…and don’t inflate it all the way hard! Less likely to pop as has some give to absorb shocks. Also, use big, muscular flippers so you can get in the wave earlier. Mat will last MUCH longer. If you do get stuck in the lip and pitched or find yourself in freefall, bail. Hang on to edge of mat (also easier to do on soft inflations) and flip the body off so you don’t land full weight on it.
9n , how MUCH difference i wonder ?!
doc ,
thanks mate !
i guess i’m just so used to riding a board after 36 years that i was trying to land every drop eh ? …with dire [well , not THAT expensive , luckily!] consequences this time .
ben
Chip, if you are nimble and the wave has a little jiuce, it can be possible to land in the water and remount; sort of a brief body surf (holding on with a hand or two). The mat version of a “lay back”. I have not done this but I have been washed off by the wave and sort of body surfed behind/beside and then remounted. I does feel like most of what happens when I’m riding is by luck or chance…
" It does feel like most of what happens when I’m riding is by luck or chance…"
yeah , I guess that just put into words the difference I have been feeling with riding a mat …thanks Doc !
I feel like , on a mat , I am along for the ride , so to speak.
with a board , I can project my turns around sections , and accelerate quickly / get up high , and also hit the lip , and gain speed QUICKLY .
different feelings , i guess …but it makes a nice change , i must say .
I can’t wait to try it [the mat] on a good head high [standup size] day , too …
It would be fun to get some mat watershots during OUR winter this coming year …
ben
i can’t say for sure how different dimensions would change the way she rides - i was just chiming in with an opinion.
Maybe you can get into waves sooner? Maybe it’ll be harder to control? But i do think there will be a noticeable difference.
I’ve only ridden my neumatic.
Here is a Ron Romanosky photo of a reverse leg down. I can tell you this was to drive back down the face.possibly to also minimize any sideslipping and maintian forward drive. the feeling to me is that i am pressing down on the water with my leg getting more lift i also will do undulating kicks as im riding to build speed and sometimes i will lift the legs one or both
I watched the footage of the sc meet quite a few times and came to a revilation.
That i had one really good position and a few that were still holding onto my old boogie riding ways a bit too much.
looking at photos again and some of the other riders at the sc meet really drove the point home for me to switch some of my positioning to what ill call elbows up
this position involves really getting good contact with your body up to your neck more or less.
the key is to make sure your elbows are above your back basicly put your thumbs on your nipples with your hands pressing onto the mat palms down.
had a great session at cardiff reef to give it a try and was not dissapointed really good for staying on the wave to the bitter end.
not a static position but it will really give you the proper feeling .
when ducking
i try to hug the board but alongside the rails not across the middle also cradle it a bit inside your thighs as you duck
really get it inside a cage of your limbs and you will not have to grab so hard with your hands.
Soul
Chip, I think the “things just happening” sensation is partly a rookie thing. Watching Soul on vid and also getting the whisper of it myself sometimes things happen ON PURPOSE!!! And rarely but it happens, I have deliberately projected a turn etc…
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I drag my fins, fully inflate my mat and use unmodified UDT fins much to the horror of the group up in Santa Cruz this past week. You should have seen the looks as I was asked, “UNmodified fins?!.. FULLY inflated?!” LOL
Way to go, John. “Nothing irritates a non-conformist like another non-conformist who refuses to conform to his standard of non-conformity.”
You were doing something right. You took your sweet time and scored one of the most beautiful, back-lit, well-positioned waves of the gathering. I think Ripley’s border collie focus has rubbed off on you. Joel got a 20-shot sequence of that wave, which I’m anxious to see and which will probably please a lot of people on this forum.
Don’t blink, bro. Keep us honest.
Chip,
the good doc speaks the truth. once you learn how to let the mat do it’s own thing, then you can start to learn how to manipulate it for your own intended outcome. it’s as much mental as physical…
very subtle movements will achieve greater results than trying to force maneuvers. to project a bottom turn you have to envision the line you want to take and slightly roll your body starting from the hips. the more you roll the body, the more the mat will bank over onto it’s rail. you’d be surprised how far over you can actually bank a mat while still holding a line to blow past a section. there is a picture from one of our last sessions that i’ve seen a preview of where i have the mat banked over so far that my entire body is hidden. all you see is the bottom skin of the mat, and thin line of spray, and my UDT’s hanging off the back. hopefully someone will get all the pictures sorted and we can begin posting them so you’ll get a better idea.
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you'd be surprised how far over you can actually bank a mat while still holding a line to blow past a section.
History repeats itself: George Greenough 1966-67… soon Jamie McClellan 2007 !
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my next question... would a mat an inch or two longer , and an inch wider make any / much noticeable difference in waves under waist high ?
Hi Ben,
Yes. Your height/weight also have a big influence on how a given size/shape of mat will surf. Remember, a mat used at lower inflation automatically morphs its overall shape, width, thickness and buoyancy distribution, length, rocker, etc. several inches… to independently conform to the wave face, water texture and rider’s body. A really good surf mat offers highly malleable, three dimensional flex.
Learn to combine that with efficient, low, relaxed body position, and well-timed squeezing and releasing of your hand/forearm grip (adjusting the mat’s internal pressure), and you’ll begin to experience mat surfing’s true potential.
