How to prevent pearling/nose diving

[oldmansurfer]

So I guess one of the big dreads in surfing is pearling where the nose of your board. Often flat longboards are singled out as being bad for pearling but in my experience that hasn't been much of a factor although my longboard has a decent kick in the tail (tail rocker) the nose is flat. I think tail rocker is more important than nose rocker although my new board has not much of either. I do several things to avoid pearling. One is I try to get into the wave before it is insanely steep and really if I air drop on the takeoff I may pearl but if I can keep the board in the water my chances improve. If it isn't real big I may try to angle the board down the line on takeoff which allows a less steep drop but if it is too steep I still try to push the inside rail into the wave so that whatever nose kick there is will turn the board as soon as possible, the nose engages the curving bottom of the wave and slowly turns the board. I also watch the nose on the drop and step on the tail if it looks like the nose is going under. This is where a tail rocker comes in handy. If your board has enough tail rocker stomping on the tail will lift the nose well out of the water. I originally learned to surf on a shortboard (6'10" diamond tail single fin). I pearled a heck of a lot more on that board then my 9'6" longboard that I learned to surf on the second time around and it seems to me that had to do with tail rocker which the long board had and the shortboard had no rocker in the tail. My new board has not much tail rocker but so far steep waves have not presented themselves but I figure it won't be much of a deal because I have all these other skills to keep the board from pearling. I rarely pearl except for when I am airborne on the drop. So what is your methods of not diving for pearls?

[dtc]

When I got a board custom made I told the shaper it would mainly be for beach breaks and I found my long board hard to surf on low tide when the waves were much steeper, so could he do something to help out. I thought that meant nose rocker, but he added extra tail rocker like you say. That said, I reckon nose rocker has at least a psychological effect on preventing perling. As in, it seems to be something that will help even if it doesn't really.

Got no magic solution to perling. As I got better, I reached a stage where I usually can tell I'm at high risk of perling well before (well, a few seconds before) actually doing it. 99% of the time it's lack of paddling or positioning on the wave. In the wrong place not paddling fast enough. Usually it's when I'm being lazy or I make a last minute decision to catch the wave and don't get enough speed up.

[Big H]

What have I learned in my single year if surfing to keep from pearling when going for a wave and nosediving after I'm up on it?

Positioning is nearly everything and to be best situated you need to go and get the wave instead of letting it come to you...chase that peak down.

Paddling is key. Paddling "hard" with poor technique and out of shape paddling muscles is still slow. Build paddle fitness, improve stroke technique, core muscles to hold good paddling form and support the body and keep things stable in an all out paddle for a wave.

Timing....the paddling smart part. Learning when to step on the gas, the feeling of when your're in and can glide into your popup.

...and I got over the bad habit of being too far forward on the board when paddling for a wave...learned (learning) how to adjust body positioning on the board for location and conditions including tidal changes during a sesh. Like wakikichan says, I fit over using s sticker or wax ball as a nose reference and try to tune into how the board feels in the current conditions and what is going on when I catch a wave at that spot on that day in that hour.


For nose diving after getting up I learned to turn, squat lower, angle in, shuffle back to weight the tail and on bigger waves from my perspective, how to nut up and tell myself that I am committed to getting on and seeing the wave out.....the tail probably more than the rest....amazing when you first discover it after months of wobbling in the middle of the board.

[IanCaio]

Honestly, I don't know what I've done to avoid pearling, but I can't recall the last time I pearled.
Usually, as dtc, I can figure when I'm about to pearl a split second before (noticing the nose starting to submerge as it steeps), and can bail out. So I guess a major factor is your body positioning while paddling.
The break I mainly surf isn't really steep on regular days though, so I might not have dealt with more extreme situations to really give a hint on that (never air dropped for example). Also, my board has lots of rocker, maybe that's another factor to add up.

I do angle the board a bit while popping up on a steeper section, and it seems to help.

