HAND WEBS....

[oldmansurfer]

There is no point to anything I say. I am just a rambling old fool

[Big H]

OMS I like your insights....just trying to tickle a conversation out of this thread....webs and gloves are hard on the arms and shoulders and I would say that good paddle technique and ability to catch waves well without gloves or webs would be recommended prerequisites....but if you know how to catch waves you can then exploit the advantages of increased paddle power if your arms and shoulders are up to it. That's my stance.....but I know that there is a commonly held belief that these aids are for kooks only among a lot of the surfing population......I want to hear the whys behind that belief.... Definite pluses and minuses, including if you compete why practice with them if you have to take them off for comps, but for instance, when it is firing and you select s gun or big step up to be able to get in early, why not the webs too? I was getting into waves so early it felt like the board was flat yesterday....because of that I was able to tuck deep in and got more speed on that wave than any other before....the whole board was humming....also able to have extra time to cross step practice....I keep pushing because I value all of your opinions and would like to better understand the boos behind this taboo.

[oldmansurfer]

I guess my thoughts would be they aren't likely to be a benefit to most people. It seems to me that somewhere along the way they would be getting used by surfers more than they are especially since surfers are such a superstitious lot and yet they aren't???? Must be some reason why. You are the only person I ever heard of using them and saying good things about them so maybe they give you some benefit? I have only heard bad things about them but again surfers are a superstitious bunch so perhaps that means squat. Maybe you need to use them long enough to build the muscles necessary to make them useful and to get used to them? I would guess though that careful regular use should build your shoulder and arm muscles due to more stress and that should help with your normal paddling without gloves.

[waikikikichan]

I've notice most people that can "paddle", don't wear gloves. I've seen a lot of the people wearing gloves are beginners or aren't the fastest paddlers at the break or old timers with a slower turn over rate. Big H, you are an exception. Your experience and environment is different from those I viewed.

3 things to catch a wave. Power, Position and Timing.

Power includes the size/volume of the board/rider and his/her paddling/inertia. Webbed gloves increase the surface area of water you're pushing back, thus supposedly increase your Power. But again can the motor behind it push those bigger tires ?

Of the 3, Timing and Position are more critical than Power. When someone wears webbed gloves or is huffing/puffing grinding teeth next to me trying to catch waves, I like to do this..........

( but again Big H is dealing with 40+ kooks dropping in, so Position goes out the door in his case )

[Tudeo]

Some time ago I was thinking of trying webbed gloves but got turned off from all the negative stories I was reading about it. I'm glad I didn't go that way cos I noticed, getting more surfing experience, position and timing are so much more effective than brutal power. The no paddle takeoff Wingnut is showing here above (Thx waikikikichan) is the ultimate.

Especially the older surfers get much more benefits from increased timing and position skills, it's so much more easy on the body.

Going the brutal power way, for whatever reason, results in lesser finesse in surfing. This could be the reason why experienced surfers don't like the webbed gloves and look down on peoples using them.

[billie_morini]

I like the black glovey ones! They look spooky!

[Big H]

Last time I was out i got a one hand take off...had the webs but just pushed once with my inside hand and was in.....pretty cool....then came back to that position and there were 10 people who had set up there seeing that was the perfect take off spot....so if I can have something that will allow me to set up WAAAAAY out of position then either race into position just before the set arrives (OK, but still tags the takeoff spot for the onlookers who will populate that area after I catch) or better yet appear to take off from a spot but using hand webs and longboard actually be horribly out of position but able to recover into a catchable location or just raw speed generation to get into an otherwise uncatchable wave at that spot.....worked well and my take off "tags" had the followers in the lineup scattered and all out of position for awhile....

In soccer players use feints and "moves" to create space for themselves, have time to either pick a run or thread a pass.....same deal....

I saw a video where a guy was talking about using gloves like the spooky black ones for big waves....said it made a difference for him but albeit hard on the shoulders and to use with caution....

I'm going to take it easy with them, use them in the super crowded fat days / periods and maybe for 15min a sesh for a shoulder and arm workout....I can feel the muscles today from using the gloves....normally I don't have this kind of soreness after a sesh, but I can feel distinctly different muscle groups that were affected by the webs while I'm sitting here now a day after using them, mainly the muscle group that is just inside the elbows extending down to the inside forearm whichever that is. I can see the benefits, this is definitely one of the considerations and a caution to take it easy with them at first even if you have good paddle fitness.

....also be careful of paddling right through a takeoff zone .....these pick up speed quick and it's easy to get ahead and stay ahead of the wave through the area that you should be catching....


Bottom line, really hard to set up in the perfect take off position on a crowded peak....beautiful when it opens up but if you want waves here with or without gloves you need to not only be able to read where the optimal take off spot is, but to figure out how to use it without having to endure and win out a paddle battle for the wave with 2 to 6 people....putting the competition out of position one way or the other is the best way that I've found if they will bite and follow the traps laid for them.....

