Thread: Why you need to learn how to turtle roll.

If you don't know how, here's why you need to learn how to turtle-roll your longboard.

And/or, Never let go of your board.

yeah, I didn't see the collision the first time.

ooouch! Yes, '..learn how to turtle-roll your _board. And/or, Never let go of your board.'

..... especially if it's a LOG.

i agree that folks should learn to always hold onto their boards no matter how they choose to get through waves or dismount from a ride.

the guy flying on the fish woulda maybe hit that guy even if he'd been holding onto his board if the timing was just a bit different. the flyer was in a pile of foam. tough to redirect in that stuff sometimes.

not surfing in crowds or around longboarders is the best solution imo.

rog

yeah, whatever. rider is the responsible one, always. maybe don't bust your air in a crowded lineup.

i know longboards suck, whatever... but fish flyer did not have control of where he was going enough to avoid the collision.

but still, hold on to youe boards or don't paddle out

Heheh. I was surfing at Pacheco on Saturday. Caught a wave, started paddling back out. Crowd was heavy. Saw a guy maybe 20' in front of me, also paddling out, on a shortboard. 4' Wave came in, he tosses his board. I immediately ducked as hard as I could. Kept my head down, but board pushed me back up. Feel a solid knock on the head. Grabbed the board with one hand, but still had my board in my other hand. I'm not gonna lie, I came out screaming at the guy. Paddled after him, but fresh off a 12 hour shift, and couldn't catch him. Glad I didn't.

^ouch. Haleiwa had some serious board ditching going down back a few weeks ago. I had 2 SUPs simultaneously ditch their boards in front me on a DOH set, I held my anger in check but damn that was dangerous if one of their cords broke. If so, there was a decent chance I'd be in the hospital in a coma

^^^^shit, glad your alright. You should be skiing, then you don't have to worry about getting killed by a SUP Agree with Ottime. Guy on the wave should be responsible/in control enough to miss you. You paddling out, should be paddling behind his intented line. I hate it when guys paddle up the face, across my line, because they don't want to take one on the head

Thanks man, it worked out. I still can't view the vid on my iPad, I'll have to login on my computer tomorrow.

Question from a total hack surfer:

I only get out to surf a handful of days every couple of years, so of course I'm a total beater.

I do my best to stay far away from other surfers when I'm paddling out, but I'll admit I usually ditch my longboard if I'm gonna take a wave on the head and there's no one else around. If there are other people around, I'll go for the turtle roll and hold onto the board, which usually results in the wave grabbing me and dragging my ass back into shore. I'm usually in some kind of shitty beach break, so just going out through the "channel" is usually not an option for me.

Is there some kind of technique to this other than just flipping upside down and holding on?

Thanks in advance for any real advice the collective might have

Flip over. Try to hold on, while allowing your board to lift through and over the white water. Extend your arms and body, so as much weight as possible is deep below the turbulence. This will anchor you in position. Thing is, you need to have a solid grip, or the board will get pulled away.

Turnig turtle works best on point breaks where the broken wave loses juice quickly. On beach break, it is tougher. Once the wave reaches 5-6 foot, it is nearly impossible.

I never turn turtle. I find it does not work well. I usually just point the nose, keep it low and try to paddle through the whitewater. But then again, my longboard has only 3" of rocker and weighs about 30#. Momentum battle between me and the wave. I usually win. Or, the board gets thrown vertical by the oncoming froth, and hits me in the face.

If there is no one else around, ditching an sinking is your best bet for not getting pulled in.

Why are you at a beach break? Where are you surfing? I'd either find an empty dumpy wave or a point. On a longboard, IMO, points are way way more fun. I only LB when it is small or windy elsewhere. But small, dribbling, weak waves that go for a 100 yards are super fun. Short, dumping, small beach break is still better on a fish.

Thanks Ott. I was wrapping my arms around the board, not dangling below it, so that's a great tip.

If I'm surfing near home, it's usually somewhere around Tofino.

My last vacation was to Nicaragua (San Juan and Popoyo). There was a point break at Popoyo, but it was way too fucking scary for my sorry ass. I spend a fair bit of time getting bounced off the bottom, so I try and stay away from the rocks/reefs. As a result I usually just hung around the beach breaks or more mellow points. Still tons of fun at my level, but I definately battle to get to the outside without ditching my board at least once.