[drowningbitbybit]

Knees.

Not sure if this is only true for a shortboard, but I control the height out of the water of the nose of the board with pressure from my knees (along with arching my back) when paddling into a wave.
Just like you can stall a board while riding it by using backfoot pressure, you can raise (or lower) the nose by adjusting the pressure on your knees and where your feet are.

Knees off the board and one foot up behind your bum to pitch the board forward and down the face, or knees onto the deck and both feet straight out back (dragging in the water on a shortboard) if you're about to pearl.

[waikikikichan]

How to prevent pearling ? You don't. The actions you take to prevent pearling in part "causes" the pearl. If you fear the nose going down, it'll probably go down. Your fixation on "not pearling" prevents you from doing what needs to be done, which is surf freely. Like I always say "pearling is Good", it means you caught the wave. It's better than the wave passing you by constantly.

Looking to see if the nose is going under, is one worse causes. Why ? Because where you look is where you go. In racing, they say Target Fixation. If you stare at the pole or tree, you get drawn to it. If you look down the road or thru the turn you get pulled that way.

[oldmansurfer]

Interesting there are so many widely different ideas about pearling. I think newbies hate pearling over and over again but it is just a phase in learning to surf. You will get over it. A great part of surfing is being able to read the wave and know what it's going to do so that as you take a drop you can focus on the drop and not need to be looking down the line at what the wave is doing. I love to take steep drops and part of making them is not pearling in a situation where pearling is highly likely.

[Jester]

I get my hands wayyy back if she starts to pearl and arch my back for all it's worth, usually ends in a messy late pop up though if I do it too late but the damage is usually done by a poor catch of the wave. Can save the board pearling 9/10 doing this but would be better to just catch it right first time..

Oh..and if you've got a big board angle the begger a lill, save yourself a shed load of nosedives.

[waikikikichan]

I get my hands wayyy back if she starts to pearl and arch my back for all it's worth, usually ends in a messy late pop up.

That preventive measure is your reaction to you seeing the nose go under. The stiff locked arms means your not paddling, meaning no power being put . Your arched back means your "putting on the brakes". Which leads to a see-saw between you and the wave. You need to trust yourself and trust the wave. As the wave steepens, the nose will pop out again, but that's if you keep forward momentum. If you "put on the brakes", you increase the angle of the board pearling as the tail gets lifted up. Keep driving forward, and you'll be better off.

here the nose has gone under as the wave starts to swell

but as the wave peaks and steepens up, the nose pops out.

Try mimic this example with one hand as the board and one hand as the wave. Make the board hand ( palm down fingers flat )constantly move forward and the wave behind it go from flat to standing ( palm facing up to palm facing down )

[pmcaero]

I pearled a bunch of time on my flatter beginner BIC Minimal, on bigger surf, but I know it was me because yesterday I saw a guy on a fairly similar (maybe longer) board digging the rail into the wave right away and sliding down the line easily.

I haven't pearled at all in the past year, by putting on the brakes, but I also missed out on a bunch of waves I know I could have made

My ideal board against pearling would be a scaled-up shortboard shape, the rocker helps, and the extra volume lets you catch the wave earlier.
I just need to save the cash and get a shaper to clone my old board, which is now semi-retired as it lost too much fiberglass.

[oldmansurfer]

The board doesn't make you pearl it's how you are riding it.

[waikikikichan]

I haven't pearled at all in the past year, by putting on the brakes, but I also missed out on a bunch of waves I know I could have made

When a car driver slams on the brakes, the front of the car dives down. When a car ( or boat ) races of the line, the front rises.

