Personal Surfing Milestones...

[Big H]

I haven't seen a thread for this....so I'm starting one up for personal milestones. Beginners like me will have a lot more to share I reckon than old-timers who have seen and done it all, but I for one am interested in hearing about other people's milestones that they consider worthy of sharing.

So this week, probably around Thursday or Friday, I will pass 500 hours in the water since starting surfing about a year and a half ago.

I remember milestones along the way that were significant....paddle out back first time, first time on 1.5m swell, on 2m swell....stand up for the first time on an unbroken green wave....ride down the line first time....backhand down the line first time.....ride down the line the first time on a wave that was overhead (and walled up like h#%ll....nearly exploded I was so fired up!). So 500 hours down....interesting to see where the next 500 takes me since i've made tremendous progress in a lot of ways and am still a rank beginner in a lot of others....original goal when starting was basic competency, able to join average lineups around the island without stinking the place up and able to take my waves, get in and get down the line with a little style....it took 500 hours to reach that goal and here I am still feeling like I'm just beginning....so bit between the teeth, I'm pressing on because that goal of basic competency might have been enough before this surfing thing took hold but I'm a full on addict now and I don't see or want an end to the road.....

[BoMan]

Beginners like me will have a lot more to share I reckon than old-timers who have seen and done it all, but I for one am interested in hearing about other people's milestones that they consider worthy of sharing.

First of all, I don't consider you a beginner. You write honestly and give specific advice that has helped me a lot. When pressed for time, I often scroll to your posts first.

Like many folks on this forum, I surfed as a young man and took up the sport again. At 64, I have to relearn and practice the skills I never even thought about "back in the day." What was once intuitive and easy is now a challenge that I look forward to every day.

To your milestone list I would add landing a floater. When a small section closed out, I would always turn into shore and slow down in the flats or lose the wave. Now I try to climb over the curl and float back down which adds speed and FUN to the ride!

[oldmansurfer]

This time around I am at best guess slowly approaching 300 hours although not too sure exactly how many hours. My next milestone would be getting completely tubed this time around, meaning so the the front of my board wouldn't be visible from the beach (and make it back out again) and this time around meaning I have done that countless times when I surfed as a younger man. Either that or doing a 360 carve turn which would be the first time ever if I do. You can bet if either of those happen I will be here telling you all about it hopefully posting a video too. Heck I'm stoked just getting a closeout tube or a floater or just making a solid turn. So BoMan are you saying you did your first floater? Or are you still trying?

[Big H]

Today I watched a grom, maybe 8 years old do a 360* carve floater......


....I hate those kids.....

[waikikikichan]

It took me 3 years to learn how to nose ride.

[BoMan]

So BoMan are you saying you did your first floater? Or are you still trying?

Yep. I've done it but there have been many times when the wave or my skills didn't cooperate and I got crushed. The storms have finally passed and I will try again tomorrow... I can only dream of doing what you do!

[RinkyDink]

I had a milestone today. I never got physically tired. I could have stayed out for another 2 hours if the waves had been worth sticking around for. As it was, the onshore wind was throwing spray in my eyes the whole time, the waves were blown out, and the surf conditions just weren't much fun. I actually decided to go home and work out instead of dealing with the stinging in my eyes for another two hours. At this stage in my surfing, I'm more concerned about getting strong than I am about surfing technique. I am happy with my surfing, however. I pretty much nail my popups every time I take off and I get short rides consistently. My turns are developing, but the waves I'm catching are so weak that it's hard to really get the speed I want to turn effectively. My problem lately is that I just haven't been getting good waves to practice on. My wave choices are pretty much white water or 1-3 foot mush on the inside or 5-8 foot closeout carnage on the outside. I'm just waiting for that perfect Wavestorm day to roll through. I'm thinking about taking a trip down to Mondos in Ventura and checking out the foamielicious waves down there

[oldmansurfer]

Yep. I've done it but there have been many times when the wave or my skills didn't cooperate and I got crushed. The storms have finally passed and I will try again tomorrow... I can only dream of doing what you do!

I am probably only a little ahead of you in wave riding skill but perhaps my wave reading skill is better. Floaters seem to be about timing and boards? not sure about the board thing but long ago I used to do floaters successfully only when I was going really fast which depended on the wave. If I wasn't full tilt my success rate was low. Now it's like if I time it right most likely I will make it. I will hit the lip and go over the back of the wave and come down the lip negotiate the whitewater and turn on the flats in front of the whitewater then think "Wow! Did I just do that?" even though I have done a lot of floaters. I have already done more floaters this time around then I ever did before even though I put in hundreds of times more hours in the water before.

[Big H]

It took me 3 years to learn how to nose ride.

That is still a future anticipated stone for me....

