how do you rate your level of surfing?

[dtc]

I've never done a 360 off the lip, but have done a few as part of the lip. I think that should count.

Actually I once did a 300 (or so) deg flip at the end of the wave - went up to the lip to go over the back, but hit it wrong and went backwards in a somersault still with the board and actually went past vertical and kept going. Unfortunately, the problem with a flip is that you either complete the full 360 or its a disaster, there is no 'good enough'.

[Big H]

I must say these are the best instructional video's I've found until now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecGYKLq ... tu&index=5

This is my favourite series:

[Tudeo]

This is my favourite series:

Very helpfull! Thx

I never did a floater. It was the surfsimply explanation of gained speed that made me understand how functional this move is, so now I really want to try it.

The 110% video shows the importance of a strong bottomturn to set up the floater, also the instructions for arm position are very helpfull

[Big H]

Arms are key for sure....

[Tudeo]

For sure..

[oldmansurfer]

I must say these are the best instructional video's I've found until now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecGYKLq ... tu&index=5

This is my favourite series:

Now this version shows a surfer who can generate speed and does the foam climbs as necessary maneuvers rather than maneuvers needed because you can't generate speed

[oldmansurfer]

I lied there was a time when I did a 360 of sorts long ago. I wrote about it before but you newbies haven't likely heard it so.... I copied and pasted this from the best wave thread.

Ok so I don't advise you go surfing when under the influence but I did on one occasion. I was drinking beer with a friend and we were soused and came up with the bright idea to go surfing. We went out at Kealia beach which was the usual spot for me at the time. It was stormy with waves faces about 10 feet big enough to be fun but not big enough to be scary. This was before the days of board leashes and I was surfing a right that ended in a closeout section. One of the things I did before board surfing was swimming on the swim team and we practiced diving also so I would ride the wave to the closeout then turn to the top of the wave and do a forward one and a half summersault from the top of the wave. Now I did this only when my friend was there to see it so he was in the impact zone and I did this in front of him. After I did a couple of them he begged me to stop because "You have to stop doing that. I am going to drown. I laughed so much when you did it I almost drowned. Please stop." I laughed and said I would try a back flip and he was like "NOOOO! Don't you hear me?? I am going to drown." I was like "Seriously?" He said "Yes Seriously." LOL well so I quit. I have a feeling he was drunker than me.

[zebroo]

Surf Simply levels are more about what you will be working on in lessons, rather than what you can do now. I went as a level 2 with no confidence but worked on level 3 stuff (cutbacks and floaters most prominent in my mind, cross stepping for longboard specific stuff).

As for the original post, I guess I class myself as advanced beginner. On my good days I may scrape in to the 'can surf' category. My brain knows lots of stuff, I can keep myself safe and know the rules... my body sometimes lets me down

[oldmansurfer]

Surfing is like art or music. The great thing is there’s no wrong way to do it. The only wrong way to do it is if you’re not having a good time.” (Laird Hamilton – Iconoclasts)

[oldmansurfer]

I guess that is another way to rate yourself by how much fun it was. With that rating it depends on the waves for me. The bigger or better the waves are the better of a surfer I am

[IanCaio]

OMS, I can imagine the scene and I probably would almost drown laughing too

Tudeo, guess the surfer there is pointing to the other surfer the safe path for him to paddle!

The truth is it seems for me unproductive to rate myself. I can call myself a beginner, an intermediate beginner, a kook. It doesn't help me anyway. There are so many things to take into account that we will have a thousand ways of classifing surfers (lots of them will be right at their own perspective). It's more productive to think about what is your next step, what you need to improve and, for your safety, what conditions you can handle (and how to go beyond). But in case people ask me, I'm a beginner

[oldmansurfer]

rating yourself as to your ability to handle conditions that is an important rating system. Can you handle it or not?

[oldmansurfer]

so to improve you need to rate your ability to do whatever maneuvers you want to learn or whatever conditons you want to learn to handle. I can see that maybe it is about being able to do what you want to do some personal goal you may have. That is basically what concerns me but I have no problem rating myself Truth is I was a much better surfer long ago so I alway have that hanging over me. In a way it is sad because I know I will never be that good again but I don't have a predetermined end as to how good I can get only that I am sure it won't be as good as before. But mostly this thread is for trying to figure out why people say they are whatever level they say they are.

[Tudeo]

I started thinking about my surfinglevel when I wanted to buy a new board and was using volume calculators on the web for board advise. I realise now, the art of knowing what is a good surfboard for u is a level in itself. Some experienced surfers can do that by just holding the board under the arm..

