• Look where you will start the turn; know where you will finish the turn
• Come back to your balance position between turns
• Synchronize the amplitude of your turns with the wave’s speed -- you can’t hack big REOs from two-foot chop
• Gravity is your friend, use it to get the board out of the lip and down the face ASAP
• On big drops, chase gravity down the face of the wave
• Don’t hop for speed -- roll the board from rail to rail with a heel-to-toe motion to flow into more speed. Keep the action below the hips and the weight on the back half of the rail. Apply a little pressure through the middle of each mini-turn and speed will be generated off fin and bottom pressure.
• The backside top turn should be placed in the upper third of the wave, in the curve of the lip
• Watch the tip of your board through the backhand top turn and drive out of the turn
• Stall paddle when you're caught inside by a big set. In a headbutting contest, the ocean always wins. Just hold your position through the onslaught with an easy seaward stroke and lots of duckdiving. Save your energy to sprint for the horizon during the lull.
• Duckdiving big waves: get as deep as possible and project back to the surface. Drop your front knee over the rail and let your foot slide up the board as you press the board under the water; the tail should be higher than the tip as the wave hits -- it will force you deeper. As the wave passes, push the tail down with your foot and pull the board closer to your chest; that should project you and the board back to the surface fast.
• Learn the reefs and points where you surf -- wave knowledge is key. Study a new reef before you jump in: look for the holes, where the water is moving out
• Know where the wave will tube and go there
• Turn into the tube
• Carry speed through the turn
• Think ahead of your body; have an idea what the next section will do and how you will meet it
• Position yourself in the barrel with a little room to pump the board for speed
• Push off the top of the pitching lip to land a floater
• In a cutback, push the hips forward and the shoulders back to avoid bogging the front half of the board; work the legs through the turn.
• Top turns are dictated by wave shape: a vertical section can be met with a straight-up attack; fatter waves need rounder turns
• Try surfing switchfoot -- it helps your surfing
• In a backhand tube, turn your head to sight down the line and get it close to the face to avoid being clipped by the lip

Duckdiving -- From: joeyg@netcom.com (Josepi 1)
Subject: Re: Wave Ducking (curse it!)

>Wave ducking seems to be quite on the talk these days in this newsgroup. >(I think I started it!!?) But I got quite some cool tips, of which the >best is most probably to improve your paddling so that you can paddle >fast out of the way of the wave (if you're not too close to the inside >section, that is) - then you won't have to duckdive the wave. Duckdiving >requires a lot of skill and timing, and doesn't really help much at BIG >waves. You still get thrashed.

True to a point, BUT if you are riding a lighter, less buoyant board, you can muscle it deep enough to avoid getting too thrashed. I was out at Blacks during a HUGE swell in Jan. of this year, The cove was packed and Blacks was Monstrous. When my friend and I paddled out, the one guy out there was actually stoked to see some other people (rare condition in So. Cal!) Anyway, back on subject. I got caught inside by a set big enough to drive a 18-wheeler through the Barrell.No Lie!!!

On the first wave I bailed my board and dove for the bottom, I got worked over big time, held under for ever, slapped upside the head by my board etc.... My leash must have stretched 20 yards as well.

The next wave I paddled directly into, under and through the mass. I think that the trashing from the last wave scared some extra strength into me, but I made it through unscathed. The dolphin technique will work, but it depends on just what the volume of your board is in comparison to your weight and strength. One of the reefs I usually surf breaks pretty mean all of the time. You HAVE to make it under the wave or else you get sucked into the impact zone, pushed in and are totally screwed. So, the bottom line is practice. On longboards, it is a different story. Next post maybe. Josepi 1.

Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: How to duck-dive my 7'2" x 22" Date: 18 Jul 1996 07:09:01 -0700 : >Question: Shouldn't I be able to duck dive the larger board? What am I doing : >wrong? Is it OK to yell movie in a crowded fire-house? : > : I got my first duck diving lesson from Terry SImms after I whined : about him running over me all the time. I reckoned you don't need : to duck dive a point break, but you need to duck dive Simba. : Anyways, he demonstrated the technique to me on a 10'6" foot Harbour : board soooo ya, you can duckdive *anything* depending on : how good you are....PS Simms weighs nothing so its all in technique : ....sink the nose followed by leadfoot on the tail. I can't do it : even on the 7'8", but its nice to know it can be done. : fang Yea, I use the same way to put my 7'2" under. It is a great way because you don't leave your ass hanging out for the wave to snatchup and drag you back over. I read about it in an old surfer mag ( years back ) and it has saved me a FEW times. For those who don't know: Get forward momentum toward on-coming wave, place back foot on tail of board, sink the nose, swipe with front foot ( important! No half-assed swipes), when board is under as far as she goes... press the tail down with your back foot arching the board back to the surface. This is all one motion! If done correctly, you could sink lots of stuff within reason. This has saved me from Mexico to Jalama to Kauai where I thought I was DEAD MEAT! :) Anyhow, check out my web page for surf forecasts! -Eric -

