This is actually a standard short board technique.
Might be better to get it wired on a shortboard first then move it to your longboard.
You basically whip around at the last minute and jam as much of the rear of the board into the face of wave as it hits you. Sort of a crouching leap frog with your legs move. As the board pops forward its moving and dropping into the face of the wave so paddling may not be needed at all. If you just happen to be in a real critical section because of bad timing/positioning then you’d better set an angle on the nose rail as you drop in so you can use the whole inside rail to hold you in as the face starts to arc hopefully over your head. Oh yeah when you whip around better hope you’re not staring at a bunch of kooks sitting or paddling out right in front of you. It always amazes me nowadays how much people actually purposely get in the way versus trying to stay out of the way…
But if you’re on a high performance shortie you can just go over the falls with and in the lip land hard set your fins and inside edge and pop around into the clear but you need something small and pulled in to get away with this (I tend do this alot by mistake). And it won’t work in the country (Northshore) or an open ocean reef break like Sunset where you’ll just get demolished. Rusty guys do it all the time at Makaha though.
All the best shortboard snakers in the world have this move wired.
They sit just 10-20 yards inside of the pack and then paddle out but inside of them when the set comes in, whip around in the hook and boom steal your wave…
If you want to mess with guys doing this just take a long straight drop or even fade back until they mowed by the whitewater and they may stop snaking you. If they are good enough though they’ll just pull up tight inside you as your dropping in straight and pass you by.
You can have alot of fun practicing this like duck diving by shoving as much of your longboard into the water and as it pops out and forward hop up and try and ride it for a bit. Kind of like how groms practice duck diving while waiting for a set its a good way to kill time when it’s slow. I know guys that do this so they can stand up and see what’s on the horizon coming in.
Just like board building practice practice practice if you want to develop skills.
I was out at San-O one day and Colin McPhillips paddled out. One thing I couldn’t get over was how easily he caught waves. As I tried to analyze why, I noticed one thing: His first two to three strokes were fairly slow, then as his board picked up momentum, his RPMs increased. I’m talking about 6 to 8 strokes max.
It makes sense: take it easy in 1st gear…get the mass moving. Then stomp on it. Saves energy and increases wave-catching efficiency. All other valid techniques aside, I’ve tried this and it works. Doug
Geez - I feel like such a kook reading this thread. It’s not that I don’t try lots of the suggested techniques, but… Am I the only guy here who goes with the good old fashioned patience and perseverance?
Another kook logging in here – are there any longboard videos out there that show what you’re all talking about? I’d buy one in a second – this all sounds fun and interesting but I’d like to see it in action.
Out here on the East Coast we’re getting waves about once per week now so not too much practice time…
Regarding Videos: When Endless Summer 2 came out, I was a shortboard only type of guy and I remember wishing that the longboarders at my local spot would paddle more like Robert August and Wingnut in the Costa Rica segment - one or two strokes and then up - instead of starting way outside and paddling twenty times towards us shortboarders. So though I haven’t seen that film in years, I bet there is something to be learned from it about paddling and it’s available in nearly every video rental shop around.
Thanks you guys. I’m am really looking forward to my next session. I’ve been having some ‘dry land’ practice on an Indo board which has taught me a thing or two. And with these tips about paddling in then I reckon I’m just about set to try and move to the next level. Much appreciated gents.
Going back to what GreatWhiteNorth was saying earlier in this thread, I was swimming laps in the pool yesterday after reading through this thread and really focused on two aspects of the stroke (the pull - from when the hand enters the water until the arm reaches a roughly 90 degree angle, and the push (from 90 degrees through release) and their effect on my forward speed. Keeping an eye on the bottom of the pool it was very clear to see that the real jump in forward propulsion came during the push (triceps) - or at least it did when I focused on finishing the stoke completely and accelerating through the stroke.
I think this is part of the reason why good paddlers seem to catch waves so effortlessly. Yes, they are generally better at positioning and finding the sweet spot on the wave but they are also paddling more efficiently with a long powerful stoke while others are trying to build speed with a less efficient short stoke with a high turnover rate.
g day jeff … are pressups the best way to develop triceps cause i wanna improve my paddling ,Not so much for catching waves but to get out of sticky situations quiker… a kayaker told me today after discussing this thread with him that most of his paddle power is in the last part of his stroke…SO is it bent or not bent elbows??? you think after twenty years of surfing i would have figured it out … ??
Hey Paul - I’m sure there are a number of exercises you could do to strengthen your triceps but i’m not real sure how much weight training, as opposed to more sport specific training like paddleboardling or swimming is going to help your paddling. For me, multimile paddles (first on a longboard and more recently on a paddleboard) and regular swims have made a huge difference not only just in terms of strength but also in terms of better mechanics. Paddling for a couple hours straight gives plenty of opportunity for experimentation and finding what works best.
