How Deep Is To Deep?

[justloafing]

Had some decent waist high waves yesterday. Problem was I seemed to be taking off to deep for my experience level. I would catch them ok stand and be right on the very top and be going down the face. I just think it is my experience level that spelled for a poor session. Yep, Mr. board met my face my body was in the air going down and my board popped up out of the water and the rail smacked my mouth and nose. Nothing but a fat bloody lip and a sore nose, thank God.

I have surfed waves like these before and never had this problem. Was I not angled enough (I thought I was) or to much? Do I need to get another paddle in?

Edited: I was riding a 9' 6"

[O_Danny_Boy]

yeah i found i had the same problem too on wednesday, i was hoping it was cuz i hadnt been surfing in a month.

after hours of analyzing my own surfing im hoping it was a mix of the being too deep, not popping up quick enough or not paddling fast enough im hoping its a mix of all three

it could be that im just xxxxx too

[justloafing]

yeah i found i had the same problem too on wednesday, i was hoping it was cuz i hadnt been surfing in a month.

after hours of analyzing my own surfing im hoping it was a mix of the being too deep, not popping up quick enough or not paddling fast enough im hoping its a mix of all three

it could be that im just xxxxx too

I was popping up quick enough. Actually I was wondering if I was popping up to early and I needed to get one or two more strokes of a paddle before I popped up?

Yes Danny it makes me think we don't have enough speed.

[O_Danny_Boy]

theres nothing worse than that feeling of just free falling and then getting worked

[boco rio]

It's a REAL good idea to make sure you got the wave before you pop-up. Premature pop-ups can lead to severe consequences.

[justloafing]

It's a REAL good idea to make sure you got the wave before you pop-up. Premature pop-ups can lead to severe consequences.

Yeah like my busted lip and maybe a broken nose. I went down this morning to give it a shot but it was just shore break. I wanted to get back on the horse as quick as possible. Maybe this afternoon. I guess I should tell myself, "Welcome to the world of surfing"

[justloafing]

I just talked to a friend of mine and he is a good lonboarder. He told me that I probably need to be paddling harder and also make sure you feel your board gliding across the wave before you pop up. Yep that premature stuff works in many areas of life. Usually not a good thing.

[Phil]

if your riding a log with little rocker it makes it difficult to take off deep on hollow waves becuse the nose will just dig in and throw you off, as you pop up angle the board down the face and keep your weight on your back foot to try and keep the nose up, though if you can generate enough speed you should be able to get on them early enough for this not to be a problem unless your surfing some hollow reef

[mrc]

Maybe the waves are steeper

[isaluteyou]

If this is an isolated incident it might just be biorythms many times ive surfed like a pleb and couldnt understand why at the time

[justloafing]

If this is an isolated incident it might just be biorythms many times ive surfed like a pleb and couldnt understand why at the time

I thought the same thing and actually went because I was feeling sluggish all morning.

[keef]

Hi Dude, If you are ending up on the rail (or very top of the wave), its not because you're in too deep, it can be because you are catching the wave too early, and that's easy to do on a long board. So the wave doesn't have enough of a steep curve to hold you in the pocket but does have enough enrgy to move you forward. You move forward with the wave as it continues to form, and you end up travelling up the wave at the same time, ending up on the rail. At which point you can either jump off the back if you've already popped, sit up if still lying down, or, my personal favourite, take a wicked drop in keeping just enough weight on the back of the board to stop it digging in at the front, then as you pick up speed weight a little further forward to stop flying off the back of the board. I've just got the hang of starting to trim half way through this as well.

Catch the wave early and end up on the rail.
Catch it late and end up over the falls.

Somewhere in between is good.

Hope this helps.

[matt2000]

I concur with keef. If i'm too late, and instead of bailing out , doing the free fall (scary), maybe falling right on the fins, etc., i just scoot way back ,holding on the board and let as much of my lower body drag in the water as needed to keep the nose up (bouncing a lot), AND angling the board into the smooth pocket (lessening the nose bounce), speeding away from that nasty white water drop in my back. This combination of drag+angling gets me out of the trouble fast. When things calm down, i can then pop up on my feet at my leisure. This seems to work for getting out of huge crashing waves for me so far, of course *NOT* beach breaks.

This technique also works well, when i'm paddling out, and a big relentless set is coming. I decide to ride in to wait out the set. I then just then ride in the mountain of white water, drag+angling sometimes get me back to the smooth face again to catch the inside reforms again.

[surfaMIKE]

I find that if Im too confident I try take off/pop up too early, resulting in a very hilarious site of me going over the falls and eating the sandbank

But I also find that I have those moments where I just cant surf and have no idea why. I will be doing snaps and re-entries the one day, but the next day I'll be slipping off my board, going over the falls, not catching waves, not being able to stand up, etc...I hate those moments because I live for the next wave, the next barrell, the next session, and I'll be very emo about it. So bru, dont worry, you'll get it next time, theres always another wave....

[parrysurf]

bad days happen.....keep the stoke

It could be a wave reading issue....if you read the wave wrong you will be behind the section.

[teaweed]

bad days happen.....keep the stoke

It could be a wave reading issue....if you read the wave wrong you will be behind the section.

I need to work on this aspect... After a year of surfing, I just started riding the face, and sometimes I"ll bet it, sometimes I wont. I still try to catch the wave facing the beach, and just do a turn immediately after I pop up, but I understand that angling the board is necessary for certain waves.

[parrysurf]

To deep for sure on this take off




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