Lingo - surf terminology

surf terminology

• air - getting airborne
• aerial - airborne manoeuvre
• amped - charged up - stoked - fired
• backdoor - to pull into a tube from behind the peak
• backside - surfing back to the wave - going backside
• bail - to abandon a board - jump off - without regard to your board old school says contolling your board at all times is part of surfing and you should always surf like you don't use a leash.
• bail out - of a wave
• bake - a closeout
• bashing - body surfing
• boost - getting airborne off the lip
• brah - from bruddah, hawaiian pidgin for brother
• bro - brother, buddy, friend
• bra - how the kewl kids say bro
• bucket - helmet
• bump - a swell
• bumps - the build-up of wax on a surfboard deck.
• carve - symmetrical, fluid turn
• cheater five - five toes on the nose - keep your weight back on the board to maintain trim and speed, squat down and extend one foot forward
• clucked - afraid, intimidated by the wave
• crew - a group of surfers defined by break or area
• dogging - going backside in the pit.
• drop - as in dropping from the crest of the wave to the pit
• dropping in - catching a wave that is already occupied ... taking off on the shoulder while someone is taking off deeper
• drop in late - catching the steepest part of a wave
• dune - a big peaky wave
• falls - the pitching lip of the wave - don't get sucked into this
• fan - a fan of spray off a turn such as a water skier throws
• fluff - spray off the lip
• falls - top of the wave pitches out and throws a waterfall shoreward.
• frigged - snaked.
• frontside - surfing facing the wave - going frontside
• fully - with commitment and intensity
• full on - with commitment and intensity
• gash - very sharp turn
• gnarly - awesome and intimidating
• going off - a break under optimum conditions
• goofy foot - left foot back is the power foot, right foot forward
• gouge - sharp, fast turn
• gremmies - grem or gremmie is short for gremlin - sixties us term for young, possibly or probably mischievous surfer, pre-adolescent surfer
• green room - inside a full cover-up tube
• grommet - adolescent surfer
• gunned - undergunned or overgunned refers to the size of your board in relation to wave conditions
• heelside - the rail [side] that your heels point at
• hiddie - from hideous, intense
• hoot - howling and yelping approval and encouragement to buddies
• jag - retreat after getting worked
• nipped - nipples rubbed raw by board or suit
• noodle - exhausted, overall condition or specific as in noodle armed
• meatball flag - black with a yellow dot in the middle, means no surfing today
• pop - kickout
• pit - the hollowest portion of a breaking wave
• pitch - throw - angle of any run to rise
• pitted - being in the pit of the wave
• pearl - to go pearl diving, the nose of you board submerges and usually the wave pushes the rest of the board over the nose, you too
• poser - a non-surfer playing the role of a surfer
• pucker factor - the effect an intimidating wave has on ones ability to remain relaxed
• puff - a spitting wave.
• pumping - above average large swell
• quiver - a surfer's collection of boards, a board bag that holds several boards
• regular foot - right foot back is the power foot, left foot forward
• rip - to surf to the height of one's abilities
• repechage - in competition, especially amateur, the runners up from a heat compete against each other in a repechage round. The winners advance to the final rounds.
• room - inside a large barrel.
• schlong - thick, long, old style single-fin surfboard
• squid - unlikeable individual
• scab - a reef or rock
• scabbed - getting damaged by a reef or rock
• shred - ability to execute rapid repeated turns - shortboard term
• sick - excellent, top notch - describing a surfer, stunt, manoeuvre or conditions
• sideslip - when your board stops tracking forwards and moves sideways
• slam - bounce off the lip as it begins to pitch
• slash - cutback.
• snake - paddling around behind someone who is in position and stealing their wave. effectively the snake is taking ownership of the wave by being the closest rider to the breaking portion of the wave.
• stink-eye - hard, cold, menacing stare
• stoked - geared up, wound up, full of enthusiasm
• stylie - with good form - with grace
• surfer's knots - large bumps on the tops of feet and on knees caused by callusing where one continuously contacts a board
• stuffed - getting driven under the water by a wave coming down on you
• swish - a meek or fearful surfer
• thrashed - when a wave lays a beating on you
• throwing tail - sliding the tail in a turn, breaking the grip of the fins
• toeside - the rail [side] that your toes point at
• tow-ins - getting towed into waves that are too large to paddle into
• trim - adjusting your position on a board so that it planes, and achieves its maximum speed
• tube - the cylindrical or cone shaped hole created when the lip pitches out far and clean enough to create a space between the wave and the falls
• vertical - turn straight up the wave
• waffling - rapidly working the board back and forth
• wannabe - wan-na-be, someone who wants to be
• wax - paraffin + colour + scent + additives to make it apply at specific temperatures. used on deck of boards for traction
• whack - as in whack it off the top [of the wave], hit the lip hard
• wipe out - a fall, particularly a spectacular fall
• worked, getting - the action a wave plays on you. it feels like being in a large washing machine.

