Yet another duck diving question

[scuba steve]

When i was surfing last week i went out on a flat day to practice my duckdiving on y 6ft fish. I thought i was getting the hang of it by going out as far as i could getting the whole board to the sand at the bottom. Then i realised i had hit another snag. I cant get my body under with the board deep enough for any effect and i just get pushed back by the waves. Its getting really annoying because i've reached a stage where i can confidently ride down the line of a wave, turn and do a basic cutback (unconfidently) but in bigger waves i find it really hard to get out to the lineup. I feel like I'm non-stop paddling and gettin no-where.

When exactly do you put your body under without the board coming back up?
Are you meant to go under whilst sinking the front of the board?

Please help

[trails surfing]

when i duck dive, i feel as if i'm going to do a flip, then i start to push back with my foot to leve out, and finaly when the wave is passing overhead i drop my body down extending the surfboard forward. it's feels funny but it's the most efficient method i have found. when the people who duck dived infront of me,resurface behind me i think i'm doing something right. another thing i ride a thruster so i think this makes it easier. hope you find a way to work it out, no being stuck on the inside.

[gdude335]

ya getting your body under is the hardest part. When you push down with your knee bend your arms and get your body under, just let one foot stick out, its really hard to explain but you should get it. It feels so great when you come back up from a succesfull duckdive, just going up and hearing the wave behind you.
ahhh i cant wait for this weekend!!!!!

[GowerCharger]

as the board angles nose down and starts to slide under you should slide under with it, when you get your foot on the tail and bring that down to level out as deep as you plan to go you can bend your arms and pull yourself down onto your board to get under as the wave passes.

[rich r]

Yeah - it's hard to break it all down.. but by the time the board is moving back up from the dive, you should basically be laying on your board in normal paddling position.

So, on the dive, you push down the nose, and you're diving after it, so your head should be going under water right after the nose goes under.

When you drive your knee/foot on the tail to begin your upward move, that should bring your board back in contact with your body, if you already haven' done so.

The idea is that you are using the momentum of the board to pull/push your body down under the wave. Imagine diving under the wave without your board. The path/movement should basically be the same.

[GowerCharger]

yeah, heres a way of looking at it that might make sense (i hope)- when your on the board it floats so you sink the nose and angle it down to break the surface, once the board is levelled out under water (after you kick the tail under) you can pull as hard as you like to get the board back up but it wont come up because the whole flat surface of the deck is held under by its own water resistance, it can go forward and backwards but it wont come straight up deck first very easily, so when you pull against it with your arms you go under instead of the board coming up. Try it in the shallows standing next to your board, sink the board a foot or so under and try to pull it straight up with the board still horizontal adn youll see what i mean.

Practice that while your sitting in the lineup while your waiting for waves - sinking the whole board under and pulling yourself down onto it, pretty soon youll be able to get completely undewater even without forward momentum. Of course during a duckdive you need to be more fluid and you want to be diving yourself as your sinking the tail like rich r said but that comes with practice once youve got the technique down. Then you can move onto diving deeper and deeper to get under those killer closeout sets and controlling the depth you dive to get under the wave without wasting energy.

getting good at duckdivng is a vital step in surfing cos it gives you access to bigger and better waves which in turn speed up the progress of all your skills.

[IdRatherBeSurfing]

how come you can get the board "all the way to the sand" but not get your body under is it a really shallow break or what

[dondiemand]

how come you can get the board "all the way to the sand" but not get your body under is it a really shallow break or what

exactly, you're probably not diving with the board..u should dive with the board..goodluck!!

[scuba steve]

how come you can get the board "all the way to the sand" but not get your body under is it a really shallow break or what

Its a normal beach break. What my problem was, was getting myself underwater as deep as the board without it floating back up.From the surface i could get my weight (I'm pretty light) over the board and push it down to the sand but when if folowed the board would come back up due to the buoyancy.

And thanks gower charger and rich that was really helpful especially the stuff about pulling yourself down onto the board when its flat. I think i was getting the angles wrong.

Cheers

[rich r]

When the board starts coming back up, you push the tail so it angles nose-up and shoots you forward. That's what it's supposed to do (the board coming back up due to buoyancy).

[scuba steve]

Yeh rich but the board was coming back up before i had gone down with it so i got no depth so couldnt get under the wave. But i solved the problem now and am getting the idea, basically i dont think i was diving with the board.