Advice please?

Dr Nic

Hi,
Surfing since January about 2x per week average. Daily this week.
Got 4 lessons off ben in lahinch.

Surf with my bro's 7'6 mini mal due to lack of funds.

Im at the stage where im catching & popping up 90% without too much problems.

My main problem is that im sick of white water. I want to get out back and surf some green waves. Got a taste for it in Portugal and over the last few weeks in Lahinch but only with occasional waves. With white water im just getting tumbled from side to side for a few secs so i cant pop up for a split second after i catch the wave. Its awful annoying on whites

And my next problem is that im not strong/skilled enough to get out back onto green waves. Im not great at duck diving and maybe my board is too big for it.

My last problem is that my popup is slowing the board so that i lose about 50% of my waves inside 5 seconds. I do think though that my popup would be infinitely better if i was catching the green waves at the back and not getting chucked from side to side on whites!

So what do i do? Pissed off with white water and cant get out to the greens. Or by the time i do, my shoulders are falling off me!!

some advice please!!
Thank you!

spaceHopper

You are right you aren't going to learn much more in the white water, start going out the back.

Firstly, you will find that for the first 20 minutes or so you struggle till your arms warm up and get used to the work after that it get's easier so don't give up. You'd do well to duck dive a 7'6 as well, you'd get one or two clean duck dives then start to get tired and get caught out. Time your paddle out if possible to get a lull in the sets make a much progress as possible. Push up let the white water pass between you and the board. Learn how to turtle role the board, even sit on the board and push down on the nose to sink it the let the whiter water pass around you the get back on and paddle out.

When you get out keep going well past where you think you should be, 20 yards or so. Catch your breath for five.

When you are going for green waves work on catching the wave where it starts to break but go at a slight angle so board starts to trun when you pop up.

have a look at the videos on this channel
http://www.surfsimply.com/podcast/

Ronnie Beck

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hi,
Surfing since January about 2x per week average. Daily this week.
Got 4 lessons off ben in lahinch.

Surf with my bro's 7'6 mini mal due to lack of funds.

Im at the stage where im catching & popping up 90% without too much problems.

My main problem is that im sick of white water. I want to get out back and surf some green waves. Got a taste for it in Portugal and over the last few weeks in Lahinch but only with occasional waves. With white water im just getting tumbled from side to side for a few secs so i cant pop up for a split second after i catch the wave. Its awful annoying on whites

And my next problem is that im not strong/skilled enough to get out back onto green waves. Im not great at duck diving and maybe my board is too big for it.

My last problem is that my popup is slowing the board so that i lose about 50% of my waves inside 5 seconds. I do think though that my popup would be infinitely better if i was catching the green waves at the back and not getting chucked from side to side on whites!

So what do i do? Pissed off with white water and cant get out to the greens. Or by the time i do, my shoulders are falling off me!!

some advice please!!
Thank you!

I'm surfing years and still have this problem on beachs if I dont surf for a while. Thats just the joys of surfing a beach in the winter. The strength and fitness to paddle out back comes with time and regular surfing. Water knowledge about currents has to be learned. I usually walk down the steps in front of the shops if i'm surfing the beach. Seems the quickest way out. Depend on the swell tides etc. As a general rule in a small bay water comes in the middle and out the sides.

Head out there tomorrow. Small and glassy. Plenty of green water to be had.

Dr Nic

Thanks guys. Ok so I'm going green from now on.
I can only surf tomorrow before work so it's 7 am then!!

Where exactly do u walk down those steps and where do u enter the water?

So it's a Turtle roll for a 7 6?

Ronnie Beck

Dr Nic wrote: »

Where exactly do u walk down those steps and where do u enter the water?

So it's a Turtle roll for a 7 6?

Its the first last set of steps if you walk you towards the cliff from the beach car park. You can walk around the reef and jump in too, be carefull though, wait for a gap in the sets. Try out new ways to get in in smaller swells first so you get a feel for it.

I can duck dive my 7 10 in smaller swells. Get the board almost vertical and the timing right. It's kind of like trying to do a front flip on your board but the wave hits the back of your legs before you go over. Turtle roll takes less energy but i'd only do it on a proper longboard.

How did you get on wednesday?

Dr Nic

I didnt make it Wed, but went 3 times since. Getting out back a lot easier now. Presume its just cause of lighter waves. Doing turtle rolls. I think a 7'6 is too big to duck dive??

Im just wondering should i bite the bullet and get a bigger board?
Today for instance i got out back and immediately caught 2 beautiful waves. I lost em quickly due to balance but that happens a bit at the start of a session for me. But i didnt catch another wave after that. Today wasnt the greatest day, but everyone else out there at least caught 2/3 waves in the 40 mins i was there... I just couldnt paddle fast enough to catch them

Is it board, my paddling or what?
Lesson tomorrow off ben so hopefully that should help...
Apreciate advice!
Thanks!

Ronnie Beck

Dr Nic wrote: »

Im just wondering should i bite the bullet and get a bigger board?

If your surfing 2/3 times a week I'd stick to the mal. It will all come together eventually. If you start on a LB now you'll probably never come off it. Down to you I suppose and want you want.

Dr Nic

Maybe im just jumping to conclusions. Today was a pretty slow day for everyone in the water out back. Plenty of even the good guys were paddling for waves and just not taking off.
But there was one old guy on a what seemed like a >8foot board who caught more than most. But even then he was dropped off 4/5 that i saw

I'll try a bic 8 foot tomorrow and see...
The big prob there is funds - ie i have none lol

Turtle roll or duck dive a 7'6?

