…Does anyone else ever have a real crap session in good waves… I hate this! Sometimes you can have the best waves and just not get any.
I’ve found a few causes:
Crowds!
Attitude.
Sometimes you require the right attitude to have a good session, I mean you can be surfed out and tired when the waves are small but good, but any other time you’d be jumpin for joy about it…
on another note also, I’ve found if i’m feeling good and comfy, I feel like i have a much better session just from being relaxed.
Josh.
PS…its pumpin’ and i’m stuck in f@#?n westyville…ahhh.
Answer, if there are cranky people in the water, move to another bank or surf the inside section. Nothing worse than having your session destroyed by narrow minded individuals.
Yeah I agree… crowds with people unable to share does suck.
surfing by yourself good waves or not, you will still be able to catch a ride to satisfy your “stoke” addiction for the day.
I think its the atmosphere in the water tho, i mean if you were surfing in a crowd of friendly people, mucking around, sharing the waves, laughing at each other trying to bust moves and face planting, then its all good and everyone has a great surf due to the atmosphere…
yeah horrible if some fuckers get all the good clean 6 foot offshore perfect waves, mainly if you get like two waves per 30min… yeah if you surf with your maids in shitty waves and every one has fun, or like those .5 foot clean days with longboard, jumping on each othersboard and all that shit… much better than fighting over waves…
What’s great tho, is that surfing muckaround days are commonplace for every surfer, every surfer knows what they feel like or will know, and just then when you were describing “jumping on each others board and all that shit” i know exactly the feeling of messing around with mates laughing your head off and choking on half the ocean you just drank… gives me a warm fuzzy feeling down inside to hear the great fun and good natured events still exist out there and are being had by many. It brings back the whole hedonistic nature of surfing and enjoying life!
Yeah, I generally prefer to surf some lonely beach break and have all the crummy waves to myself, too, but then sometimes I find myself surfing alone in a very “vibey” spot, if you know what I mean, and that brings a different feel to the session. Cold, murky water, fog or overcast, no one out. It’s still great, but a little tense and sometimes getting out is a relief. Know what I mean?
yeah i know what you mean man, drivining hours on some stone road along the cliffs, than spotting a perfect peak in the middle of nowhere, no one in like a 30km radius… just you and the perfect (well not perfect but like real nice) wave… i always get those childhood fears of killer currents and shark feeding times…
Josh, I think what you are talking about is being out of sync with the rhythm of things while surfing. And we’ve all been there, regardless if there is a crowd or not.
Like this: I’m tired of sitting over here. Everybody over there seems to be catching lots of waves. (paddle…paddle…paddle). Great! Now the wave of the day breaks right where I was just sitting…BY MYSELF. Sit…sit…sit. OK, finally! Here comes a little one…caught it, caught a rail, fall off… Now the set of the day hits and here I am caught inside, taking it on the head. Fight back outside. pant…pant…pant. Just in time for the lull of the day. Then do the LAST thing a surfer wants to do: Paddle in. Man! Frustration index: High. Fun index: Low. Get dressed. Then everybody on the beach starts to say, "Hey look at that! It’s really starting to pick up!
got that spare basque body boarder mate that i could spare, he starts pissing me off cause he get barreld like all the time… …i hate that like in a one foot wave ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. any way i dont wanna spark a spoonger pro/against discussion
For me, I have found that it has to do with my expectations. When it is good, I expect to get good set waves…and I can, but so can the bunch that drop in in front of me.
When I go out without attachment to a particular outcome, except to get a couple small ones and have fun, I usually do.(and occasionally find a set wave presenting itself to me)
"… I’m tired of sitting over here. Everybody over there seems to be catching lots of waves. (paddle…paddle…paddle). Great! Now the wave of the day breaks right where I was just sitting…BY MYSELF. Sit…sit…sit. OK, finally! Here comes a little one…caught it, caught a rail, fall off… Now the set of the day hits and here I am caught inside, taking it on the head. Fight back outside. pant…pant…pant. Just in time for the lull of the day. Then do the LAST thing a surfer wants to do: Paddle in. Man! Frustration index: High. Fun index: Low. Get dressed. Then everybody on the beach starts to say, "Hey look at that! It’s really starting to pick up!
thank you Doug … nice to know I’m not the only one !! you really nailed it better than I could have written it … kinda the “murphy’s law” of surfing , eh ? [add to the list …the day after a great surf movie , when you’re pumped , up early and ready to “charge” …gee…where did the waves go ?]
yeah thats a real good point, if you have high expectations and dont fulfill them, the day could have been as awsome but if you dont get what you wanted to youll be pissed off, but if you go in just because you didnt go in like 2 weeks and just want to get paddle training and get a few nice wave youll be stoked…
Then do the LAST thing a surfer wants to do: Paddle in.
I’ve used that to my advantage because it seems that everytime I attempt that move the set of the day comes. So I usually announce to the crowd that “I am now paddling in, so expect a good set.” This move usually gets a good laugh and loosens up the crowd a bit. I then paddle in to the sideshore current and rid the rip right back out to the same or different lineup. By this time the mood always seems to be lighter and my timing often comes back. Go figure.
First and only club contest I won was by sitting on my own. Six hungry guys, three foot dribble, and the last place I wanted to be was hassling in a pack. So I paddled off to a sloppy left…and got five waves before any one else caught one!
And the moral to the story is definitely rythm and attitude, and modern singles can beat twinnies and thrusters, even in small gutless junk.
Last night after work, I paddled out into very marginal, shear wind, small surf, at low tide with no real swell behind it. After about 30 minutes, everybody but me and one other guy went in. We had plenty of room to get into position for what was available, and stayed for another 45 minutes, until it got completely blown out. Had a blast. Got lots of negative ions.
It worked because the inside of own head was in the right place at the right time. Lots easier to attain that state when there is no crowd factor.
