1st mat session

General Discussion
1

Got one of dales mats in the mail today, ran down to test it in the local beachie.

observations:

Humbling! Just figuring how to get on the thing to paddle it took a bunch of tries!!! Eventually I approached it like bodysurfing…chin down…try to relax and go dont rush dont expect

Tiring (damn long period south swell push), HARD to duck dive when inflated to ‘sag’ at 90 degrees. I eventually liked it really saggy like 180 and it still looked flattish until I lied on it to paddle.

Alive: diving under a dumping wave with it in one hand and it goes “To hell with you I’m gonna surf this wave!” (I didn’t lose it once in 2 hrs, caught heaps of waves) but it feels like its alive pulling against you. Then when dropping into a wave youre thinking “this isnt very fast or controlled”, then it just jets, then slows, then JETS! I have no clue how to control it as of now. By the time i think to test squeezing it the ride is over and I have a big grin. My turns suck and I just try to roughly point it where I kind of want it to go. But you can feel it squirming under you trying to surf itself or something??

Insane: Okay seriously imagine a shoulder high semi-hollow but still pumpable lined-up racy wave…you are on your favorite shortboard…you do 3 or 4 HUGE pumps (from full crouch at the top to full extended drive at the bottom)…halfway down the face on that last pump…thats how fast this thing feels some moments on its own while I’m surfing it horribly. But I’ve only felt it for a short instance (a second or two???) then its gone, where as with the traditional board you built it up slow and then have it a bit to decide where to use it…through a little tube or into a big turn or something.

It truly is like starting over…you feel like such a kook…but there are weird feelings in it, speed. I just want to learn how to do friggin basic turns and top to bottom it! Man out there I just kept thinking to myself, “How the hell does Greenough surf this thing?!?” over and over.

Pretty cool! Definitely something to keep surf interest in and learn from/through for many years to come. gratzi mr solomonson!

2

Sounds like your doing tons better than my 1st session.

You must have been at a point break.

What you may not find in the way of advice already posted

is this:

as your dropping in, at the top of the wave, hop or scoot your

body/head farther over the mat. This way you can paddle in

whatever way feels comfortable and still get in the proper

riding position…this move is essentially or appx. timed at the moment when you would normally stand up.

While paddling around, you can use one hand to grasp the

mat at the bottom of the mat in your groin area and the other

hand at the top of the mat to position yourself adequately on the mat.

In additon, the mat if you are equipped with some powerful fins,

will easily paddle over breaking foam in the 1-3ft range of

a wall of foam. Sometimes more if your highly skilled and equipped

with powerful fins.

3

great feedback! i think it mirrors what most of us experienced on our first(second, third…)go outs on the mat.trly a fun experience that keeps you waniting more…

4

“… it feels like its alive… you can feel it squirming under you trying to surf itself…??”

Yes!

Part of mat surfing`s initial challenge is that you have no point of reference. That soon changes. Persevere and relax.

Its a process which involves unlearning a fair bit of all youve ever known about riding waves and solid boards.

That`s replaced by a new spectrum of sensation, handling and performance.

The way you look at waves (and having fun) will also change.

Have fun!

5

Can anyone post pictures of somebody riding hollow waves on a surfmat? I really need to see this.

6

thanks for the tips all. second session inconsis weak mush point w/ a chest high peeler every hour…some waves totally kooked it (way inconsistent on turns still, trying to fig how to pump the inside rail up) some maybe 40 yard rides with slowish feeling cutback, then bak in the power source would squirt skim on its own and outrun it again…

on some 1 footers if i dropped too low I would not catch-up and kind of slide out aimlessly, others it would stay high and skim through portions that werent even breaking…

very interesting i really want to go surf it right now but need sleep only 5 hrs sleep last two nights damn work…oh yeah catching waves, so far i still like it saggy (180 degreesish) so i drag it under me prone so my chin is just ahead of the ‘nose’, waiting i lean back and the bottom foot folds in half and i just sit there upright holding on… when it comes i flip the ‘tail’ back under my thighs to prone position and use all fours to paddle, works great can catch as early as just about anything besides another good skinny kid on a log. Still want to learn the spoon style mono kick one hand entry but the times I have tried I have failed miserably…making the hop I have troubles getting the ‘tail’ to sort itself out under my thighs in a balanced manner as the bubble finds where it wants to be with my damn body hindering it. Reckon it’ll be interesting years from now for me to re-read what I just wrote…

edit…meaning to look back and laugh at how little I knew what was going on right now! cheers all, tons of fun and a great challenge with interesting potential

pauloblaka, if you search around there are some photos here and there, but of course the pictures dont do the feeling any justice. take care!