Ronnie Beck

Dr Nic wrote: »

Maybe im just jumping to conclusions. Today was a pretty slow day for everyone in the water out back. Plenty of even the good guys were paddling for waves and just not taking off.
But there was one old guy on a what seemed like a >8foot board who caught more than most. But even then he was dropped off 4/5 that i saw

I'll try a bic 8 foot tomorrow and see...
The big prob there is funds - ie i have none lol

Turtle roll or duck dive a 7'6?

Pretty strong affshore wind today (from the forecast). Takes alot of strength to paddle into the wind. You have to lie extra far forward over the nose too to keep it down. Tomorrow looks easier...

Decos

Maybe im just jumping to conclusions. Today was a pretty slow day for everyone in the water out back. Plenty of even the good guys were paddling for waves and just not taking off.
But there was one old guy on a what seemed like a >8foot board who caught more than most. But even then he was dropped off 4/5 that i saw

I'll try a bic 8 foot tomorrow and see...
The big prob there is funds - ie i have none lol

Turtle roll or duck dive a 7'6?

It wasnt your paddling that was at fault today man, it was the strong offshore wind (as ronnie said). Was out there earlier myself and it wasnt great. Tricky enough to get into the waves and when you did they were closing out a bit.

Mickeroo

Had a surf in achill today and the wind really was a pain in the hole. Was real nice for the first ten minutes but the wind got a lot worse after that. Hopefully be nice tomorrow though.

Dr Nic

Much better day today. Caught prob 50+ waves. Had to come close in for them, but who cares lol

Everything is coming together, but i am still losing power on my pop-up.
I was just arching my back, pressing down with arms at chest level, thenonto tippy toes and swinging both legs thru. I found this unreliable - worked 1 in 5.

So i went with the aussie sprinter technique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoH8xWlPNeg

Still im losing power.
I can see the nose of the board comes way up when i pop up.
I realise that if i keep the nose like 2" out of the water at all times then i wont lose power... How do i do this though???

Mickeroo

Dr Nic wrote: »

Much better day today. Caught prob 50+ waves. Had to come close in for them, but who cares lol

Everything is coming together, but i am still losing power on my pop-up.
I was just arching my back, pressing down with arms at chest level, thenonto tippy toes and swinging both legs thru. I found this unreliable - worked 1 in 5.

So i went with the aussie sprinter technique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoH8xWlPNeg

Still im losing power.
I can see the nose of the board comes way up when i pop up.
I realise that if i keep the nose like 2" out of the water at all times then i wont lose power... How do i do this though???

Aussie sprinter is a very bad technique, putting weight on the back of the board like that acts like a brake. I still haven't fully shaken off the habit of using my back foot. I get away with it on the longboard but its making the transition to the fish very difficult indeed. Shake it off now if you can, it will stand to you in the long run especially if you want to go shorter rather than longer when you progress.

Ronnie Beck

Put your hand near the centreline of the board not on the rails (less drag). Push the nose down and bring you all your weight over your hand sliding your feet up the board - as the board accelerates down the wave you pop up into the empty space. Should be an effortless motion. Press ups, squats and pop ups at home help too.

Practice controling the board at that point just before you spring to your feet with your weight on your hands. You should be able to speed up, slow down and steer in this position.

Edit: The live stream of the pro tour is a good place to watch how the pro's go about it. The positioning paddling and pop up is cut out of most of the youtube videos. Think mickeroo has a thread up there.

Dr Nic

I only tried aussie sprinter today. i'll drop it.

Thanks for the tips guys...
prob be next tues before i get out again!

keryl

You said you probably caught 50+ waves, maybe you were just tired after a bit and your pop ups became more evident?

Was speaking to Promethius about this before regarding catching the wave but one thing I've noticed, if you get a day with a small clean waves, I find you can really practice your pop up and feel it come off better. I think it's because of having more time to think and a smaller wave rather than riding a monster and just thinking of getting into the bugger. Maybe try that some day to see how your doing it and to master it that way?

Dr Nic

keryl wrote: »

You said you probably caught 50+ waves, maybe you were just tired after a bit and your pop ups became more evident?

Was speaking to Promethius about this before regarding catching the wave but one thing I've noticed, if you get a day with a small clean waves, I find you can really practice your pop up and feel it come off better. I think it's because of having more time to think and a smaller wave rather than riding a monster and just thinking of getting into the bugger. Maybe try that some day to see how your doing it and to master it that way?

It was savage yest, 2 foot green waves with a huge period. So I can't blame tiredness.

Just bad pop technique. I'll drop the sprinter technique, only tried it for a day and go back to just a standard popup, which I almost had down!!

As an aside anyone care to help with finding good spots to surf with the wind this weekend? Only ever surfed lahinch so no idea where else to try

Dr Nic

Fine day today. caught plenty of green waves close in before the school closed in and wrecked it! Really hate it when people stand inside you

Headed out back then, turtle rolled my way out - hard!!! Then caught a few nice ones before catching a huge wave. Must have been 10 feet. Dropped into it way too fast and got smashed. I actually think i bounced off the water back into nearly a standing position before sinking. I tend to wiat until i've fully dropped before i pop up. Shouldnt do this i assume, but ive no idea/plan what to do on bigger waves

Anyway - ive learned to wait for not just any old wave, but the right wave. This saves my sanity and believe that i am actually improving if slowly

killedsirius

i know ben in the clinic in lahinch told me that after i popped up I was so excited to be standing that i was coming up too much and thus losing speed. Maybe you are standing too high after you pop up. Stay LOW, lower than you think and you should keep speed. I find keeping my tips of my fingers on the board for a second after i'm to my feet and in trim forces a low position.

Dr Nic

Makes sense - pop up fast, stand up slow...

This dvd is v good - 110% surf techniques

Anyone see the kids toy - rip stik? V similiar action to what you have to do on a surf board!!