who finds this good fun and exciting?
Cheyne,
I tried it last time I was in South Africa, got my butt whooped. It’s loadsa fun but really athletic if the waves have any power whatsoever. But, you’ve been an accomplished waterman since the freakin’ 80’s? You must have tried this a zillion times right?
yes , you bet ya !
actually , it’s very interesting you posted this tonight Cheyne ,
as last night i watched "a broke down melody " , and ‘september sessions’ , and enjoyed the bodysurfing stuff , immensely !
I think it is ?‘Sprout’? which has both Mark Cunningham , and Mike Stewart bodysurfing at Pipe , from memory .
i love the underwater takeoff perspectives …i gotta get some photos of someone else doing that , one pristine clear glassy day !!
…thanks for the memory jog , Cheyne !!
cheers
ben
hey chip…off to hawaii tomorrow…nah not stoked…just grinnin from ear 2 ear
yeah mark surfs great…and mike and many others…my mate nigel surfed jaws last year…yep…guys who body surf big waves get run down mowed and slaughtered…and come up wanting more… the bondi shorey was enough…body surfing …u gotta love it…
have fun in hawaii mate !
if you’re feeling brave , maybe you could meet “sirwanksalot” [real name ben] , who likes bodysurfing his local breaks , too . [yes , seriously ]
goodnight
ben
[edit : cunningham shots used without permission …sorry …]
[there was similar footage , by jack mcCoy , of Laird Hamilton , in the ‘Laird’ video , too, from memory ?? or was it the T’o day of days one …i forget …i watch a lot of dvds , so tnd to get them confused from time to time !]
Yer I’ve had a go, great fun but I’ve not really got the hang of it yet, usually end up with shorts full of sand.
Any tips for the beginner?
I’v tried it a couple of times and not caught the waves in any controlled manner.
Does anyone have any techniques that they can impart?
Where to position yourself, how to use your feet /arms, take off direction, Body surfing without fins etc ?
It would be so cool when you loose your board to body surf in, grab you board and paddle back out… no panic.
only tried it last year in some small waves but i like it a lot!!
learned the dolphin kick and upgraded my freestyle stroke a bit since then, and can’t wait to try it again 
i LOVE goin’ for a good body slide when the wave invites it!
how’d ya know?!!!
What I got told was to paddle really hard, position just like a shortboard takeoff next to the curl, but as soon as you start to accelerate extend one arm down the wave and arch your back to match the curve of the wave. Idea is to maximise waterline length I think? Works for me anyway. Bodyboard fins help heaps of course, dive fins not so great unless you can get those V-shaped split fins.
What’s the technique with the underwater bodysurfing though? dolphin style. Tried it a few times and it’s the best feeling, but can’t workout the best body position to lengthen your ride, just stay straight like in the photo perhaps?
HA! Who doesn’t!!! Last summer spent small days doin’ it (Lucky! On Kauai, warm water, etc.) Saw a guy with the under water take off wired… so cool. Thing for me is, come up feelin’ so giddy, like when I first shot out of the white water on my belly, as a kid, on my first board. Plus, you can get tubed on knee high waves! As for exersise… ah, the best. If I lived in a warm water clim/dumpy beach break area, I’d do it all the time. Sheesh… Now that I think about it, I should try it, full seal skin and all.
How many of you do it in cold water w/full suit?
Taylor
I do it in cold water all the time. There’s a protected, sandy little cove that’s perfect for it, and is wind-protected from just about every direction except due west. So when there’s good swell but nasty wind everywhere else, I head down there. Its usually a short ride for the shortboarders & spongers who are there most often, but its great for bodywhomping.
I get the best results seal style - arms at my sides, feet in a dolphin kick. Arching your back or lifting your face is the best way to lose the wave. What seems to work best for me is keeping my back straight & relaxed and my face low.
Funny part is, the kids will paddle over to me with, “Did you lose your board? Did your leash break? Are you OK?” and their eyes big & wide and their voices all serious…never seen bodysurfing, I guess. Its how I learned to ride waves, but I guess the accessibililty of boogies has changed that. When I explain what I’m doing & catch a couple waves, its pretty common that at least one of them will stash his board on the beach & swim out to join me. Makes me feel like an ambassador. 
i did some as a kid but this underwater takeoff was knew to me .What is the tecnique behind it and are there speed benefits apart from the obvious sheer aesthetic joy
In the pre-leash era, it was the fast track to the inside, or to the beach, to get your board, and paddle out again. Loads of fun in bigger surf.
i learned to ride waves by bodysurfing, no board, no fins, just swimming around and getting thrown around. i’ve come to appreciate it more and more as i’ve gotten older.
as for the underwater dolphin technique…
in steeper waves, especially shorebreaks, i like to sit facing away from the beach, watching the waves roll in. once i pick my wave, i’ll let it get about two or three feet from me, well after a shortboarder would have spun to go. as it starts to stand up, i sink myself underwater, spin onto my stomach and have a flutter kick followed by the dolphin-style mono kick. as you drop underwater and start kicking, your arms(at least one) should be outstretched(helps pull you into the underlying energy) and once you feel the wave start to suck you forward take one stroke so both arms are at your sides. by this time, you’re just like the pictures from ‘a brokedown melody’ that were just posted. just relax, face down, don’t arch your back or neck(quick way to injury) and if you’re lucky or the wave is especially hollow, you’ll be sucked through the face and directly into the tube where you will either have an amazing tube view, or you will be quickly deposited into the sandy bottom, and sometimes both.
smaller swim fins work better, i usually body surf the inside with churchill’s. the UDT’s are too long for quick maneuverability. Though since i started riding a neumatic surfmat, i haven’t had a bodysurf (also coincides with the onset of colder weather/water here on the east coast). once it warms up again i’ll be back swimming around, but not a big fan of the coldwater flush.
Quote:
I get the best results seal style... feet in a dolphin kick... arching your back or lifting your face is the best way to lose the wave. What seems to work best for me is keeping my back straight & relaxed and my face low.
That’s great advice for mat surfing, too!
Yeah Baby - One of the best body rides I had was after my leash broke… Plus, what if you never learned to body surf, and then… bummer.
I’ve always liked body surfing starting out with a backstroke, then rolling onto my side or stomach as the wave picks you up… quite the cool feeling. When I was a kid we used to do it with one fin and one bare foot… when your leg muscles cramped up from being out there too long, you’d just put the fin on the other foot, and keep on going…
I favour the one fin method too, I think just from sharing fins when I was a kid! The exit-board-to-body surf is fun too, great way to salvage a failed late takeoff. I love bodywhomping a few after a fun session too, perfect way to cap a day’s riding of waves.