Hello, so I was trying to catch a wave on my 9’0 “hp” longboard and I got that “hung up” feeling and missed the wave … what made this time different from the myriad other waves I have missed was the realization that the same physics that enable noseriding might actually be a hindrance in catching a wave. Is that possible? CW says longer catches better . . .
But I am thinking, sure you bring more speed into the wave, but then you have more drag on the tail, and if there are offshores you have a lot of wind resistance up front.
So what if you compared a thinned out longboard (Wilma Flinstone) with a short, thick, wide “fun fish” (Betty Rubble) of EQUAL VOLUME… Wilma def wins the race from a to b, but when it comes to actually catching the wave and making that transition to a planing speed, might the Betty be better at the critical time of actually catching the wave?
(Just talking the mellow waves typically associated with longboarding, in my case a crumbly beach break.)
Try catching the wave from further BACK on the board. Let your board get out ahead of you a bit when you spin around to sink it and frog-kick forward–right before the wave reaches you. Push down on the forward board a bit. Your weight gets you sliding quicker if the wave picks YOU up and YOU start sliding, but you have to keep the nose down–if you stay very far forward, your weight, which should work for you, doesn’t become a positive for a bit longer until the peak finally picks you up and lets your mass slide down.
Did I mention press down on the board forward of your face?
Try it. I don’t actually paddle for waves much anymore at all, even the worst most sub-marginal TX dribble. On a 6 footer. And I’m a 6 footer. 215#.
Wind resistance on a big fat nose is real. Again, let theboard get out ahead a bit when you turn to frog-kick and go (at the last second), and press down on the forward board with your hands.
I consider this a helpful tip for people riding basically pure junk–and it does increase my wave count by 10-fold, and I do have that much more fun.
Length can generally be used to your advantage but in certain wave types it will make negotiating a drop more difficult.
On the other hand, you betcha… a wide concave can definitely hold you up on take off. Offshore winds complicate further.
I’ve ridden nearly identical boards by the same shaper, one with belly and one with concave. The board with belly up front was like a wave magnet in comparison when trying to “bicycle” into waves early.
I don’t really get the Betty/Wilma comparison… Betty? Short, thick, and wide??? Don’t get me started on Ginger and Mary Ann.
and something i was thinking about the other day and today whilst watching big hollow sucky low tide grinders , and noting the younger guys on short thrusters taking off late , deep , getting tubed and making it ,while a few guys my age [47] , on 9’ or so mals were having a hard time of it
it sure got me to thinking …about timing , paddling skills , the right rocker to fit into the curve of the wave , positioning , and numerous other skills required to catch [different types of?] waves .
especially since , for the last three months or so , i have pretty much just been surfing 9’ and 9’4 mals , and a couple of times , a flattish 7’ single fin .
getting back on a 5’11 and a 5’8 fish will be interesting after that .
i definately struggled on the 6’ tudor single i rode recently …i think in part because riding the mals [‘longboards’] has made me a bit of a lazy paddler , when it
came to catching waves …
not sure if this specifically answers your question , but these are my thoughts recently , as i contemplate [hopefully , soon !] switching to six foot and under boards again
Any thinned out board will penetrate the wave deeper, and tap into the energy inside the wave moreso than thicker, more volumnous/boyant boards, which rely more (relatively speaking) on the energy of the surface or face of the wave. There was a thread on this subject a while back dealing specifically with hollow, powerful surf and thickness/length of board.
One thing’s for sure… the guys who say to get out and paddle are right. But even better, do lots of pullups and pushups. And even better than that (as distasteful as it is) go to the gym and build some muscle in your lats and triceps. That will boost your wave count considerably more than just paddling alone, because you’ll eventually build muscle memory and hit a power plateau. You will continue to build endurance, but not power. Only adding muscle will build strength. Balance it out with long paddles to keep our endurance up, and it won’t matter what you’re riding.
