RIDING SMALL WAVES
Riding small waves is easy, but ripping them is much
harder. Ninety percent of the time the surf is head
high or less. Before you hit the water sit on the
beach and watch the surf, tell yourself you will have
fun. Visualize your self riding the waves you are
watching, and ask yourself what I can do with these
waves. When you hit the water, push yourself, this
is the time to really go for it. Having the right
equipment will always increase your performance. Every
rider has different equipment needs, so I will outline
what has worked best for me. The most important piece
of equipment is my body board. I'll design a body
board that is lightweight and stiffness, will give
you more speed. I also like a little longer and wider
board to help carry me over weak sections. Wetsuits
will keep you warm, but they make you stiff and add
extra weight. When choosing a full suit, I like thin
neoprene with tape seams. By getting taped seams,
I can use 1.5 or 2 millimeter neoprene instead of
three. This will decrease the weight and improve flexibility.
For lesser suits the same rules apply. Choose the
lightest suit that gives you the most maneuverability.
Catching small waves may require a little more paddling
power. Your fins are the first line of defense against
sitting in the line-up like a buoy. Comfort is foremost,
never use fins that don't fit properly, they will
only give you blisters or cramps. Once you find some
fins that fit well choose the pair that are light
and have the most surface area. Although I don't recommend
diving style fins, for fin leashes I use nylon string,
or you can choose from a variety of other styles,
get the least bulky pair. As for leashes there are
two basic types, hand or foot. I don't use leashes
unless it is very hard to retrieve my body board.
Because they add extra drag and they get in the way.
If you do use one, hand leashes don't drag as much
and, foot leashes are good for drop knee riding. Paddling
gloves have a few advantages. Obviously, they will
increase your paddling power making it easier to catch
waves. They also help when doing hand drag belly-spinners.
Some gloves will give you extra grip, especially in
cold water. They will also keep your hands warm. To
get the most out of the small waves, you need to plug
into the waves power zones. This will enable you to
obtain enough speed to pull off your maneuvers. Speed
is essential to complete any maneuver. I would like
to describe a few maneuvers you might have some trouble
with. Aerials are the hardest maneuver because of
the absence of power. You need a wave that bowls,
and has a predictable section. Concentrate on doing
this one maneuver because you will need all the speed
you can muster. Gain as much speed as you can and
aim for the lip. Hit the lip just as it is pitching
out this will project you out of the wave. El rolls
can be done on any wave with a pitching lip. The idea
is to plug into the power of the wave. The biggest
problem with completing a good el roll is not getting
the wave to pitch you over. When you go to do an el
roll plan on puncturing into the throwing lip. As
you enter this, the first stage prepares to extend
your arms and board at the same moment you penetrate
the lip. Stage two, turn with the wave. Using your
arms and body to help complete the el rolls you might
have to use a lot of body torque, if the wave is lacking
enough energy to throw you over. In real mushy waves,
this maneuver becomes the el flopped because there
is no lip and no power. The el flopped is totally
manual, meaning the wave will not have enough power
to help with your maneuver. I save this maneuver for
severe contest groveling, but it must be practiced
if you want to perfect it. Look for a section and
aim for what would be the lip. Try to hit the edge
of the white water. Extend your arms and body board
are manually rolls your board off the white water
and around your body. It takes a lot of practice to
make this look fluid. Cutbacks are the same as in
big surf, but you have to make sure you have enough
speed to make the rest of the wave. Avoid making choppy
turns that will cause you to lose speed. Cutback spinners
are Speed and fluidity is the backbone of this maneuver.
Going into the cutback maintain as much speed as possible.
About mid-way through the cutback, center your body
and use your head and legs as counter weights. Put
the board flat on the water and spin, if you are having
trouble completing your spin use your hand to initiate
the spin. This hand drag reverse is done by sticking
your hand in the water creating drag. The nose of
your board will want to spin towards the side you
put your hand in the water. For even more help try
moving your other hand to the edge of the nose, and
turn your body board in the direction of the spin.
This variation of the forward spinner let you pull
off a maneuver on a close out section. As you approach
a section stay high on the wave’s face, just
before the section is going to break turn to the top
of the lip. Try and slide your spin letting the lip
pitch under you. Finish the spin on the curtain or
white water. Landings are the hardest part. You either
land in the flats after getting pitched out by the
lip or you have to punch through the white water.
The best way to deal with the white water is upon
completing your spin keep your board under you and
aim straight in, to avoid being caught behind the
white water. The reverse spinner is virtually the
same as a forwards spin, but you spin the other way.
To add a radical twist to this maneuver, use the lip
to get extra speed. There are two ways to do this.
The first is, instead of doing a reverse on the shoulder,
do hard bottoms turn to project you to the top of
the wave. At the top of the wave, start your spin
by simultaneously putting your board flat on the water
and using the centrifugal force of throwing your legs
up over the top of the wave. Now you are vertical
and upside down. To avoid tail pearling use your hands
and upper body weight to move your board so the nose
is just under your chin. Upper body weight to push
the nose into the waves face this will result in keeping
the tail up out of the water. The other is to use
on coming white water and rebound off of it. As you
are going down the line and see the wave breaking
towards you, set up a bottom turn. As you come out
of the bottom turn aim straight towards the top of
the wave and the on coming white water. The idea is
to hit the white water mid-way through your spin.
As you engage into the power of the white water it
will rebound you, sending you the other way. So by
hitting the white water mid-way through your spin
the rebound effect will help you complete the spin.
This maneuver can look real flashy because of the
speed you create by rebounding. You can do this maneuver
by dragging you hand, but you do not obtain as much
speed and it does not look as fluid Style and flow
are what separate the good ride from a great one.
Everybody has there own unique style. Each is unique
to the rider. To make small wave maneuvers look good
it must be executed smoothly. For you to pull off
smooth maneuvers, you must flow with the wave. By
doing turns and maneuvers that flow with the power
of the wave you will obtain the most speed, the key
component to any maneuver. The idea is to go from
one maneuver to the next without loosing speed. To
do this each maneuver must be completed cleanly without
any choppy turns. The way I find easiest is to virtually
combined maneuvers together. Doing one maneuver to
set up another, like a bottom turn into an el rolls.
After a while you will orchestrate four or five maneuvers
to harmonize with each other. So to rip small surf
you must combine speed with fluidity, the right equipment
and a good attitude. Put it all together with lots
of practices and you will be ripping small
