SUP Surfing 101 Surfing Track Chapter 10

No, you didn’t miss anything, we’ll go back and cover the rest of the fundamentals later. I just know how irritating it can be to trudge through basics you already know, waiting for the stuff that might help you now. So I’m going to do this ebook in four parallel paths: Basics; Surfing; Theory, and Conditioning. I expect the conditioning part to be particularly useful to me.

This e-book will also eventually have a lot of pictures and video added. I have an outline, a shot list, and plans for the videos, but they have to wait until I can get to them. I’ll add them later and then integrate the whole into a complete book. So that’s the plan, and with Chapter 10 we start into surfing, assuming you already know how to get out to the lineup, how not to get killed or piss people off, and what a rideable wave looks like. Grab your paddle, let’s go.

Surfing your SUP
Since you are beginning SUP surfer, you’ll either be in a small, unused break, or well off to the side in a bigger one. Moving off to the side is no guarantee that you won’t get in the way of other surfers. Good surfers will be coming along the face of a wave very fast in any popular break, and will reach you in seconds. If you wobble into their way they will not be amused. If you are using the edge of a break that has other surfers in it, watch down the line carefully to see that no one is in the wave. If they are, then immediately turn out of the wave or sit down on your board. Don’t do anything (like falling uncontrolled or ditching) that might release your board into another surfer’s path.

Starting Position

Your starting position should be facing outwards towards the waves. You don’t need to be completely perpendicular. You’re looking outwards for two reasons. First, you want to spot a rideable wave. Second, sometimes wave double up very quickly, or a huge set wave appears out of nowhere. You want to be able to paddle out over these waves before they break. You DON’T want to be caught inside. If you think a particularly big wave past your skill level to ride is coming, don’t wait to see what others do–paddle for the horizon as fast as you can. We’ll discuss strategies for minimizing the damage when you are caught inside in the chapter “Caught Inside”, but for now, be like a nervous rabbit and sprint out to safety when you see something overwhelming.

A particularly good time to take waves is when everyone else is already gone from the lineup after a good set comes through. There are often some slightly less desirable waves following right behind. Everyone else has gone, it’s your turn.

Turning To Catch the Wave

So now you’ve spotted a wave that looks tasty to you. Look for the peak of the wave and turn in that direction, parallel to the face. You can usually spot the peak in a wave when it’s fairly far out by looking for steeper sections, or look for a section that is feathering. The ocean bottom can fool you and change the peak as the wave travels. Experience is the only help for that.

Start paddling towards the peak, still parallel to the wave. You should have an idea of how long it will take you to turn 90 degrees. Paddle until you think you are at that limit and start turning the board to be perpendicular to the wave. Usually this means heading right towards the shore. You want to paddle hard enough through the turn to gather some speed. Don’t get excited and start taking long strokes. Not only will this slow your turn, but it will also pull you off balance on the board. Keep your strokes short, from the front of the board to your feet.

When you feel the tail of the board start to lift in the wave, stroke hard, continuing to make short strokes. If you don’t feel the board start to slide down the face immediately, you might try putting your front foot forward if you are still in a parallel stance, or shuffling forward if you’re in a surfing stance. Pull hard on the face of the wave as it forms. Push down with your front foot and the board may tip over the edge and start surfing. If not, hey, there’s another wave coming.

Two possibilities: You caught the wave. Yahoo, read the next paragraph. You didn’t catch the wave. Bummer, but don’t stand there feeling bad. Look behind you and start to turn sideways with the nose pointed up the line (the direction other surfers will be coming from). Assess your situation. First, is a monster wave bearing down on you. If so, scoot for the horizon if at all possible. If not, you’re going to need the “Caught Inside” chapter. Too bad I haven’t written it yet. Here’s a link to the old version, hope it helps: http://www.kenalu.com/2008/08/25/caught-inside/ . IF the wave coming towards you looks like something you can handle, it’s time to look up the line and see if a “Mulligan” (a do-over) is an option. If there’s no one going for the next wave, you should be in pretty good spot to catch it.

