Getting out to the Line Up

[Badger]

The key to not getting smacked in the face is simply getting your back foot to the tail.

I was just thinking that very thing, that maybe my rear foot isn't back far enough.

Although, I think the tail might sink with my boards.

What is the key to not going over backwards?

.

[Bean]

Shifting your weight forward and taking a balancing stroke (on your toe side) as you cross the foam-ball. 

I like to think of the broken wave as a fulcrum, I unweight my nose to present the least resistance, and then as the wave passes under my front foot I shift my weight forward and take a stroke at the same time.  Sometimes I fall, but it gets just a little easier each time. 

I practice shifting my foot back even on smaller waves that I could easily get through in a parallel stance.

[surfcowboy]

A note on the back foot thing. If you're front foot is near the mid point of your board, as opposed to in front of it, you wanna be careful about the nose. As long as you're in front of the pivot, so to speak, your nose will likely stay down or it'll buck you off, which is fine too.

The only time I've really been hit in the chest ( never got my face luckily due to paddle in front of me) was from the board pivoting on my front foot from a really violent wave. My shorter board just punches the nose through generally since I'm so far forward relatively ( 2' of board in front of front foot.)

[stoneaxe]

Most of the technique has all been said but practice, practice, practice. Despite my crappy balance I consider myself to be pretty good getting through whitewater. That's because I used it as a balance workout, especially in the early days before I could surf well. I would often just hang out in the whitewater and work it until my arms started getting tired then paddle out and rest. Get a wave and do it over again. I used whitewater and heavy chop as my balance training treadmill. I still do occasionally. I certainly will again once my damn back is fixed.

It's surprising how much better you can get when you focus on technique by intending to stay in the soup. Paddling to get out doesn't do that as well. It's all about the close repetition. You also have to find the sweet spot for each board. How I get over whitewater on my 8-4 is different than my 10-4. Where the wave is in its breaking varies the technique too. I'll pop over a pure foamball but I slice my nose into the face of a breaking wave. The bigger the wave the deeper I slice.  Use the weight of the water to keep the nose down and try to flatten the board as it goes through the wave, weight the nose to drive it down, through, and back up. Just like a duck dive. You not only present the board so that it has less surface area, you use the rocker to drive it through. I've taken water to my thighs and above...watch out for the nutslaps. When it's perfect you don't get pushed back by the wave at all, I'm left standing on the back of the wave in a deep surf stance with my blade stretched out in the wave behind me for a brace. As the wave pulls away the blade releases I and pull it around and use the deep pull to get me back up into a better paddling stance and I'm immediately up and driving for the next one....checking for the weak spot in the wave as it approaches.

[Bean]

I'm going to let everyone in on something that I'm working on.  I got this idea from the "slice and duck" longboard paddle-out trick.  It's simple, but I can't honestly say if it helps just yet.  But, maybe some of you are already doing it, or a variation of it. 

If I know I can't get up and over the foamball, as I approach in my surf stance with my paddle on my toe side,  I sink my front side rail and let the board slice through as I stabilize with my paddle.   This works better with my 7'10" than with longer boards. 

 

[PDLSFR]

+1 with what Stoney said, practice is key, the more time you spend in different whitewater the more tuned you'll be when ready to just paddle and punch thru, in days when it's real big in Newport your first thought is "crap I'll never get out" but you gotta push it and keep trying. Besides practice it's also as everyone has said about timing, keep your eyes on the water and you'll eventually get the timing of the sets and beach break timing down.

See ya this way soon !!!

[Califoilia]

I'm going to let everyone in on something that I'm working on.  I got this idea from the "slice and duck" longboard paddle-out trick.  It's simple, but I can't honestly say if it helps just yet.  But, maybe some of you are already doing it, or a variation of it. 

If I know I can't get up and over the foamball, as I approach in my surf stance with my paddle on my toe side,  I sink my front side rail and let the board slice through as I stabilize with my paddle.   This works better with my 7'10" than with longer boards.

Yes, I do the same thing Bean, and when the foamball gets too big, I do what can best be described as a "seated duck dive"....

I simply face the oncoming foamball straddling the board with paddle laid across my lap.  As the whitewater nears, I start inching forward on the board until the nose starts dropping below the water, and then just as the foamball is on me - similar timing to a regular duck dive without a paddle - I place both hands on either side of the nose, push down to get as deep beneath the whitewater as possible, get my head down onto the board, and go under the soup.

