As a Surf Instructor, new people always ask me, "How do I know when to stand up on the unbroken waves?" If I was answering my younger self, I'd answer this question with this question- "Can you stand up in the whitewash every time you try?" If the answer is "No," I'd tell myself, "Come back to me when you can stand up in the whitewash 100% of the time. Then I'll tell you."
Sounds mean. But there's so much to learn in the whitewash, and once a surfer tries to surf the bigger waves on the outside, there's TONS of "unwritten rules" to learn first. If a surfer doesn't learn those "rules," they can hurt themselves and others. "Pay your dues" on the inside and enjoy the process! It will all pay off one day.
I know how it is- we see surfers catching waves, way out on the "outside" and we want to be there to. If we keep surfing and practicing, then we'll be there eventually. However, let me tell you a secret- paddling to the outside is a trap if you are not proficient at catching the whitewash and standing every time without falling. Here's why. When you go to the outside, there is a lot of time spent waiting for waves and the intermediate and expert surfers will recognize the coming waves far before you will. That means you won't catch many waves and you'll probably go home full of frustration. However, if you practice on the inside whitewash, you'll have more waves come to you then you can physically handle, and you won't have to wait long for them.
After people learn how to take a few waves in shallow water, they typically start heading towards the bigger waves and waste a ton of energy trying to get out to them. What I am talking about would take many pages to explain, but just know that if paddling and popping up are not perfected on the inside, it won't work very well on the outside.
Fortunately, you can practice the timing of standing up on whitewash. You do this by catching the whitewash and when you drop down in front of the wave, it's time to try and pop up. Keep in mind that you must have dropped down the wave before you can pop up. If you're still paddling and trying to catch the wave, then you shouldn't try to pop up- you must catch the wave first. If you find that you stop moving whenever you try and stand up, it means that you haven't caught the wave yet, and/or the wave is too small to carry you, or your board is too small for you. If your board is 9 feet or longer, then you probably have not caught the wave or the wave is too small.
Lastly- if you sit on the beach and watch the waves, you'll start to see patterns. One wave breaks in one place every time, and another wave breaks in another place every time it comes in. That means that the water is more shallow in that spot and it is going to be the place to catch your waves. Then you can also watch and time the waves to see how often the "sets" of larger waves come in. To do this, watch when the big waves break on the outside. When the last big wave breaks then start counting in seconds. It may be 2 minutes, and it may be 6 minutes until the big waves begin to break again. Then watch another set and time them again. It should be about the same amount of time in between sets. While you're trying to catch waves in the wiast deep water, you can keep an eye out on the outside waves and you can predict when the big waves will break again. Get used to doing this and it will help you when you start surfing on the outside waves. Until then, have fun on the inside and in the waist deep water.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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