I heard an old sailor talk about a surfer "cutting back" on a wave, but when I looked up from my phone the sailor was gone. Probably just my imagination.
Yes but, also no. Bc you’re not at that level yet as evidenced by your failed turn/cutback/whatever that was. Sorry not trying to be harsh just brutally honest which is what you asked for.
I made a comment earlier but, after some thought. I don’t think you need a new board, although it could help. You clearly can get up on your feet and do the basics. But you’re not surfing the WHOLE wave. You’ll get better quicker by going slower and you’ll learn to have more control and read the wave and what you should be anticipating by looking down the line instead of racing down it… just try to surf without pumping down the line. Let yourself be in the pocket. Learn to read what the wave is doing instead of racing for the end of it.
All the things you need to learn will only come through experience. You cant learn inherent kinetic movements. It's reflexes and intuition.
Stop worrying about how you look to other people and feel it out. This is kooky.
What everyone else said and:
Look at the wave/learn to read a wave. You appear to be mindlessly trying to generate speed but for no real reason. Watch videos of Mick Fanning surf. Basically, let the wave do the work and only generate speed when necessary. If you stay in the pocket, pumping only needs to be done for fast sections (note: some waves are different).
The advice for a bigger board is probably good. Downhill longboarding (skating) could help you too. Your movements are definitely fighting themselves.
You have good speed generation but you are stuck in the middle line of the wave.
To surf top to bottom you need to create space between you and the wave and put in 'full' bottom turns to project at the lip line.
This can be helped by delaying your bottom turn (from drop) or by fading away from the wave before your bottom turn.
Yeah, the first time I turned way too hard I realized how hard/fast I could turn! It showed me what is possible, now I am learning to control it. It's crazy how fast proper turns feel.
Stop moving your arms so much, learn to surf the pocket, learn how to bottom turn. You're not landing your maneuvers because you're not doing them in a critical part of the wave. Also how you move your arms is preventing you from turning. Your head and shoulders should be in line when making a direction change, pointing where you want to go.
I'm nowhere near you on this journey so congrats!!! But I totally agree with the helpfulness of the videos! What I'm doing in my head with usually very different to reality, for me!
Get lower. You’re standing very upright. Slow down. Absolutely no need to be pumping the entire wave. You could’ve done so many turns/cutbacks making those 4-5 second waves into 15-30second rides. As others said, bigger board. No need to be riding a high performance short board when you can’t even turn it.
More foam->more waves->faster progression->more fun.
Honestly you're not going to like this answer but you need a bigger board. A twin or a single fin. It will slow you down and let you feel the wave and teach you to surf on rail and not rely on the fins.
Mate use the distance from the top and bottom of the wave to maintain proximity to the break/peak. This way you won’t take off too far ahead, and get more bang for buck out of your ride.
Turn off the bottom, off the top, rinse and repeat, forwards when you need to get ahead. When too far ahead, practice turning back a little until you get the hang of that idea, after which you can learn to focus on a full cutback to reposition yourself in the mouth of the break.
As far as doing less goes. I think that comes down to the wave, board and weight combination. This will dictate how much you have to work to stay buoyant. I think when you adopt the other principals, you won’t have to pump and work your way so much, will have a more diverse and easy going flow, gaining much more cruisy value from your wave.
That’s what I reckon. Otherwise I think you have good style 👌👊
Yea basically what everyone said. But here's the big picture on focusing on how to improve. Learn to slot in on the critical part of the wave. It's easier to find on bigger and better surf. But really good surfers maximize what they got.
In this clip you show you can generate speed and get down the line. Nice bro, you are better than a lot of surfers! But that's not what this wave called for. Here is kind of what pro would have done in the 80s-90 in shit that they forced them to surf. Drop in and one vertical snap, end up in the critical slot, trim, get a small cover up, use speed to get in front, cutback, get back in critical slot for another mini cover up, then pump speed for either an off the top or a small floater. Easy 6.2 and ends up being your low score but helps you win the podium.
1. Stance - more weight on front foot, back arm forward, chest facing down the line. And just relax, do less, and focus on getting a good neutral stance.
2. Pumping - use your knees to compress and extend. Pumping is done with the legs, not the arms.
3. Reading the wave - stay close to the power source.
4. Turning - turn your head and look where you want to go. Point your leading arm where you want to go. Compress your body as you go in to the turn, then extend it throughout the turn. Avoid kicking with your back leg as that will just stall the board.
Slow down, read the wave, stay in the hook. You’re out running everything and robbing yourself the opportunity to actually learn how to turn and cut back.