[jaffa1949]

I am an old fart, I use gloves but they do not do anything without positioning or timing. In fact if you have gloves and you can't catch waves with them/or without them, then you look particularly kooky.
For me they work well but I can do the same without too, including no paddle takeoffs.
Isn't the if it works well for you etc, fins gloves surfcraft and you are not a pain in the A to anyone else the world is as it should be
Also once you are up and riding gloves have nothing to do with it except if you hand stall.
Pleas no hand jive with gloves

[Big H]

In fact if you have gloves and you can't catch waves with them/or without them, then you look particularly kooky.

Yeah....if image is a concern then you definitely better be making waves if you have paddling aids....

[RinkyDink]

I think they're a great idea. They've been around for a while. I remember seeing them in surfer magazine when I was a kid. I really don't give a rip about the fashion show so many surfers are slaves to. If something makes sense to you, then try it and use it if you like it. Don't let fashion stop you from innovating your way to better performance. I love surfing, but I can't stand all of its testosterone fueled viciousness and conventionality. I'm quite happy to ignore the fashion police out in the lineup. Those are the jocks who watch phony professional wrestling and couldn't care less about environmental conservation. I don't waste time worrying about their opinions. There are too many interesting people surfing. Why concern yourself with the opinion of dullards?

[Big H]

After the last post I lost them in the back of the car somewhere.....if you saw the back of my car you'd understand....

Anyway, putting another set in the pocket for this afternoon....was fat and mushy yesterday, should be able to get in early to the waves well before feathering and have some long, albeit slow and mushy, rides today with the big board....good day to practice waking the board....

[Surf Hound]

Web gloves?.?.? Personally, I have never tried them thus I really don't have an opinion on paddle gloves. I like to keep my surfing simple as possible-- me, board, wax, fins and leash. I kinda wish leashes were never invented. Often I think without leashes the line up would be thinner and more friendly. Then I think about the swim I would have to take each time I fall and become thankful for the leg rope. Pro's and cons I guess. As far as gloves? If someone uses them, fantastic, I have no thoughts either way. If the guy is cool and shares waves with etiquette we will be just fine. To each their own but I do stay away from SUPers. lol

[waikikikichan]

Why concern yourself with the opinion of dullards?

Because wether they're a Newbie, Beginner-Intermediate, Kook, Pro-wannabe, or a Cool daddy-o big Kahuna, it's their opinion. Is it right ? Is it wrong ? Maybe, maybe not. But that's what a forum is for, to discuss and share our opinions.

[Big H]

So the report....there were about 40 at the break today, small and fat conditions....sets had about three or four rideable waves max, so not enough to go around at all.....break was sectioning, one defined first section with no chance to connect, second section if you caught the right wave the right way could connect to the third section then inside, and then some dumping down the bay where the raw newbies were catching waves, stand, ride, pounded.....

Plan worked well...used a longboard with the webs and was able to get into waves 20yards further out than the rest of the crowd, biggest board among them being a few mini mals and the rest shortboards....it was a mess anyway, most of the crowd was far enough along to catch a wave sometimes if they were in the right position but couldn't find the right position.....anyway, after I caught the first wave the pied piper game was on and wherever I would set up, one by one the sneaky b%##$%3tards would nonchalantly back paddle or otherwise pass me and take an inside position to wherever I sat....hahahahaha....too bad for them I was usually 40m out of position on purpose, either too far out or a combination of being too far out and off to one side or the other.....really easy to see where the wave breaks there, the water gets really smooth where the reef comes up so to paddle to a spot to catch is a piece of cake if you know what to look for.....anyhow, I counted the crowd I drew the third wave i was setting up for, 14 people tried to sneak to the supposed inside position, up from 12 on the previous wave......the joke was on them....using the webs and the paddle power of me together with the longboard it was like a motorboat and checking my watch for the intervals (5-6m between sets) I'd race to the spot just as the set arrived.....with no one in position there was no reason to let a wave go through unridden so I took a wave off most sets and had some great rides catching waves like an SUP....

The crowd definitely got what they were looking for, I got waves and my shoulders and forearms got a workout......good times!

[RinkyDink]

Why concern yourself with the opinion of dullards?

Because wether they're a Newbie, Beginner-Intermediate, Kook, Pro-wannabe, or a Cool daddy-o big Kahuna, it's their opinion. Is it right ? Is it wrong ? Maybe, maybe not. But that's what a forum is for, to discuss and share our opinions.

It's all good. I wasn't trying to cut off discussion. After thinking about it, however, if your equipment (even equipment you like) causes you enough embarrassment that you can't enjoy surfing, then I think it's probably best to nix that equipment.

[Big H]

I rocked the hand webs again today....waves were small, Saturday afternoon lineup was massive (50+)....I managed to get 10-12 long rides in the hour and a half I was out there by going further out and deeper than anyone else and paddling super hard and angling in.....a few people asked me where they could get them.....hah; I'll never tell! The lineup in the immediate area that I was catching moved outside as well....since I was the only one on a longboard and had hand webs, no one could actually catch out there but follow me they did anyway.....they figured it out and moved back inside and my rides were long enough that I was taking a wave ever other set as it took time to paddle back....so unlike the SUP that took two waves a set kicking out of the first so he could eat more, I was sharing by missing sets regularly.....good times!