[SA Chris]

Words not required.

[Falling Down]

Must be getting warm in Aberdeen.

[SA Chris]

In my dreams.

[Idol eyes]

With my boards, I tend to paddle through the breakers with the board backwards... then hold your ground before the lull, swing it back to paddle mode and make for it out back... This really work for me in bigger water...
Also stops turtle rolling which is totally gay and should be banned at all good breaks...
Just kidding,
Nice pic JB did you take it?

[Aussiegav]

Hey all,

Am looking at replacing a Roger Cooper 7'6" mini-mal with something a tad shorter.

Does anyone have any experience of Spider boards? Think they're shaped in SA, Chris?

Am specifically looking at: 7'0" Round Pin Tail

Any thoughts or alternatives even?

Cheers,

Gruff

Hey Gruff,
without know your weight and height and types of breaks your surfing. beach breaks i guess.. (weight around 70 -80 kg around 5'10 tall??)
i would suggest getting a round square tail around 6'6 to 6'8 19 1/2 inches wide and around 2 1/2 inches thick (max) 2 5/16 (min)
at first this will feel like a toothpick. but it will give you a new found freedom in getting out the back without expending copious amounts of energy.
learning / stepping up from learning using a big board (6'10 or bigger) or mal is a false economy...
yes you will be able to stand up and drive a stright line to the sand quicker, but the essential skills of duck diving will never or at least take a millenium to master.
why spend 80% of your session getting battered and washed back to shore when you could be spending 60% learning to duck dive. the other 20% learning to stand up and progressing with your turns, the remaining 20% you will spend paddling around going for waves that you have no chance in hell of catching or paddling for waves that close out be fore you get to your feet.
i'm not being condescending, but this last 20% will slowly go away in time / experience.

history and the shear volume of square tail boards being produced worldwide show that it is a proven shape.
from my experience in surfing in the uk, this style of board will be well suited for you until you get to a level when you exactly know what you want without needing to ask others.

an epoxy board maybe handy, as i they offer some longevity compared to foam boards.


 i hope this advice helps..

[SA Chris]

Who thinks it's time to start a separate Surf board (no pun intended) on ukb? Seems like there are a good few of us who're into it.

I think it's a good idea? Lots of info gets squeezed into this one thread.

Had good surf Sat afternoon at Aberdeen on longobard, then on fish at Philorth Fraserburgh on Sunday morning. Sun was shining, and only two of us in water for most of session. Started off good, but low tide banks were a mess, so session went downhill quite rapidly.

Nice beach - quite atmospheric, and Fraserburgh is nicer from a distance, and the recent wreck of the Sovereign is quite impressive.

[Johnny Brown]

Nice pic JB did you take it?

No Ellie took it, its me...

[dave]

i had this vision of you setting the self-timer and paddled out like billio.

[cofe]

...shouting "beat that, Galen!"

 

[Falling Down]

Hey Gruff,
without know your weight and height and types of breaks your surfing. beach breaks i guess.. (weight around 70 -80 kg around 5'10 tall??)
i would suggest getting a round square tail around 6'6 to 6'8 19 1/2 inches wide and around 2 1/2 inches thick (max) 2 5/16 (min)
at first this will feel like a toothpick. but it will give you a new found freedom in getting out the back without expending copious amounts of energy.
learning / stepping up from learning using a big board (6'10 or bigger) or mal is a false economy...

Hi Gav good to hear from you.

I hear what you're saying but only half agree. You're a miles better surfer than anyone on here and I totally respect your opinions when it comes to surfing but I'm wondering whether you are overestimating peoples ability to learn quickly.  I remember going to Spain with Darren when he was on a 6'8 and he struggled his t*ts off the whole time just catching waves and getting to his feet. I thought he should have been on something bigger and more stable - not a mini-mal but a larger funboard.  I just think that for a weekend warrior, covered in neoprane who isn't going to get that much water time going down to a 6'6 is too much of a big step... but then again you never know eh 

[Aussiegav]

Seem to be improving every session at the mo which is encouraging, need more fitness though and struggling getting out through the white water, got absolutlely worked the last two sessions. Any tips on getting a biggish board out through the breakers? What about turns? I'm pretty much totally self taught at the mo... making it up as I go...

a very useful tip is buy a water proof watch. time how much time passes in between sets. do this over 3 sets of sets. you should get a fairly good idea on how much time you have to get out the back.
given that the UK generally has short period swell, it won't be that long a time frame.
also count how many waves per set (3-5). when you're ready to do battle, wait for the second last wave of the set to break out the back. when that has happened, start your journey.
put your head down an paddle hard.
as perviously mentioned, look for the obvious advantages like rips or deep gutters to cover ground quickly.

addit: if you are going to bail out, grab on to your rail saver (the webbed section of your leg rope that meets the string of your board) hang on like your life depended on it. this will mean that your board has less chance of smaking someone in the head, and also means your board will be net to you to get on quicker to get the hell out of there.
PS, don't hold it next to the plug, if your hand gets caught between the leggie and board, you'll be hurting...

another thing, very simple, if your with others in the line up, tell them your intentions. atleast they will have time to get away from you.

in regards to turns, learnand master the cross over stepping. this is moving up or down the board stepping over the other foot. not a shuffle, this is a invaluable skill that will help you make those subtle adjustments in a quick effiecient manner.

if you want any more info, feel free to give me a PM.

