[Psycho]

How come on a 2 foot choppy brown trout day, I surf like a total kook, I have no cotroll, flail around like Im a newbee trying to just pop up but when I get on something larger, I rock like Ive been surfing my whole life? Im not bragging, i just dont understand it. I know the waves are faster when theyre bigger, maybe the stability is the key. Im just askin cuz I wanna surf all round better not just 1 type. anyway thanks fo all the supportb yall give a Spunjah! I truely wouldnt have even thought of surfing stand up if I didnt have yall as friends & the support ayl give me.

Thanks to all yall Rockness Monsters!

[sunset gun]

Hey Psycho,

What you are going through is pretty common.  When you are just beginning, tiny waves are good but once you get to a more intermediate level (where I assume you are) you see your performance fluctuate greatly with the conditions.  Clean groundswell is always easier to surf then chop and as for size it seems like waste to chest is ideal for having enough room and time to work on the wave face while still having manageable drops for your skill level.  The good thing is that all those frustrating days where you feel like you are surfing like crap definitely seem to make you surf that much better once the good, clean surf arrives.

[The Knot]

Hey psyco just go already and i will gladly take all your sponges off your hands bro   And to help you along the wave from the other morning that has you so stoked was clean consistant and had some push +your new found skill= stoke . The diffrence could be like carving a skate board on new pavement or gravel . i niether skate or surf but i would like a shot at your sponges mine are shot  

[Psycho]

LOL! What are you riding bro? I have a beefy quiver of CX boards but I dont know which one I like better. I didnt give up spongin bro, I love it, especially when I was gettin pitted like Ron Jeromy in the box last Wednesday.

Hey Psycho,

What you are going through is pretty common.  When you are just beginning, tiny waves are good but once you get to a more intermediate level (where I assume you are) you see your performance fluctuate greatly with the conditions.  Clean groundswell is always easier to surf then chop and as for size it seems like waste to chest is ideal for having enough room and time to work on the wave face while still having manageable drops for your skill level.  The good thing is that all those frustrating days where you feel like you are surfing like crap definitely seem to make you surf that much better once the good, clean surf arrives.

Yeah maybe the comfy managable waves allow me to really enjoy the waves more than trying to rush on small less boyant waves. Thanks!

[frroK]

My ideal waves would be chest to a bit overhead...I think those are the most fun performance type waves...It makes you feel like a champ if you have the rifht board.  I hate big days cuz I feel like Im always undergunned and I hate micro waves cuz I dont own a longboard( i have recently been borrowing a friend's, and its super fun).  try riidng a 5'7 semi fish/chip wens its 2 foot shlops!  not fun!

[Crackie Onassis]

Frrok, have you considered an old school fish of some sort?

Paul, the Irish guy with the red Lis style fish has been killing it on his lately.

[surfnli]

i surf like brown trout on small waves.  that's what's so frustrating about long island--you get one good day where you can actually surf the way we were meant to surf, then you get a month of dribble.  one step forward, thirty steps backwards.  small wave ripping is hard--better waves make you a better surfer, in both the short and long term.  when i surf pointbreaks i think i can make a go of the wqs, or at least get people on the beach hooting, but small waves i just get angry.  bogged rails, slow turns, etc.  no fun.

[uptown]

dear psycho


when "stand-up surfing" i would suggest that you take the flippers off your feet.  this will greatly improve your performance.


but seriously, i would imagine that getting used to popping up (and timing it) might be a little hard, since you already know how to catch and ride waves, but now you have to throw in this new element.  if you botch it, you usually ruin everything and lose the entire ride before it starts.  if you are too early or too late it can cost you the wave. 

[nycwipeout]

Like I said to you in the lineup earlier today, you have to slow it down.

The pace of the wave is slower on smaller waves, even if it seems like it breaking as fast, its not, so your moves have to be paced and your rhythm in control. With the slower moves you can cut through chop easier.

Remember, each wave is a song, a painting, a dance or a concerto, whichever way you see it; but YOU are the artist. So feel the tempo and play with it. But god forbid that anything of this becomes an equation where someone declares a swell an allegro event....

Anyway, my mantra is "...a good surfer will make bad waves look good."

Slop, chop or abysmal as it can be, pick your weapon and do your best job.

[SpongeBob]

Red door 91st -- are you referring to Paul Treacy, the leprechaun?

[Some people call me Maurice]

i feel the same way psycho, on those small days its always harder to feel like ur actually accomplishing summtin wen ur just standing and sinking. my fish has made a HUGE difference in those knee slapper days where u wud barely move on a normal thruster. you go much faster and still work up enough speed to do a cut or two.  shoulder high seems to be the easiest to work but we dont always have the best conditions so the fish was defiently money well spent for me

[frroK]

Anyway, my mantra is "...a good surfer will make bad waves look good."

soooo true!