I think I might be a kook

[justloafing]

..there are like 3 beaches in this country where over the last three years the locals must be like .. "dude.. here he comes again " .. im guessing the only reason no one gives me any crap about my painfully annoying lack of ability ..is the fact that i walk into the water humble and sometime later!.. walk back out again humble... but with a bigger smile

That about says it perfect. I don't care how good I get(I always want to progress) but I think I will always be humble and with a smile.

[Otter]

You guys are more than half way there... Humility is an important part of life's lessons that can be learned from surfing. You've chosen the correct path's grasshoppers... Others choose the dark path of arrogance.

[Otter]

justloafing,
You go for it brotherman! It's desire more than anything else that matters in learning to surf. If you want it bad enough, you'll get it. I know, I wasn't real fast at learning myself, but once you get it... You'll hit this certain point where you'll know that you belong in the lineup with the other "good" surfers. Keep the stoke Brah!

Yep it is desire. I have recently found out my board is probably not the easiest board to learn on (9' 0" Infinity Nose Rider). On the other hand I can feel now I am getting oh so close being able stand and ride on a consistent basis. I have made front turns and yesterday tried a backside turn. I think the wave ran out of power or something. The nose of my board started to wiggle and the wave(knee/thigh and soft) seemed to go by me. Why was the nose wiggling(left to right). My best guess it was my balance was off.

You probably turned a bit to sharply. Many times as the wave rolls toward the shore, if you turn after a take off, it will simply roll by underneath you because you've turned to hard and over the lip. Try cutting back and dropping in on the wave again. May help get you a longer ride.

[Jimi]

I'm no expert justloafing, but it sounds to me like you stalled your board by turning too hard or with your weigh too far back. I get the nose wiggles when my board speed is a bit too slow and I'm out wide of the steep bit of the wave, so I can't regain speed by running down the face.