How can I catch the waves?

If you ask this question to even the most seasoned professionals, the answer is something like "You just feel it." So, no set of few words have accurately been able to describe how to take off on waves. Having said that I have gone from not being able to take off at all to be allowed in local surf competitions, so I will do my best shot at it (as always you can always help me out improving this section.)

This is a local web site serving mainly for those who will (eventually) want to surf in San Mateo County of California, like Half Moon Bay and Pacifica.  So if you fit in that profile you will find that learning how to surf in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay pauses serious disadvantages to beginners compared to learning in Santa Cruz or So Cal. Here, you are mostly working with beach breaks and problems with them around here are that they come in fast and crash down fast a lot and then dissipate quickly, not really giving you much chance in catching waves and even if you manged to catch waves, you won't be riding too long.  Plus even for experts it is often difficult to know which direction the wave is about to break. This is mainly due to the bottom of the beach being inclined relatively steeply and also they are mostly built upon sand, which shifts a lot and accumulation of sand, called sandbars, usually disappear by the summer when you want to learn. But if you go, for example, to Cowells Beach in Santa Cruz or Waikiki beach in O'ahu, where the bottom is supported by a relatively flat rock or coral reef,  you can walk out several hundred yards and you can still touch the bottom due to its rock or reef structure, and this solid bottom contributes creation of consistent surf breaks. Around in HMB and Pacifica catching a beach break often means that you have to gain momentum quicker and/or take off faster. Good news, if you master how to surf around here, you are going to be pretty good at most other breaks.

As newbees though there is some relief to surf around locally. On these junky days or conditions, there will be a plenty of whitewater stuff that you can learn how to stand on your board. For you that would be great starter waves. Just stand on the bottom with your board pointed toward the beach, kick yourself, and hop on when the white water comes at you... Enjoy the ride. Learn to tilt the board left and right and see how the board turns. Once you are up on the board you do the same shift of the balance to change the directions. Do this for as many times as you can until you are comfortable, for example, can you get up on the board 90% of the times and stand on the board without losing a balance. Balancing on the board means your knees must be slightly bent. Posture is very important and I will touch that later on. This practice will pay off, so don't be shy, keep practicing.

Once you are "out" and catching bigger waves, there are two main frustrations that can occur to you. One is that the wave go right under you. Another is that you can feel that at many times, you are paddling to catch a wave, your tail picks up and next thing you know the front of your board sticks straight down the water, then you make several tumbles as if you are caught inside one of the front loading washing machine operating at a full cycle. If this happens to you, try to hang on to the board, then just hold the breath, and relax for a moment for the energy to dissipate. Then find your way up to catch the breath (yes, I agree it is easier said than done!) I have panicked here many times and swallowed big gulp of water instead of air (and you will most likely feel like you are going to die.) Next time in a pool, practice swimming under the water since some day you may be treated to a free 8-15 ft dive to the bottom of the sea with your board pulling you down. Become confident that you can hold your breath for 30 seconds or longer. It isn't easy but you should be able to do it.

The wave catching timing and paddle speed is probably one of the most difficult aspects of learning how to surf, and I am certainly from a long way of mastering this, including the correct taking off technique.

One key in a successful take off is that you are moving fast enough and be exactly at the top of the wave just when it is starting to steep up and peeling in one direction so that you can drop down into the wave face and let the wave guide you to the direction of the peel. This timing is very difficult to learn. But when done right, it feels like you are about to drop off from a lip at the top of a hill on skiing; there is enough steepness so that the gravity will pull you (or more like sucks you) down fast while the wave builds up and pushes forward. Look behind your left and right as you paddle in to the wave, this is very important in getting the catch timing correctly and for the safety of not colliding with other surfers who are on the wave already.  If the waves are not steeping up at where you are going to be, quit paddling, save the energy. After that check to see if it have broken in front or behind you. If it did break in the front of you, you are too far out. Paddle in a tad and wait for the next chance.  When your board has caught the wave, you will feel a bit like someone just pushed the board from behind you (many books say the "tail has lifted"). It is exactly at that point you must keep padding for a two more very strong strokes before standing up. But most beginners make mistakes here.  Don't stand up at all! Just belly board down the wave, if possible, tilting the board to make turns (this becomes important in bigger wave take off on shortboards so your investment in time here is not wasted). I have seen many people try to stand up before acquiring timing, never stand up right for many many sessions. Don't get trapped at this stage, satisfy your instant gratification and fashionable desires out of the water. Once in the water, you must be really patient and honest with yourself and to the nature to succeed. Also knowing how to change the direction of the board while you are on your bellies can be used again in an advanced technique when you can inject yourself along the surface of the wave (and not straight down). So don't overlook this aspect of the practice.

After your take-off timing part is worked out, then it is time to try to stand up. Don't be afraid of dropping almost straight down into the face, just stand up there (very scary first)  then you and the board are dropping down together in the same gravity field without much weight on the board, then the wave and your board will hold you up just as it comes a bit further down the wave. Note that the wave is sweeping forward while you are doing this. So by sanding up early enough, the sweeping wave is actually holding you up, though you feel like you are dropping.

Good luck! Once you stand up, in a moment, you will start to feel a tremendous pressure on your sole. It is possible to lean toward one side of the board (but you got to be standing right at the center of the board), then you can start to make a sweeping turn (forehand or backhand turns). Also, at that moment of the drop down, you are nearly weightless so you can flick up on board so much easier than that time your surfing teacher asked you to do the flick up practice on the ground.  If you get there, it is a remarkable feel.   Note that you will pearl (tumble forward) many many and many times, but don't get that in your way. We all have done that. Try to stand up earlier and earlier as you get better as sooner you are up on the board the better your control of the board would be.

In terms of paddling hard, you would be having much easier time on other places, say, in the Cowells or the inside 38th Ave. in SC where there are days when waves are more slowly coming (depending on conditions, however) and also do not crash down as quickly giving you ample time to paddle out and also give you significantly longer rides. It would be worthwhile for you going there for a few times to see the differences, since I must say that the differences are very significant. I am repeating this a lot but I do suggest that if you have not done this before, you should take a lesson from a surf school in Santa Cruz at the Pleasure Point  or Cowell, or Manresa beaches. In the first few lessons you get a lot out of it. They will also "push" your board so that you do not need to paddle as hard when you are first learning to stand on the board, or tell you when to paddle and when to go harder. 

It is also almost always true that waves come in sets of 2 or 3 or even more after a significant wait. Also, it is almost guaranteed that most people will paddle to catch the first one of the sets, letting you have the second or even the third one. It is amazing that after the first set, almost the entire line up is "swept in" cleaning up the lineup and giving you the entire next set for you to enjoy. So wait, and enjoy the ride.  Many people do however are coming back straight into the lineup (not going around... a bad etiquette also) so watch out when you take your turn as you may not see them beyond the first-crumbling set.

Please feel free to email me at Master@StokeMaster.COM for more questions regarding this topic.

Updated on: 15 July 2008