New goal: Surf better. Of course I still want to get a legitimate tube, but after watching really good surfers in person last month, I realized that I still have tons to learn about what parts of the wave I should be riding on. I have this habit of being so stoked when I'm on a green face that I just fly down the line as fast as I can go, until I run out of speed. Only then do I think, "Shit, I need to do a cutback." The resulting turn, as you can imagine, is pretty anti-climactic. Seven inches of spray squirts off the outside rail as I struggle to get back to the steep part of the wave.
And I've also noticed that really good surfers spend most of their time in the critical part of the wave, either right next to the curl, under the curl, or even slightly behind the foam ball. The first image that comes to mind is Tom Wegener in full trim on a waist-high Noosa right where the lip is actually breaking on his legs but the board is zipping along the inner wall of the wave. His knees are actually getting tubed and he never gets knocked off!
So that's my simple goal for the rest of summer: to surf better and harness as much speed from the small stuff as possible by turning back toward the breaking lip.
And maybe boosting a totally sick air, or something...
Wire - The 15th
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6 comments:
After that, my goal is to dig out my old Wire records....
just lean back to slow yer roll, you'll be deep in no time.
I used to have this same problem. I got an old school thick single fin longboard and just concentrated on staying in trim. After a few sessions, you start to see what the wave is doing and knowing when to race it and when to put on the brakes.
It's called the "fish", or something similar. These short, flat boards, although incredibly fun, allow us to cheat and surf non-traditional parts of waves. Start riding a traditional performance thruster and maybe you'll be forced to find the pocket to get the most out of a wave. This could all be BS though, as I'm only a 4 year expert.
Loving the illustration!!
I have a friend and he doesnt care about the curl or tricks infact he wants to so straight for as long as possible. His board picks up the most speed when it is and that's how he gets his thrills. I'm stoked with a nice hefty cutback but he hates it if he has to move the board an inch after setting it up.
'better surfing'?
Just find your fun.
The thing you're writing is a big blunder.
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