I have a hard time pumping. I find that i can do it while performing a bottom turn if i need the extra speed to get past the white water, but when I try to do it at a stand still I just slow myself down instead. It's like I can't do it fast enough or something. any tips?
one common thing i notice is people "pumping" just by basically jumping up and down,,try going in a tight up and down motin on the wave kinda hard to explain but hope that hellped a littttle bit
Use your back foot to drive your pump. A lot depends on the steepness of the wave and how fast it's breaking
You want to through your arms forward and upward while going from bent knee to slightly bent knee to momentarily make your body weight less on the board. Ideally your board would be higher up on the face off the wave at the end of the pump. Also after 2 pumps it becomes useless and will probably start to slow you down. A lot of people pump the entire wave.... Don't know why the do this.
Try speeding up or slowing down the tempo of your pump. Different boards flex differently, and you want to work in sync with the "frequency" of your board's natural flex rhythm. Try this and you'll see... going down the line, pump slowly at first, then gradually speed up your pumping tempo. At some point you feel a noticeable increase in speed. If you can't get a long enough wave to try it, pump slow on your first wave, faster on your second... etc. Your board's built-in flex frequency is determined by about a dozen different factors, but primarily thickness, stringer material, glass bill, deck and bottom contours, rocker, and foil. Board and fin flex, and flex return, vary from board to board, and even change over time as the materials fatigue. Which is why all great boards eventually "die".
Its like swinging on a swing, at least the tempo is like that. Start slow with small motions at first the lengthen the pumps as you speed up. It takes awhile to get it down. If you start to slow you are out of sync and you need to pause a little and start over to get back in the rhythm . Pumping is great, you can get an incredible amount of speed on tiny wave.
Good topic, I find myself having the same trouble with pumping to really gain speed. The video ^ helped me understand a little more. I have to remember to go up and down on the wave not just jumping up and down on my board. Def some useful tips from you guys for me to practice next time out.
Another thing to remember is always focus down the wave where you want to be not where you are. You'd be surprised at the difference between looking down and looking forward on your success at pumping.