Lingo - board terminology

board terminology

• bodyboard - aka boogie boards, sponge, a paipoboard modified in 1971 by tom morey to ride dangerous shallow reefs safely. lay prone and augment with swim-fins
• cant - angling the outside fins toward the rail so that the inner angle is 90 degrees + some number. cant really puts the fin in a place where it needs to be. as when you are doing a bottom turn ,the inside fin is angled more toward the rail and is in a better position to hold the board in, especially now that you have 1 or more fins out of the water. this makes the board handle better on its rails
• concave - soft chine indentation running lengthways on the bottom of a board, believed to create lift
• bonzer - in australia, bonzer is equivalent slang for "bitchen". the term was adopted by the campbell brothers of southern california in the 70's for their 5 fin surf board.
• down rail - the deck curves down to meet the flat bottom at a hard edge
• egg - refers to the slow rounded shape of a nose, tail or rail
• fish - short board with added width and thickness, designed to improve wave catching capability while maintaining performance, a shorboard for small conditions
• flick nose - an increase in the rate of rocker near the nose
• fun board - mid size board designed for ease of ride in small conditions,
• gun - a board for big waves they are long, narrow, and pointy both at the nose and the tail for maximum rail contact. usually thick and heavy and ranging in length from 7'to 10'
  aka "elephant gun", "rhino chaser" so named because you take it with you when you are hunting big game...
• hybrid - hybrids range from 7'-9' and attempt to give some of the floatation and paddling of a longboard as well as the performance of a shortboard.
• hard rail - sharper edge to grab a wave
• kneeboard - aka kneelo
• leash - a line attaching the board to the riders ankle (shortboard), calf just below the knee (longboard) or wrist (bodyboard). before the mid seventies we used surgical rubber tube. modern leashes have little elastic property, in line swivels to stop fouling, and optional quick release pins at the ankle.
• log or stick - slang for surf board
• longboard - longboards are usually over 9' in length. because of their size they are easier to paddle and get into waves sooner. on the downside, they are less manoeuvrable and can get pretty unwieldy in steep waves.
• mal - a longboard most places except america
• magic board - there are exceptional boards and sometimes exceptonal matches between board & rider that can make this claim
• mini-mal - mid size board with longboard characteristics
• paipoboard - hawaiian wooden bodyboard
• pin tail - pointed tail, aids in stability of board
• quad - four fin board, two normal size fins with two smaller fins in line behind them
• rail - side edge of a board,
• rhino - a gun - a board for big waves they are long, narrow, and pointy both at the nose and the tail for maximum rail contact. usually thick and heavy and ranging in length from 7'to 10'
  aka "elephant gun", "rhino chaser" so named because you take it with you when you are hunting big game...
• rocker - the arc of the tail that bends up, more rocker = easier turning & less speed
• shortboard - shortboards are the most common, they range in length from 5' to 7'6", and tend to be used for high-performance contest-style surfing. shortboards usually have pointed noses and three fins, although other configurations are common. a shortboard sacrifices paddling and floatation for the sake of performance.
• skimboard - glassed plywood disc or oval for riding shallow beaches on the waters' edge.... run - throw it down - hop on
• soft rail - rounder edge so the board is looser
• spoon - concave in the underside nose of a longboard. increases lift for nose riding
• square tail - with the introduction of multi fins, it became a advantageous to loosen the board up with a clean profile tail design
• squash tail - wide, rounded tail, introduced after the advent of advanced fin systems to loosen the board up
• swallow tail - double pointed tail with an indentation in the center. functional on single fin boards to aid in the holding characteristics of the board.
• tail kick - an increase in the rate of rocker near the tail
• tanker - longboard
• thruster - three similar size fins
• toe in - pushing the front of the fins in, for some boards they would put the toe in such that a string from the nose of the board to the fin was the alignment for the fins--toe-in. of course this represents a lot of toe-in! toe-in causes pressure on the outside of the fins to be greater than on the inside, ie., making the board want to swivel to either side with a little surfer input, this eliminated tracking on the earlier twin fins, and makes for a looser more responsive board.
• tri fin - three fin board, one large and two smaller fins
• twin - two fin board
• twinzer - four fin board, two normal size fins with two smaller fins mirrored a few inches outside and forward of them
• reverse v - hard chine protruding ridge running lengthways on the bottom of a board

