I was at a spot down close to SI yesterday and caught a few nice waves between 2-4.  Towards the end of my session I was really tired and having trouble getting into waves.  I moved inside a little and did OK getting on the shoulder, but when I tried to take off on the peak I got thrashed...hard.  Other than paddling harder, does anyone have any advice for making a wave that goes critical pretty quick?  My spanking was one of those scary moments where I was in freefall and my board was twisting below me and I landed on my board, fins down thank God.   I really hate ending a session like that.

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Jesus invented surfing...
Matthew 14:22-33

www.facebook.com/churchonthebeach

Absolute commitment and no hesitation on your part. I know it sounds a little cliche, but it is the truth. If you hesitate you are going to get thrashed every time in that situation.

 

this ^^^
nothing more need be said

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check it ! another ride
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I think we have a new breed of "armchair" hero, kennesawcon is an "armchair patriot"

Paddle a few extra paddles to get a little bit more into the wave... So you take off more towards the middle of the wave and not the top.

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Satellite Beach

"...Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true. "

for me it depends on whether you're taking off backside or frontside.  backside, grab the rail b/c you can either go for a cover up if the wave is getting that critical or you'll have the extra power of a grab rail in an initial bottom turn.  I dunno, it may look rank but it sure beats landing on your board, fins up next time or missing the wave and having every shoulder hopper drop in on you b/c they think you cant make the drop.

As far as front side, commitment and crouch like you're going to get barreled, its an easy enough transition to just stand up straight if the wave doesn't pitch out. 

I was surfing some "critical" 3-4 shorebreak at jup inlet two days ago and the serious backwash was making takeoffs that just throw you off your board or pitch you over the falls. 

Dig your tail in hard, bounce out, and paddle your ass off. Make sure that your hands (when standing up) or anything else for that matter don't drag in the water. If frontside, stand up, hook your arm in the wave and get shacked

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No your problem was that you took off on a close out... 

It's about positioning / wave feature just as much as paddle technique... Some waves you just will not... and cannot... make... For the "floor" drops out and then heave hoe, into the pit you go...


Selection...


my answer

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neeeeaaapp

But if you are on a real thumper, position and then yeah... Balls to the walls applies... 


Good advice to increase surfing:

"read the waves" ... Don't stare at your feet, stare down the line and project yourself to your pre calculated destination...


On a wave appropriate to ride you won't get drilled like you explained though... That's always due to the trough of the wave being lower than the water level! (Scary)  

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neeeeaaapp

Are you saying have my tail digging in while I'm paddling into the wave?  The more tired I get the more I move my weight to the front of the board to help get my momentum forward.  In general I favor leaning more forward (which feels like I'm paddling faster rather than being back too far).  I wonder if that is contributing to the problem?  

All the other feedback is great!  Keep em coming.  It's been about a month or two since I transitioned to a shortboard.  My mini-longboard seemed like I could drop into anything.  So I'm learning trial by fire on a shortboard.  I appreciate the input b/c I'm still in that early learning curve.  Thanks.

Today celebrates one year that I've been in FL and I'm more stoked than ever to be here. I didn't start surfing right away but man I'm glad I finally did.  Best thing ever!

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Jesus invented surfing...
Matthew 14:22-33

www.facebook.com/churchonthebeach

I think he's talking about the "pogo stick" thing you can do with your board before you actually start paddling for the wave. You've probably seen guys do it where they have to paddle towards the wave initially to get into best position, then at the last moment they whip their board around 180 degrees toward shore, while grabbing the board up toward the nose with both hands and jamming the tail of the board back straight down underwater beneath them. The result is that both you and your board shoot up out of the water towards shore which gives you that extra initial burst of forward momentum and speed for getting into the wave.

This usually doesn't apply if you're already in the right general position for the wave and can actually get a good hard shoreward paddle going before the wave reaches you.

All part of the experience. Just keep charging and you'll figure it out.

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Still stoked.

at least the fins were down. That happened to me earlier this summer but I landed on my ass on top of my fin. Had a real pretty bruise line across my butt. And I was down in the south beaches area too. That area is known for close outs and killer shore pound on a good meaty swell.

