Turning the board into a wave..

[Rebequita38]

Hi there,

I've been surfing for over a year now, am on a 7'9 mini mal, am standing up consistently and catching smaller green waves..Now that I'm actually standing up on the board more than falling off it, I was wondering how to go about turning the board into a wave?? Should this be my next step? I'm a goofy by the way..Thanks

[themathteacher]

A big misconsetion from watching surf movies is that you take off straight and make a big powerfull bottom turn, but in actuality most of us cheat the wave a little. We all start at a slight angle towards the open face, work on that. Not toally sideways, but for sure not pointing straight toward the beach.

What you hope to accomplish is that you will be popping up headed toward the wave face, so that instead of turning "into" the wave you can carve up and down it easily.

[garbarrage]

What do you mean by "turn the board into the wave"? Are you catching unbroken waves and not getting onto the face getting caught behind the foam as the wave runs away? If so, after a year plus, I would definitely consider getting a longer board. Your age, fitness, and how frequently you get to surf would be a big help in giving you a better answer.

[Toj]

There is a great DVD out about all of this stuff, surfing techniques 110%. its brilliant and it gives you great tips on how to do exactly that, and how to progress from there. its a tenner from MSW and probably the best teaching aid ive ever bought.

Regards

Tj