Lingo - wave terminology

wave terminology

• ground swells - waves formed over vast distances, well formed and powerful, mackers
• wind swells - waves formed close to the shore by local wind conditions, unorganised, tendency to be slop
• reef breaks - wave is formed over an underwater reef or rock, consistent
• beach breaks - wave is formed over sand and sand bars, can shift seasonally and from storm to storm
• point breaks - wave forms in reaction to the land form, consistent
• river mouth breaks - wave forms on the sediments deposited at the river mouth, similar to beach breaks but sometimes more susceptible to change~ ~ ~
• backwash - flood of water returning off the foreshore against incoming waves
• cnoid waves - as waves come in to shallow water their shape changes to something called a 'cnoid' which has a short, steep crest and a long shallow trough - those are what we see as lines of corduroy.
• channel - a channel of deeper water where excess water, piled up by waves, flows out to sea
• clean - faces are unrippled - usually offshore or no wind
• face - clean, smooth wall on the shore side of a wave
• fetch - determines the size of a wave. wind speed X time X distance
• frequency downshifting - the increase of wave period within a fetch .... a decrease in frequency is an increase in period.
• impact zone - the point where the waves break for the first time
• inside - where waves continue to break, reform, and break again if it's big enough
• lip - curling lip at the top of a wave
• line-up - just beyond the impact zone where you wait to catch waves
• outside - offshore, beyond where the waves break
• pitch - the act of the lip throwing out in front of the wave
• period - time between waves. wind swell less than about 10 seconds /approx/ 12 seconds and longer is ground swell (the energy / power of a wave is proportional not only to its height but its period.)
• section - any appreciable length of wave that has common characteristics and timing
  ie: breaking in sections - sectiony
• shore-dump / soup / slop - unorganised sloppy foam, no good for nothing
• sine waves - in deep water swells are very well-approximated by pure sine waves.
• steep - refers to angle or pitch of wave face

A couple of good online surfing video analysis resources

Here's a couple of good online surfing video analysis resources, with breakdowns of what surfers are doing by maneuver.

Surf Coach - http://www.surfingaustralia.com/surfcoach/category/surfing-solutions/

Surfing Tricks & Tips - http://www.surfingvancouverisland.com/surf/tricktips/

Waxing your surfboard

You need wax on your board in order to surf unless you have a full deck grip which is unlikely. Wax comes in all shapes and sizes and different formulas for surfing in cold or hot water temperatures.

We obviously don't use much tropical wax over in the UK so you'll be asking for cold water wax but most shops will automatically sell you this so you don't need to ask. Popular brands are 'Mrs Palmers' and 'Dr Zogs' . It's a personal preference which one you use at the end of the day. Recently I've found 'Might Mounds' from Mrs Palmers to be rather good and it smells great!

Applying: Starting from scratch on a new board - I normally mark out with lines where I want to wax up to. You don't need to wax the whole board, just from the rear foot area up to about two thirds of the way up the board.

