Armageddon waves were amaaaazing, but...

Nice to know I'm not the only one!!

I've been out 5 x's since Sandy hit and three of those sessions I came up empty. It's a whole different world out there now..."improvise, adapt, overcome!"

 

boards aren't always the problem. where i was at VB on friday, the winds were about 20-30 knots offshore which definitely made it harder to get into waves. i've also been up at college so my shoulders were feeling pretty tight as well. however, i was able to get into some good waves because i've been training up at school by running and swimming. paddle power is key when the winds are blowing hard offshore. the best way to get better in the water is to train out of the water!

 

OP, you've got trimming down pretty well but I think you're looking to carve more right? Someone posted a website a while ago that had a bunch of surf school videos to browse through. They cover trimming vs carving pretty well. The main thing I see from your video that would help you surf more vertically is your weight transfer. You're heavy on the front which is fast and straight aka trimming. You need to shift your weight to you back foot and let the fins power you through your turn. Try reaching for your right heel (I think you're regular right, if not your back heel) with your left/front hand. This way you have to bring the weight away from your front foot towards your back foot and you use the power in your hips in the turn. It's fun getting over plateaus, keep progressing.

 

I think if you laid down more on the board and placed you hands closer in and father reaching when you paddle you would paddle a lot faster. it looks like you take short strokes and don't pull the water with your hands enough. (from a swimmers pov) but i mean the way u paddle now should get the job done.

 

I doubt it was an equipment issue, that day was a tough go. You had a strong sweep going out and very strong offshores. Its not easy to paddle into a rare NJ 7-10 ft wave in the first place, even without the winds and the sweep, let alone with long period groundswell, so that day your timing was likely out of whack, and by the time you did establish into a rythm due to the cold and the extra rubber you were probably pretty smoked by then.

 

Best advice I received that I took into a big heavy west wind swell was. Paddle down the face.

Make sure you paddle your ass off hard down the face, then dig your edge and get a good bottom turn and try to disappear in the barrel.

Too windy and too fast to try to set yourself up on an angle

 

can't offer much help for you on your surfing, but could the video have looked weird because you turned on image stabilization? Thanks for sharing though, was helpful for me to watch and read the feedback from others.

The surf simply videos get mentioned a lot... but here are some other training vids that don't get mentioned as much and are still be updated:

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

 

i'd agree with this. i used to surf that same spot, honestly when it gets big that place dumps. i've been out there plenty of times where i would only catch one wave and i thought it was just me but the other guys out there were all having the same problem. definitely frustrating but it's only one session, makes you wanna get out again and get some more the next session.

 

Kind of embarrassing to hear the D list NJ pros calling this the best day in ten years on surfline. Pretty much a dime a dozen day most places around the world, plus freezing temps and lots of dumpy close outs.

 

First off, great post, great thread. I feel like I'm in this same situation a lot. On the 21st, I didn't paddle out. I knew I'd get hammered. I feel like my surfing is close to being able to make those waves, but it's not there and that wasn't a day to play around. Two things I noticed, both from watching on the beach for quite a while and watching videos of that day.

1) Don't feel bad. Despite all the photos you saw and the videos and the rides you may have seen people getting in the lineup, that day, It was a really tough day for a lot of people. I was at a beach with a lot of really good surfers out and I 'd say 60 percent of the takeoffs ended badly. Guys not making the drops, guys going over the falls, guys paddling out and saying they were done. That wind was no joke.

Second thing I noticed from the videos is that all the successful takeoffs were pretty much straight drops. I noticed this because I have a tendency to try and take off on an angle on big steep days and now after watching a lot of footage from that day I realize the "paddle down the face" advice was really good.

I also noticed a lot of guys coming out saying they were seriously exhausted. I think the post Sandy layoff has left a lot of of us unusually out of shape for this time of year. That's the excuse I'm going with for myself, anway.

 

keep your head low on the board and dig deep,and when u feel the wave pick u up take 2 extra strokes so u dont get stuck in the lip.maybe u were too deep where u cant get down the face.i was out that day at longbranch it was a good day.sand is perfect.based on your video it looks like u know how to get into the waves.im not goin to sit here and judge your surfin,but keep workin at it.in order to become aa good surfer u must taka a lot of beatings.u want to sit just behind the curve,and take off and do a half bottom turn n get under the section.practice makes perfect,just keep at it

 

I always use a thicker board especially when I have to use a 6 mil in the winter my short board is a 6. 6 and I always catch waves. My fish is a 6 2 and I wouldn't want anything shorter. I'm a 285 pounds but even so those boards are thick and long kind of like my johnson (couldn't help myself sorry) try a thicker wider board and see if you like it. I used to surf 63s and 64 s but like a 66 now. I just want to get down the line and do cutbacks and if I'm lucky get barreled. I ain't doing any airs anytime soon. So that's why the bigger wider boards for me

 

I meant I'm 185 not 285 **** now everyone at swellinfo thinks I'm obese. Damn iPhone. Hahha

 

I never thought of padding down the wave, that's good advice. Anytime I get pitched its usually cause I didn't take last couple paddles. My buddy preaches chin down and try to get your head over nose of board...good thread .

 

when your too deep,that means your in the part of the wave,lets say the middle,and its sucking off the bottom and theres no way to make it because its too hollow.theres plenty of different ways to get tubed,but jersey is fast and hollow and if u dont make the drop u get pitched.its like tryin to get barrled in a closeout,not gonna happen.u gotta get into the wave early,or drop in on the shoulder.and that extra paddle is the difference between making the wave or going over the falls.gotta be committed and have confidence.everyone eats it