try this next time. Go to where you think you should be positioned then move 3m further toward the beach. If that doesn't work, go another 3m. Start paddling at the same time as you would normally