From: xxx Date: Fri Sep 3, 1999 3:02pm Subject: Re: Water Techniques, questions

uhm.....again i must disagree here... never bail ur board (its dangerous to other surfers and slows u down)! if on a longboard or big funshape, attempt to time the sets as best as possible from the beach BEFORE going out. if caught inside on a set though, which happens, try to time the breaking wave.

its possibel to duck dive longboards on a pre-breaking wave, it requires some arm strength and confidence. get up like a shortboard duckdive, but turn the longboard sideways vertical, drive the rail under water and then starighten it back out. its much easier than trying to press it thru the water flat. then once the board is under the water, begin t the duckdive and kick under and thru the wve. this whole thing needs to be done in a smooth and fast motion or the longboard will want to float up.

another technique, in rolling white water is to paddle up to the white water, stop, sit up, raise the nose out of the water and just as the white water rolls at u, spring forward to the nose and lift the nose, u should carry and spring ur weight up and on top of the whitewater and if timed right, u'll slide up over it, and not get pushed back.

like i said before, dont bail the board, learn how to get thru safely and efficiently and you'll surf more and paddle less!

stay stoked
chenzo

I think you really can't limit yourself to one exercise. Surfing everyday is ideal, but if you can't do that, you've got to vary your workouts.

1) The best surfing exercise is to get out there and paddle. When I first started surfing in L.A., I was lucky enough to have Josh Bender teach me the basics. Part of his regime is that he made me paddle every day before I even tried to catch a wave. I worked my way up to between a quarter and a half mile every morning by doing 20 stroke sets.

It paid off in a big way. After about three months, we took a drive down to San Onofre, and hit it on an EPIC day. San O' breaks way off shore, and you have to punch through several inside sets to get to the outside break. Josh and I were two of the very few people who made it out.

2) When Josh got accepted to Columbia to work on his Ph.D., his routine of daily paddeling was adversely affected. He bought himself a VASA trainer and he swears by it. The VASA is a swiming trainer that uses a series of pullies and shock cords to deliver a very even resistance that you can adjust to match your goals, mood, level of fitness, etc. When he's gearing up to go on a surf trip, he get on it for about 15 minutes every morning. He says that's about all it takes to really feel the burn. You can find ads for it in swimming and general fitness magazines.

PRO: After you get the hang of it, the VASA gives an intense workout in a short period of time, and it yields quick results if you stick to it.

CON: It's a bulky piece of equipment (apx. 9' long by 3' high, by 1.5' wide). It does not fold up or stash away easily. If you have a small apartment, that's a problem.

3) I try to swim as much as possible. It doesn't use exactly the same muscles as paddeling, most significantly, the lats come into play in swimming in a way they don't in paddeling. But swimming certainly impoves the cardiovascular system, and a lot of the same muscle groups as paddeling. If I can get away with it, I sometimes paddle in a pool on a bodyboard.

4) Voo Doo balance boards are a great way to improve balance and turning. They're a lot of fun to fool around on, but I don't count them as exercise. They're made in Stratton, VT. You can pick them up at skate and snowboard shops. Surfing models have rounded edges on the barrel. Snowboarding models have harder edges.

Balance boards and skateboards help, but I think the most important aspect is to work on your paddeling, because you can't do fancy manouvers on a wave if you can't catch it.

===== L'amour n'a pas d'âge, il naît à chaque instant.

From: Martin Nuckles Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Longboards in Whitewater (how to?) Date: 24 Jan 1996 19:06:04 GMT

>Any suggestions?

>The 'flip the board' method seems best but what do you down there? >pull the board down? push it up? forward? whatís going on ?

While you are in the process of flipping the board over and getting yourself underwater, you have to pull the nose of the board down with you. You've got to get the nose underwater. This will cause the whitewater to push the entire board down under the wave...