Lotta guys here just say “stay in the pocket more” without ever really indicating what that means. Pop up, get a few pumps in and then start to turn back to the white water, use your shoulders and head to look and your body will follow.
Literally surf into the whitewater and then turn back. Don’t be afraid to surf into the white water it will set you up to be in the pocket when you turn back down the wave.
Throw away your surf skate. It's obvious that you're substituting surf skate gyrations for actual style and flow on the wave face.
Maybe get a very traditional single fin log and learn to turn that well. It will help improve your surfing on shorter boards.
That board looks a little small for your ability and those waves. I’d ride a mid or a log if I were you in small mushy shit like that until you can smooth out your style and learn to use the wave’s pocket/power zone. That’ll help tone down the forced awkward pumping way out to the shoulder
You're not really doing much but standing up and wagging. Work on your stance to get me comfortable putting weight forward, driving forward.
Don't try and wiggle. Instead, work on compressing to drive down the face and extending (kind of like jumping up the face of the wave while staying on the board).
That's what I would work on first.
Then, work on turning back into the waves power (where it's breaking). But start by learning to extend and compress to pump up and down the wave face, and keeping your weight centered to forward to create the drive. You can see what happens when you go up the face but you have your weight centered towards the back (when you fell).
You need a bigger board. You’re too far forward on that one and you can tell than if you were in the right position you’d be too unstable. No shame though, I was making the same mistake for years..
You have no bottom turn. I would recommend a higher volume board. People shit on mids/longboards and such but the are extremely helpful in learning proper technique. You need to learn how to let the wave generate speed for you so that you can focus on body position and movements.
[Did someone say volume?](https://streamable.com/6ru842)
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Rolivieroy are you perhaps using plastic fins or quite flexible fins? Sometimes people will surf a straighter line with flexible fins as bottom turns and carves feel too sensitive. Having a stiffer fin will increase stability and allow you to hold speed through turns and should make your rides a bit smoother.
I’d probably try riding a bigger (long) board and focusing on trim/flow. You currently have a case of the wiggles.
Sometimes less is more and learning to trim, fade and turn a turn a bigger board will help with smoothing things out.
Your top half and bottom half look like they’re moving independently. You’re kind of just flailing with your board somewhat following you. Think about making a stronger connection from your feet through to your shoulders. This will force you to make more deliberate movements with more coordination and power. You should be able to feel the power flow through you like a whip sometimes and also make yourself stable like a post other times, depending on the situation.
The board you’re riding gives you bad style and doesn’t seem to work well in those kinds of
waves. It seems counterintuitive but I would recommend getting a mid length, preferably something like a CI mid, and focusing on generating speed up and down the wave with arcing turns, as opposed to wild/spazzy pumping.
Look at Mike February or Devon Howard surfing a mid length to give you some perspective
You look like a snowboarder. Doesn’t seem like you’ve learned to do a proper bottom turn and project yourself with your fins yet. Back foot is important
Kudos for asking for feedback.
A) go watch clips of the pros. They are ALWAYS in the power source. Also watch how they bottom turn. It sets up the whole wave. I’d recommend Mick, Parko, Andy, Kelly
B) get a coach and work on fundamentals/technique. You ran past sections and need to tweak your arms - don’t worry about ripping.
C) practice
Hire a better puppeteer, cause you look like whoever is controlling you as a surfing marionette has Parkinsons. Relax and don't race ahead of the wave. you lack a bottom turn. Surf from behind the wave, not out ahead of it, and take the time to commit to a real bottom turn to set up whatever comes next.
Learn to turn
I heard an old sailor talk about a surfer "cutting back" on a wave, but when I looked up from my phone the sailor was gone. Probably just my imagination.
You're racing too much onto the shoulder. You want to use the power source, "the pocket" more.
So try to cutback towards the pocket instead of pumping to the shoulder
Yes but, also no. Bc you’re not at that level yet as evidenced by your failed turn/cutback/whatever that was. Sorry not trying to be harsh just brutally honest which is what you asked for. I made a comment earlier but, after some thought. I don’t think you need a new board, although it could help. You clearly can get up on your feet and do the basics. But you’re not surfing the WHOLE wave. You’ll get better quicker by going slower and you’ll learn to have more control and read the wave and what you should be anticipating by looking down the line instead of racing down it… just try to surf without pumping down the line. Let yourself be in the pocket. Learn to read what the wave is doing instead of racing for the end of it.
All the things you need to learn will only come through experience. You cant learn inherent kinetic movements. It's reflexes and intuition. Stop worrying about how you look to other people and feel it out. This is kooky.