Bottom Turn

So you caught the wave, or at least you’re starting down the face. If you are still in a parallel stance, now is the time to take a big step back with your rear foot and get into a surfing stance. Knees bent back straight, weight centered. Don’t weight that back foot right away or you might pull out of the wave. As the board reaches the bottom of the wave transfer some weight to the rear foot to keep your board’s nose from digging in (pearling) and turning into a submarine. On a steep wave with a long board you’ll need a LOT of weight on the back. At the same time you need to decide which way you are going to turn. If the wave is breaking to one side of you, then you want to turn away from the whitewater so you can ride in the pocket, on the shoulder. If you’re a regular foot surfer (left foot forward) then turning left puts your back to the wave (called backside) and might be a little more difficult for you.  Turning right is a little more natural. We’ll talk about both.

Your paddle still comes into play, if the wave is mushy and hasn’t formed a shoulder you might still be paddling to keep up your speed. Even if the wave face gave you a good push and you accelerated well, if you went straight down the face you might now be out of the wave’s power. Your board will slow, the wave will catch up, and probably knock you off the board. You can angle down the face to avoid that, or you can paddle as you turn, or do both.

Frontside Bottom Turn

To turn in the frontside direction (right if you’re standard foot), swing your upper body weight a little towards the wave face. Look in the direction you want to go. You can plant your paddle in the wave face or drag it’s face a little to help the turn and stabilize you a little, but that’s optional for a simple turn. Lean your body weight forward. Press the toes of your rear foot forward, and you’ll turn. In the early going it’s all more subtle than you’d think. If you really push your weight into the turn you’ll probably either turn out of the wave or fall. You can almost just think about turning and you’ll turn. Later on you’ll want to get some Oomph into your turns, but for now lets get on the face and get some power.

Backside Bottom Turn

Going to the backside requires a little more effort and finesse. The least challenging way to initiate a backside bottom turn is to move your back foot closer to the inside rail (the rail that’s towards the wave), then shift your body weight towards the inner rail and weight your heels.  On a beginner backside turn you generally won’t swing your shoulders as you do on a frontside turn. Instead just steer with the back foot and rail pressure.

Keep your knees bent when turning in either direction. this gives you more latitude for balance adjustment. If you stand straight and lock your knees the only way you can balance is to sway at the ankles or the waist–neither way gives good control.

More Advanced Sup Bottom Turns

As you graduate to larger waves your speed down the wave will increase, and you’ll want your turns to have more snap than is possible with just body weight shifts. To initiate a harder turn you need to move the board’s pivot point backwards so you can lever the board around. You can move your rear foot backwards, but this might result in too wide a spread in your legs for good control–the infamous “stinkbug” posture used to great effect by Greg Noll but ineffective and very foolish looking for anyone else. You can put more weight on your back foot, but that generally will shift your body backwards into a position you might find unbalanced. Many people find it more effective to unweight the front foot instead. Basically lift it from the board without losing contact. This puts more weight on your back foot without shifting your body backwards.

In a frontside turn, as the nose lifts, lean in the direction you want to turn, plant your paddle on the inside of the turn and drag against it. You can plant a surprising amount of weight on the paddle to help the board pivot. Swing your shoulders into the wave, press on your toes and push with your back foot to pivot the board. As you carve into the turn, press down with your front foot to end the turn and retrim the board.

In the backside version you move your rear foot to the inner rail, unweight the front foot in the same manner, bring your paddle across the board and drag it on the wave face, press your back foot out away from the wave to pivot the board, then press down with your front foot to end the turn and trim.

Improving a faster bottom turn will depend mostly on upper body movements. Once you are getting your weight back and using foot pressure to pivot the board, the tuning elements all come from your shoulders, arms, head and paddle. Your head should always be pointed where you want to go. Where the eyes go the body follows. Your chest and hips swing the board and help your feet push it around. When it all works, it’s pretty, fast, and efficient.

Once you have completed the bottom turn, you can trim into the wave and ride it out, or you can execute other turns.

Carry On

Other than tricks, most surfing turns are aimed at keeping you in the power section of the wave, which is the steepest section of the face, right in the shoulder where the wave is breaking and whitewater is forming. This generally means performing a bottom turn, going across the face of the wave and rising up to do a top turn. At that point, depending on where the shoulder of the wave is you might either extend your top turn into a cutback, or just turn down the wave for another bottom turn

Next time… Top turns, Cutbacks, paddle planting and skimming.