If you're unsure, take out your fins or sink them into the sand carefully. Lie on your board and have a look where your chest is on the board when as if you were paddling. This is where you need to wax up to.I use the tip of the wax block and draw a line showing where I'll stop waxing. I then draw a grid pattern either diagonal or criss cross all over the deck of the board.

Once this is done I start building up the wax, using a circular motion from rail to rail all over - think Karate Kid - 'wax on, wax off'. After a while you'll notice the wax is forming little circular beads of wax which is what you're aiming for.

Build them up nice and high if you want them to last and not smudge so easily. Apply evenly and concentrate on the areas where your feet will go. Most surfers opt for a rear deck grip nowadays in which case, you'll only need to wax the middle and never need to worry about waxing the back again!

If it's particularly cold outside, a good way of making the wax go on easier is to drop it into a cup of hot water. The wax will become warmer and instantly easier to apply! Similarly if your wax is too warm and slips everywhere, dunk it in some cold water before waxing.

If travelling abroad, to say Mexico for instance, make sure you buy tropical wax and apply to your board before you go (clean the old wax off first) as you'll quickly find that your old wax simply melts off in warmer waters. Check in the surf shop that it actually says tropical on it!

I wax my rails(sides) where my legs go when sitting and where my hands go when duckdiving. You don't need much, just drag the bar of wax up both sides and it's done. It's entirely up to you but i find it stops me slipping off when sitting, especially on a new board!

Removing wax off your surfboard

Removing the wax can be time consuming, or can take just a couple minutes. A plastic scraper (typically found on the back of a wax comb) can be used to remove the wax in large chunks. It is not recommended to use heat, blow dryer or the sun, as this can be damaging to the foam of the board. Residual wax that has not been removed by scraping can be dealt with using a soft cloth, either on its own or in combination with (for example) coconut oil. Various commercial are also available. Solvents, however, are usually avoided as they can damage the surface or paintjob of the board.

Another method that many surfers prefer is to let their board lie in the sun with the deck side up. After about ten minutes, beach sand is spread onto the melted wax and the sand is then rubbed. This method enables surfers to take all the wax off at once. The board is then left smooth and ready to be stored away or to be re-waxed.

Preventing Leash Tangles

It’s happened to the best of us.  You’re in perfect position with a beautiful a-frame peak headed straight for you.  You paddle in, leap to your feet, and then realize in horror that your leash is wrapped around your legs like a boa constrictor, eliminating any chance for a clean ride.  It’s happened to every surfer, and although it’s impossible to prevent 100%, here are some tips on stopping the leash from getting wrapped around your ankles and caught between your toes.

• Don’t wrap your leash around your board.  A lot of people love to do this, and it seems convenient, but wrapping your leash around the tail of your board just above your fins only puts kinks in the leash.  The material the leash is made of has a memory, and this and causes it to want to coil around your leg.  Leave the leash free when you store your board.  It’s not convenient anymore when you’re blowing waves.

• Make sure your leash is long enough.  Generally it should be as long as your board, rounding up.  If you’ve got a 7’6″ board, get an 8′ leash.  If you’ve got a 6′ shortboard, get a 6′ leash.

• If you’ve got a leash that does nothing but coil around your leg while you’re in the water, one solution is to pull the leash taut.  Attach one end to a doorknob or other sturdy structure and pull it out, stretching the leash a bit.  Hang the leash uncoiled for a few days to allow it to straighten it out.

• If your leash is really annoying you and doesn’t seem to straighten out, buy a new one.

• Wear your leash on your trailing foot (duh!) and make sure that the leash/cuff connection extends out to your side – to the right for regular and to your left for goofy.  Don’t have the leash extend from the cuff towards your back or heel, instead position it so that when you’re standing on your board the leash/cuff connection is pointed towards the tail of your board.

• Use a comp leash if you’re in average sized, 6 foot and under surf.  You don’t need such a thick leash.  Comp leashes are strong enough and will give you less drag.  They also seem to coil and get tangled a lot less than regular thickness leashes.  And if you’re that worried about your leash breaking you shouldn’t be out there in the first place.