If I'm not going to get totally blasted on the head, I just paddle hard into the wave as you described and try to let it pass by me without losing too much ground. I guess my board isn't a true LB at 7 foot 6, but it's still too long for me too duck dive....

Thanks again for the tips.

another thing you can do to duck dive yer fun board is to get way forward to the nose and press the nose stright down with all of your weight. make sure you keep some wax on the deck/rails up front to help keep yer hands from slipping. works pretty well with a longboard too.

if it's not too big, sitting on the board and turning to face the beach and leaning your body back hard into the incoming whitewater works well too.

beach breaks are great for sharpening yer surfing skillz. shifty unpredictable heavy with current is like skiing the gnar in scary conditions. makes everything else like points almost too easy, which doesn't suck. big beach break fan here. just sayin.

helps to ride little boards tho.

rog

Originally Posted by icelanticskier

get way forward to the nose and press the nose stright down with all of your weight. make sure you keep some wax on the deck/rails up front to help keep yer hands from slipping. works pretty well with a longboard too.

if it's not too big, sitting on the board and turning to face the beach and leaning your body back hard into the incoming whitewater works well too.

beach breaks are great for sharpening yer surfing skillz. shifty unpredictable heavy with current is like skiing the gnar in scary conditions. makes everything else like points almost too easy, which doesn't suck. big beach break fan here. just sayin.

Ya, at my level, just getting to the outside in any kind of decent swell represents a major victory. I've actually used that technique (pointing in to the beach and leaning back) a fair bit, but I didn't think that was a "legit" surfing technique!

For that matter, the day at the beach and the beers afterwards are almost as satisfying as the waves I catch.

My last session on my trip to Nica finished with me catching a wave, actually riding the face of the breaking wave, and (accidentally) riding off the shoulder back into the channel.

Fucking awesome. I'm holding onto that memory until my next surf trip.

It's funny coming from a ski town where I'm one of the "locals" to a surf town where I'm a "total fucking hack".

Perception is reality

7-6? You can duck dive that. Just practice. You don't even need to wait for waves. In between sets, or on small days, just practices getting that nose down. It is a technique thing. Almost as much as an ollie. Like rog said, get those hands up around the nose. Bounce into a push up position, with one knee cocked and ready to push. As you are pushing up, push that nose down. Follow that with straightening out the bent leg, and keep weight on the nose. Then, pull the nose up to you to surface.. It will push your nose under, then level the board underwater, and then surface nose first - if done right.

Then try doing that under a wave.

If you can learn a good duck dive, it is the best way. All others are "not legit". Even turning turlte. Unless you are like 70, and have been surfing since your twenties.

Originally Posted by Clownshoe

Ya, at my level, just getting to the outside in any kind of decent swell represents a major victory. I've actually used that technique (pointing in to the beach and leaning back) a fair bit, but I didn't think that was a "legit" surfing technique!

For that matter, the day at the beach and the beers afterwards are almost as satisfying as the waves I catch.

My last session on my trip to Nica finished with me catching a wave, actually riding the face of the breaking wave, and (accidentally) riding off the shoulder back into the channel.

Fucking awesome. I'm holding onto that memory until my next surf trip.

It's funny coming from a ski town where I'm one of the "locals" to a surf town where I'm a "total fucking hack".

Perception is reality

love it. love to live it through new surfers that are so stoked on that 1st feeling of magic. surfing well is so much more challenging and dynamic than skiing well in any kind of conditions or terrain. mountains just sit there (yawn) waves are always moving, changing, challenging.

keep it up man.

more waves in nh tomorrow! woot!

rog

I'm sure as hell not a world-class surfer....but sometimes it's not always possible to hold on to your board...sometimes it just gets away from you and there's nothing you can do. That guy probably didn't anticipate such a wild ride.

I was on a 9'6 last year and some kite-surfer came down nearly on top of me from like 25 feet of woe-begone air. I sure as hell didn't see him, and he sure as hell wasn't aware of me until I almost got nailed by his tether. Was I pissed? yeah. Did I get all pissy? No.

Shit happens, is all. Expect it.

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