Taking a fall while gettin' barreled?

[Piggity]

Almost posted that photo the other day, it shows the answer to the question. Its situation specific and the type of break you're surfing is the answer.

Shallow coral reef is a game changer for most mortals. Those barrels pitch square and trying to duck dive one of those is sometimes more intimidating cause the reefs runs dry on ya. In general, sllipping out the back of the wave is my preferred, covering my mellon is usually a priority

[tgray]

yeah, the photo is a sobering reminder of what can go wrong, check out the vid, you can see that she gets bucked off the wave head first, in the worst possible way,,

[kfritz]

It all depends....mostly on how far in advance you know you are going to go down and how heavy the wave is. I live on Oahu and surf all over the Island so falls differ according to each break whether the surf is more recreational or of consequence. In general, no matter what I try to ride as far as possible within the barrel before dismounting as much of the energy can dissipate as you drive further down the line and you can come out when you would not expect to which makes for a "ride of your life". More relaxation is better as you will never overpower a real barreling wave by swimming.

[spook]

yeah, i know it's not the same but i had my worst wreck by far snowboarding, tomahawking out of control at high speed. the only moment i had any control over was right at the beginning when i ducked my head to take the first roll because after that i might as well have been in one of those g-force rides waiting for the concrete wall to crush my skull with no sense of up or down or anything but white that culminated in breaking my binding plate and shattering the disk.

there was so much rotational force i could only relax. shit was flying out of my pockets.

oh but back to preemptive action and control. my body has been going through various phases of pain and clearly part of it is a result of ducking before the first impact. if i don't duck, i may take that first impact on the top of my head or in my face and who knows.

seems like the art of falling (which i learned very well in other sports) at high speeds or under water is doing what you can at the beginning to improve your chances the rest of the way.

[Ottime]

It all depends....mostly on how far in advance you know you are going to go down and how heavy the wave is. I live on Oahu and surf all over the Island so falls differ according to each break whether the surf is more recreational or of consequence. In general, no matter what I try to ride as far as possible within the barrel before dismounting as much of the energy can dissipate as you drive further down the line and you can come out when you would not expect to which makes for a "ride of your life". More relaxation is better as you will never overpower a real barreling wave by swimming.

I hear you.

But don't you have waves that become heavier te further down the line you travel?

I guess that would be different. As in you know you will not make a section, as opposed to being in a fall. But sometimes, if I have decision time, I point it toward the shoulder. But if in in a tube, and it is clear I won't make the next section, I might avoid punching it further down the line, if te section I'm missing is fully unloading. Hanalei on Kauai might be an example when there is a lot of west in the swell