Just a quick question-
What’s the biggest board you can or have effectively duck dived? Please give the your won weight with the boards dimensions.
With the right technique, you can duck dive just about anything… even a longboard.
Start on an angle to the oncoming wave, push-up and weight the wave-facing rail, scoop the nose under the water so the board points directly to the wave… now you have the board’s nose deep under water, pointing to the oncoming wave… push the board forward and use your foot like you do on a shortboard. You won’t get very deep, but you will get deep enough to minimize the damage.
all my longboards, hulls tend to be a little more difficult
with more volume in the nose than a foiled longboard.
9’6 and below.
NJ nailed it.
scoot forward, slice board into water right to left, push
down with back foot.
yeah pushing the board forward with my foot/knee/shin works a hell of a lot better than trying to push it down. I am a featherweight, dont ever really ride too much volume, but I have been able to get Tylers 7’something griffin under (though in small waves). Longboards are impossible for me. I rely on momentum there, which I dont really have much of either haha.
About 8’6" and 2 3/4 thick. I have had some sucess with my 9’0" 2 3/4 thick. I weigh about 210-215 given the ammount of beer that week.
It’s kind of a learned punishment…the duck diving…not the beers. You learn how to control a larger amount of foam in the foam ball, not a deeper push into the clear water before the impact. Did that make sense?
I weigh 180 and I had no problem duck diving my friend’s 7’4" funboard one day when we swapped. I can get it pretty far under.
It really is more about technique than size. I see lots of bigger guys struggle with smaller boards; many of them try to do that nose-first/tail slap thing. Not only does that not work, it makes it even harder to get out because it raises their profile to get dragged back even worse.
I always use the ball of my foot on the tail. I never use my knee or shins on the deck. I hate kneeprints and delams.
I’ve seen a few longboarders duckdive by facing the wave and pushing it down sideways, rail first and nose to tail as the wave approaches. I’ve done it a few times and find that easier than trying to use the conventional method of nose-tail or doing the turtle.
It depends how much you weigh. Im 225 and I have some 7’0" funpigs that are 21" wide and 3" thick in the center. Ive found that 2 5/8" is about optimal. Anything works in small stuff. But with thick boards in 17 or 20 second swell which has a much wider wavelength, you pop up too soon and get dragged back. Yeah the foam gives you some paddle speed, but in that scenario you lose so much ground on the duck dive that you break even.
afta you submerge the nose on the big board sit up and back
to submerge the tail like pearl dive the tail
cause
other wise you will catch the wave backwards
when the tail is enguaged like going down under water
get ready cause the board’s ambient bouyancy
is gonna launch you forwards
so hold it straight and flat
yoou are about to get jet propelled
especially if the board is big and bouyant!
off kilter the board can even do a one eighty
and launch you back over the whitewater ball
and into an automatic take off…whadda heck just
happened,quite entertaining to spectators
friend and foe alike…
…ambrose…
12’6 5 1/8’’ tik
body weight 170
board weight 30+
Ha, duckin wit me tankah,
fuhgitt it
jus take it on da head padlin out n on da nose whilst ka ruzen in
wais less enugee = feel mo bettuh.
ducking under lip…photo experiment under way
Rogelio
maybe this time!
??
P1060268 smaller.jpg
im 5’10 140lb and i can DD my 9"7 50lb log
! Success! Now that I got it…I can teach Frenchie!
Rogelio
confirmation
you said it right,won’t get very deep,you will get all busted up on a big hawaiian wave,any board over 7.o,no shame to admit,I check to make sure no one is behind,wave my hand,throw my board as far back as I can,and dive as deep as possible,whether using a leash or not.If at a south pacific reef,a huge macker ,i’ll take off my leash,swim under the wave,grab the reef even,voila,no broken board or head,just swim back to the pass and in the lagoon and get your board.the guy who died at Teahupoo did not take off his leash,got dragged back.Can’t count the number of big boards snapped from duck diving,even worse a couple friends ripped their biceps muscles off the forearm from holding on to their longboard so hard,so afraid to have the leash break and having to swim in.If in doubt,don’t go out!
I have a friend that duck dives in a different way. He grabs the nose of his board with both hands and pushes it straight down vertical. Often both he and the board pop up after the wave and he just paddles on. Worked great until the time he lost his grip and the pointed nose of his thruster caught his nostril which resulted in stiches.