[oldenglish]

Pretty much every year I've said I want to start getting barreled. It doesn't happen, local beach break isn't the easiest to find barrels in. There are plenty of days that you can find them but they usually aren't very user friendly. With that said, every year I aim to take off later and steeper and I feel like I achieve this every year. I also want to get more fluid rail to rail every year and I think I achieve it as well. Seems those 2 things are something every surfer can try to improve on for the remaining time they surf. More surf trips is another goal lol.

[312T4]

500hrs?
when did you start again?

I started end 2011. I surf in the weekends. For ages I coulndt last longer than 2 hours, plus every month there's a weekend (at least) I'm busy or with poor conditions..
Plus I had surgery and stayed on a couch watching tv for 6 months..
So that means that today I'm at around 240hrs of practice.

My milestoes are pretty clear in my head. And they were all fantastic.Yes, first rides on whitewaters, first green wave, first understanding of where to put my feet to be able keep the ride on..

At this stage I'm trying to transform my turns into real carving. I'm using a lonbboard btw. It's coming together. Little by little.

I think I'm as any other average surfer around me now, but I know that there are so many things out of my reach that keep me at beginner level.. but not a problem!

[benjl]

I suppose I've gotta put two things:
1). Being able to ride something as small as 5'6 when two months ago I thought anything under 5'10 was just ludacrous! My 6'1 feels like a longboard now hahaha.
2). Doing a big carving turn on a 1.5ft wave today as a quad and seeing a heavy dose of spray going over the back of the wave.
3). Doing my first aerial.. It will happen.. I've got the speed and pivot to get up the face with release now but it usually results in me going sky-bound and my biard staying on the wave.. Hahah just got to remember to hold it!

[oldmansurfer]

I like those milestones. I surfed a board that was around 5'3" it was a potatochip board that belonged to my brother. I hadn't started surfing yet and was kneeboarding at the time caught about 5 waves and got completely tubed on the first one. I was much younger and weighed 50 pounds less. I am not so interested in going smaller these days. Doing aerials has to do with the direction of the wind..... but I will add in my list of milestones doing a big carving cutback and then surfing back through the roostertail I kicked up which I used to do frequently long ago

[Big H]

Alright, so I just had another one....this was a goal I'd set for the year so since I've done it I've got to keep on it and maybe I'll do one on purpose.......

So the milestone is I got properly barrelled and made it out the other end!

...thing is it was an accident, or rather it just happened......

Riding a right on the east coast, on the sets it was jacking up pretty good....have to be careful on this wave as the peak is really small....really sucky wave and the reef is nearly exposed at lower tides right under the peak....a few meters out to the shoulder and you don't make the wave....anyway, on days it breaks there is a queue for the peak, single service only....it's a right and it was a decent size today, about head height, and the wave was really hollow since the tide was pretty low.....been practicing backside lately so I dropped in and angled into the wave pretty quick, I felt awkward and looked at my feet really quick and at the same time I felt the wave tickle my neck....so I squatted down low and bam, I am looking at the inside of the wave and then just like that i'm back outside, on the wave and it's over.....I'd been getting into barrels on my frontside the last couple of days, but they would close out....this was a different break and much easier to make it out.....

Good times!

[benjl]

Damn you big H, you bet me to it!! Awesome work bud!
Have you told the wife yet and what was her response?

[Big H]

No sharing with the missus....it's a don't ask don't tell agreement....she can't really swim very well, is sure the ocean is full of sharks and killer rip currents etc......last time I told her how high the waves were on a 1.5OH day her only response was "don't forget you have a family".

[benjl]

That's better than my gf's response..
I told her I made it out in 6-8ft waves last weekend and she was like is that big? I said it was the biggest waves I've even seen in person and she was just like 'oh ok' haha

[Big H]

Definitely a bigger deal to me than to her....but strangely not that big a deal at all....just was like going down the line squatted then the sun blocked out for a moment....have to get deeper and bigger and see what that's all about.

[Big H]

First proper hang 5 today.....waist to shoulder high soft waves and was perfect for it.....I've pulled off cheater 5's before and gotten up to the nose then wiped out....this time I managed to get up to the nose area, was really solid, more solid than usual underfoot so I took one more step and got 5 over the nose and had the next foot about a foot back.....I froze for a moment before I could get all 10 and felt the board start to bog so I stepped back to the tail a couple steps until I got things going again...then it was over....first time I was able to stand tall and hang 5 then recover and ride a bit more rather than wiping out immediately......


Had several today that ended abruptly with me plowing the nose into the water and then quickly getting thrown forward.....that one time was good though....

[RinkyDink]

I figured it would happen one of these days and yesterday it did. I slammed my head into the reef. Now that I got it out of the way, I'm hoping it doesn't happen again. My lesson? If you're out on a long session, don't forget that low tide can sneak up on you.