Should I give up surfing?

[dtc]

Are you paddling for waves but just not making them? Other than Jaffa’s comments (which I also suspect are right), are you starting from the same place and the same time as the other surfers? Lack of confidence can mean you sit further out, start paddling a little later - there is a part of you that doesn’t want to catch the waves because your confidence is shot.

Once way to deal with it is find a small day, 1-2 feet, and just play around with late drops or whatever - where there is no really chance of causing injury and if you mess up it doesn’t matter.

[waikikikichan]

I just can't get onto the waves fast enough to get up quickly into the wave.

Questions:
1) How many paddles do you normally take ? 5 ? 10 ? 15 ?

2) Do you cup your hands as they enter the water ?

3) Are you just catching the scraps after all the good guys catch the premium waves in a set ?

[gschaefer]

I have asked heaps of other locals (not really friends) that i surf with all the time to offer some advice and watch me to see what i am doing wrong but none of them have really bothered to help or suggest anything other than get a bigger board.

i would love someone to video my paddle in and popup so I can see what's happening. At Scotts Point, you are right I tend to sit wider when it's over 5-6ft as I don't have the confidence to take off over the rock when it's bigger.

Sometimes i just paddle in to where all the kids are catching the inside runners but i can't catch small waves at all, if it's under 3ft forget it, i never catch a single wave. i seem to need bigger waves with push and a certain steepness to get to my feet, so I am often suring with all the good surfers and ex pro's like Trent Munro and his mates who always paddle inside me so they get priority.

i don't cup my hands when paddling, and have seen lots of videos saying not to. I'd say on average i paddle 7-10 times per wave, sometimes more sometimes less depending on the waves and where i am sitting. Yesterday i paddled hard and early and just missed 4-5 bigger waves that steamrolled over me.

i will go out again today as it still around 4ft and offshore and am going down the beach to be myself so i can try a few things like lying a few inches further frwd on my board which someone else suggested. It feels my chest is in the right place now with the nose above the water a few inches but i will try moving frwd today.

Yesterday i had a good chance to get two good waves but the guy inside me faked and pulled out late so i didn't go and that sort of thing happens to me all the time. i never ever drop in on anyone but sometimes i think i should.When people see you are the only person not catching waves they lose respect for you and paddle inside etc an drop in more I have noticed.

Then the whole scenario gets even worse.

If nothing else this thread will make a good story one day if I ever manage to resolve this but after 3 years of struggling to ever catch a single wave, it's starting to get very depressing.

[dtc]

Maybe try catching a few waves without popping up (belly ride). Some of the inside waves - get the feel back?

In terms of paddling, Rob Case is the guy to google, although he may be a bit too technical at times

[gschaefer]

Maybe try catching a few waves without popping up (belly ride). Some of the inside waves - get the feel back?
In terms of paddling, Rob Case is the guy to google, although he may be a bit too technical at times

LOL I already do that every time I come in. PS: I am a pretty good body surfer

I keep watching this video to remind myself of the basics re paddling and popup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMmtNewLjUM

The main problem is i don't get enough paddle speed on the entry in and the waves stat breaking or steamroll me before I get any push happening to pop-up. Anyway I am going out now to try again.

Cheers - Glen

[oldmansurfer]

The nose should be only 1 inch out of the water when you paddle so definitely you need to be more forward

[gschaefer]

OK so yesterday was a cracker of a day to surf with warm sunny conditions and a nice SS/E swell in fading conditions with light winds. However being the June long w/e it was super crowded but I went out anyway to have another go. The surf was still pumping out the back of Scotts Head point, and also some nice waves on the inside and even in the middle of the beach on low tide.

I took out my 8ft Modern Falcon again and I started out the back of the point break which was approx 4ft, but within 15-20m all the younger short board crew came out so I had no hope as they all sat so much deeper then me. I waited for a while for one of them to fall off on the take off but it didn't happen so I paddled into the middle break with the holiday crowd.

In an hour and a half I counted each wave that I paddled for (18 waves), but only caught 1 wave. However I surfed it all the way to the beach with a few really nice turns (I can't tell you how good it felt). And like I have said before, once I get up I am fine and can surf as well as most intermediate surfers.

I compared my paddling to other people around me who paddled for some of the same waves and watched them get up to their feet and surf right past me while I was still paddling for the same wave. I am convinced now I need at least 9'1 Mal to catch a wave. It was light offshore, 2-3ft with hundreds of people from young kids to older women all catching dozens of waves right in front of me, and I only got 1 wave.

PS: I did try lying a few inches further up my board but i started to plain the nose when paddling so I moved back again.

[waikikikichan]

I compared my paddling to other people around me who paddled for some of the same waves and watched them get up to their feet and surf right past me while I was still paddling for the same wave.

