Are You Compressing Enough?

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[Byronmaui]

Aloha

Want to advance your SUP skills?

I was given a tip by Blane Chambers a while back for my son and think this tip can be useful for everyone. I thought it was only for Noah but realized I was going backwards a little with my SUP and forgot some of the basic surfing techniques I learned as a kid. I have studied this basic tip and looked at alot of top Super's and they had one thing in common compression............ Look at the top surfers too.......I know this first post has alot of words but promise to post pics. If not interested sorry for the long post but just wanting to share some valuable info. Whether young or old learning is ongoing and this technique will help all. *****Forget the reference to young because we will not let the youth take us old farts out.

Aloha

Byron


When I look at Noahs surfing I see a lot of average tendencies but because of his age I know he has oogles of potential and know he will become insane one day.      The main thing that stands out is he surfs a bit upright most of the time which is a very typical thing for most surfers.    Bending at the waist more than at the knees when attempting to get low is a common thing.

Compressing the body is the key.       Start young and it will be the single best adjustment he ever makes.        The difference in all the top pro surfers and the average guy is they understand when and how to compress their bodies.       Notice how they come to the bottom of a wave they are really compressed with their knees bent a lot.   They can un-coil with a lot of range OR pull in with a nice compressed stance...   Noah bends his knees but could take it further.   This will enable him in the future to really utilize his power.   Once he gets the feel of true compressing, weighting and un-weighting he will get better in leaps and bounds in all aspect of his surfing.

Best practice for pulling in is to forget all the turns and practice drawing the right lines with his feet more to the inside rail.    Get off the tail and scoot up a little further towards the center of the board.   This forces a trim position which is needed to have good speed and travel time inside...   He will also be forced to deal with the paddle and which way he can or cannot hold it depending on the situation at hand.
   
Good way to practice on any day is take off with the intent to practice the trim position.   After the bottom turn scoot forward and compress the whole body and set his trim.    Do this till it can become second nature.   Wave doesn't have to be hollow.    All this is training for his body for what's to come so he doesn't get slammed backwards by the lip when it does get hollow...  Compression is key.    Tucking in tight carrying speed is the goal.     

In the beginning it will feel super exagerrated but it will teach him proper trim and he will get the feel on how to position his body and most important how to compress his whole body when needed.  After a while when sections loom he will automatically adjust to pull in.     

This may be a lot for a young surfer to focus on but it is the missing link to pulling in that PLENTY surfers don't ever figure out and its even harder on such a big board.     The thing with learning how to compress his body is it helps his surfing everywhere.   As he starts surfing bigger waves he will really feel its benefits especially coming off the bottom when its crucial to making big sections...

BTW, I didn't make all this stuff up...   Years of hanging out with some elite surfers and observing it in action.   Translating it into SUP surfing we're finding out it is all the same principals...

BC

[Byronmaui]

If you are a visual person like me here are the visuals..................

Some visual aids...
Mick Fanning driving speed


Off the bottom


Tom Curren off the bottom


Off the top fully in control compressed


Bruce Irons pulling in tight.   Fully compressed in full control


Joel Parkinson.    As Noahs charges more, it is crucial he does this off the bottom....


Not that I am nearly close to any of the above guys in ability BUT compressing even helps and old fart like me....   Best thing I have ever done for my surfing was learn to fully compress especially when the waves get bigger and faster...



It all leads to this...   The promise land of surfing...  The Barrel



BC

[cloclo]

Good post very interesting, sup surfing is surfing.
I totally agree with you, compression is the key, you have to be realy low on your body if you want to go faster and do big turns.
First step: compression (inflection) when you go down the face of the wave, I think you have to focuse on your back knee (it has to be really folded) and you have to put your weight on your front foot.
Seconde step: extension, you have to be really light on your feet and use your upper body and feel the speed.

[DW]

Good stuff. Thanks 

[stoneaxe]

Very good stuff.....one of the good/bad things about the GoPro is that you get to see really well what you are doing. I look like Lurch from the Adams Family on my board...I don't think he had knees. Gotta start working on my flexibility. Thanks for sharing.

[hawaiian.style]

right on Byron, thanks for the great post!

[Byronmaui]

Thanks guys.....For me surfing 30 plus years I really started a bad habit of not compressing enough and my guess was I was already standing when I dropped in on a wave with my SUP. On a prone board you are catching the wave later and compression is alot easier. Who knows but the one thing I know is that this tip is really helpful.

Aloha

Byron

[diesel]

Good post on surf technique.  It would be cool to see more top to bottom surfing in SUP.  It is tougher with these bigger boards but is definitely doable.  Compression is key to this type of surfing.  The main guys I have seen surfing like this are Bonga, Ikaika Kalama, Kainoa Beupre of KuHoe Surfboards (He is really ripping with a lot of style) and maybe a few others.  I think as guys who really rip on longboards become competent standup paddlers we will see some real shredding with hard off the bottom straight up off the top and full roundhouse cutbacks complete with full foam rebounds.  Very few guys doing these complete turns.  The video I saw of Kainoa Beupre showed the potential.  That is what is cool about SUP.  The best surfing is yet to come and a lot of room for everyone to push the sport.

[Weasels wake]

Compression followed by extension~
Stay compressed down the line or entering you first bottom turn, then extend (straighten out the whole body) as you go thru the apex of the turn (at the bottom of the wave), do it hard and you will squirt out of the bottom turn with increased speed.  The harder you extend out of the compression, the harder you are stepping on the gas pedel.
Water doesn't compress, so you can use it as a spring, as you compress against it.
Compression, extension, compression , extension, not only are you ripping your waves, you are giving you thighs a great workout.
Short board stuff, applied to the sweeping.
Gotta love it. 

[Byronmaui]

Yes the extension part is important too.

Byron

[Blane Chambers]

Wow Byron, I didn't know you posted this!     Now ALL the old farts like us are gonna start ripping!    The sad part is the older you get the harder it is to compress and un-coil down the line.   Darn these creaking bones!!!!!!     

More Pics...
Compression to conform...


Backside, frontside, it doesn't matter.    Using your entire body and getting leverage is key to building speed down the line. 
 

Like Weasel said...   Extension which follows compressing.


Bending at the knees allows for explosive moves even for the 200+ guys



By coiling and un-coiling you are springing yourself down the line gaining speed.   When its time to turn you can put that thing on rail...   

[Byronmaui]

Blane I was cleaning my messages and this was too valuable to throw away. Thanks for sharing this stuff.

ALoha

Byron

[Paddle-Plappe]

This is a good technique point to work on.
compressing the body doesn't allow me to use my big paddle. It's may be easier to compress with a short paddle, like Blane in the early days:

[jordanzs]

Great post!!!!

I've been a bodyboarder for 19 years, and just started surfing a couple of years ago.  I ride Hynson Twinzer a lot, and I can get some speed down the line, but I feel rigid, and video of me surfing confirms this.  I thought about this post this weekend while surfing in town, and was working on compressing more, and I definitely felt a difference.

I've only had my SUP for a week, so I haven't learned to ride waves on it just yet, but having knowledge like this ahead of time will help me work on good habits as I learn to surf it..  Thanks a bunch!

Here's a shot that I really like of a surfer compressing.  This guy was freakin' flying down the line at Off The Wall.....

[Byronmaui]

Here is a case study of the wrong compression. This is a friend of my son's that we are trying to teach good SUP habits too. I will post a pic in a few months after compression instilled into his mind.