I think that sometimes ditching your board is necessary, however i do not praise the thought of doing it regularly or within 15 feet of another. I always paddle straight out and duck dive the whole way. But it doesnt matter how good or bad you are, when you have 5 ft. + waves breaking onto a knee- waist deep low tide sand bar. There's no way to duck dive it without drilling the tip or fins of your board on the sand. In this case though i never let my board just go. I drop down to the bottom and hold closer to the tail of my board (on the leash) and keep it from working someone.
you are a total donkey 4. Bro Down Bro's Getting their bro on, doing bro things. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bro Down&defid=4122930 exp. Beer bongs, Fist pounding, popping collars, saying bro, saying dude. Whats up bro! Lets do some beer bongs and pop our collars, Yea lets have a Bro Down.
+1 on that If you are in the habit of ditching your board, go somewhere where you can surf alone for a few weeks and get rid of the leash. You'll learn quick to hold onto your board that way haha. And when your done you will no longer be using your leash as a crux, but as a convenient backup tool.
anyways, i usually sprint most of the way out. If its a really long paddle then i will slow it down until i hit the impact zone. Good observations on the the momentum into duck dives, i always try to speed up b4 a good duck !~
Depends on what I'm on. On a shortboard, I treat it as a warm-up, pacing my paddle and breath-rate. I'll pick up some speed if I can avoid a punishing breaker...otherwise, I just maintain & duckdive. On a longboard, I take advantage of the speed that the board can generate and paddle like hell.
amen i hate people who just ditch their board and that makes me have to worry about having a board land on top of me. i second that people should hold onto their board closer to the tail as possible incase they do ditch and not worry about their leash. as a 6ft leash can stretch alot.
i always try and save all my power on the paddle out at the start of the session and then when i do hit the impact zone i speed it up. plus it helps for me since im required to swim as a lifeguard and swimming is what has helped me in paddling alot. but if its a paddle out after catching a wave and if i ride it to the mid break ill speed paddle back out just to catch more waves.
I take the "slow and steady win's the race" strategy. I paddle at a steady pace, until I see a window between sets that I think I can sprint through. I try to just keep making progress without wearing out the arms....as soon as I see the opening to the outside, I sprint the final stretch.
I rarely surf when theres more then 2 of my friends around. Sometimes i just have to ditch the longboard or shot.....BUT i hold the leash at the very beginning at the velcro and and bring it down with me.. it doesnt go flailing around. But if im alone.. i let that shiit go flying behind me!!
A technique flaw that's hard to break in duckdiving that I figured out not too long ago is that you really need to get your body flush with your board when you go into the actual "going underneath the wave" step of it. It's hard to realize that you're not doing it right however, so next time you're duckdiving, take note of whether or not your bum is getting you sucked back... that means you need to push that bum flat and get it nice and close to your board... it's pretty much a pelvic thrust, don't worry, only the fishes will see you do it. Duckdiving can be enjoyable when you successfully evade the turbulence and calmly float back up, it's like your personal mini zen.