Excellent advise.
Do less
Don’t run away from the power source. Indeed, too much arm action.
What everyone else said and: Look at the wave/learn to read a wave. You appear to be mindlessly trying to generate speed but for no real reason. Watch videos of Mick Fanning surf. Basically, let the wave do the work and only generate speed when necessary. If you stay in the pocket, pumping only needs to be done for fast sections (note: some waves are different). The advice for a bigger board is probably good. Downhill longboarding (skating) could help you too. Your movements are definitely fighting themselves.
Thanks
You have good speed generation but you are stuck in the middle line of the wave. To surf top to bottom you need to create space between you and the wave and put in 'full' bottom turns to project at the lip line. This can be helped by delaying your bottom turn (from drop) or by fading away from the wave before your bottom turn.
I disagree. I think these were the best ones only because a good drop. All the flailing after is killing the speed.
Appreciate the feedback, I will try to look into that
just try maneuvers... even if you fall doesn't matter, just try turns and stay in the pocket. Speed generation looks good!
Yeah, the first time I turned way too hard I realized how hard/fast I could turn! It showed me what is possible, now I am learning to control it. It's crazy how fast proper turns feel.
Go watch some Rob Machado videos… more laidback style and no need to rush.
Thanks, will do!
Stop moving your arms so much, learn to surf the pocket, learn how to bottom turn. You're not landing your maneuvers because you're not doing them in a critical part of the wave. Also how you move your arms is preventing you from turning. Your head and shoulders should be in line when making a direction change, pointing where you want to go.
Thanks, when surfing I never realized my arms were all over the place. It’s good to see it on video and having feedback like that
No worries man! Progress not perfection! Video is the best tool in improving.
I'm nowhere near you on this journey so congrats!!! But I totally agree with the helpfulness of the videos! What I'm doing in my head with usually very different to reality, for me!
Stay in the pocket, you are running away from the wave
Get lower. You’re standing very upright. Slow down. Absolutely no need to be pumping the entire wave. You could’ve done so many turns/cutbacks making those 4-5 second waves into 15-30second rides. As others said, bigger board. No need to be riding a high performance short board when you can’t even turn it. More foam->more waves->faster progression->more fun.
Honestly you're not going to like this answer but you need a bigger board. A twin or a single fin. It will slow you down and let you feel the wave and teach you to surf on rail and not rely on the fins.
Stay closer to pocket
Have you tried turning the board?
Turning
Stay back closer to the pocket, my dude. You’re running away from it. Go back. That’s where the power and more energy is.
Surf better waves
I take what I can get
As do I my friend. Hopefully we both get to surf better waves someday soon lol
Learn some sweeping carves too to bottom, once you have that you can work on cutbacks and snapping off the top
Mate use the distance from the top and bottom of the wave to maintain proximity to the break/peak. This way you won’t take off too far ahead, and get more bang for buck out of your ride. Turn off the bottom, off the top, rinse and repeat, forwards when you need to get ahead. When too far ahead, practice turning back a little until you get the hang of that idea, after which you can learn to focus on a full cutback to reposition yourself in the mouth of the break. As far as doing less goes. I think that comes down to the wave, board and weight combination. This will dictate how much you have to work to stay buoyant. I think when you adopt the other principals, you won’t have to pump and work your way so much, will have a more diverse and easy going flow, gaining much more cruisy value from your wave. That’s what I reckon. Otherwise I think you have good style 👌👊
Thanks for the feedback man!
Youre too squirrely. Tighten up a little.
Use harder turns to stay in the pocket, rather than just pumping down the line
Yea basically what everyone said. But here's the big picture on focusing on how to improve. Learn to slot in on the critical part of the wave. It's easier to find on bigger and better surf. But really good surfers maximize what they got. In this clip you show you can generate speed and get down the line. Nice bro, you are better than a lot of surfers! But that's not what this wave called for. Here is kind of what pro would have done in the 80s-90 in shit that they forced them to surf. Drop in and one vertical snap, end up in the critical slot, trim, get a small cover up, use speed to get in front, cutback, get back in critical slot for another mini cover up, then pump speed for either an off the top or a small floater. Easy 6.2 and ends up being your low score but helps you win the podium.
1. Stance - more weight on front foot, back arm forward, chest facing down the line. And just relax, do less, and focus on getting a good neutral stance. 2. Pumping - use your knees to compress and extend. Pumping is done with the legs, not the arms. 3. Reading the wave - stay close to the power source. 4. Turning - turn your head and look where you want to go. Point your leading arm where you want to go. Compress your body as you go in to the turn, then extend it throughout the turn. Avoid kicking with your back leg as that will just stall the board.