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once you learn how to let the mat do it’s own thing, then you can start to learn how to manipulate it for your own intended outcome
My mat still seems to know more about what it needs than I do. There’s the wave, and then there’s the mat, and I just try to get into posiiton on both and see what happens. My only intended outcome at this stage seems to be to feel something new once in awhile and not be encumbered by a whole lot of “stuff”…notions, equipment, etc.
From a friend of Greg Deets in Australia:
so here we are nearly a month into the austral summer,
the equivalent of mid-july for y’all northern
hemispherians, and it doesn’t really feel like summer
has kicked into gear yet…
this morning was different…clear skies at dawn with
only a light bump from the waning southerly…meaty
peaks paraded across the soft algae covered reef at
newport and only a handful of boards on it…what to
do?
when i came here 4 years ago i made a conscious
decision to give stand up surfing a proper
go…bodysurfing will always be my first and truest
ocean passion but i was looking for a new challenge
and another excuse to spend time in the water…i
haven’t been disappointed and on those occasions where
it all comes together i’ve found another sport of
extreme beauty and grace and in the rarest of moments,
artistry. And while stand up is my primary pursuit
these days when the conditions are just right the udts
are still my equipment of choice.
it’s been over a year now since deets turned me onto
the mat. when the peak is on at newport it is a wave
made for the mat…pitching wedges with long walling
speedlines, especially the rights.
i couldn’t resist, it was one of those mornings. i
blew just enough air into the mat to give it the
consistency of a days old party balloon. the first
wave had some grunt so i lined it up with a board
next to me…he went right, i left. after the sling
shot drop i set up for the long run down the
line…instinctively my inside arm gently planed into
the face to help keep a high line and the magic towel
just screamed…
even with a cluster of extremely talented board riders
sitting on a tight take off zone the vibe was mellow
and i got plenty of waves…some of the crew were
pretty into it and one - derek hynd who surfs an
amazing variety of foils (check him out in the movie
Litmus, he’s absolute genius and beauty at j-bay) knew
of dale’s mats and appreciated what they offered; he
even referenced a guy on a mat at angourie going
faster than anyone he’d ever seen.
after each wave i deflated it a little more until it
was limp and the thing just morphed to the face of the
waves and flew…i was in a matitative state and rode
until i was thoroughly worn out…
by mid-day a true summer-feel is in the air and the
water is warming…time for session 2 and hope for
more…
so for all you that know the stoke, live the stoke and
share the stoke…here is some mat-stoke for all of
you…
Richard Santangelo
(the mat surfer Derek Hynd mentioned seeing at Angourie was Warren Pfeiffer of nearby Yamba, NSW)
wow …a mat at the Peak ?!
I wonder if he would consider ‘li’l av’ on one ??
“Learn to combine that with efficient, low, relaxed body position, and well-timed squeezing and releasing of your hand/forearm grip (adjusting the mat’s internal pressure), and you’ll begin to experience mat surfing’s true potential.”
…well, I got one small one yesterday where the mat outran the wave [for a change !] . I can remember thinking how relaxed [ and , seemingly, no effort was required ?!] it felt on that wave . Nice when you jag one with a bit of a ‘run’ to it !
Pascal , first time on a mat , seemed to have the positioning and trim thing wired …he got a few fast ones !
by the way , neither of us were wearing flippers . Ian was , though . I wanted to take photos , so , because it was so shallow and small, didn’t feel the need for flippers.
we are still learning , THAT’S for sure …but it was GREAT to see the stoke on Ian and Pascal’s face , and I think Paz had more fun on my mat than on his mal , would that be right , mate ?
cheers
ben
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I wonder if he would consider lil av on one ??
Hi Ben,
For an experienced mat surfer, consideration isn’t so much the waves, it’s the crowds. Even Shark Island has a history of mat surfing.
Just had a surf during the Charger game with my buddy Ken he was riding his solmonson mat and got the longest barrel on this clean little wave could hear the boys on the beach hooting. Its a trip watching him tune it after a wave by letting a little air out. Those things are so bitchin’
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we are still learning , 6THAT'S for sure ...but it was GREAT to see the stoke on Ian and Pascal's face , and I think Paz had more fun on my mat than on his mal , would that be right , mate ?
Yes. It really took me by surprise, just how much unadultered fun could be had on a mat.
In fact, I just bought myself one this morning. The West Oz mat cult just found itself a new member!
I’m still undecided about what to do about fins, though. They all look so damn uncomfortable.
popyey, check http://www.flipsswimfins.com These babys are very comfy w/ booties or fin socks and have lots of thrust. Also super light and pack flat for travel. A little complex to put on so you can’t really do it in the water but that is really their only down side.
Yes. Those look much more comfortable than the foot constrictors® I was looking at today.
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Quote:I wonder if he would consider lil av on one ??
Hi Ben,
For an experienced mat surfer, consideration isn’t so much the waves, it’s the crowds. Even Shark Island has a history of mat surfing.
I would be very keen to see some footage of mats being ridden in pitching , very fast , rock ledge waves …like “L.A.” , Shark island , the Box , ‘Deadmans’ , Teahupoo.
so far , I have mainly seen footage of them being ridden in slower , and more high tide looking , point waves .
The comment was made on another thread ['POPPPP !"] about NOT taking late airdrops on a mat , but on waves such as the five mentioned above [where the bottom drops out of the wave] , I wonder how else can they be ridden ?
cheers
ben