How do I get past the waves?

[Gagewell]

Hello, I would first like to state that I am fairly new to surfing. Through out the last couple weeks I have been having issues getting out past the waves. I am 5'1" and 130lbs, and I am using a 7' Funboard. I have tried duck-diving but i can get the board down under the water and I have also tried to turtle roll, but every time I try that the wave just throws me. So any advise at all of what I should do or practice doing would be greatly appreciated.

[oldmansurfer]

Are you surfing alone? If so it sounds like this is not a break fro you to go out at. If there are other out there watch what the other beginners who ride boards too big to duck dive do If there are no beginners ridding boards that they can't duck dive then it's not the break for you.
There are many ways to go through surf. Things I do is first before going out I watch the break and look at where the waves are breaking and where they are not and I figure out approximate lineups or areas on the shoreline that are next to that part of the break so that I can find those spots when I get out. I also watch for currents, rocks, floating debris, other surfers and I make a plan on how I will get out and back in. One thing you don't want to do is paddle straight out to the break. For one thing if there are other surfers out you will get run over and make them mad. The other reason you don't is because you have to paddle the whole way out through breaking waves. What you want to find is a place to the side of where the other surfers are and is the shortest safest way out past the breaking waves. Often there is a rip current going out right to the side of a break and you can use this to help you out, just remember if there is one this is not the place to come in. Quite often I paddle out 50 yards over from where I want to surf

Number 1 rule is to be safe. If you aren't sure you can handle the conditions don't go out. If you are just learning have friend along or surf where there are lifeguards. Ask them about currents and dangerous stuff there.

Number 2 rule is don't be where the waves are breaking. You will get pounded and you might be in the way of the other surfers. How to avoid this is look for a channel where you can paddle out without getting hit by the waves and then can paddle over to the break. If no such thing exists the look for areas in the break that have breaks in the waves or smaller breaks and make a map in your mind of how you will go out in those areas only. In all the break you have to go out through you can time it between sets. Wait until there is a beak in the waves then paddle like mad to get through that area where the waves break but before they start to break.

Often there is a safety factor built into the ocean. If you can't paddle out you can't handle what is out there anyway.. If you manage by accident to get out to the break then once you catch a wave you will be right back in the same predicament. You need to work on your skills and paddling.

[oldmansurfer]

Here is something else I wrote about it https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23640

[waikikikichan]

"Meet Power with Power". The wave is the running back, you are the defensive linebacker. If you just stand there, he will run you over.

Don't just wait for the white water to hit you. Paddle full speed to it and at the very last moment turtle roll. Grab near the nose, flip over, pull deck down to your head, Kick like hell with your legs.

Oh, and do what Turtle says from the movie North Shore.

[Tudeo]

Maybe a successful turtleroll is also dependent on the lenght of the board? I had the same problem as OP with my 7'9" where a rented 8'2" made the turtleroll feel easy in about the same size waves.

[jaffa1949]

Turtle rolls; crunchy and really chewy to eat

[oldmansurfer]

I used to do turtle rolls with my 6'10" board. It works much better at keeping you from getting the full force of the wave that is about to break on you than a duck dive but once the wave has broken then a duck dive becomes reasonable. I would turtle roll because I surfed without a leash and wanted to hang onto my board. Now if a large wave was going to break on me I would abandon the board and swim to the bottom (but not right in front of another surfer). A smaller wave and I still turtle roll.

[Big H]

You have to be smart....find the path of least resistance....watch how others get out....you have to be proficient at turtle rolls, duck dives, duck dips, and paddle fit....but it's the brain more than anything....even if it means going way around then back to where you want to be then so be it....paddling right down the bowls in the height of a set would be an example of not using your brain to get out back....catching the rip 200yds down the beach then paddling into position once beyond the breaking waves would be an example of being smart. But you need that paddle fitness....either for going at the throat or for the scenic route, it all rests in your shoulders.....

[billie_morini]

It may sound mean, but it is a reality. "If you can't paddle through the waves, you have no business out back."

[Big H]

My father gave me the same tough love logic when I was a kid and asked him to lift me into a tree....said if I couldn't get up on my own I had no business being in that tree....

....call it a natural filter....

[oldmansurfer]

My parents didn't want me climbing trees or surfing. Somewhere about the time I turned 18 they decided that surfing might be safer than the things I was doing so they bought me a surfboard.

[billie_morini]

My Ma had a nutty rule when I was a kid. She did not want me to climb into trees at heights greater than the roof of our house. This was ignored by me, but remember being told.