• Give one of those XM Tangle Free leashes a try.  I can’t endorse this as I haven’t tried it out yet, but it seems like a good idea in theory.

• Don’t wear a leash.  Ok, maybe I shouldn’t have included this tip, but honestly if you’re in small surf and can hold on to your board, give it a try.  This is NOT suitable for people surfing in areas where there are kids playing in the shorebreak nearby, or if you’re riding in a very crowded lineup.  Sorry, even the best surfers lose their boards.  You don’t want the liability of having your fin go through someone’s eye.  Enough about consequences, though–surfing without a leash is incredibly fun and liberating.  And in small waves you don’t have a leash giving you extra drag.

So hopefully these tips will keep your leash tangle-free and put an end to those horrible wave ruining cases of tanglefoot.  If you’ve got any other ideas or home remedies post a comment below and fill us in!

Off the Lip - Throwing Buckets – Steps to Creating a Fan Spray

There’s an oozing sensation brewing in your belly.  You’re a little tired paddling back out in the midst of a set, you’re trying to make it under each next up and coming wave, and you’re doing your best to watch, and watch out for on coming shredders throwing buckets out of each turn down the line as they approach you.  As you barely make it over another set wave, a surfer in perfect flow drifts and fades low to the bottom of the wave, letting him/herself get right behind the foam ball.  As you crest over the wave they’re on as you continue to paddle out, the surfer goes out of site for a few seconds…  You look back, and woosh, splitter, gcrash! Buckets of water are hucked out the back of the wave, leaving you drenched, enamored, and longing to someday be that guy or girl who throws those buckets yourself.

If you know that feeling, Then here’s a few basic steps you’ll need to hurl yourself as the new bucket slinger in town:

*  Yes, yes, yes, speed is the key.  The faster you go, the more spray potential…but we all knew this.  Ok, lets begin.

**   Visualization-  Have you ever noticed in surf videos that most surfers who are hitting the lip right in the crease between the foam ball and the lip, began the entire turn from behind the foam ball.  Basically, what you need to do when you’re going down the line, pumping and getting your speed, is think about the fact that you need to get to the bottom of the wave, behind the foam by fading the wave, so that you can then come from behind it with speed and really eye up the section you want to hit.

1.  The idea is that you need to fade your bottom turn behind the wave, behind the foam ball, so that you can see the corner pocket of the section you want to hit.  When you can see the pocket curling down the line, then you just practice, over and over, getting your timing down so that you can come straight up and get it.

2.  When you get to the corner pocket, rotate with your arms, then push as hard as can with your back leg;  this is how you throw buckets!

3.  Don’t celebrate too early, the wave is not over.  Fade your bottom turn behind the foam ball again, always keeping your eyes on the corner pocket that your going to time and come back up and hit again all the way down the line!

Surfboards

Let's start with the obvious: Surfboards are made to float on the water. They have a natural center of gravity. If you were to lay any surfboard in a swimming pool, it would come to rest the same way every time. This is what we want to do when you lay on a surf board. That is to have the board remain in the same relation to the water as it was without your weight on it, just a bit lower in the water. A good tip is to find this balance point and lay on your board then make, a mark right at your chin. This is a spot is best made with a bit of wax or a magic marker. It is a reference point that enables you to put your chin on the same spot every time so the board will react to your weight the same way every time.

If the board's nose digs into the water it is called pearling and you must move the location of "your chin" back. To adjust, just slide back an inch from the mark and make a mental note.

Too much weight in the back and the board will cork the board. This is a common mistake amongst beginners. You cannot catch a wave if you are corking your board. Move up an inch at a time till the board lies in the water naturally. This will provide you with the maximum hull speed and minimum drag from the water displacement that you are causing with your weight.