This technique works in small and medium surf. It is not recommended for surf larger than 6 ft.

Turning your board loose is a bad idea. Especially when there are other people nearby. If you are caught inside and the whitewater is coming at you, turn around and paddle in. There is nothing wrong with riding the whitewater back to the beach and waiting for a lull.

Most breaks have paddling channels. Learn where the channels are and use them. I have seen a lot of people try and paddle out directly through the line up instead of walking 25 yards down the beach and paddling out in the channel.

Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Cold water tips list Date: Sat, 11 Nov 1995 09:42:42 GMT Organization: Island Net in Victoria, B.C. Canada

>On 10 Nov 1995, Newgard John P wrote: >> It's that special time of year when those tortured souls among us have to >> suck the ole jewels back into our guts and paddle out into water cold >> enough "to make even a brass monkey shudder", to quote Willard Bascom.

>> >> COLD WATER SURVIVAL TIPS '95

>> >> 1. Good fackin rubber (gee, no shit), at least a 4/3 and preferably with a >> vest underneath (unless you're packin your own "natural" insulation >> around the middle :-) ). 5mm boots and gloves also a must, along with a >> hood.

>If you are surfing anywhere on the Lakes or North of NoCal I would >suggest a 6/5/4 suit, maybe including titanium or polypro. AN ATTACHED >HOOD IS ESSENTIAL! And if it's sunny out you can always pull it off >without losing it. Much reduced flushing.

Sounds good if you have the cash.

>> 2. If your hood is flanged (you know), wear it outside your wetsuit, so >> as to wash water over the neck and not DOWN your neck.

>As above, forget the separate hood.

>> >> 3. Drink lots of warm liquids, esp. coffee, before your session. This >> will make you piss some serious volume to keep the norts warm.

>I am ALL OVER this one. I only know one guy who doesn't piss in his suit.

I will second that motion.

>> 4. Duct tape your gloves around the wrist, and put the suit over >> the gloves.

>Don't do this. Get a good pair gloves and wear them over the suit so you >don't get flushed up the arm when wiping out, paddling or sticking your >hand in the barrel (which wouldn't be all bad)

> > 5. Don't get picky, catch a decent number of waves so you don't >> freeze-up out there.

>This is very true. Paddling warms you up. Sitting is cold. Catch a shitty >one to keep warm, they can't ALL be great waves.

> >> That's all I can think of for now. I've heard about pouring hot water >> into your suit before going out, but I'm not convinced that this would work.

>Also: warm up and STRETCH before going out. This is essential if it is >cold water. You cramp up easier in cold water and it also saps your >strength... therefore, try to be in decent shape as a rule. >Also: eat a chocolate bar before you get suited up. It is a quick source >of energy to help your paddle out and to warm you up a little.

>Lloyd: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

Great tips.

Does anyone wear extra foot warmth like an inner neoprene sock or wool socks?

Just wondering. -- Kelly

From: tbmaddux@abalone.ucsb.edu (Timothy B. Maddux) Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: FAQ: How to Surf (was Re: Starting) Date: 26 Nov 1995 18:42:51 -0800 Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara

Well, here's the How-To-Surf FAQ , written by Chrispy whose email address is down there at the bottom... I think he might appreciate those tix...

Learning to Surf.

Getting the equipment: You're going to need a board, some wax, and something to wear. Most of these can be found at your friendly neighborhood surfshop. A used board is generally your best bet when starting out. Chances are good that you're going to ding it up just carrying it around. If you can afford it (and it's necessary) a new wetsuit can be a pretty good investment. See the upcoming FAQ on wetsuits for recommendations. You can usually wheedle the wax out of the surfshop owner if you buy anything there. Some surfers pride themselves on never having bought a bar of wax.

Finding a partner: IMHO, one of the most important things to have in learning to surf is someone to surf with. Aside from the obvious safety reasons (cuts your chances of being eaten by a shark in half :)) a partner will give you moral support, keep you stoked when you get frustrated, keep you from sleeping in when its good, talk you into paddling out when its big, and mostly be a friend.

There are two schools of thought here: 1. Find someone good to teach you to surf. and 2. Find someone else who wants to learn and teach each other.

I subscribe to the second approach. Probably because that's how I learned and because when one person is better than the other someone is probably not having a very fun session. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy teaching people. But if its cranking on the outside, either I'm gonna be bored on the inside with the beginner, or he's gonna be in over his head on the outside.