If your tired and moving slower than normal, take that into account with your wave selection.

nose rocker also plays a large role. i brought my FFF yesterday and immediately regretted it, NSB was pumping and i was having trouble with the steep drops

Angle your takeoff and keep your head/chin down as your paddling into it.

If you hesitate, its already over. 

If this is you Gsus, you're up too far on the board and even going the wrong direction.

Arch your back, dig hard, paddle for the wave well before it breaks, get to your feet QUICK and make sure they're in the right place.

if its big always take an extra few strokes over what you normally would.  Also the others are spot on about making the drop mentally before you even stand up.  I always look down the line and dont think about it too much.  If you are tired dig the tail deep and let it give you the initial push before you paddle.

one more thing...if you are too tired to paddle for a wave you may want to wait for the next set.  I have learned to block pain out when surfing and havent experienced this in many years.  its just something you learn about your body over time.

 

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Always pull in....the consequences will be much greater and will last a lifetime if you always take the safest line.

if your board floats you right, position near the peakif not crowded, swell comes you forward lean into it at a slight angle take 2 good strokes & get up quick,........down the line you go right in the power zone. easy sneezy...go fot it!

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crazy like a fox!
ha ha > Vote for Rewind Cain, he'll get it right....eventually.

 

Not me, I have a much bigger fin than that xD  

Great advice from everyone.  I went out yesterday and it was obviously much smaller and I didn't have too much trouble.  Towards late afternoon it turned to all shorepound and I had two waves that took me over the falls.  I was really paying attention to what I was doing and had some of your comments echoing in my head.  I think I've recognized a few things that I need to work on:

1) By far the thing I need to work on most:  faster pop-up.  I have a hip flexor in the front of my thigh which I injured while surfing.  That is the muscle that is used for that "explosive" movement for my leading leg to pop-up.  It is considerably slower having been injured and I really notice that my back foot hits the board first, then followed by that front foot.  

2) Strength training.  I havent' done any excercise other than surf.  At 33 it's just time to realize I'm going to have to exercise if I want to surf better and not not get injured further.  Great advice on working those explosive movement fibers in the key muscle groups.

3) Arching my back - On my mini-longboard I could do this no problem because I could put my feet on the back of the board and then arch my back easily before springing my feet under me.  On the shortboard I push up with my arms and draw my feet to the board without much of an arch motion.

4) Hand placement during pop-up? I don't know if this contributes to anything but I put my hands on the rails to pop-up.  I noticed it sort of causes me to pull up on the board as I'm springing to my feet.  Just by chance the direction of one wave yesterday caused me to push up in the middle of the board instead of the rail and it felt like to caused my momentum to go foraward more and push down into the face of the wave.  I wonder if that's been a part of my problem? Getting into the face of the wave instead of on top is exactly the thing I'm trying to be consistent at. 

Thanks again for the great insights!

 

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Jesus invented surfing...
Matthew 14:22-33

www.facebook.com/churchonthebeach

This can really make a difference on the closeout/shorepound days.

The first wave I took in the shorebreak (on Monday) was this perfect mini-wedge, looked like it was gonna set up for a little cover, and a nice takeoff. Halfway into the wave, I see the bottom drop out, and feel the push. Forgot how quickly the inside likes to jump from 'nice lump' to 'death pit'.

Instead of clawing out the back, I jumped right over the falls to beat the board to the surface, smash into the sand and then take another toss while in the heart of it. Took me a good 3-4 minutes to make it back out through the SHOREPOUND. Needless to say I was humbled (but somehow insanely stoked that it was breaking that hard).

Anyhow, I spent the rest of the sesh really angling some of the takeoffs- sometimes hopping up sideways and then dealing with it (being able to get down the line an extra foot or two before it started to churn). Made a big difference, and opened up some great lines.

