Please critique my (crappy) performance

[waikikikichan]

I noticed the other guy did kick also to get the wave. Not sure the size of his board. But do you think you are able to kick on your 6'8" ?

[Big H]

To be fair the other guy isn't that great either....took off too deep and rode rather straight as well, but all the same it illustrates that the wave was catchable earlier than where you got on....like Wchan said, the left looks pretty tasty compared to the right....I'd be riding mainly lefts there if that wave was a common one.....those waves aren't that steep so you should be able to paddle hard at an angle and get in early already lined up to get into the wave.

Like DBBB said, you could catch from where you were but you'd have to have better timing so that you're up on the top of the face, then stay up there to get some speed before dropping down to the trough....that's where I am in my development, can do what I just said sometimes, but blow it if I have a pop up bobble, time it wrong, or am not quick enough to make that top turn pump to stay up high on the face....I can't just catch wherever like the more experienced guys...slowly expanding the zone that I can catch and it's a lot bigger than it used to be as compared to before when I'd have to be exactly on the spot to get it, but to reliably get into a wave I have to catch further outside than those lightning fast, light as toast grommies inside me....

Faster, more assured & in balance pop ups with an eye on the direction you want to go before even doing your get up....then let the wave talk to you. And like Jaffa said, lighter on your feet...move them a bit to get the best positioning.

[jaffa1949]

Paddle harder smarter and time your pop up so it is in the first instant of gravity taking you down the wave , not later as then you are trying to stand up as per a "normal" white water drop doesn't work or is dead slow as you are already on the flat dead water in front of the wave. Too early and you just have the wave pass under you.
The pop up should drive you into and down the wave face a give some stability because you are moving faster. Also bring your feet up and forward driving you forward and adding speed, not up and back which is putting on the brakes.
All this is skills, we all had to master to be able to surf well.

Here is a sequence of a fair average surfer and his pop up.
#1. Note weight forward and driving the board down onto the face

A bit further engaged notice there is more pressure on the left hand to slightly angle the board away from the guy duck diving through the wave and further downward pressure to ensure engagement with the wave

Next his pop up is complete a stabilising fingertip on the board and sighting the line to drive along the face

The result is this ride

In order to give you an idea of pop up speed that was shot at 5 frames per second.

[RinkyDink]

Just my two cents. When I'm tired I dog my takeoffs. I know a lot of my takeoffs are sloppy (not much different from yours). However, once I'm up on my board I am immediately turning into the wave and looking to ride across a clean wave face. Before I even attempt my takeoff, I've already decided on the direction, right or left, I'm going to turn my board into. Watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npndx-dBvJA

At 1:12 the surfer is popping up, but he's looking in the direction he's taking his board in. One second later at 1:13 he's already turning his board into that direction. In your video it looks to me like you weren't really interested in turning your board in a particular direction. I think you were more interested in practicing pumping your board. That actually looks like it was the first thing you started doing once you were up and riding. I think you'd be better off working on turning your board in a specific direction. Even when I'm just catching white water to practice my popups, I go either right or left when I get in my stance. If the white water has enough power to push me a ways I go in the direction I turned into and then after a short way I try to redirect the board into the exact opposite direction (a poor man's cutback). I never stand on the board and just go straight (not much fun for me). In white water I also shift my board from side to side like in 2:36 of this Moody Blues land surfing video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvjLVoVaCIc. Anyway, if I were you I'd work on getting out of that poo stance and start turning your board.

By the way, I don't endorse those Noho thingies. Just more plastic that ends up destroying the planet. You can land surf with cushions or a skateboard.

[dtc]

Even when I'm just catching white water to practice my popups, I go either right or left when I get in my stance. If the white water has enough power to push me a ways I go in the direction I turned into and then after a short way I try to redirect the board into the exact opposite direction (a poor man's cutback).

