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100% agree with swayKOOK. The intenet is filled with self-appointed experts who have no business dispensing 'knowledge' to those who are even less informed.
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Including me, though I fake it well -
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I'd say that there's a good half dozen, or more, posters on this forum who are far more qualified as surf 'scientists'. Their knowledge is deep enough to know that surfing is not a 'science' and the term is silly.
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And one who is and has been for some time the only guy I know of who has been doing science as applied to surfing, though I'm happy to see people likeBenjaminThomson starting to do more....but I digress.
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The current trend to be spoon fed things that were typically learned by trial and error, and just doing, is also reflected in the proliferation of so-called surfing 'instructors'. I have seen too many people giving surfing lessons who should be TAKING lessons, not GIVING them. But, the typical novice is misled into thinking that someone who can merely stand and go straight knows how to "surf".
Auwe.
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A short digression into surf lessons -
I'll confess, back when I was running a surf shop, I did lessons. But not in the water. Here's how they went, and I do have that whole riff memorised after at least two decades of repeating it pretty much verbatim several times a day.
(talking to the parental unit who comes into the surf shop with kid in tow)
"Uhmm, yes m'am, I can do lessons at the beach, but do you wanna pay me $50 per hour to scream at your kid? I didn't think so. Look, there's three parts to learning how to use a surfboard. Trying to get 'em all at once is hard, learning 'em one at a time is easy and fun. And I can get you started right here, no charge. If you really want to get ripped off, well, okay, but I'm not gonna do it to you. "
(talking to the wanna be surfer)
"Now, this is how you learn how to use a surfboard. I go through it pretty quick, I've done this a lot, so don't hesitate to ask questions.
There's three parts to it, like I said. One hard, one in the middle and one easy. Try them all at once, you'll crash and burn, get nowhere and you'll hate it. Do it my way, you'll have fun and do well, okay? Good.
First, learn waves and the ocean. That's the hard part. You do that with a boogie board and a pair of fins. You learn how to paddle out, where to paddle out, where NOT to paddle out. You learn what waves to catch, which ones to avoid,You learn what to do with a wave once you've got it: where to go, where and when to turn, where not to turn.
And very importantly, you learn the rules. Surf etiquette. The wave is breaking, okay? Somebody is between that and you. It's their wave. You hear a lot of cr@p about who stands up first. Forget it, it's who is closest to where the wave is breaking.
Stay out of other people's way. When you finish with your wave, paddle back out, okay, but not right through where other people are trying to surf, where the wave is breaking. It's courtesy, right? Good. "
(stop for questions)
"Awright, now, for the not-so hard part. Turning a surfboard. You ever spent time on a skateboard, or better yet a snowboard? Good, you know how already. If you haven't, start now, and there you have it.
I get lots of people come in here and tell me that they can stand up. Okay, big whoopie. Did Mom take your picture before you fell off? Standing up is meaningless if you can't turn and do something with the wave, okay? Good. "
(another stop for questions)
"Right, the easy part. Standing up. Here's how you learn that. Take your trusty boogie board out into the back yard, where nobody will see you and point and laugh.
Practice going from lying down paddling to on your feet in one quick move, none of this one-knee-two-knees, one-knee-one-foot jazz. You see, you've caught a wave, you want to be up and turning right away, and while you're getting up you're completely out of control. You crash and burn. You wanna be up and turning real fast, right? You watch the people at the beach trying to surf and where do they blow it? Trying to stand up, right? This is what you do to get it right.
Okay, boogie board out in the back yard. Lie on it, Now ( demonstrating with a handy boogie board) you want to go from lying down to your feet in one shot like this. See how my front foot is where my sternum( pointing) was? Put some masking tape on the boogie board there, shoot for that. You want your feet about as far apart as your shoulders are wide, knees bent a little like on a mountain bike, to soak up the bumps and all. It's like a karate position, right??
Feet too close together, you fall over, too far apart and you can't turn, you're awkward, right? Good. Practice until you can do it without thinking, so it's a reflex. Then fifty more, 'cos you know you're gonna think about it and mess up.
That's it, that's your surf lesson. Can I have my $150 now? Naaah, this is free, now go and take your boogie board and learn the ocean, awright? And come back for a board when you have some time in. Don't hesitate to come back and ask questions, that's why I'm here. "
And I did that for ...wow...quarter of a century. Nobody ever came back and told me I was wrong. Lots came back and said thanks. And I would have people come over to me in the water years later and say thanks. I guess it worked.
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If you are under 55 and can't ride a short board, you shouldn't be surfing......
Choice of board size is personal, but to ride a longboard because you want more waves is a problem with surfing today. Another big problem is that people are out in the water on longboards in places they shouldn't be.
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Oh yeah, and on days they shouldn't be. Greed, incompetence and cluttering up the break. Busting boards. And a big board, some places, is dangerous, bowling for swimmers. When they get on a wave and don't lose it, they dribble along on the shoulder, ruin the rest of the wave for somebody competent who could be coming along where it's a little challenging .
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I surfed Waikiki this weekend with a couple hundred others in waves that were barely head high. The mix was classic Waikiki, complete beginners, local kids, middle age guys on mini mals, old guys on big long boards, SUPs, chicks, and the usual skinny kid on a nose rider trying to catch every wave that comes by. I went left if the other guy wanted the right, rode behind kids and girls, it was all good, and I had fun. I even let waves go for the kids and the old men. If you let the crowds get to you, it will eat you away. I usually try to paddle off to the opposite side when things get like that, maybe take off behind the long board wave hog, and just cruise along. I find that wave count is not important, having fun and getting the most out of the ones you do catch matters.
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But, if I may, that's Waikiki. You can get away with it there, it's that kind of wave. But there's places, most in fact, where you can't do that. And these jokers that want the most waves, wayull..... if count is that important to 'em, maybe they oughtta be golfers or something.
Probably they have the wave numbers fixation to compensate for shortcomings in other areas. The longboard fixation seems similar.
Like sharkcountry says, 'having fun and getting the most out of the ones you do catch' is what matters.
doc...