HELP!!! Duck diving

[S34N]

Help !
Need help duckdiving, I've been surfing for 20 years and I've never been able to get it right.
I'm sick of getting hammered so I'd appreciate some advice.
I can sink my board pretty deep, but the problem is that in a thick wetty I float.
I get the board under but can't get myself under, when I try to go under the board just floats to the surface and I get nailed.

[DreamSurf]

could u sketch a situation on paper. (draw) theres a guy here who can help u in details. the waikiki miyagi san. LOL but seriously he knows where to adjust it

[waikikikichan]

Well, if the thick wetty is preventing you from submerging, then that's the problem I guess. But you said you can get the board pretty deep...... is that the whole board flat/horizontal under the water or just the nose ? Is you back leg fully straightened out at it's max depth ? Other people in cold climates can duck dive, people in Hawaii can duck dive their 9 foot longboards. I am sure there something missing out of the equation to your duck dive technique. More info is needing, like how you do each step of the duck dive.

[kookextraordinaire]

How thick is your wetsuit? In the winter here I wear a 6/5/4 but I've never noticed vast differences in flotation. Wetsuits are designed to go underwater. Terrible technique is what held me back for years.

Are you paddling towards the wave before you dive? This makes a huge difference. Imagine trying to swim past an obstacle in a pool. You can't just sink in a stationary position, you need to dive down and forward to get underneath and swim past it. On a surfboard you need to be going pretty quickly (I find) to pull off a good duck dive.

Hope that helps. A duck-dive under a big wave in clear water (with eyes open) is one of my favourite things about surfing.

[Big H]

Never surfed in a wetsuit but lots of time diving in one....they definitely have float to them and need to counter with weights in your weight belt....

That being said, never seen a weight belt for surfing, and like WKK said, there are plenty of cold water surfers who seem to be able to duck dive. I would blame technique....there are ways of ducking big boards....just need to know how and be good at it. WKK is the man with the "hows"....describe what you're doing and he'll straighten you out. I learned by youtube, watching others, trial and error and something that WKK mentioned before about opening your eyes and getting under the white cloud....after that it was a lot easier as I had a target I could see to avoid.

[YungGrom]

Hey man I was in the exact same issue Until I recently got a new board (JS Lowdown 5.8), So yeah you went to a shorter and lighter board as the board you must've been riding could've been a thicker board as that's what most beginners start off with. You just need to paddle and do a push-up and submerge but try time it perfectly. You will feel the wave pass under you and then it's time to come up, Just practice it isn't about how strong you are its technique, I'm a scrawny 13 year old and blamed it on my physical attributes but really its how you do it good luck