Obviously the deeper you can get, and the greater the downward angle of the board the better, because the further down the nose goes, the higher up goes the tail....thus allowing the whitewater to push the tail back down as it passes....which in turns pushes the nose (and you) up and out of the water on the other side of the foamball.

Similar to what Kai Lenny does here.....

....but only seated instead of standing...for those of us a little older, with slightly less balance, and apparently a lot less "stickem" on our feet . 

[kayadogg]

What is the key to not going over backwards?

Timing. The feeling when you do it right is really awesome, a feeling of weightlessness, like you're floating and it seems so easy for that one time. It reminds me of the feeling you get when flush a golf shot with forged irons. You almost don't even feel the ball compress off the face and all of a sudden it's just gone, exactly where you want it to be.

Stoney hit the nail on the head though. It really comes down to just practicing this as much as possible. When I was training with Anthony Vela in SoCal, he told me that he paddles from Linda Lane to the pier (SC) and back, staying in the soup the entire time. That's almost 3/4 of a mile paddling in white water. He wouldn't just go straight down, sort of a zig zag pattern so you're working all angles. I don't practice this enough even though I know I should. It's hard to not want to paddle out and surf when there's waves.

[SUPcheat]

Lately, I have found myself prone paddling more in short period, washboard white water.  I have found that being able to prone paddle immediately vs. the couple of seconds it takes to get up on knees, balance and position, or to stand actually makes a difference between getting repeatedly pummeled OR making some headway, and the couple of seconds head start actually makes a difference.

Getting back up to knees or standing can be done when the coast is clear, but for me, getting up and balanced to start with paddle in position takes a few seconds which often can mean I am more or less immediately knocked off by the next white water and lose time and energy.

The shallows around Privates create a washing machine effect and a kind of "whirlpool of doom" that just keeps sucking me back into it, and I have found that prone paddling gets me out of it the fastest.

Identifying outward bound water return rips and "channels' as such is always a bonus, but to date I find them hard to reliably detect where I am, though I see guys who have been doing things long enough to know instinctively where the outward rips and channels are.  If I see them, I usually just follow their path to find the outward bound rip.

Around Privates and Sharks, the reef definitely "holds" me back with a pull that releases quite suddenly when I get out to a certain distance. When the reef releases, I can cover greater distances outward with less paddling effort.

[WhatsSUP]

Lots of additional super helpful comments! 

The vid of Kai essentially showing him going thru the wave vice over or under....no doubt his incredible skill, stature, and small board allow him to do so with relative ease.  He obviously see's what coming well before it get to him as he gets several strong paddles to get ready.....QUESTION:  The oncoming whitewater is approaching at a good clip but he's got time to brace and get speed up...for the intermediate/advanced rider is that easily a "doable" up  and over wave or a bail out?

SanoSUP:  Would love to see that seated duck dive technique demonstrated in pics or a vid if ya got any(?)

And I hear the practice, practice, practice reco loud and clear.

Great thread!  Thanks again!

[stoneaxe]

It's obvious that how you do it relates to size, strength, agility, etc.. My methods rely mostly on brute force, suits me. Some folks are pure finesse....that's not me. As much as I enjoy the feeling of the board slicing through I love the feeling of a wave smashing into me as I crash through. I've been know to yell as I fight my way out. I'll scream "FUCK YOU" to a wave that tries particularly hard to knock me down... A little weird maybe but it gets me pumped for the next one. I also tend to not give up. I've had 45 min paddle outs that are nothing short of great victories in my mind. One of my favorite memories is being one of the only SUPs to make it out on a big day at 1st Beach a few years ago and the shocked look I got from a shortboarder followed quickly by a look back at the maelstrom I'd just come through and then what I took as a nod of respect for making it.

Timing is everything and I've gotten much better at reading the water. Mostly by watching creek. Not only does he usually find the right track to get him out without much fuss he's also ALWAYS is in the right spot for waves. I swear sometimes the water has respect for him.

The truth is whatever gets you out there is what works best. There are times I'll knee paddle if my head is screwed up or the water is a real mess. If you are fighting for balance in between waves and can't get set you're screwed. Sometimes getting moving fast is the best solution.

For typical chest to head high waves on a beach break most of my paddle outs are a mix of techniques, a couple small foamballs on the knees near the beach, then use one to help you get up standing quick and easy (the Kalama hop) a couple of pop overs of bigger foamballs, a slice through on a couple breaking waves and you're out.

