i just recently started paddling out when its overhead, Im not that familiar with the bigger surf, and i guess im an average ability surfer, but is it always jacked up/doubled up and closed out with elevator style bumps when its big or is that just the last 3 hurricane swells we had?? i hope there not all like that...
What ^ said. I know some places the sandbars are weird and they're just frustrating to surf when the tide changes. Low tide makes bigger, long period ground swell jack up.
Hate these long period swells at low tide. When big it is 400 foot long wall to wall closeouts. Happened to me this morning, had to be in just the right spot to get one ( I never was, saw a few guys get some killer waves though). Caught 2 waves that made me think I forgot how to surf and left to get some work done. Checked back tonight at high tide and there they were, fun makeable waves.
yeah the low tide close outs snapped my board in half today. **** sucks, maybe tomorow will be better
wait until a nice south swell or noreaster. then you'll get some well overhead more than makeable waves w/ out dealing w/ this closeout bs
Yea I gotta really wait for one of those. Even at high today at my spot the sand bar was only thigh deep. Needless to say I got drilled on the sand a few times. Makes me feel like such a kook, so frustrating.
One Word: Shoulder When dealing with large, walled up beach breaks, one must hug the shoulder, and slowly work his way deeper and deeper and find the sweet spot. Think of it like this, there is an end and a shoulder to every large closeout wall. So, sit on the beach for 5 minutes before you paddle out and triangulate your lineup position to that spot. Once you take off down a good steep shoulder and get some turns in, you will just move your way alittle deeper, until you take off on the det and get drilled, then you know you went too far.... Sit on the edge and wait a second. Most guys I know miss tons of good waves because they are always a foot or two out of position. You gotta be all over it on large beach break days, cause usually to get a good edge you have to do the last minuet scramble where you are paddling 100MPH to get over 20 feet to the perfect takeoff spot.... Low tide closeouts suck, but if you find the edge, you will be getting spit out all day.
Also, don't forget to paddle like you're having a seizure. The more speed you can get, the lower the slope of the wave when you stand up and start your drop, so try to really get your paddling strength and technique down. In the end, positioning is definitely more important, but good paddling is really useful too.
yea it was pretty heavy at low tide in brig broke a board today after it jacked up and i just air dropped off the top..
certain spots handle different swells differently, this one had some E in it so I went to a spot that traditionally handles that better, oh yes, and as soon as you get a sense of what handles what best, it'll all change up on you, because the ocean likes to move sand around best solution: surf a lot