Being in good shape for me makes a lot of diff., as I get fatter, I lose a lot of speed. also watch vids of guys like AI, Kelly, Dorian, or the old vids of Dane Keoloha. Those guys do a lot of under the lip take offs vs paddling from the top of the lip and ending up above the crease, they end up below the crease. Problem is in Florida you get little practice cause the only hollow wave is by a jetty w/100 people and setting up under the lip means sitting in the middle of an agro group trying to out position each other. It is rare to see hollow waves at every spot. Which gives you a chance at uncrowded barrels. And that Shark Pit to Coconut Pt and all in between area or nearby can either be magic knee deep sand bars or dry sand skimboard smashers straight onto the shore.

sw: exactly what I mean.

And I agree about being committed mentally and to make sure you're rested before going for it. I often have to tell myself to slow down and take a break because I have a hard time letting waves go by me. And I'm not a wave hog - I spent 2 hours this morning surfing alone.

Take off angle is critical. The waves the past 2 days are pretty fast and it can be hard to actually catch them before they steamroll you

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Paddle hard to the last stroke, pop up quick, and focus on making the drop before you think about anything else. Fundamentals. When you start having trouble making drops....go back to basics take off straight at the beach and work on your timing and positioning....don't worry about angled take offs until later after you get comfortable with it all. Lastly, don't hesitate....better to go and get slammed then to try to bail half way through it and go over the falls face first into your fins.

glad to see GsusSurfs' post.
cause My problem is similar when shortboarding.

I rarley get a wave spanking unless getting worked by trying to make it thru some serious shorepound. Can def handle late takeoffs.

At age 63, I still have good paddling strength, and have the wave knowledge.
So having no problem getting into the right part of the wave at the right time and angle.
My prob though, is that I've lost a lil of the 'snap to my feet' speed at the takeoff.
This is esp a problem on smaller, mushy waves. No problem with bigger waves.
And, of course, no problem when longboarding ... but that hardly counts.

My core strength is good, can do lotsa pushups, I'm 5'10 155lbs. But I feel old even getting up off the living room floor... just can't jump up like I use to.

So, I'm doing basic floor exercises ... even just sitting on the floor and standing up over and over again, also lotsa squats and thrusts.

Don't wanna stop shortboarding, don't wanna go back to my funshape, I get boared longboarding. Just wanna snap to my feet a lil quicker.

any ideas?

Getting spanked?
Peggy gives me all the spanking I can stand.

seq by LouisB






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... positioning and selection

Bob .... real weight training done a specific way is the answer. You want to build up your fast twitch muscle fibers. Bench press and squats, lifting a weight you can do 8 reps max on first set. The idea here isnt to lift at a normal speed, the idea is to lift as fast as you can with explosive force. If you lose form before 8 reps, drop the weight down. The key is proper form so dont hurt yourself, especially on the squats.

Any other exercise do this way as well, if you want to build up the fast twitch fibers (they deteriorate even more than regular fibers as you age).

A good burn out at the end to connect the dots (key is at the end after you have exhausted yourself) is to do old school military 8 count body builders as fast as you can in the movements.

 

feel it out and dont take off at a sharp angle or you will be tossed sideways rag doll over the falls...

 

I have to agree with you on the benefit of building fast twitch muscel fibers through explose movements with weights. Does a world of good. But what is "old school military 8 count body builders"?

are you refering to the pullup/pushup pyramid?

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#getsome all day every day ...  www.contidesigns.com

Holy crap Bob...those are some guns! I hope I'm in half as good a shape as you at 63! Truth is you prob got more zip in your pop up than most guys half your age!

Mr. Bob, pics show you as very fit looking, have to ask this...play any basketball? Reason: wrists, forearms, upper leg strength are key areas. Back in the day those strength areas helped with the snap needed to get up fast. Just saying it might help. Good waves to you!

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crazy like a fox!
ha ha > Vote for Rewind Cain, he'll get it right....eventually.

Stuffing the board works best if the wave has some punch--done right will sometimes eliminate paddling altogether.

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Romans 8;18-32 John 3;16-18

My new nickname is "The Masochist" I get spanked so much on shore pound!

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