"both arms thrust paddle ", at the same time [not sure exactly what that’s called , but something I saw that seemed to be working, in old longboard movies] .
And , trying to read the break …not always easy in my shifting local beachbreak .
These would be the three things I have tried to concentrate on recently .
That’s more of a butterfly stroke Chip, and the problem with using it is it tends to generate speed in more uneven “bursts” than a crawl-type stroke, which brinsg the board up to plane briefly, and then lets it drop again. Plus it’s hard as hell on the shoulders.
There’s a ton of research out on the web around S-motion strokes (basically it’s been discounted as not providing any advantage in competitive swimming), I was reading something a few weeks ago about how the top swimmers like Thorpe et al use their entire forearm and hand as a big paddle, which involves keeping the elbow very high through the entire stroke. The site I looked at had underwater shots of this, it looks weird (and feels even weirder to try and replicate!).
The links to that stuff are saved on my home PC, when I get home tonight I’ll post them.
I swim a few times a week and try and make a point of reaching my hand forward as far as possible, and driving the water back along my body until my hand exits right next to my hips - the same long strokes work well in paddling too.
I should point out that I certainly don’t use it all the time , though …mostly just on late takeoffs . Like, for example , on overcast glassy days , when my …er… “eyesight” doesn’t let me focus on the wave until it’s about five feet away …
[…damn computer addiction of mine …I’m sueing swaylocks…hehe]
Nah, not saying it doesn’t work if you use it for a last burst of speed just before you’re popping up, but it doesn’t work well (in my experience) if used for the entire paddle - that’s what I thought you meant.
I was reading something a few weeks ago about how the top swimmers like Thorpe et al use their entire forearm and hand as a big paddle, which involves keeping the elbow very high through the entire stroke. The site I looked at had underwater shots of this, it looks weird (and feels even weirder to try and replicate!).
I always see these beginners just using their hands to paddle with which is a big no, no. In my opinion, the most effective stroke is reaching as far forward as possible, pulling through by dipping your arm into the water almost up to your elbow (Thorpe style), and extending your arm and snapping your wrist on the back end of the stroke. By putting your chin down you get a real power/sprint stroke which is effective in mushy waves. Arching your back is effective in steeper waves when you’re trying to keep your nose up.
Regardless of your paddling skills, nothing beats correct positioning.
Just a word of caution concerning this talk of paddling techique
Make damn sure you know what you are doing when you try and modify your paddle stroke.
Yes, Thorpe keeps a high elbow during the pull phase for maximum hand/arm pull but he also abbducts his shoulder alot to reduce the risk of impingment due to internal arm rotation with the high elbow. Impingment results in shoulder problems,i.e swimmer’s shoulder (tendonitis) which most swimmers and surfers will experience at some point in their life and it’s a bitch to cure.
Also, reaching out to full extension on the pull works good BUT, do it at the wrong time and risk shoulder problems.It should occur after you start your pull, not before the catch phase.
I like LeeDD’s description of the old timers waiting and spinning under the lip with no paddle takeoffs in big surf. As a kid who grew up in Hawaii in the 70s and 80s, I remember seeing this too. I think the boards of old worked better for this style of takeoff – more foam that picked up the wave speed real quick and started planing on the water immediately. I think it is tougher to spin and go on the chips of today – it can still be done, but you really have to be on top of your game.
I watch friends paddle into waves all the time – the ones that “have it” minimize the movement of their bodies on the deck of the board, put their head down and get the board up onto a plane quickly. Others (usually stronger, ogre types) wiggle back and forth from rail to rail and the nose of their board actually pushes water which slows them down. Get your board up onto a plane and you’ll be gliding in while others are flapping.
There’s an example of using the hand and forearm as a big paddle - Grant Hackett in the foreground, Thorpe in the back. I’m going to go for a surf in about an hour. I’ll try and see if I can replicate this type of stroke while I’m out there. I’m sure the results will be laughable.
As your hand enters the water, think of your hand as an anchor and you’re trying to pull your board and body past it. This extra leverage against the water coupled with a proper stroke will really get you moving.
There’s an example of using the hand and forearm as a big paddle - Grant Hackett in the foreground, Thorpe in the back. I’m going to go for a surf in about an hour. I’ll try and see if I can replicate this type of stroke while I’m out there. I’m sure the results will be laughable.
Jeff
Yeah, that’s one of the sites I was talking about in my earlier post. I have no idea how he gets his arm like that, I’m nowhere near that level of swimming ability but I tried to approximate that arm position and couldn’t seem to get anywhere near it (while still having any pulling ability against the water, anyway).
Don’t even try and match Thorpe’s stroke. As I said earlier, he has the special ability to rotate his shoulders in such a way as to keep from causing shoulder damage. If you try it, you’ll end up hurting your shoulder because of internal rotation.
Also, swimming stroke differs from paddling in that swimmers can rotate their bodies 90 deg as they pull. While paddling you can’t, so your stroke will be different.
