my turns to catch a wave are ugly - help

[Paddle On]

i am waiting far a wave, good position, i set back a bit and then flaile with 8 plus paddle strokes to turn toward shore. i usually get it done, but it is ugly.

any tips or videos appreciated

thanks

[PonoBill]

You just need to practice a pivot. the time to do that is not while a wave is headed for you. Get in a comfortable position on your board in flatwater. Take a long step back with your normal rear foot, bend both knees and lean back onto the rear foot. Reach forward with your paddle but instead of pulling it towards you, twist the blade vertical and sweep about 90 degrees. If your weight is well back you'll turn at least 45 degrees. Two or three sweeps should be about all you need.

When you get out to the lineup, before you go for a wave, do two or three practice pivots just to get it in your head that you can do it. When you go for a wave you can make your last sweep then use the momentum of stepping forward with your back foot to get a good reach and pull for the wave.

[Badger]

Another good way to turn is to put the paddle in on the opposite side that you are paddling on, then pull the paddle toward the board and in a wide sweep, hop the paddle over the nose and complete the stroke. You should be able to turn the board 180 degrees in just one or two strokes.

[Paddle On]

lol, practicing while not trying to catch a wave...........seems so obvious, yet never done yet.

yeah, i dont really pivot at all, got to give it a go, thanks

[Badger]

Pivot turns are not easy. You will fall a lot trying to learn. I practiced them quite a bit in my first year because I thought that was the only way to turn the board around. I finally gave up trying. Maybe I'm just lazy and hate falling.

For now, my over the board sweep works fine for me. Even with my M-14 and my new 12'6 I have no trouble. With a bit of practice, you can turn any board 180 degrees in one or two strokes with this technique, and without changing your stance.

I'm not saying it's the best way, but just another way.

.

[Bean]

A really easy way to introduce someone to the pivot turn is to have them sit in the middle of their board and try to turn sweeping the paddle to the outside.  Then, still sitting, have them move back toward the tail and do the same thing.  This little exercise not only demonstrates how much easier the nose swings around when it's out of the water, but also a good indication of how far back on the board the rider needs to be to make it happen. 

Once you get the pivot turn down, you will find that it's even easier to pivot when your board is at the crest of a swell. 

[Fog City Rider]

Couple instructional vids for you to watch, one on pivot turns & one on "cross-nose draw" (what Badger is recommending).  Check 'em out.  Definitely the 2 most efficient strokes to turn the board. 

[addapost]

To all the above I'll add...
1. Keep your torso upright. Try not to bend at your waist. Like Bill said, keep your knees bent and if you need to change body position to adjust your balance, "piston" up and down with your knees rather than bend at your waist which is a classic rookie mistake.
2. Look where you want to turn. Another classic rookie mistake is to look down at your board. Do that and you'll end up down there. Your body wants to go where you are looking, so look where you want to go. The corollary to that is don't look where you don't want to go.
3. Keep your board parallel to the incoming wave rather than facing it. It is a lot easier to turn only 90 degrees rather than 180 degrees.
4. Keep at it, it'll come.
5. Have fun

[PonoBill]

I use cross bow moves a lot, especially when the board is moving. Simply placing your paddle blade in the water near the nose of a moving board, cross-bow will make the board turn. It's automatically angled as a rudder by the reach to the opposite side of the board. It also takes a bit of practice--it's an easy way to shove yourself off the board if you aren't braced for the shove. Most people have a tough time using a cross bow move to their offside--tends to be much easier to go one direction over the other.

Learning to pivot is probably more versatile in a surfing situation. Once you are comfortable doing it, it's a fast way to turn in either direction. It also forces you to free up your foot position. Being frozen in one place is the biggest problem most beginning SUP surfers have.

[Paddle On]

great vids, easy to understand on a big board. is the foot position the same on a short boat, from foot forward off center line and back foot across center line?

any body know of a video showing the pivot before catching the wave?

[blueplanetsurf]

This is an older video but it should help you catch some waves:

[jpeter]

Good to read everyone's thoughts.   Funny it never occurred to me that a pivot turn could be used on the wave catching side of the game.   I pivot turn at the end of the ride trying to get back out ... mostly cause I am in surf stance and a sinking the tail as I stall.   I will work on the pivots next short period wave day that I paddle.     
  I need to merge the windsurfing and paddle muscle memory in my brain.  Pivot-gybe all the time in the same situation without thinking about it. 
JP

[Billekrub]

No one mentions explicitly the benefit of turning but also maintaining board speed.  The sharper the turn, the more time to get back up to speed before a wave arrives?  But also the greater the loss of board speed?

[TallDude]

On my short board all I have to do is shift my wait to my back foot a little and it sinks. It's pretty much already sunk just standing in the lineup. I wait until I'm sure it's mine to be had then just pivot at the last few seconds. There is no glide to the board so I have to catch it deep and inside. Maybe 2 or 3 strokes at most.
On my 10' board I can stand a little outside with the longboarders. The board has a little glide, and not as sunk. I usually stand further back at the pivot when I'm waiting for a wave. On my 14' race board I do the same thing, just the pivot point is way back. But that is where I stand on it if I'm waiting for a wave.

[Tom]

 You didn't mention how long your board is. This is important because the shorter your board, the quicker it will turn and it will turn in a smaller arc. Learning pivot turns is great, but a pivot turn is not the only way to catch a wave.

Another method is to sit off to the side and in front of where you want to catch the wave. As you see your wave approaching,start paddling slowly towards the spot to catch the wave. As you do this, arc you turn towards the beach. Your board will turn better if you have a bit of forward movement. When the wave gets closer, paddle harder and turn your board sharper to get pointed in the right direction to catch the wave.