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Paddling Out
Duck Diving and Turtle Rolls
As you improve you’ll want to paddle out into the line up and catch unbroken waves, and to do this you need to master a technique to get you and your board out past the breakers.
You have a choice – go over the wave or go under it. The technique you use will depend on the size and power of the waves, the size of your board and the power of your arms.
If the waves are weak enough you can go over them. Paddle up to the broken wave, building up as much speed as you can. As you meet the wave grab tight hold of your rails and push down hard on your board but keep your head and chest up high, and let the whitewater surge over the top of your board but underneath you.
As the waves passes you are still on top of the water and on top of your board, and in the perfect position to keep paddling, which is what you need to do straight away towards the next breaker. Getting the timing and balance right takes a little bit of practice but this is the easiest way of getting through the breakers. But it’s only any good if the waves are small and weak.
As the waves get bigger you will need to take more drastic action.
Duck Diving
Duck-diving is an essential part of surfing. It is also extremely tricky to get right at first and takes a lot of practice.
The duckdive is a manoeuvre which allows you and your board to dive smoothly underneath an already broken wave without expending too much energy or being swept back towards the beach.
The first thing you should know is that you can’t duckdive a longboard, a softdeck or unless you are super-strong, a mini-mal. These boards are too buoyant to get sufficiently deep underneath the water. To evade whitewater on one of these boards you will need to learn to Turtle-Roll (see below).
Bigger waves, and more frequent waves, will require more and better duckdiving. Imagine that you’re happily paddling out to the line up and suddenly, right in your path, someone is riding a wave heading for the exact spot you are. You are going to have to change course and head towards the white water behind or ruin his or her ride. If you can’t duckdive or turtle-roll, all your hard work up to this point will be for nothing as the wall of whitewater will sweep you unceremoniously back to the beach. To be safe in the water, especially in a crowd, you need to be able get yourself and your board safely and efficiently under a broken wave.
It takes a lot of practice, but a good duckdive is almost as satisfying as catching a wave. It’s a good idea to practice in small waves, and the beauty of it is that you don’t need to wait around as you do to catch a wave – as long as there’s surf there are always broken waves coming through, and the quality doesn’t matter, you can just practice getting yourself and your board as far underneath whatever comes as you can, and come out the other side ready to paddle.
The fist step is to imagine diving underneath a wave without a board. Think about how you dive down first, flatten out as the wave passes overhead, then angle up and re-surface. This is exactly the shape you are looking to make, but attached to a surfboard.
You need to be moving to be able to duckdive well, so paddle right up to the broken wave, fast. About 2 or 3 seconds before you hit white water stop paddling, grab the rails tightly and force the board downwards, hard, pushing the nose under the water. You need to be forceful and decisive. Straighten your arms and lean forward, keep your arms locked as this keeps the board’s buoyancy from bobbing it back up. Just before the wave hits you, most of your board should be submerged already so take a deep breath, lean forward and follow it down under the water.
As you sink under the water, you need to start thinking about flattening out to pass beneath the wave. To do this, bring your knee up and begin to apply pressure the back of the board. This levels out your board; stopping its downward motion and helping it pass flatly underneath the wave. Your bum will stick up – this feels ridiculous at first but have faith – it’s right.
As you learn to feel happy with the position and your balance, stretch the other leg up and straight out of the water behind you – it acts as a lever to pop you out the other side. Watch other surfers – you’ll see their legs sticking out as they submerge. As the wave is rolling above you, you should hold your board in front of you, keeping pressure on the back of the board with your knee. As you feel the wave pass over you, bring your legs together and tilt your board up towards the surface, bringing it in into your chest as you rise, so that as you emerge the other side you are in the correct position to begin paddling again immediately. Try to burst back to the surface, using the natural buoyancy of your board to give yourself paddling momentum straight away.
A good duckdive is smooth and uninterrupted. If you can get low under the wave and come out the other side ready to paddle you will expend much less energy, and find yourself in the line up in no time.
It’s never OK to let go of your board. A good duckdive will pop you out the other side ready to paddle, a bad duckdive will see you dragged back towards the beach and maybe tip you off your board – but as long as you don’t let go, both of these are fine.
Cling on like a squirrel, it’s worth the effort – don’t ditch your board at the sight of a wave coming for you as you’re endangering yourself and everyone around you. You’ll feel uncomfortable if everyone gives you the dead eye, and you’ll feel a whole lot worse if you come up to find your flying board has knocked someone out.
The key to good duckdiving is practice – small days, flat days – it doesn’t matter, just get to know how deep your board will go and how it balances underwater. The movement should become as natural as it would be without the board.
Turtle-Rolls
So, what if you’re on a board that you can’t duckdive? A Turtle-Roll is the alternative and also a good emergency option for any time you are just too exhausted to duckdive – Its not as smooth or efficient a move, but if you are totally knackered and know your duckdive will fail, a turtle-roll is a good manoeuvre to know.
As the wave approaches, grab your rails hard as with the duckdive. This time, keeping tight hold of the rails, take a deep breath, and flip yourself round and directly underneath the board. On your back, underwater, keep your body flat and hold the board out in front of you with the nose pointed into the wave, letting the rumbling wave pass through you and your board. As soon as the wave has passed, flip your board back over and jump on, and get paddling as soon as you can.
A turtle roll will take more energy and slow you down more than a good duckdive, but can be more productive than a bad one. And of course, if you are on a big board, it’s your only real option if you find yourself caught in the wrong place. It’s easier to perfect, and a bit of practice will have you turtle-rolling without too much bother.
Avoiding the Trap
Once you know about sets and lulls, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the best time to paddle out is during a lull. Take a set on the head and you’ll arrive in the line up a heaving, panting mess.
Sail out during a lull you can be sitting out the back with dry hair. Timing is everything. There is a common mistake that at one time or another everyone makes when the surf is pumping. You’re standing on the beach waiting for the lull. One big wave after another rolls through, and just when you begin to think it will never end, you spot a smaller wave.
You think it’s the lull, but you hesitate. They’re still bigger than you’d expect, but when a couple of smaller waves follow you prepare to paddle out. Then the next wave comes, but it’s a little bigger than the last one and you panic that you’re missing the lull.
So you charge out, and hit the water just in time to meet the returning set of big waves right on the head. When the surf is big, the best thing to do is to decide not to go out in the first lull no matter how easy it looks. Make a decision to wait for the second or third. By waiting and watching you’ll get a better idea of what the lulls look like that day, and how long they last. You’ll also increase your chances of making it all the way out in the lull – you’ll recognise when the end of a set comes and so will be able to set off at exactly the right time.