Tudeo, guess the surfer there is pointing to the other surfer the safe path for him to paddle!

Actually that was me 6 years ago at Medewi after a year of everyday surfing starting from scratch, and no guidance whatsoever. When I first saw that picture, and the sequence it's part of, I knew something was wrong but couldn't identify what it was.

After seeing the Surfsimply video (again surfsimply, I know..) about arm position, I looked up the old photo and understood what was wrong. Arm Position is firmly in my mind from that time, it's a basis for building the other maneuvers.

After trying to learn surfing without guidance, all these years, these lessons really resonated to me. I think a teaching works when it gives the right info in the right way at the right time. When Big H pointed me to the 110% video about floaters it also worked for me.

Actually in my never ending explorations of the internet about surfing I found and watched this video before, but at the time it didn't resonate. This time my mind was on Floaters and I really enjoyed and learned from it.

[oldmansurfer]

I think it is different for everyone but I don't do functional floaters very often. Mostly I do them for fun on the end of a closeout wave. Once in a while they are exactly what is needed but I guess it depends on where you are surfing. It is a fun maneuver to do (in my opinion). I sometimes think of doing a floater but the timing is off and there is no way to do it. I guess I surf fast breaking waves a lot and it all happens so fast there is no time to set up a floater and sometimes the wave is so big I think "Floater?....NOPE!". Start small and work your way up. When I used to longboard I did a delayed floater kind of thingy where I turned up onto the lip right in front of where the wave is breaking and I kind of stalled there or just stayed with the board pointing along the lip at the top of the wave. The wave would break under me and suck the nose of the board down the face and I would just go along with it and make a bottom turn at the bottom. Sometimes the lip would be hitting my legs as I drop down the face so it's a little different from the floaters I do now where I am riding the lip over the falls but it was a cool trick and felt really good to do. That is what I like about surfing. I'll do something and it makes me feel really good. Doesn't really matter if other people like it or not. I think lots of people need instruction to learn to surf better and wihout it they end up having to change their habits to get better but I figure as long as you enjoy yourself what else matters?

[Tudeo]

I figure as long as you enjoy yourself what else matters?

That's it basically. Everytime I paddle out I try to remember that, just being able to enjoy this is already such a blessing.

But still sometimes I can get frustrated when things don't go my way for whatever reason.

Other times after a satisfying surf I can just sit on the beach watching the waves in this, hard to find the words, Zen-like state? The peace and harmony of this feeling sometimes even withstand the crazyness of the Balinese traffic on the way home

About Floaters, I never even considered doing them. I reacted on the wave's section in a natural way of going around (under) them. Now I can see sometimes a whitewater climb or a floater is a better way to do it, if it brings the extra speed necessary for making the wave.

But u need a lot of speed to jump on top of the lip or whitewater. If u can see the section forming quick enough u got time to do a bottomturn for creating the required speed upwards. For more unpredictable sections it will be much harder to get over.

For now the floaters are in my mind, so maybe next time the wave offers an opportunity an attempt will happen. Or after my intuitive run under I think, hey!...

[oldmansurfer]

When I surfed before I first did a floater by accident. I was on a really fast wave with about a 6 foot face and just jamming big huge speed turns and a section pitched over in front of me but I had allready commited to hitting the lip and I hit right on the edge and continued on over the falls and made it around that section of the wave and did some other turns on the inside part of that wave. I was so amazed. It was just little more bumpy than riding the face of the wave but I had never seen anyone do one before. I only did them on fast breaking waves. Now I do them just for fun on closeouts because I like the way they feel.

[Big H]

A couple more that looked good:

...FWIW, squatting and compressing then extending up using the hands to pump upwards is the same as when you're riding a vert ramp if anyone is familiar with that....

....I know that skateboarding is scorned here since there are lots of newbies that think that their skating background will help them in the INITAL stages of surfing of which there are not many parallels (water safety, paddle strength and endurance, more paddling, more paddling.....) but coming out of a bottom turn and climbing to the crest is a very familiar feel for former skaters....cheers!

[oldmansurfer]

Notice in the second video it is a closeout maneuver. The surfer didn't gain any speed and couldn't continue on but there was nothing else to do except maybe a 360

[Big H]

Notice in the second video it is a closeout maneuver. The surfer didn't gain any speed and couldn't continue on but there was nothing else to do except maybe a 360

Hahahahaha......love it!