[Ken Strayhorn Jr. accurately adds:] Your friend you must choose carefully. He will become your brah, and over time will mean more than anyone else on this planet. Besides surfing, you will drink copious amounts of beer, smoke pounds of pot, and chase boxcar loads of women together. You will lend each other money when times are tight. You will never ask each other for gas cash. You will inform him when his ass crack is showing over his pants. If he doesn't like the woman you are seeing you will drop her like a hot rock. Conversely, if your new woman thinks your brah is a jerk, that's a sign that she's a bozo and should be avoided.

Boards and wetsuits will be shared. You will hoot for each other on fine days. You will badmouth anyone who drops in on him. People will come to view you as a team. Surf nazis will avoid you because they know that to fight one of you is to fight both of you.

And, years later when you are 40 years old and you and your brah are sitting on a break somewhere listening to the younger guys yacking it up, you will smile and know deep in your soul that there is nothing finer than surfing and the people you do it with.

Finding a place to surf: Go to your nearest surf shop and ask people where a good break to learn is. Be honest about your abilities, surfers are a pretty friendly lot. Also, watch for the upcoming FAQ - "Where can I learn to surf without being killed, beaten, or eaten?"

Before paddling out: Sit and watch the surf for a while. Watch what people are doing. Where is everybody sitting, where do they paddle out. Where do the waves break? As waves get bigger they break further out, so if everyone is sitting farther out than where the waves are currently breaking, it means that there are bigger sets coming. Watch for them.

Stretch. While you're watching the break, stretch your arms and back. Limber up.

Getting in the water: You've noted where other people head out. Wax your stick and head down to that spot. Put your leash on. (Digression: Decide whether you're going to be a regular-foot (left foot forward) or a goofy-foot. Try both while standing on shore and see what feels better.) Put your leash on your back leg. Walk your board out until the water is about waist deep and hop on. Position yourself on the board so that the nose is just barely (2-3") out of the water. Too little and you'll be going under, too much and you'll wear yourself out pushing water.

Paddling out: Go for nice, even, alternating strokes. When you have to get through the white water get up some speed and then either: a. Plow right through it. b. Raise your chest up with your arms so that the water passes between you and the board. c. Turtle. Just as the wave is about to hit you, roll over on your back (roll the board too), and pull the nose of the board down. Then roll back up. d. Duck-dive. Raise up on one knee, push the nose of the board under the wave and follow with your body. (This takes lots of practice). (See following notes on duck-diving) e. Bail. Make sure no one is within 20-30' of you, get off your board, and dive for the bottom. This is for emergencies only. You lose a great deal of distance this way, and you endanger people around you.

Duck Diving: (By Morgan Perry)

I have found a few things most helpful in my duck-diving: 1) Try to have some forward momentum before you give up paddling to begin pressing your board down. This provides some counter to the force of the wave in the direction of shore. Even if it is just a couple of strokes before the angry whiteness consumes you, you will come out further than a couple of strokes ahead of where you would have it you had not gotten going forward.

2) Push your board as deeply under as possible. The more of your body that you get above water quickly will result in getting the board deeper under. Sometimes I even tilt my board to the side in the water so that there is less resistance to it going down. Some people use only their arms and their knee(s) to push the board down. I like using the ball of one of my foot instead and to raise the other one high to provide more weight on the board.

3) Immediately before the surf subsumes you, pull yourself down to the board and angle the board slightly up to the perceived other side of the break. Too much angle and the nose of the board will catch the break and push you backwards. Not enough and the back of the board will be caught in the suction of the wave as it rushes by you and it won't help pull you through. If you have the right upward angle, and your hands are toward the front of the board, probably about where you press up from, you can thrust the board to the other side of the wave and it will help pull you through.

4) A key is *not* to stay under for as long as possible, just to start deep and shoot up as far on the other side of the turbulence as possible. The sooner you get back up the surface and balanced on your board, the sooner you are able to start paddling again... and that's the only way you really get outside anyway.

The line-up: Once you get to where people are sitting around (in the water, if they're on the beach, you've been paddling the wrong way :)) sit back and take it easy for awhile. Watch what others are doing. A nice gesture is to say hello to the others in the water. This lets them know that you acknowledge their existance and will not run them over or drop in on them. Don't be chatty though. A simple "Hello", "Howzit", "G'Day" or li'dat is fine.

