Steep Drops

[rDJ]

thats what I was refering to when I ride my shortboard. I think its that I have ridden logs for most of my life that I have trained myself over the years without knowing it to only paddle and not kick my feet.

Guess I am gonna have to try to kick more

Ultimately I think it may depend on the volume and or length of your board.

I often kick out of habit, but not always. I do question if it actually helps. It does sometimes feel as though it helps when I'm on a 5'6" or 5"8" or when I'm on a chippy board that floats me low. If you sit on your shortboard and the water line is below your rib cage, kicking will likely not help you because your feet are well above the water. On a short fish your legs will hang down more so it could possible help there as well. But lets say you are 5'9' and you are riding a 5'10" fish, well I hardly doubt kicking above the water is going to help you.

That leads me to another point. For steep drops. I prefer a really low volume board. I want to be "in" the wave. Not on top of it. If you are in the wave and under that lip, it can't throw you. On a high volume board (most people surf boards that are too much volume) the lip can toss you out further and make your drop harder to land. Get a board that floats you around the rib cage, above your belly button and even up almost to your pecks. Swim your board, instead of paddling it.

[Ray F.]

That leads me to another point. For steep drops. I prefer a really low volume board. I want to be "in" the wave. Not on top of it.

Agreed. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but let's read his orginal question:

I have noticed the past few days have very steep waves including this morning. How do you approach these differently? I've been getting slammed with these types of waves and the nose of my board is practically going right into the sand. If you have any tips I would appreciate it. Thanks.

motivated2surf, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have "a pair," since you are repeatedly getting slammed. I'm also going to assume that you are paddling and catching waves, since you're spearing sand with your board. And you can continue to do this over and over again, if you wish, but I'm just going to let you know: All the paddling in the world and nut sack growing on God's green earth won't result in a succesful drop-in if you're riding a nearly 7' long fish style (long, wide, thick & flat) board in chest to shoulder high waves with nearly vertical walls. Just sayin'.......

[Recycled Surfer]

All the paddling in the world and nut sack growing on God's green earth won't result in a succesful drop-in if you're riding a nearly 7' long fish style (long, wide, thick & flat) board in chest to shoulder high waves with nearly vertical walls. Just sayin'.......

Well put !

[SkegLegs]

Well put !

Yeah, because they've only been riding barreling waves since the thruster was invented.

[oipaul]

Yeah, because they've only been riding barreling waves since the thruster was invented.

Check out the "Stylemasters" vids!

[RobG]

It may be that the bottom turn is keeping you from out racing the close out section.

yes. today wasnt quite as big or steep as yesterday but i did try to just turn down the line and do a little mini pump as soon as i popped up to avoid the long bottom turn and it definitely helped to make some of those sections rather then just get closed out on. a bunch of good info in this thread, thanks everyone!

[rDJ]

Check out the "Stylemasters" vids!

I have Stylemasters 1. Great movie if you're into that vintage stuff. There are some guys doing insane things on boards that are making their job a lot harder than it has to be. Watch them surf pipe, then watch some modern day pipe surfers. It takes mad skill to do what they do. Not to mention, lots of practice. Those guys have waves available to them just about every day. We don't have that luxury. Plus, board design these days has made our lives a little easier. If you're good, you can surf a door (They did in Shelter) but I wouldn't want to do that either. Why go backwards? The suggestions we gave were to make his job easier. The sooner he gets on lower volume and shorter boards the sooner his surfing will progress.

[kinggargantuan]

i have similar problems though maybe for different reasons. i'm on a 8'4" board. this weekend, i caught a few big ones, mostly breaking right ontop of me, and i was hanging on for my life while the whitewater tried to rip me from the board. once it leveled out, i was able to stand up and try to turn down the line.

i hopped on a big one and before i could stand up, i noticed the nose was aiming straight for the pearl so i shoved the board out in front of me and waited until it was flat to stand up.

i'm thinking i should have just popped up right then, rather than shove the board in front of me?

~noob

[ghettojersey]

set your rail as quick as possible and just commit to the wave ...i usualy grab the rail tight and stay low till i know i have it

[surfman]

I was doing just fine on the steep chest-shoulder high wave on my fun 8'2" the other day. Sitting farther out and paddling early is of big help: With the large volume board you can gain speed, stand up and ride the wave well before it starts curling. Paddle at an angle. Angle your board even more to direct it down the line after you popped up to gain speed. Once you are up and gained decent speed you are ready for the ride on that wave that becomes steep and hollow. If you can't catch the wave though, you are either too far out or not paddling fast enough.

The evening of the same day I took my 6'7" and it needed a whole different approach. You can't gain as much speed paddling a short board as a long board, but it slides down the steep surface much faster. So you have to be right at the line-up, where 2-3 paddles put you on the wave. To me, it also natural aiming at an angle rather than directly to the shore.

Also, for learning, it may be a lot easier dropping in on the shoulder rather than at the peak.