Our 'friends' at Surf Simply have a podcast and one of them mentioned it was hard to make beginner level surfers practice turns because every wave the surfer caught was a wave the surfer wanted to ride as far as possible - ie cruise along the face without trying to turn and possibly stuff up and fall off. Which is totally understandable

So what the instructors do is say the surfer can ride the wave as long as they want - on the condition that, at the end of the wave, the surfer must do a 'top turn' toward the beach (not just go over the back/jump off) and then, in the white water, do as many quick little turns back and forth as they can. This teaches a lot of the body movement and foot weighting, at least to some extent.

So rest assured that your 'poor man's cutback' has the blessing of some good instructors.

[pmcaero]

Also bring your feet up and forward driving you forward and adding speed, not up and back which is putting on the brakes.

Thanks, i think this will help. I've started practicing throwing my legs forward as I pop up ... on a "surfboard" cut from floor pads

[pmcaero]

But do you think you are able to kick on your 6'8" ?

I've tried a few times, I didn't notice any improvement in my take-off. I'm pretty short so it feels like I'm kicking the board instead of the water

[drowningbitbybit]

But do you think you are able to kick on your 6'8" ?

I've tried a few times, I didn't notice any improvement in my take-off. I'm pretty short so it feels like I'm kicking the board instead of the water

That's what wkkkchan was getting at - on a 6'8, if you can kick the water, then you're on the wrong place on your board.

[waikikikichan]

I am short too ( 5'2" ). I can't kick on my 6'4". If you're not pearling, I would try moving your chest up a bit until you do. ( just a centimeter at a time ) Also your roll over rate is quite slow. How are your hands as they enter the water ? Are your teeth grinding during the paddle ?

[pmcaero]

What do you mean by "roll over rate"?

[waikikikichan]

The time between when your hand enters the water and the SAME hand enters again.

But don't take that as you just need to paddle faster. Flailing arms slapping the water is just as bad.

Paddling is part of the Power ( so is the board ), but more important to catching a wave is Position and Timing. Which those are on you for knowledge and experience.

[pmcaero]

It might well be I am paddling slower as I have been attempting to pull my arms farther back than before in order to draw more power, and am not yet used to the motion.

[Big H]

Oddly (or not), I was able to increase my roll over rate by focusing on my core, poise and balance on the board....can't dig deep if your body positioning is off or if your core muscles can't hold you in place and make the small adjustments to maintain balance while you are otherwise occupied digging deep for the wave....it wasn't sit ups or anything like that; just a consciousness that one related to the other and to make sure that I maintained good form so that I could focus on gunning for the wave and not having to take half paddles or mini breaks in stroke or a slower roll over to make balance compensations.

[Big H]

Love this of Kelly paddling....

[waikikikichan]

How are your hands / fingers as they enter the water ?

[RinkyDink]

So what the instructors do is say the surfer can ride the wave as long as they want - on the condition that, at the end of the wave, the surfer must do a 'top turn' toward the beach (not just go over the back/jump off) and then, in the white water, do as many quick little turns back and forth as they can. This teaches a lot of the body movement and foot weighting, at least to some extent.

So rest assured that your 'poor man's cutback' has the blessing of some good instructors.

That's exactly what I've been doing and my turning is actually not bad. I feel like my biggest limitation with respect to my turns is my clunky softboard. I have to put a lot of pressure on the tail of the board to get a sharp turn out of it, but then I have too much weight on the back of the board and the mushy waves I'm surfing just pass me by. It's probably time for me to take my 7'2" board out for a spin.

[benjl]

That backhand cut back on the second clip is beautiful. It's pretty amazing footage.
I thought his front foot was gonna slip off
The board on the first wave

[pmcaero]

How are your hands / fingers as they enter the water ?

They're inside mittens

[waikikikichan]

3 finger crab claw ( like I use ) or full round four finger ? Full round mitts must suck trying to grab the rails.

IMG_7565.jpg (72.65 KiB) Viewed 713 times

[pmcaero]

Funny you should ask... I had five fingered gloves and left them on top of the car after the session you see in the video....
So I guess now I will be using the full mittens I bought recently which I never tried before.