[Johnny Brown]

Cheers for the tips. Bit confused on the cross-step though, only on a 7'8" which would seem like a big (not subtle aty any rate) adjustment? Maybe my feet are too far apart to start with?

Anyone for lleyn may bank?

[Aussiegav]

cross stepping is the same as walking on a tight rope.
albeit not as wobbly.
the natural tendency is to shuffle both feet forward / backward keeping your prefferred foot always at the front.
this will take time, best way is to find a slow fat wave and trim along it. i can't think of many classic points over there, probably the caves at sandsend, thats a great longboard wave.
as i don't surf there any more, i don't mind tell people to surf there   

[Aussiegav]

how do i put images on here??

[Johnny Brown]

Ah, I see. Like going switch on a snowboard?

Posting pics: http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,6411.0.html

[Aussiegav]

erm, no, not like going switch.
what you are doing is moving forward / backward on your board.
generally backward over the fins / tail to urn you mal, moving forward to ganin trim speed, going over a flat bit of water and either hanging five or ten.
being in sheff, you have many ways to practice this. when leaving the sheaf view, find the gutter edge and walk along it. backward and forward.
the shuffle technic is like little jumps with both feet, stepping over is a more elegant method of walking up / down the board. if you can do this after 6 pints of warmiester or kuppers Kolsch you'll be ripping in no time.

[SA Chris]

I hear what you're saying but only half agree. You're a miles better surfer than anyone on here and I totally respect your opinions when it comes to surfing but I'm wondering whether you are overestimating peoples ability to learn quickly.  I remember going to Spain with Darren when he was on a 6'8 and he struggled his t*ts off the whole time just catching waves and getting to his feet. I thought he should have been on something bigger and more stable - not a mini-mal but a larger funboard.  I just think that for a weekend warrior, covered in neoprane who isn't going to get that much water time going down to a 6'6 is too much of a big step... but then again you never know eh 

I see both sides of this. I think if you are prepared to put the days and hours in and struggle initially on a shortboard, you will make more gains in the long term, but have a pretty miserable time of it and take a big share of hard knocks to body, ego and spirit. If, however, you only surf occasionally and want to enjoy the ride and progress steadily, making a gradual transition down the board sizes is the way to go.

JB, we are in the County over the early may bank, so will be in the water there if there are any waves about, an option if the forecast is good.

Cross stepping is stylistically and technically better and something to aim for, but when starting off the old two step shuffle can be effective.

[Johnny Brown]

Right. Sounds like what Idol eyes is up to on his mexico vid. I'm okay on a slackline so I guess I can skip the sheaf gutter. Getting a ride long enough to start wandering about might be a challenge though, I'll try the shuffle thing though, had a couple of rides where it was immediately obvious I was too far back or forward.

[SA Chris]

On your board it is pretty obvious where you want your feet to be - some pressure dents there!

[Aussiegav]

next time you take your wax off, get a marker pen and mark on the deck where you want your front foot when you get up.
kick your missus out of bed, get your board on it, sans fins. and practice jumping to your feet.
look at wheere they are inrelation to therea re from the black line.

i had a mega eddie aikau power stance as a grommet, but this technique brought my feet closer and and helped my percentages in getting to my feet first go.

pressure dents on the deck may not be indicative as to where your feet need to be if your aren't getting it right all the ime.
also being on a mal, your feet should be all over the board after getting to your feet.

[granticus]

On 'Turning'...

On a long board (or any board for that matter) you will need to have your back foot over the fins (ie. right at the back of the board).
The movement you require is rotational and starts with your head (mastering these rotational movements will enable you to generate speed as well!) 
Turn your head to where you want to go and the rest of the body will follow, along with your board.
You can practice this and visualise the movements on dry land.
Stand in your surfing stance, get nice and crouched, rotate your body (start with your head) in the direction you wish to turn.  If you do this in socks on a slippy floor your front foot should get dragged around.
Now do this with your eyes closed imagining you are KS or whoever your chosen surfing hero is.  Visualise the take off, the bottom turn, lining up the lip, the turn off the lip... etc..
For cut backs, big hacks, big carves etc.. this basic movement is adjusted, a slower wider arc for big carves, a faster more exagerrated movement for that wack the lip send a fan of spray thing...
Linking turns together will generate speed (pumping)...
Watch videos and other surfers to see how others work with the waves..

[SA Chris]

This has just been published.



If it's anything like Surf Science it will be worth getting, just hope it isn't a rehash of the info in that.

[Idol eyes]

fantastic swell down here... really good few daze... yesterday was fully cooking at Fistral.

[Aussiegav]

same down here, yesterday solid double overhead (6ft) and off shore, today was absolute perfection blues skies and slight offshores - 8 ft with rouge 10 ft clean ups.  
very very scary the 10footers were absolutley terrifying...

[Idol eyes]

Where is down here?
Towan beaches pumped some good lines through, tomorrow should reduce size... and increase in quality!!!