Warm-Up and Workout Fitness Exercises

Surf Training: Warm-Up and Workout Fitness Exercises

Try this fitness exercises for your surfing and pre-surfing workouts. Remember that you could improve 30% of your surfing fitness if you simply add two workout sessions, twice a week, at home or in your local gym. Surfing is a very complete sport. It requires swimming skills, sense of balance, decision taking and constant muscle interactions. Before hitting waves, try these physical warm up fitness schemes to avoid injuries: 1. Go for a light jogging during four minutes. You body will start engines and increase your heart rate, breathing and blood circulation. 2. Swing your legs and arms. 3. Slowly try to reach your fingers to your feet. 4. Swing your leg backwards and forwards. 5. Stretch your leg muscles. 6. Rotate your head and neck. 7. Gently rotate your heel to exercise the whole foot articulation. 8. Inhale deeply and exhale vigorously a few times. 9. Make very quick and short runs back and forth. 10. Elevate your arms and join the palm of your hand above your head, as higher as you can. Watch some surf fitness exercises that you can do at home, HERE. Also, check the best yoga poses for surfers, HERE. Now, you're ready to hit the surf. Print these 10 surfing warm-up tips and keep it next to your surfboard. Surf Injuries & Physical Limitations The main surf injuries and physical limitations of the average surfer are: * Shoulders get easily tired after and during a surfing session * Lungs do not respond to your paddle needs * Arms are slower in take-off mode * Ankle and hips do not respond in backside snaps and off-the-lips * Duck dives aren't efficient * Body cannot stand a three hour session or a two/three daily sessions * Back pain following a surfing session * Neck pain following a surfing session * Body cramps while surfing Surf Food and Sports Nutrition A balanced diet is the perfect choice for surfers: * A smoothie a day is a fantastic way to to keep fit * Enjoy orange juice, carrots, tomatoes and ground flax seeds * Add vegetables to your meat or fish daily dishes * Eat many small meals a day * Reduce the number of hamburgers you're having every week * Drink two litres of water every day * Eat two bananas before surfing: you'll gain energy and will avoid cramps * If you enjoy a beer in the after-surf, drink a small bottle of water before it

How to prevent going over the falls - nose diving

We've all done it many times over! here's a few tips:-

1. you might be too far forward on the board, move 1 inch at a time further back to a more central position, note the front of the board shouldn't be pointing up!
2. if you're paddling with your legs up, just before you go lower your legs.
3. timing, try to catch the wave as early as possible. paddle hard todo this.
4. keep a check by looking back on where the wave is - timing has to be near perfect.
5. if you feel yourself nose diving move slightly back on the board to recover it.

Rip currents, how to use them.

In heavy larger surf rips are are used to get out BUT they can also sweep your out to sea if you're not careful, make sure once you get near to where you want to go, paddle across just behind the breaking waves.

do not try to paddle back against a rip, if you feel out of your comfort zone paddle across and lay on the board and get the next wave in to shore.   if you surf near a rip they can be very handy as it takes you less time to get back out. note: don't ever get off your board in a rip.

Improving your popup

A few ways to improve your popup:-

1. keep your legs together, this helps you with a clean popup.
2. keep your hands laid flat on the board when popping up, don't grab the sides. (rails), this will stop the wobble effect.
3. keep your hands underneath you
4. if you have problems getting your legs under put one hand slightly in front of the other. (1 inch), this will help you pivot your hips to get up cleaner into it.
5. get up in one quick motion, don't kneel. speed is key, don't take your time.
6. practice your popup's at home
7. get someone to video you in the surf and play it back - you'll spot problems, i.e. slow or trailing back leg etc.
8. do pressup's, try to do 20 or more 4 times a week, this will increase your strength.

Big Drops - how to make them easier

Everyone thinks about bigger and bigger waves in surfing, developing your larger wave surfing has it's problems, main one is the drop! the drop is more critical as it's bigger and faster but if you angle the board more across the wave like in the above photo it gives you more time and makes the drop less steep, it's like in skiing you don't ski directly down the hill (unless your an Olympic skier) you traverse across the ski slope to one side, the principle is the same in surfing and you will have a better wave ride. practice in smaller waves before tackling larger waves.

Surfer Cramp - how to prevent it

Surfers cramp is quite common and is can be due to lack of potassium in your legs, eating a banana 30mins to 1 hour before can help you with this problem and also banana's are a slow burning which is a good fuel food.