[pmcaero]

I have this issue of committing to the wave

Anyway, my putting on the brakes also includes sliding back. I've gotten that to an art form, wish I had gotten as good at sliding down the face

[Surf Hound]

I was told this as I learned to surf as a kid... "if the board is pearling you missed your chance to pop up" Meaning that you should have been popping up the moment you felt the pearl. As a kid, I remember trying to pop up at that exact moment I would be pearling. Once I got that timing down, I was off surfing. That was the best advice I received as a kid that helped me learn the "feeling" of when to pop up and stop the pearling. To this day as I paddle I still think "pop up before I pearl" and if I do start to pearl I just pull back knowing I missed my chance.

You old timmers might remember this name as a NFL tightend who played for the Patriots/49ers in the 70's and whose family was well known in Hawaii back in the day - Russ Francis. The Francis family was big in Hawaii in the 70's for wrestling and Russ Francis was popular for being from Hawaii and making it to the NFL. Anyway, Russ is the guy who gave me that advice as a kid. My mom and him went to Kailua high school together and whenever we saw him at the beach he would help me get out past the break and taught me how to catch waves. Anyway. Thanks Russ! That advice and attention you gave me as a kid was instrumental in a life long love for the ocean. So if any of you readers know Russ - tell him I said thanks.

[oldmansurfer]

I don't know Russ so can't tell him . I keep getting reminded that my learning experience was entirely different than most people. I never had a problem with pearling before I popped up. Anyway great post there Surf Hound, funny how one little thing can make so much difference.

[Tudeo]

When reading this forum I keep thinking how different my learning process would have been if internet and this forum had been there for me 30 years ago..

I still remember the first time I paddled out, it was on this ultra high performance shortboard a friend brought to impress girls on the beach of Biarrtiz. I was in incredible physical condition and gave it all I had until I was dead tired and looked around to see how far I was.

My feet where still on the shoreline about where I started..

[steveylang]

I was told this as I learned to surf as a kid... "if the board is pearling you missed your chance to pop up" Meaning that you should have been popping up the moment you felt the pearl. As a kid, I remember trying to pop up at that exact moment I would be pearling. Once I got that timing down, I was off surfing. That was the best advice I received as a kid that helped me learn the "feeling" of when to pop up and stop the pearling. To this day as I paddle I still think "pop up before I pearl" and if I do start to pearl I just pull back knowing I missed my chance.

I just started surfing a couple of months ago, and this is great advice! You need to get all the basics down- get gravity on your side, good positioning on the board, and to get your paddles in. But if you do everything at least somewhat adequately, you have a good chance if you just remember to pop up before you pearl.

I think when you're learning, everything is happening so fast that you're not always aware where you are on the wave and it's easy to pop up too late- especially when you're trying to do things right and paddle to build up some speed. But it's easier to sense when you are about to pearl (after you do it a few times), so that's a good cue to use.

[steveylang]

I wanted to post what I learned in order to avoid pearling, there are different possible causes but this is a drawn version of Waikiki's post above with the curled paper about your position on the wave.

Assuming you have pretty good board position, are in a pretty good spot to begin paddling into the wave, etc. I think beginners pearl because they try to pop up too early, or simply freeze as the wave starts lifting their tail at point #2 in my diagram. They either misread what's happening with the wave or see the nose of their board start to go into the water and they freeze, and then pearling becomes almost a foregone conclusion. But if you had kept paddling (and perhaps angled your paddle in a bit), you'd have kept the tail of the board from lifting up too much and thus not pearled.

If the wave is not that big or critical, it may have only take 2 more good strong paddles to get going and get that wave! On more critical waves, I find those 2-3 final extra paddles are the difference between going over the falls (feel like a kook) and making the wave (feels awesome.)

On a longboard with slower, spilling waves you can avoid the situation by paddling early into those wave bumps and catching the wave before they steepen up. But in the long run you want to learn how to deal with this, because you will surf in faster, plunging waves, or surf a shorter board later.

[oldmansurfer]

Thanks for the contribution steveylang. My discussion about pearling really wasn't for absolute beginners so I think there needs to be discussion about that as well. It's a very complex thing because you have a flat board and a curved ocean.