Steep Drops

i usually do that with a steep backside drop-in, not so much frontside

 

I never understood Kicking to catch a wave when riding a shortboard. I see all these people and gromets doing it but does it really help??? I never kick my feet and I have no issue catching waves?

 

confidence

Simply, and excuse my french, you just need to grow a set. Thats the difference between surfers and bad ones, how hard they charge. You can only take but so many poundings before you find a way in, its human nature.

Its amazing what you get away with on a surfboard if you just go for it.

 

I find that when you kick your feet it helps you get into a wave because it helps you distribute more weight to your chest

 

I dont know I tried to kick but it help I just found to throw off my timing . Its probally cause I just always paddled without kicking

 

This. Surfing steep, hollow stuff requires the least amount of paddling in my opinion. 3 hard paddles will get you in it. Its all about the lineup, and big cajones. If your scared it aint gonna work. Get lined up, turn toward the shore at the correct angle (slight) whether your going left or right... you have to go at atleast a slight angle unless you wanna ride straight down the damn thing and have the lip break off the back of your board. Or worse yet, try to make a bottom turn and get clobbered by the lip. Paddle a hard 3 strokes and pop up... knees bent. Dont try to do nothing fancy. Just let the beast do what it wants to. Dont be scared to eat sand and eat a board or two. Its gonna happen. I usually go try to play with the steep stuff for a while until I eat it two or three good times then I go to a much easier break, usually not too far down the road.

 

Originally Posted by MATT JOHNSON
I never understood Kicking to catch a wave when riding a shortboard. I see all these people and gromets doing it but does it really help??? I never kick my feet and I have no issue catching waves?


I read a report a while back on kicking your feet while catching a wave, which was written by a pro surfer. I can't seem to find it, but stated that it does nothing to help you catch a wave.
I always kick my legs when paddling for a wave; I guess it's just instincts. Then again, I use to bodyboard before surfing.

 

I think it only works with a shortboard

 

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

 

Well said. You're not going to suddenly "do it right" and say "Wow, why didn't I think of that earlier?!" Well, maybe you will, but I've seen a lot of people learn to surf, and I've never seen that happen. Just go out there and eat sand, again and again and again. If you're thinking "how do I take off on this wave?" you're already thinking too much. Just do it. I know that probably sounds like an over-simplification, but it's really not. Paddle like you're having a seizure and just go for it. Don't give up, just eat more sand, and eventually you will transition from only being able to take off on the mushy ones. The best way to do this is to surf in as many different conditions as possible. Surf the big hollow days, surf the knee high days, everything. I would HIGHLY recommend taking a surf trip to somewhere with quality, consistent (but not huge) waves. Don't do it until you can catch the semi-mushy chest high waves and not fall. Otherwise it might be a waste of money. In my opinion, it's still a great time. I went on my first "surf trip" to Costa Rica with some college buddies before I could even stand up consistently, but the whole experience got me amped enough to stay motivated through the rest of the learning curve. Costa Rica is a good option. It's safe, cheap, pretty good year round, and has lots of options. You'll eventually figure it out if you just surf the right coast, but it might take a while. We only get so many chest-shoulder high days, and that's what you really want for learning. Cali is great too. If you're ready to invest in a wetsuit, head up to Santa Cruz in November/December. Amazing waves of all kinds, great for improving your surfing without all the hassle of dealing with passports/customs.

 

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.

 

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

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'.......

 

Well put !

 

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

 

Check out the "Stylemasters" vids!

 

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!

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.