To answer your question about that wave. I'd say that size is doable for me 75% of the time. That's a wave I would put the nose into and not try and pop over but its at the margin, a little less breaking and more foam and I'd try to go over it. I couldn't do a Kai and get down low but I'd take water all the way to my thighs.

[Badger]

I think in the Kai video, he is actually ducking under the curl and not paddling directly into the whitewater.

[WhatsSUP]

Stone:  Duly noted....mixed bag of techniques getting out makes ton of sense.  I gotta remember to not be a afraid to let the expletives fly!!!!  That's pretty funny. 

[WhatsSUP]

Stone:  Duly noted....mixed bag of techniques getting out makes ton of sense.  I gotta remember to not be a afraid to let the expletives fly!!!!  I think I'd laugh me are off if I were to witness that....pretty funny. 

[Califoilia]

SanoSUP:  Would love to see that seated duck dive technique demonstrated in pics or a vid if ya got any(?)

Sorry, the one thing I don't have with my SUPing is pictures or videos of me out there doing any of it....I think Talldude pointed out a quick glimpse of me in one of his clips he posted here, but that's it that I know of.  If another Zoner with a GoPro wants to volunteer to film it sometime I got no problem sharing, but until then...all I can do is simply try to explain it, and answer any questions about it that might come up.

Which brings to another point/observation that Stoney's post rattled out of my head when reading it....

For typical chest to head high waves on a beach break most of my paddle outs are a mix of techniques, a couple small foamballs on the knees near the beach, then use one to help you get up standing quick and easy (the Kalama hop) a couple of pop overs of bigger foamballs, a slice through on a couple breaking waves and you're out.

To answer your question about that wave. I'd say that size is doable for me 75% of the time. That's a wave I would put the nose into and not try and pop over but its at the margin, a little less breaking and more foam and I'd try to go over it. I couldn't do a Kai and get down low but I'd take water all the way to my thighs.

Not only does size of wave change how I get through whitewater, but also the shape, and size/length of the board I'm trying to get out on.

My two "go to" boards are my 7'8"x30" Mini Simmons shaped "Lil Red", and my 8'5"x29 more "short board" shaped (for no better words) Chelu Performance....and on occasion, I'll be out on my Chelu 9'4x29" board with the same basic shape as the 8'5", just longer.

Now with "Lil Red" being shorter with a much more rounded nose, I find myself "Ollieing" up, and over....employing a strong paddle stroke, and a little hop to unweight the board to let the power/push of the oncoming whitewater get me up, and over it....because when I first tried pushing the nose under anything with any sort of size, I found that the broader nose would "punch" through it, but rather that the whitewater "grabbed" all that nose, and tossed the board and myself over backwards into the "spin cycle", and not where I wanted to be.

With the longer boards, and their much more pulled in noses (here's the 9'4"), I find that punching them through just under the top of the foamball is the way to go, because their longer length creates too long of a lever to allow me to let the foam get close enough to do my little "Ollie Hop" over the larger whitewater....so "piercing" through anything of any size is much easier.

Then when the REALLY big stuff's approaching....it's simply bail off the board, spin it around (so my back is to the foam, and I'm between the whitewater and my board), grab the "rail saver" of the leash, hold it as close to my body as I can....then timing the oncoming whitewater, do a little swim kick to get a little push up out of the water slightly, to gain some momentum to get myself and the tail of the board as deep under the foam as possible....

With the tail well underwater, it in turn puts the nose up in the air as the whitewater rolls over us, which "pushes" the nose back down....which in turn "pulls" the tail, and myself up to the surface, and now behind the foamball that just passed.

Yeah I know, grabbing the rail saver is a good way to lose fingers or whatever, but I'm not doing the last second thing trying to grab for it willy-nilly....instead, I get myself into a good position well ahead of time, and if the whitewater is SO big that it pulls the board/rail saver out of my hand so be it....

Because after that, I'm still on the backside of the whitewater - maybe getting drug a little bit - but since the board was lined up properly (vertical with the oncoming foamball) with myself acting as a big anchor at the other end of the leash....it usually "releases" pretty quickly, then a tug on the leash brings it back to me, and I'm climbing back on to either paddle or prone out to the next one as quickly as possible to gain as much distance as possible to lessen the blow of the next one coming.

But yes, as someone said earlier...."practice, practice, practice", is about the only way to find what works best for you in any given situation.