Angling across small waves

A common problem with smaller waves it that you drop down the wave then try to angle and you run out of forward steam and the wave goes by.
To get across the wave slightly angle the board the way you want to go, not much of an angle about 5% that way, when you catch the wave look across the wave, this will make you go across rather than straight down.

Another tip is to add more pressure on one hand the way you want to go before the popup, it might be only for 1-2 seconds before getting up but this will angle you across the wave the way you want to go.

On larger waves angling is important - see my other post of dropping down larger waves.

Best times to surf depending on tide and wave size

Finding the optimum time takes time to get used to how the break behaves at certain times. in general there are a few rules.

Low tide, most breaks are surf able at low tide except when there's reef and rocks.  for shortboards this is the best time as the wave peaks more. (less rounded) so is easier to catch.

Mid tide, tends to be a good time to surf in general, beware of rocks - please check your local surf report.

High tide, tends to lend more towards larger boards - this is because the peak is less i.e. more rounded so is harder to catch.

Wave size:

2 foot or less, generally more of a low tide surf condition, go 2 hours before or after low tide, after low tide will be slightly cleaner and better waves. slightly larger board might be required.

upto 4 feet, this is a good alround surf condition and can surf low to mid tide waves, all boards. best time will be 1-3 hours before or after low tide.

upto 6 feet, all tides, if the wind is onshore then go slightly more towards high tide... i.e. mid to high.

6 foot+, all tides, might need a slightly bigger board as when waves get large they are faster and harder to catch so you need more speed to catch them, with smaller boards the catch will be later so the drop will be more critical so it depends on how good your popup is.

Wind conditions:-

Wind can change when to go a lot, if it's onshore 15mph+   then go more towards mid tide.
Offshore - As the wave will hold up more BUT possible break (dump) all at once go more towards low. low to mid will be best.

Local knowledge of the break is best, take note when the best surfers go.

Happy surfing!

Duck Diving - Longer boards! and shortboards.

Duck diving can help a lot in heavy waves that are hard to get past, the shorter the board the easier it will be but there are a few tricks for getting longer boards under as for beginners/intermediates stepping down to say a minimal or 7ft shortbaord it is still very hard because of the buoyancy of the board. if you suffer from the "Cork" effect i.e. popup back like a cork backwards after duck diving then this will help you out.

To get under better:-

1. Timing, timing is critical, duck just before the wave hits.

2. Speed, make sure you have forward momentum to get past the wave... a few strokes towards the wave will help.

3. when ducking with larger boards hold the board slightly further back to get it under more, it's common to think you hold it more forward, but this is not the case with larger boards... about 1 inch back from your popup hand position is usually about right. that way you get under more and have more pivit motion to get back up afterwards.

Paddling - paddle power, catch more waves

Most of the time in surfing you are paddling for waves and paddling out, it's a bit annoying when guys catch lot's of waves and you don't seem able to. I would say when starting out you miss 80% of waves because of paddling alone, you can get this down to a better ratio and catch more waves with a few simple techniques. I aim to catch 25+ waves in 2 hours. do count - it makes a difference and also try to catch a wave when you first get out (within 10 minutes) it will setup your whole session in a positive wave catching mood.

Paddle power - to catch more waves:-

1. Dig deep with your arms & hands, especially the first stroke to get going. dig your hands in deep as you possibly can, your arms will ache more but you'll get used to it.

2. Paddle close to your board, this will stop you wiggling side to side.

3. Don't drag your feet over the sides like stableizers! - this will drag you back, keep them straight touching each other. (this in turn will help your popup)

4. keep your head straight looking forward and low.

5. when paddling out, paddle as quick as you can like catching waves - this will increase your paddle strength and durability.

6. pace your paddling, when about to catch/ or might miss paddle hard & deep as possible.

7. Last stroke, paddle with both arms at one time... this gives you forward momentum

8. Optional... first few strokes rise & bend your legs so you have more forward motion.

All these help, honestly I paddle at the side of many surfers who miss waves when I catch them.