Riding Waves Larger than 4 feet w/o perling?

[SoCalSurfing]

From "themathteacher SW Pro" : "I would re-post in the longboard forum"

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New member here and a noob learning how to surf!

I have a 9ft board I take out and I can get up and surf on white wash and very small 2-3 foot waves with a face. However, as small as a 4 foot wave looks from shore, I wipe out riding them. With the power behind them I usually perl, I even feel it's going to happen as I'm paddling.

What can I do to get up and ride that thing? Paddle faster,.... stay out in front of it....get up faster? Also, if I do get up and the lip is breaking on my board, what do I do?

Also, I was looking at used short boards in the store, they felt so much lighter and easier to handle than my big old long board, I almost though I could ride it easier...but probably not a good idea yet?

Any advice is helpful! Thanks!

[greg2935]

All I can give is one years experience and I'm sure there are others here that could give better advice! First off its probably not worth buying a shortboard until you can ride the longboard; the longboard is much easier to catch waves on.

Getting up on white water is easier because the wave is pushing you towards the shore. The mistake I made was thinking "green" waves are the same, they are not. The mechanism is completely different in that you have to use gravity to accelerate down the wave, you can never paddle as fast as an incoming wave either. If the lip is breaking, you can sit up and hope!

You could be pearling for a few reasons, some of the common ones I've attempted are: too far forward, (is the front of the board under water when you paddle?), too far back and catching the wave as it folds over and getting thrown over the top, (how to look like a complete pillock in one easy lesson ), being on the right spot on the board but catching the wrong wave, (ones that dump really quickly so build up and are too steep, where reflected waves meet incoming waves and you get an upsurge of water and others), being on the right spot on the board but because it feels like you're falling, put your hands out in front and grab the rails, (did this a number of times having panicking surfers and swimmers trying to get out of the way as I sped past them and still feel like a pillock ), the problem here is once you have your hands out in front you cannot move so you either pull forward which makes you pearl or you hang on and hope.

What I have been doing (and this seems to work sometimes), sit on the beach and pick a breaking wave, see if the next set are breaking in the same place or a different place. If they are breaking in the same place, thats where you want to be, (make sure the reason the waves are breaking in the same place is not large rocks just under the surface of the water). paddle out and between sets, get to where the foam starts, this is where the next set is going to break, next paddle further out for about 5-10 paddles. make sure you are on the right spot on your board and turn round, (keep an eye on incoming sets as you may get hammered by the odd larger wave breaking further out. When the wave is about 20-30m away paddle towards the beach fast, the wave should pick you up after about 5 paddles and about 2sec before it breaks. You will feel the tail being raised and this is the time to pop up. If you hesitate at this point you wont get it. Ive been told and read that you should do 3 more paddles when you feel the tail lift but Ive found Im slow enough to not need it. Do not look down at the board, look where you want to go. Whatever you do, make sure your arms are at the sides in a "chicken wing" stance, you can then at least adjust where you are on the board and stop pearling by sliding backward.

I hope that helps

Greg

[SoCalSurfing]

Greg, this is great info. I am going to definitely try your recommendations, thank you!

[blueness]

Based on my short 7 months of experience... In addition to what Greg wrote, I find that when the nose starts going under as the wave is coming up under me, if I arch back I can often save it. The arching gets my weight off the front of the board. I've definitely saved myself from pearling many times this way. The moment the nose comes back out of the water, I pop up fast. I arch with my hands where I want them to be for popping up, so I'm ready. But you have to arch as it's starting to pearl -- if it's too submerged arching may not help.

I've also skipped the moment of waiting for the nose to surface after arching and just popped up really fast. But that only works if I've caught the wave and the pearling is just starting. I think I arch until I can see that it's not pearling any deeper, even if it's not exactly surfacing, and then pop up.

If I'm repeatedly pearling, then positioning a couple of inches farther back on my board usually makes a difference. And sometimes I think it's a matter of needing to paddle faster...which isn't always an option!

[SoCalSurfing]

Went out yesterday, 2-4 ft waves. On the larger waves I did not pearl at all this time, however, I did fall off backwards and to the side many times. I actually did not get up on any of the bigger ones. My legs weren't feeling as strong as usual, so I think it effected my balance. Will do more lower body at the gym tonight. Kept reminding myself to stop looking down. Even though I didn't do as well as I hoped, it still felt better and more natural than usual, so I'll keep at it. Thanks for the tips, I can't wait to go back out again!

[hunsta]

If I can just put my 2 cents worth in. From what Im thinking , you can get up on the white water ok and go forward with the wave, but taking off on bigger waves you nose dive(or pearling as you call it.) Getting back abit will help, but are you taking off straight down the face of the wave and then trying to do a bottom turn? If so this will be hard for a newcomer. Try angling yourself to take off virtually pointing in the direction the wave is breaking. ie; left or right.
I started surfing nearly 40 years ago and after a bit of a lay off I got back into it with a longboard a year ago. This method of pointing myself into the direction of the wave was far easier to do than trying tough bottom hand turns with a long board.
Craig

[SoCalSurfing]

hunsta, I usually just do go straight. Yesterday I tried angling myself a bit more, it did help on the large waves. I haven't pearled the last two times I went out!

[greg2935]

Just for all us newbies out there I found the advice here very useful:

http://members.shaw.ca/kevin_bartlett_1 ... _surf.html

Greg

[Rickyroughneck]

I had that problem a lot, and think it comes from a lack of readjustment while taking the drop. What I do now is to pop-up into a wide stance, with my backfoot over the tailpad (my log had one when I bought it), and just lean back to lift the nose for the drop, straight into the bottom turn. It works for me, but I might also point out that it took a lot of nosedives and slipping off the back to get this down, so might not be a good idea for progression (it is fun though ).

Angling the take-off is good and I would recommend that if possible, but it depends on your proximity to the breaking part of the wave. If you are taking off close to the curl then you should angle more as the wave is steeper and easier to catch (and also more likely to nose-dive on ). If however the curl is still some distance away and you are catching the shoulder, you should take it straight (or straighter), as angling reduces the component of your paddle speed perpendicular to the beach.

[Roy Stewart]

[longboards]

Thanks Greg for the insights.. you sharing your experience was helpful to me coming across this post. I used to have that problem and now I see how it could have been easier learning.. It's just so hard with the longer board and when the water gets more powerful in the bigger size it's tough to control whether or not the board pearls. Still learning I guess.

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TC longboards

[Bubba148]

If your pearling too much try moving back on your board when paddling for a wave, a couple of inches can make a difference .I have a 9' 6" Hobie Slug that was always a peal diver , just too heavy in the nose and not much rocker to it. Also when your paddling for a wave keep your chest arched upward and keep your legs from dragging in the water by keeping them at a 90 degree angle to reduce any drag so it will keep your body wieght off the board and try paddling hard so you can get into the wave sooner. If your late getting up and and try getting up on a steeper drop your nose is going to pearl.

[themathteacher]

reminds me I need to dust off my longboard, been shortboarding shore dump at Imperial Beach all summer, need to drive over to tourmoline and get back into some rollers...