So they got on before you and passed you by from the inside. So they are closer to the peak, closer to the curl, closer to the power. 5 feet off the break makes it 5 times harder. 10 feet off the break makes it 10 times harder.

PS: I did try lying a few inches further up my board but i started to plain the nose when paddling so I moved back again.

And what is wrong with the nose "plaining" ? Spray will come over as the nose pierces through the wave. You didn't need to move up a few inches. Just try an inch at a time. You are missing waves because your board can not glide. It's acting like a snowplow. Move up more, please.

Question: are you afraid of pearling / nosediving on the take off ?

You need 3 things to catch a wave Power, Position and Timing. But actually you need really just two of the three. The other two will make up for the lack of the third.

You currently have a problem with Position, on the wave and on the board. Your Power will get better as you get on a proper board. Timing I'm not sure of.

[gschaefer]

OK thanks I will try that tmrw, am having a rest day today as my shoulders are sore from all the paddling I did yesterday and the swell has dropped a lot today.

Question: are you afraid of pearling / nosediving on the take off ?.

Yes on steeper waves I am.

[waikikikichan]

Question: are you afraid of pearling / nosediving on the take off ?.

Yes on steeper waves I am.

So on these smaller waves, why are waves passing you by while others are getting on ?
Your paddle power ( or some physical ailment )
Your board
Your position on the wave ( which we already touched upon )

For me, I think you are too focused on the nose pearling and you are afraid ( even in smaller waves ). You are stuck in the present. You need to be looking to the next step ( always a move ahead like in Chess ). Once you move up and embrace the pearl, then you'll get on easier and earlier.

[gschaefer]

i think it's a combination of the wrong board, my paddle power (my shoulders get sore after an hour or so) and my 96kg weight. I never seem to have the same glide into waves as others, and i always seem to have to paddle so much harder than everyone else to even have a chance. I have experimented before with my position on the board and it feels to me like I am lying in the sweet spot but will try moving frwd again and see if it makes any difference.

I think the real test will be to see what happens when I try a 9'1 standard Mal.

PS: If you go back to my original post you will see that I have been surfing for 30 years and have caught plenty of waves until about 2 years ago. I even went to the Maldives in 2018 for 10 days but only caught 2 waves the entire time and came back totally depressed and $6,000 poorer!

[jaffa1949]

I have weighed 100kgs for many years now, but the crunch to go to longboard came when my wave count plummeted, a couple of contemporaries commented that i was either a demented spider paddling and thrashing onto a wave or missing entirely.

Boardless one day i borrowed a 9ft board, suddenly it was all effortless again, a few tweaks about take off angles and all was good.

There is no nobility in your struggle golong , beg borrow don‘t steal and see if that works for you!

[gschaefer]

There is no nobility in your struggle golong , beg borrow don‘t steal and see if that works for you!

Yes Jaffa, yesterday was the final straw and I have started to work on getting myself a 9'1 Mal to try asap. I just wish i hadn't wasted so many years and thousands of dollars on so many wrong boards.

Hope to be posting some happier stories soon.

PS: This is one of the two proper waves I caught in the Maldives 3 years ago

[dtc]

Maybe try catching a few waves without popping up (belly ride). Some of the inside waves - get the feel back?
In terms of paddling, Rob Case is the guy to google, although he may be a bit too technical at times

LOL I already do that every time I come in. PS: I am a pretty good body surfer

What I mean is that if you can catch unbroken waves (on your board) without the pop up, you can catch waves. The pop up doesn’t change that

Have a look at these https://www.surfingpaddling.com/blog/ho ... 1-mason-ho

[jaffa1949]

There is no nobility in your struggle golong , beg borrow don‘t steal and see if that works for you!

Yes Jaffa, yesterday was the final straw and I have started to work on getting myself a 9'1 Mal to try asap. I just wish i hadn't wasted so many years and thousands of dollars on so many wrong boards.

Hope to be posting some happier stories soon.

PS: This is one of the two proper waves I caught in the Maldives 3 years ago

You should be getting more, go for it!

[jaffa1949]

just thought I#d post a pictur of Scott’s Head for you!

Some of the forumites would love this sort of set up!

[OldSalt]

Ah! Don't give up! I was struggling with paddling , as I have been landlocked for 8 years and only in the last year have had a vehicle cheap enough to run that I cn get to the coast two times a week now. Paddling after surfing my entire life had become SUCH an issue!!! I was like a dead weight when water was moving. BUT now I work out all week. And I paddle train in a nearby lake to the tune of about a k a day. This helped immensely and now I feel like I am lighter and better in the water than I was in my twenties and thirties. ( I am 46). My attitude is that I am always surfing even when I am not! Good luck!! C