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Welcome to the next instalment in our Longboard SUP Surfing Series. This time, we teach you how to catch waves on your Longboard SUP.
We cover the basics of paddling into waves, identifying the best waves to catch, turning around to catch your wave, angling down the line and what to look out for when selecting your waves.
Catching waves is the key to you having the most fun out in the water. So check out the video and make sure to watch the PRO video for some extra tips!
Your PRO video
In the video, catching waves on longboard, you say try to match the speed of the wave, some of my best waves (and worst wipe-outs!) have been when despite paddling hard the wave sucks me back and up the face. Am i in completly the wrong place? What should you do in these circumstances?
Hi Jake, thanks for the comment. It could well be that you’re positioned closer to the steeper part of the breaking wave and this is why you are being sucked back up the wave face. If you are catching the wave early, ie before they break, you shouldn’t have this problem. The best way to do this is to wait for the waves a little further out than you normally would so you can catch them earlier. If you can get your speed up early, you should be projecting down and along the wave face, no being sucked back up!… Read more »
Cheers for replying! I will try increasing paddle strokes, normally i rely on grunt.
Cant change how far out i catch the wave, it sits up against a concrete wall with a crowded line-up. Ideally i would either catch it further out or catch the knuckle but further out would mean someone would snake in front and away from the wall would always give up priority:(
Love it. You take really short but really fast paddle strokes as you’re catching a wave. Is that better for acceleration or balance or what? Interested to know how you catch them so smoothly!
Hey Tom,
I am increasing my stroke rate to increase my speed into the wave. It actually helps with a lot of things, but mainly that speed = balance. These short, fast paddle strokes create more speed as I am focussed on the most powerful part of the paddle stroke.On a longboard SUP, if you can get your speed up early to catch the wave, you can glide into the wave and give yourself more time to think about what manoeuvres you are going to do next! Hope this helps Tom?
Thanks for your comment.