Question about riding big waves

[oldmansurfer]

Having someone video you is a good way to learn how to surf. You can look at the wave and figure out what you might have done better. All the pros do this. I think Kelly Slater has someone videoing him all the time if he is surfing but for many pros all their heats are videoed and they can watch them over and over and try to formulate a better plan for the future.

[LostAtSea]

Having someone video you is a good way to learn how to surf. You can look at the wave and figure out what you might have done better. All the pros do this. I think Kelly Slater has someone videoing him all the time if he is surfing but for many pros all their heats are videoed and they can watch them over and over and try to formulate a better plan for the future.

I'm often tempted to ask those who surf near me to give me tips, but I don't want to encroach on their space. I'm sure that's not why they're out there. Maybe one day I'll hire someone to video a couple waves for me. I could see that being helpful.

I'm pretty sure my main issue right now is positioning in the lineup. I ride a mal and I find it a little tricky sometimes. To big for a late take off and too small for an early one. It's got to be just the right spot. I'm getting better at it though. I find I need to identify and be actively paddling into the right spot.

[oldmansurfer]

Knowing where to lineup is important but exactly where that is depends on the board, the wave and the surfer. I used to ride huge waves with a small board and what I found was that I had to search for a place on big waves where I could get into the wave. It wasn't an obvious thing. I would start where it seemed safer and that was almost never the right spot and then go deeper into the lineup, Eventually the wave would let me takeoff but it might take me 30 minutes of trying. So I would go to one spot and paddle for a few waves try some different tactics paddling then move deeper into the lineup and repeat and then deeper and repeat and eventually I found a place that I could takeoff given my board and skills. Most of big wave takeoffs are really steep so before you do that it would be prudent to learn to do steep takeoffs on smaller waves. What I used to do in small waves is go to where I feel comfortable in the lineup and then move over a yard deeper. Eventually that spot a yard deeper becomes comfortable and I go a yard deeper than that.. Then you can get skills to handling small wave steep takeoffs before you go big.

[LostAtSea]

Thanks OMS.

Good call on more small wave work - although winter is around the corner and with it comes the bigger surf. I need to work on pop up anyway. I still default to chicken wing and it is definitely not the way to go. It's basically a stall manoeuvre at the worst possible time. It just too slow. It's possibly OK for small stuff.

I've been watching some Martin Dunn vids while I'm laid up here, he has some good ones re: positioning.

[BoMan]

Good call on more small wave work - although winter is around the corner and with it comes the bigger surf. I need to work on pop up anyway.

I'm in the same place with my popup and at my age (66) it's probably not going to get much faster. That said, I've had some success with 4-6 foot waves that break slowly and crumble. I have to be patient and study the forecasts to find the right day and time to go out. Here's a look at Blackpoint in Sonoma County on a rare long period and glassy day. When it's like this I have to drop everything and GO.

[oldmansurfer]

For a better popup work on your core muscles. Surfing seems to work the back muscles well so you need to work on abdominal muscles. I do leg lifts almost every day. I also work on my arm strength and for popups I lay on my back with 15 pound dumbbells in each hand (started with 5 pounds). I do an explosive press pushing upward from a position with my elbows at my sides as fast as I possibly can. This causes my upper body to pop off the ground because I have to stop the weights from flying away. The leg lifts I currently do I do single leg lifts and then both of them at the same time in an exercise similar to what I did in karate class where someone stand with their feet on the side of your head as you lay on the ground and put their hands in front of them at waist high and you bring both legs up and kick their hands as hard as you can. But originally I did much less strenuous leg lifts.