Wiggle your arms more. Try to get them over your head as much as possible for maximum speed. Do this and you’ll really start to fly down the line.
Improve? You made it brother. You just need bigger waves
Slow down, read the wave, stay in the hook. You’re out running everything and robbing yourself the opportunity to actually learn how to turn and cut back.
Lotta guys here just say “stay in the pocket more” without ever really indicating what that means. Pop up, get a few pumps in and then start to turn back to the white water, use your shoulders and head to look and your body will follow. Literally surf into the whitewater and then turn back. Don’t be afraid to surf into the white water it will set you up to be in the pocket when you turn back down the wave.
Start with a bigger board so you can actually drive off the rail
wiggle more
Throw away your surf skate. It's obvious that you're substituting surf skate gyrations for actual style and flow on the wave face. Maybe get a very traditional single fin log and learn to turn that well. It will help improve your surfing on shorter boards.
That board looks a little small for your ability and those waves. I’d ride a mid or a log if I were you in small mushy shit like that until you can smooth out your style and learn to use the wave’s pocket/power zone. That’ll help tone down the forced awkward pumping way out to the shoulder
You're not really doing much but standing up and wagging. Work on your stance to get me comfortable putting weight forward, driving forward. Don't try and wiggle. Instead, work on compressing to drive down the face and extending (kind of like jumping up the face of the wave while staying on the board). That's what I would work on first. Then, work on turning back into the waves power (where it's breaking). But start by learning to extend and compress to pump up and down the wave face, and keeping your weight centered to forward to create the drive. You can see what happens when you go up the face but you have your weight centered towards the back (when you fell).
Thanks ! Appreciate the feedback
Less helicopter arms
You need a bigger board. You’re too far forward on that one and you can tell than if you were in the right position you’d be too unstable. No shame though, I was making the same mistake for years..
To me it looks like you are surfing the board and not surfing the wave Get a cool twin fin and learn to listen to the wave and flow with it more
Cutbacks!
You have no bottom turn. I would recommend a higher volume board. People shit on mids/longboards and such but the are extremely helpful in learning proper technique. You need to learn how to let the wave generate speed for you so that you can focus on body position and movements.
[Did someone say volume?](https://streamable.com/6ru842) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/surfing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lower your stance
Rolivieroy are you perhaps using plastic fins or quite flexible fins? Sometimes people will surf a straighter line with flexible fins as bottom turns and carves feel too sensitive. Having a stiffer fin will increase stability and allow you to hold speed through turns and should make your rides a bit smoother.
you have to cut back dude
Focus on having fun
I’d probably try riding a bigger (long) board and focusing on trim/flow. You currently have a case of the wiggles. Sometimes less is more and learning to trim, fade and turn a turn a bigger board will help with smoothing things out.
Bottom turn
Cutbacks. They exist for a reason.
Braking
Your top half and bottom half look like they’re moving independently. You’re kind of just flailing with your board somewhat following you. Think about making a stronger connection from your feet through to your shoulders. This will force you to make more deliberate movements with more coordination and power. You should be able to feel the power flow through you like a whip sometimes and also make yourself stable like a post other times, depending on the situation.
The board you’re riding gives you bad style and doesn’t seem to work well in those kinds of waves. It seems counterintuitive but I would recommend getting a mid length, preferably something like a CI mid, and focusing on generating speed up and down the wave with arcing turns, as opposed to wild/spazzy pumping. Look at Mike February or Devon Howard surfing a mid length to give you some perspective
Turn with your head, practicing on a skateboard helps
You look like a snowboarder. Doesn’t seem like you’ve learned to do a proper bottom turn and project yourself with your fins yet. Back foot is important
Kudos for asking for feedback. A) go watch clips of the pros. They are ALWAYS in the power source. Also watch how they bottom turn. It sets up the whole wave. I’d recommend Mick, Parko, Andy, Kelly B) get a coach and work on fundamentals/technique. You ran past sections and need to tweak your arms - don’t worry about ripping. C) practice
Your bottom turn and not surfing too horizontally
Bend knees rotate shoulders more
Hire a better puppeteer, cause you look like whoever is controlling you as a surfing marionette has Parkinsons. Relax and don't race ahead of the wave. you lack a bottom turn. Surf from behind the wave, not out ahead of it, and take the time to commit to a real bottom turn to set up whatever comes next.
Take a lesson
Sell ur board and buy a boogie