Catching a wave: This is the first of many hurdles in learning to surf. The wave knowledge - knowing which wave to paddle for and which to let pass, and the timing - when to start paddling, how fast, how much to arch your back, and when to get to your feet, are things that no one can teach you. They will come with time spent surfing.

[That said, Clark Quinn graciously offers these tips:]

1. Don't go to the most crowded/famous. Start at a mellow beach. Gentle waves. Sand bottom. Broad sand beach. You can't run before you walk.

2. Paddle out, and try to catch the whitewater in while riding on your belly. (If you've body-boarded or body-surfed before, skip to step 5) You may have to adjust how far forward/back you lay on the board. You want about an inch of room between the nose of the board and the surface of the water. You'll need to be paddling in and have the wave catch you and push you even faster in the same direction. Stay on the board as you zoom towards shore. Steps 2-4 may best be accomplished on a mat or a boogie board or something else easy to get "wave knowledge".

3. Once you can reliably pick a wave and catch it, start trying to angle this way and that under control. Try going both ways, left and right.

4. When you can zoom back and forth at will, you're ready for a bigger step. Take a wave right before/where it's breaking, and ride it while turning to keep right at where the wave is breaking. Figuring out just where to paddle to so as to catch the wave at the right spot is a major part of the game.

5. When you can catch waves reliably, you're going to want to try riding them standing up. Paddle and let the white water catch you. As soon as you're moving, jump to your feet. This is difficult. It's really worth it to practice the jumping from prone to your feet on land first and get it well-rehearsed before doing it on a moving board on the water. Foot placement is crucial. You'll want your back foot near the tail of the board and your front foot somewhere in front of that, near the middle of the board, say. Look at other surfers. Practice on a rough template of the board on the ground. Ride the wave in. Depending on the size of the board either balance on it (bigger) or move it to stay underneath you (smaller).

6. Once you can reliably get up, you want to start angling while riding the white water. Both ways, zooming back and forth under control.

7. Once you can do that, move to catching the wave right where it is breaking. This will get trickier, because you'll have a more vertical take off point and the board will have a tendency to sink the nose as you go down the face of the wave. You want to catch the wave by angling in the direction the wave is breaking.

I'm not sure 2-4 are necessary (certainly not for someone who's been in the ocean on other things, but probably are a good safety precaution.

A Suggestion: About 8 or 10 months after I started surfing I happened to write a little note on my blotter-style desk calendar: June 9, 1984: Surfed 3s, good day

As the months went by I continued making little notations. I kept the calendars, year after year. Now, I have a decade's worth of blotter calendars stacked on my desk. Just looking at the notes can sometimes bring back the session in vivid detail. I usually would note the surf heights and who I surfed with.

If you've got a calendar, give it a shot. Years from now, if you somehow find yourself far from surf, you'll look back on some classic times spent with great people and say "Eh, mahalo Chrispy, shaka brah".

Author: chrispy@bcsaic.boeing.com (Chris Payne) Suggestions and comments are welcome!

Contributors to this FAQ: kes@acpub.duke.edu (Ken Strayhorn Jr.) cnquinn@cs.unsw.oz.au (Clark N. Quinn) mpperry@u.washington.edu (Morgan Perry)

From: "Justin B. Donovon
Newsgroups: alt.surfing
Subject: Re: Help me Duck Dive!!! Date:
Sun, 10 Nov 1996

Lana Davis wrote: > > I've been surfing for a little over a year now, and I still can't seem to > master the skill of duck diving. Am I just too weak or doing it wrong? > Can anyone give me some suggestions. I have a 6'8'' board. Yes, if you want to duck dive a wave then swiftly paddle toward the wave that you want to dive and push down the nose as far as you can. after the board has dove as deep as it can go and push the end of the tail down with the balls of your feet as you allow the nose to rise. The only way to learn how to do it right is to practice. one must master the skill of duck diving if he/she wants to make it to the line-up..... jdonovan

From: (David Schwarm)
Newsgroups: alt.surfing
Subject: Re: Help me Duck Dive!!!
Date: 8 Nov 1996

Lana Davis wrote: >I've been surfing for a little over a year now, and I still can't seem to >master the skill of duck diving. Am I just too weak or doing it wrong? >Can anyone give me some suggestions. I have a 6'8'' board. Try the old long board style of digging one edge under first. Basically, rather than pushing straight down, push the right side down and under the water first - then lean back to the left to "center" your dive. It is slower, but it works... Dave